I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4078 

To provide that no agency may take any significant regulatory action until 

the unemployment rate is equal to or less than 6.0 percent. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 17, 2012 

Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. COBLE, Mr. 

GALLEGLY, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. POE of Texas, 

Mr. CHAFFETZ, Mr. MARINO, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. ROSS of Florida, Mrs. 

ADAMS, Mr. QUAYLE, Mr. AMODEI, and Mr. CARTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide that no agency may take any significant regulatory action until the unemployment rate is equal to 

or less than 6.0 percent. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Freeze for 

5 Jobs Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the terms ‘‘agency’’ and ‘‘rule’’ have the 

4 meanings given such terms under section 551 of title 

5 5, United States Code; 

6 (2) the term ‘‘regulatory action’’ means any 

7 substantive action by an agency that promulgates or 

8 is expected to lead to the promulgation of a final 

9 rule or regulation, including notices of inquiry, ad10 vance notices of proposed rulemaking, and notices of 

11 proposed rulemaking, but not including any sub12 stantive action by an agency for repealing a rule; 

13 (3) the term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

14 means any regulatory action that is likely to result 

15 in a rule or guidance that may— 

16 (A) have an annual cost to the economy of 

17 $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect in a 

18 material way the economy, a sector of the econ19 omy, productivity, competition, jobs, the envi20 ronment, public health or safety, small entities, 

21 or State, local, or tribal governments or com22 munities; 

23 (B) create a serious inconsistency or other24 wise interfere with an action taken or planned 

25 by another agency; 


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1 (C) materially alter the budgetary impact 

2 of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan pro3 grams or the rights and obligations of recipi4 ents thereof; or 

5 (D) raise novel legal or policy issues; and 

6 (4) the term ‘‘small entities’’ has the meaning 

7 given such term under section 601(6) of title 5, 

8 United States Code. 

9 SEC. 3. SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTIONS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—No agency may take any signifi11 cant regulatory action, until the Bureau of Labor Statis12 tics average of monthly unemployment rates for any quar13 ter beginning after the date of enactment of this Act is 

14 equal to or less than 6.0 percent. 

15 (b) DETERMINATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall 

16 submit a report to the Director of the Office of Manage17 ment and Budget whenever the Secretary determines that 

18 the Bureau of Labor Statistics average of monthly unem19 ployment rates for any quarter beginning after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act is equal to or less than 6.0 per21 cent. 

22 SEC. 4. WAIVERS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of this Act, an agency may take a significant regu25 latory action if the President makes a determination under 


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1 subsection (b) and submits written notice of such deter2 mination to the Congress. 

3 (b) DETERMINATION BY THE PRESIDENT.—Sub4 section (a) applies to a determination made by the Presi5 dent by Executive order that an agency should take the 

6 significant regulatory action because such significant reg7 ulatory action is— 

8 (1) necessary because of an imminent threat to 

9 health or safety or other emergency; 

10 (2) necessary for the enforcement of criminal 

11 laws; 

12 (3) necessary for the national security of the 

13 United States; or 

14 (4) issued pursuant to any statute imple15 menting an international trade agreement. 

16 SEC. 5. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

17 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘small 

18 business’’ means any business, including an unincor19 porated business or a sole proprietorship, that employs not 

20 more than 500 employees or that has a net worth of less 

21 than $7,000,000 on the date a civil action arising under 

22 this Act is filed. 

23 (b) REVIEW.—Any person who is adversely affected 

24 or aggrieved by any significant regulatory action in viola25 tion of this Act is entitled to judicial review in accordance 


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1 with chapter 7 of title 5, United States Code. Any deter2 mination by the President under this Act shall be subject 

3 to judicial review under such chapter. 

4 (c) JURISDICTION.—Each court having jurisdiction 

5 to review any significant regulatory action for compliance 

6 with any other provision of law shall have jurisdiction to 

7 review all claims under this Act. 

8 (d) RELIEF.—In granting any relief in any civil ac9 tion under this section, the court shall order the agency 

10 to take corrective action consistent with this Act and chap11 ter 7 of title 5, United States Code, including remanding 

12 the significant regulatory action to the agency and enjoin13 ing the application or enforcement of that significant regu14 latory action, unless the court finds by a preponderance 

15 of the evidence that application or enforcement is required 

16 to protect against an imminent and serious threat to the 

17 national security of the United States. 

18 (e) REASONABLE ATTORNEY’S FEES FOR SMALL

19 BUSINESSES.—The court shall award reasonable attor20 ney’s fees and costs to a substantially prevailing small 

21 business in any civil action arising under this Act. A party 

22 qualifies as substantially prevailing even without obtaining 

23 a final judgment in its favor if the agency that took the 

24 significant regulatory action changes its position after the 

25 civil action is filed. 


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1 (f) LIMITATION ON COMMENCING CIVIL ACTION.— 

2 A person may seek and obtain judicial review during the 

3 1-year period beginning on the date of the challenged 

4 agency action or within 90 days after an enforcement ac5 tion or notice thereof, except that where another provision 

6 of law requires that a civil action be commenced before 

7 the expiration of that 1-year period, such lesser period 

8 shall apply. 

Æ 


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