II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 676 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to require the Administrator of 

the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs to review regulations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2017 

Mr. ROUNDS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to require the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs to review regulations, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘OIRA Insight, Reform, 

5 and Accountability Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF2 FAIRS. 

3 (a) AMENDMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 35 of 

4 title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 3522. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 

7 Regulatory Working Group; regulatory 

8 plan; Unified Agenda 

9 ‘‘(a) REGULATORY WORKING GROUP.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT; MEMBERS.—The Admin11 istrator shall convene a working group to be known 

12 as the Regulatory Working Group, whose members 

13 shall consist of the following: 

14 ‘‘(A) The Administrator. 

15 ‘‘(B) Representatives selected by the head 

16 of each agency that the Administrator deter17 mines to have significant domestic regulatory 

18 responsibility. 

19 ‘‘(C) Other executive branch officials as 

20 designated by the Administrator. 

21 ‘‘(2) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Regulatory 

22 Working Group shall be the Administrator, who 

23 shall periodically advise Congress on the activities of 

24 the Regulatory Working Group. 

25 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The Regulatory Working 

26 Group shall serve as a forum to assist agencies in 


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1 identifying and analyzing important regulatory 

2 issues, including, at a minimum— 

3 ‘‘(A) the development of innovative regu4 latory techniques; 

5 ‘‘(B) the methods, efficacy, and utility of 

6 comparative risk assessment in regulatory deci7 sionmaking; 

8 ‘‘(C) the development of streamlined regu9 latory approaches for small businesses and 

10 other entities; and 

11 ‘‘(D) the methods used to ensure agencies 

12 coordinate with State, local, and tribal govern13 ments. 

14 ‘‘(4) MEETINGS.—The Regulatory Working 

15 Group shall meet not less than quarterly and may 

16 meet as a whole or in subgroups of members with 

17 an interest in particular issues or subject areas. 

18 ‘‘(5) ANALYTICAL STUDIES.—To inform the 

19 discussion of the Regulatory Working Group, the 

20 Regulatory Working Group may request analytical 

21 studies and reports by the Office of Information and 

22 Regulatory Affairs, the Administrative Conference of 

23 the United States, or any other agency. 

24 ‘‘(b) REGULATORY PLAN.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) DEADLINE FOR AND DESCRIPTION OF

2 REGULATORY PLAN.—Not later than June 1 of 

3 each year, the head of each agency shall ap4 prove and submit to the Administrator a regu5 latory plan that includes each significant regu6 latory action that the agency reasonably expects 

7 to issue in proposed or final form in the fol8 lowing fiscal year or thereafter and the retro9 spective review described in paragraph (2). The 

10 regulatory plan shall also contain, at a min11 imum, the following: 

12 ‘‘(i) A statement of the regulatory ob13 jectives and priorities of the agency. 

14 ‘‘(ii) A summary of each planned sig15 nificant regulatory action including, to the 

16 extent possible, alternatives to be consid17 ered and preliminary estimates of the an18 ticipated costs and benefits of such action. 

19 ‘‘(iii) A summary of the legal basis for 

20 each such action, including whether any 

21 aspect of the action is required by statute 

22 or court order. 

23 ‘‘(iv) A statement of the need for each 

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1 ty, or the environment, as well as how the 

2 magnitude of the risk addressed by the ac3 tion relates to any other risk within the ju4 risdiction of the agency. 

5 ‘‘(v) A summary of the agency’s plan 

6 to coordinate with State, local, and tribal 

7 governments throughout the regulatory 

8 process. 

9 ‘‘(vi) A description of any action 

10 taken by the agency to ensure that each 

11 planned significant regulatory action is not 

12 duplicative or conflicting with any other 

13 existing or planned regulatory action. 

14 ‘‘(vii) The schedule for each such ac15 tion, including a statement of any applica16 ble statutory or judicial deadline. 

17 ‘‘(viii) The name, email address, and 

18 telephone number of a knowledgeable agen19 cy employee the public may contact for ad20 ditional information about each such ac21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(B) CIRCULATION OF REGULATORY

23 PLAN.—Not later than 10 days after receiving 

24 the regulatory plan under subparagraph (A), 

25 the Administrator shall circulate the regulatory 


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1 plan to any other agency the Administrator de2 termines may be affected by the plan. 

3 ‘‘(C) AGENCY NOTIFICATION TO OIRA OF

4 CONFLICTING SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY AC5 TIONS.—The head of an agency shall promptly 

6 notify the Administrator in writing if any 

7 planned significant regulatory action in the reg8 ulatory plan of another agency may conflict 

9 with the policy or action taken or planned by 

10 that agency. The Administrator shall forward 

11 any notification received under this subpara12 graph to the other agency involved. 

13 ‘‘(D) NOTIFICATION OF CONFLICTING SIG14 NIFICANT REGULATORY ACTIONS.—The Admin15 istrator shall notify the head of an agency in 

16 writing if any planned significant regulatory ac17 tion conflicts with any policy or action taken or 

18 planned by another agency. 

19 ‘‘(E) REQUIREMENT TO PUBLISH IN UNI20 FIED AGENDA.—Each regulatory plan sub21 mitted by the head of an agency under subpara22 graph (A) shall be included in the October pub23 lication of the Unified Agenda described under 

24 subsection (c). 

25 ‘‘(2) RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) LIST OF OUTDATED REGULATIONS.— 

2 The head of each agency shall include in the 

3 regulatory plan submitted under paragraph 

4 (1)(A) a list of regulations that have been iden5 tified by the agency (including any comments 

6 submitted to the agency) as unjustified, unnec7 essary, duplicative of other regulations or laws, 

8 inappropriately burdensome, or otherwise rec9 ommended for removal. 

10 ‘‘(B) DESCRIPTION OF RETROSPECTIVE

11 REVIEW.—The head of each agency shall in12 clude in the regulatory plan submitted under 

13 paragraph (1)(A) a description of any program 

14 or other effort to review existing regulations to 

15 determine whether any such regulations should 

16 be modified or eliminated in order to increase 

17 the effectiveness in achieving the regulatory ob18 jectives of the agency or to reduce the burden 

19 of regulations. The agency shall include any 

20 statutory requirements that require the agency 

21 to promulgate or continue to impose regulations 

22 that the agency believes are unnecessary or out23 dated by reason of changed circumstances. 

24 ‘‘(C) OIRA COORDINATED REVIEW.—The 

25 head of each agency shall submit the program 


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1 descriptions required in subparagraph (B) to 

2 the Administrator. The Administrator shall 

3 work with other interested entities and agen4 cies, including through the processes established 

5 under subsection (d), to review the list of regu6 lations identified under subparagraph (A) and 

7 such entities may assist OIRA and the agencies 

8 with identifying regulations or groups of regula9 tions that— 

10 ‘‘(i) impose significant or unique bur11 dens on governmental entities and that are 

12 no longer justified; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) affect a particular group, indus14 try, or sector of the economy. 

15 ‘‘(c) UNIFIED AGENDA.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION OF REGULATIONS UNDER DE17 VELOPMENT OR REVIEW.—Not later than March 15 

18 and September 15 of each year, the head of each 

19 agency shall submit to the Administrator an agenda 

20 of each regulation under development or review in 

21 accordance with any guidance issued under this sec22 tion. Each agenda shall include, to the extent prac23 ticable, the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) For each regulation— 

25 ‘‘(i) a regulation identifier number; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) a brief summary of the regula2 tion; 

3 ‘‘(iii) a citation to the legal authority 

4 to issue the regulation; 

5 ‘‘(iv) any legal deadline for the 

6 issuance of the regulation; 

7 ‘‘(v) the name and phone number for 

8 a knowledgeable agency employee; and 

9 ‘‘(vi) the stage of review for issuing 

10 the regulation. 

11 ‘‘(B) For each regulation expected to be 

12 promulgated within the following 18 months— 

13 ‘‘(i) a determination of whether the 

14 regulation is expected to be a significant 

15 regulatory action or an economically sig16 nificant regulatory action; 

17 ‘‘(ii) any available clear summary of 

18 the expected costs or benefits; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) efforts to coordinate with State, 

20 local, and tribal governments. 

21 ‘‘(C) For any regulation included in the 

22 immediately previous agenda, an explanation of 

23 why the regulation is no longer included. 

24 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION OF UNIFIED AGENDA RE25 QUIRED.—Not later than April 15 and October 15 


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1 of each year, the Administrator shall compile and 

2 publish online each agenda received under paragraph 

3 (1) (to be known as the ‘Unified Agenda’). 

4 ‘‘(3) GUIDANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

6 shall issue guidance for agencies on the manner 

7 of submission under this subsection and on 

8 meeting the requirements of this subsection, in9 cluding a standard definition for each stage of 

10 review and any other definition that would as11 sist the public in understanding the different 

12 terms used by agencies to submit the agenda 

13 required under paragraph (1). 

14 ‘‘(B) UPDATES.—The Administrator shall 

15 periodically review compliance with this section 

16 and issue guidance or recommendations to as17 sist agencies in complying with this section. 

18 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH STATE, LOCAL, AND

19 TRIBAL GOVERNMENTS AND THE PUBLIC.— 

20 ‘‘(1) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERN21 MENTS.—The Administrator shall meet not less than 

22 quarterly with representatives of State, local, and 

23 tribal governments to identify both existing and pro24 posed regulations and policies that may uniquely or 

25 significantly affect those government entities. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC.—The Administrator shall periodi2 cally convene conferences with representatives of 

3 businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and the 

4 public to discuss regulatory issues of common con5 cern. 

6 ‘‘(e) BEST PRACTICES.—The Administrator shall, in 

7 consultation with the Regulatory Working Group and the 

8 entities described in subsection (d), periodically develop 

9 advice and guidance for agencies on best practices of the 

10 development of regulations. 

11 ‘‘§ 3523. OIRA coordinated review of significant regu12 latory actions 

13 ‘‘(a) OIRA REVIEW.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

15 conduct a Governmentwide coordinated review of 

16 significant regulatory actions to ensure that such 

17 regulations are consistent with applicable law and 

18 that a regulatory action by one agency does not con19 flict with a policy or action taken or planned by an20 other agency. 

21 ‘‘(2) PERIODIC AGENCY SUBMISSION OF

22 PLANNED REGULATORY ACTIONS.—The head of each 

23 agency shall provide to the Administrator, at such 

24 time and in such a manner as determined by the Ad25 ministrator, a list of each planned regulatory action 


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1 with an identification of whether each such regu2 latory action is a significant regulatory action. 

3 ‘‘(3) REVIEW OF SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY AC4 TION REQUIRED.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

6 shall make a determination of whether any 

7 planned regulatory action submitted under this 

8 section is a significant regulatory action and 

9 shall review each such significant regulatory ac10 tion in accordance with this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) NOT SUBJECT TO REVIEW.—Any 

12 planned regulatory action determined by the 

13 Administrator not to be a significant regulatory 

14 action is not subject to review under this sec15 tion. 

16 ‘‘(C) NOTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Not later 

17 than 10 days after a planned regulatory action 

18 has been determined to be a significant regu19 latory action, the Administrator shall notify the 

20 head of the relevant agency of such determina21 tion. 

22 ‘‘(4) WAIVER OF REVIEW FOR SIGNIFICANT

23 REGULATORY ACTION.—The Administrator— 


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1 ‘‘(A) may waive review of any planned reg2 ulatory action designated as a significant regu3 latory action; and 

4 ‘‘(B) shall publish online a detailed written 

5 explanation of any such waiver. 

6 ‘‘(b) AGENCY CONSULTATION WITH OIRA.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An agency may consult 

8 with OIRA at any time on any regulatory action. 

9 OIRA shall maintain a log of each agency consulta10 tion with OIRA before submitting the significant 

11 regulatory action for review under this section, in12 cluding the date of the consultation, the name of 

13 each agency official involved with the consultation, 

14 and a description of the purpose of the consultation. 

15 ‘‘(2) REGULATION IDENTIFIER NUMBER.—The 

16 head of an agency shall make every effort to obtain 

17 a regulation identifier number for the regulatory ac18 tion that is the subject of the consultation before 

19 consulting with OIRA. 

20 ‘‘(3) CONSULTATION INFORMATION RE21 QUIRED.—If the head of an agency is unable to ob22 tain the regulation identifier number as described in 

23 paragraph (2), the head of the agency shall provide 

24 the regulation identifier number to OIRA as soon as 

25 the number is obtained with a list of any previous 


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1 interactions with OIRA relating to the regulatory ac2 tion that is the subject of the consultation. 

3 ‘‘(c) AGENCY SUBMISSION OF SIGNIFICANT REGU4 LATORY ACTION FOR REVIEW.—Before issuing a signifi5 cant regulatory action, the head of an agency shall submit 

6 the significant regulatory action to the Administrator for 

7 review and shall include the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) The text of the significant regulatory ac9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(2) A detailed description of the need for the 

11 significant regulatory action. 

12 ‘‘(3) An explanation of how the significant reg13 ulatory action will meet the identified need. 

14 ‘‘(4) An assessment of potential costs and bene15 fits of the significant regulatory action. 

16 ‘‘(5) An explanation of the manner in which the 

17 significant regulatory action is consistent with a 

18 statutory mandate and avoids undue interference 

19 with State, local, and tribal government functions. 

20 ‘‘(6) An explanation of agency efforts to coordi21 nate with State, local, and tribal governments 

22 throughout the regulatory process. 

23 ‘‘(7) For an economically significant regulatory 

24 action, if any of the following was developed during 

25 the decisionmaking process of the agency: 


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1 ‘‘(A) An assessment of and quantification 

2 of costs and benefits of the significant regu3 latory action. 

4 ‘‘(B) An assessment of and quantification 

5 of costs and benefits of potentially effective and 

6 feasible alternatives, including any underlying 

7 analysis. 

8 ‘‘(C) An explanation of why the planned 

9 significant regulatory action is preferable to any 

10 identified potential alternatives. 

11 ‘‘(d) DEADLINES FOR REVIEW.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REVIEW COORDINATION.—To the extent 

13 practicable, the head of each agency shall work with 

14 the Administrator to establish a mutually agreeable 

15 date on which to submit a significant regulatory ac16 tion for review. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXPEDITED REVIEW.—When an agency is 

18 obligated by law to issue a significant regulatory ac19 tion before complying with the provisions of this sec20 tion, the head of the agency shall notify the Admin21 istrator as soon as possible. To the extent prac22 ticable, OIRA and the agency shall comply with the 

23 provisions of this section. 

24 ‘‘(3) 10-DAY REVIEW.—In the case of a signifi25 cant regulatory action that is a notice of inquiry, adVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:15 Mar 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S676.IS S676

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1 vance notice of proposed rule making, or other pre2 liminary regulatory action prior to a notice of pro3 posed rule making, within 10 business days after the 

4 date of submission of the action to the Adminis5 trator, OIRA shall complete the review. 

6 ‘‘(4) 90-DAY REVIEW.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

8 subparagraph (B), for any other significant reg9 ulatory action not described in paragraph (3), 

10 within 90 days after the date of submission of 

11 the action, OIRA shall complete the review. 

12 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION 45-DAY REVIEW.—If 

13 OIRA has previously reviewed the significant 

14 regulatory action described in subparagraph (A) 

15 and, since that review, there has been no mate16 rial change in the facts and circumstances upon 

17 which the significant regulatory action is based, 

18 OIRA shall complete the review within 45 days 

19 after submission of the action. 

20 ‘‘(5) EXTENSION.—Any review described under 

21 this subsection may be extended for any number of 

22 additional 30-day periods upon mutual agreement of 

23 the Administrator and the head of the agency. For 

24 each 30-day extension, the Administrator shall make 

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1 cluding the reasons for the extension and an esti2 mate of the expected conclusion date. 

3 ‘‘(6) RETURN.—If the Administrator deter4 mines OIRA is unable to conclude a review within 

5 the time period described under this subsection, the 

6 Administrator may return the draft of the signifi7 cant regulatory action to the agency with a written 

8 explanation of why OIRA was unable to complete 

9 the review and what additional information, re10 sources, or time OIRA would need to complete the 

11 review. 

12 ‘‘(7) WITHDRAWAL.—An agency may withdraw 

13 the regulatory action from OIRA review at any time 

14 prior to the completion of the review. 

15 ‘‘(e) COMPLIANCE REVIEW.—The Administrator 

16 shall review any significant regulatory action submitted 

17 under subsection (c) to determine the extent to which the 

18 agency— 

19 ‘‘(1) identified the problem that the significant 

20 regulatory action is designed to address (including, 

21 where applicable, the failures of private markets or 

22 public institutions that warrant new agency action); 

23 ‘‘(2) assessed the significance of the problem 

24 the regulatory action is designed to address; 


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1 ‘‘(3) examined whether existing regulations or 

2 laws have created or contributed to the problem that 

3 the regulatory action is designed to correct and 

4 whether those regulations or laws should be modified 

5 to achieve the intended goal more effectively; 

6 ‘‘(4) identified and assessed available alter7 natives to direct regulation, including providing eco8 nomic incentives to encourage desired behaviors, 

9 such as user fees or marketable permits, or pro10 viding information upon which choices can be made 

11 by the public; 

12 ‘‘(5) considered, to the extent reasonable, the 

13 degree and nature of the risks posed by various sub14 stances or activities within the jurisdiction of the 

15 agency; 

16 ‘‘(6) designed the regulatory action to be the 

17 most cost-effective manner to achieve the regulatory 

18 objective; 

19 ‘‘(7) considered incentives for innovation, con20 sistency, predictability, flexibility, distributive im21 pacts, equity, and the costs of enforcement and com22 pliance by the Government, regulated entities, and 

23 the public; 


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1 ‘‘(8) assessed costs and benefits of the regu2 latory action and made a reasoned determination 

3 that the benefits justify the costs; 

4 ‘‘(9) used the best reasonably obtainable sci5 entific, technical, economic, and other information 

6 concerning the need for and consequences of the reg7 ulatory action; 

8 ‘‘(10) identified and assessed alternative forms 

9 of regulation and, to the extent feasible, specified 

10 performance objectives rather than behavior or man11 ner of compliance; 

12 ‘‘(11) sought comments and suggestions from 

13 impacted State, local, and tribal officials on any as14 pect of the regulatory action that might significantly 

15 or uniquely affect those governmental entities; 

16 ‘‘(12) assessed the effects of the regulatory ac17 tion on State, local, and tribal governments, includ18 ing specifically the availability of resources to carry 

19 out the regulatory action, and minimized the bur20 dens that uniquely or significantly affect such gov21 ernmental entities, consistent with achieving regu22 latory objectives; 

23 ‘‘(13) harmonized the regulatory action with 

24 the regulatory and other functions of State, local, 

25 and tribal governments; 


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1 ‘‘(14) avoided conflicts with or duplication of 

2 other existing regulations; 

3 ‘‘(15) tailored the regulatory action to impose 

4 the least burden on society, including individuals, 

5 businesses of differing sizes, and other entities (in6 cluding small communities and governmental enti7 ties), consistent with obtaining the regulatory objec8 tives, and taking into account, among other things 

9 and to the extent practicable, the costs of cumulative 

10 regulations; 

11 ‘‘(16) drafted the regulatory action to be simple 

12 and easy to understand, and minimized the potential 

13 for uncertainty and litigation arising from such un14 certainty; 

15 ‘‘(17) met all applicable Executive order re16 quirements; 

17 ‘‘(18) met all applicable statutory requirements; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(19) complied with all applicable guidance. 

20 ‘‘(f) QUALITY REVIEW.—For any significant regu21 latory action submitted under subsection (c), OIRA shall 

22 review the extent to which the agency conducted a mean23 ingful and complete analysis of each of the factors de24 scribed in subsection (e), considering best practices, meth25 ods observed through reviewing other agencies, comments 


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1 from stakeholders, and other resources that may improve 

2 the quality of the process. 

3 ‘‘(g) INTERAGENCY CONSULTATION.—The Adminis4 trator shall identify each agency potentially affected, inter5 ested, or otherwise likely to provide valuable feedback on 

6 a significant regulatory action submitted under subsection 

7 (c) and facilitate a meaningful interagency consultation 

8 process. The Administrator shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) provide each identified agency with a copy 

10 of the draft regulatory action; 

11 ‘‘(2) allow each identified agency to review the 

12 draft regulatory action for a sufficient period of 

13 time, not less than 10 business days; 

14 ‘‘(3) solicit written comments from such agency; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(4) as appropriate, facilitate conversations be17 tween agencies. 

18 ‘‘(h) STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATION.—For all sub19 stantive communications between OIRA and individuals 

20 not employed by the executive branch regarding a regu21 latory action submitted to the Administrator for review 

22 under this section, the Administrator shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) invite the issuing agency to any meeting 

24 between OIRA personnel and individuals not em25 ployed by the executive branch; 


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1 ‘‘(2) not later than 10 business days after re2 ceipt of any written communication submitted by 

3 any individual not employed by the executive branch, 

4 make such communications available to the public 

5 online; and 

6 ‘‘(3) make available to the public online a log, 

7 which shall be updated daily, of the following infor8 mation: 

9 ‘‘(A) The status of each regulatory action. 

10 ‘‘(B) A copy of any written communication 

11 submitted by any person not employed by the 

12 executive branch. 

13 ‘‘(C) The dates and names of persons in14 volved in any substantive oral communication 

15 and the subject matter discussed during such 

16 communication. 

17 ‘‘(i) CONCLUSION OF REVIEW.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PROVISION TO AGENCY.—Upon completion 

19 of a review under this section, the Administrator 

20 shall provide the head of an agency with the results 

21 of the OIRA review in writing, including a list of 

22 every standard, Executive order, guidance document, 

23 and law reviewed for compliance and the results for 

24 each. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CHANGES DURING REVIEW PERIOD.—As 

2 soon as practicable and before publication in the 

3 Federal Register of a significant regulatory action 

4 for which OIRA concluded review under this section, 

5 the head of the submitting agency shall make avail6 able to the Administrator a redline of any changes 

7 the agency made to the regulatory action during the 

8 review period. To the extent practicable, the agency 

9 shall identify any change made at the suggestion or 

10 recommendation of any other agency, member of the 

11 public, or other source. To the extent practicable, 

12 the agency should identify the source of any such 

13 change. 

14 ‘‘§ 3524. Disclosure of regulatory review 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—On the earlier of the date on 

16 which an agency publishes a significant regulatory action 

17 reviewed under section 3523 in the Federal Register, the 

18 agency otherwise makes the significant regulatory action 

19 publicly available, or the agency announces a decision not 

20 to publish the regulatory action, the Administrator shall 

21 make available to the public online— 

22 ‘‘(1) all information submitted by an agency 

23 under section 3523; 

24 ‘‘(2) the results of the review provided to the 

25 agency under section 3523; 


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1 ‘‘(3) the redline of any changes made by the 

2 agency during the course of the review provided 

3 under section 3523(i)(2); 

4 ‘‘(4) all documents exchanged between senior 

5 level officials at OIRA and the agency during the re6 view; and 

7 ‘‘(5) a list of each consultation described in sec8 tion 3523(b). 

9 ‘‘(b) AGENCY DISCLOSURE.—Each agency that sub10 mits a significant regulatory action to OIRA under section 

11 3522 or 3523 shall maintain on the website of the agency 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) A list of each active regulatory action, in14 cluding the status of the regulatory action or a link 

15 to each entry on the Unified Agenda. 

16 ‘‘(2) The most recent regulatory plan of the 

17 agency. 

18 ‘‘(3) A link to each record disclosed under sub19 section (a). 

20 ‘‘(c) PLAIN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT.—All infor21 mation provided to the public shall, to the extent prac22 ticable, be in plain, understandable language. 

23 ‘‘(d) RECORDKEEPING.—The Administrator shall en24 sure any record associated with a significant regulatory 

25 action submitted to OIRA under section 3522 or 3523 is 


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1 easily accessible for a period of time consistent with ap2 proved records disposition schedules for the agency, in a 

3 manner that all records associated with a significant regu4 latory action can be promptly submitted to Congress upon 

5 request.’’. 

6 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

7 The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 35 of 

8 title 44, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

9 the item relating to section 3521 the following: 

‘‘3522. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Regulatory Working 

Group; regulatory plan; Unified Agenda. 

‘‘3523. OIRA coordinated review of significant regulatory actions. 

‘‘3524. Disclosure of regulatory review.’’. 

10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3502 of title 44, United 

11 States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) in paragraph (13)(D), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

13 and inserting a semicolon; 

14 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

15 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(15) the term ‘Administrator’ means, unless 

18 otherwise indicated, the Administrator of the Office 

19 of Information and Regulatory Affairs; 

20 ‘‘(16) the term ‘economically significant regu21 latory action’ means any regulatory action described 

22 in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (21); 


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1 ‘‘(17) the term ‘OIRA’ means the Office of In2 formation and Regulatory Affairs; 

3 ‘‘(18) the term ‘regulation’— 

4 ‘‘(A) means an agency statement of gen5 eral applicability and future effect, which the 

6 agency intends to have the force and effect of 

7 law, that is designed to implement, interpret, or 

8 prescribe law or policy or to describe the proce9 dure or practice requirements of an agency; and 

10 ‘‘(B) does not include such a statement 

11 if— 

12 ‘‘(i) issued in accordance with the for13 mal rule making provisions of sections 556 

14 and 557 of title 5; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the statement pertains to a mili16 tary or foreign affairs function of the 

17 United States, other than procurement 

18 regulations and regulations involving the 

19 import or export of nondefense articles and 

20 services; 

21 ‘‘(iii) the statement is limited to an 

22 agency organization, management, or per23 sonnel matters; or 

24 ‘‘(iv) the statement is exempted as a 

25 regulation by the Administrator and a 


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•S 676 IS

1 written explanation of the exemption, in2 cluding the date of the decision and the 

3 reasons for exempting the specific state4 ment, is made publically available online; 

5 ‘‘(19) the term ‘regulation identifier number’ 

6 means a unique identification code for regulations, 

7 which is designed to assist tracking regulations 

8 through the course of development; 

9 ‘‘(20) the term ‘regulatory action’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) any substantive action by an agency 

11 normally published in the Federal Register that 

12 promulgates or is expected to lead to the pro13 mulgation of a final regulation, including no14 tices of inquiry, advance notices of proposed 

15 rule making, and notices of proposed rule mak16 ing; or 

17 ‘‘(B) any agency statement of general ap18 plicability and future effect, other than a sub19 stantive action described in subparagraph (A), 

20 which sets forth a policy on a statutory, regu21 latory, or technical issue or an interpretation of 

22 a statutory or regulatory issue; 

23 ‘‘(21) the term ‘significant regulatory action’ 

24 means any regulatory action that is likely to result 

25 in a regulation that may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) have an annual effect on the economy 

2 of $100,000,000 or more; 

3 ‘‘(B) adversely affect in a material way the 

4 economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, 

5 competition, jobs, the environment, public 

6 health or safety, or State, local, or tribal gov7 ernments or communities; 

8 ‘‘(C) create a serious inconsistency or oth9 erwise interfere with an action taken or planned 

10 by another agency; 

11 ‘‘(D) materially alter the budgetary impact 

12 of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan pro13 grams or the rights and obligations of recipi14 ents therein; or 

15 ‘‘(E) raise novel legal or policy issues aris16 ing out of legal mandates; 

17 ‘‘(22) the term ‘small business’ has the mean18 ing given the term ‘small business concern’ in sec19 tion 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(23) the term ‘State’ means each of the sev22 eral States, the District of Columbia, each territory 

23 or possession of the United States, and each feder24 ally recognized Indian tribe.’’. 


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1 (d) DEADLINE FOR ISSUANCE OF GUIDANCE.—Not 

2 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, the Administrator of the Office of Information and 

4 Regulatory Affairs shall issue any guidance required by 

5 section 3522 of title 44, United States Code, as added by 

6 subsection (a). 

7 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 3524 of title 44, as 

8 added by subsection (a), shall take effect 120 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 3. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

11 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

12 requirements of this Act and the amendments made by 

13 this Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using 

14 amounts otherwise authorized. 

Æ 


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