II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 69 

To codify and modify regulatory requirements of Federal agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 9, 2017 

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. FLAKE, Mr. CRAPO, and Mr. 

WICKER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To codify and modify regulatory requirements of Federal 

agencies. 

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 Responsi5 bility for our Economy Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means— 

9 (A) an agency, as defined in 3502(1) of 

10 title 44, United States Code; and 


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1 (B) an independent regulatory agency, as 

2 defined in section 3502(5) of title 44, United 

3 States Code; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘regulation’’— 

5 (A) means an agency statement of general 

6 applicability and future effect, which the agency 

7 intends to have the force and effect of law, that 

8 is designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe 

9 law or policy or to describe the procedure or 

10 practice requirements of an agency; and 

11 (B) does not include— 

12 (i) regulations issued in accordance 

13 with the formal rule making provisions of 

14 sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United 

15 States Code; 

16 (ii) regulations that pertain to a mili17 tary or foreign affairs function of the 

18 United States, other than procurement 

19 regulations and regulations involving the 

20 import or export of non-defense articles 

21 and services; or 

22 (iii) regulations that are limited to 

23 agency organization, management, or per24 sonnel matters; 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘regulatory action’’ means any 

2 substantive action by an agency (normally published 

3 in the Federal Register) that promulgates or is ex4 pected to lead to the promulgation of a final regula5 tion, including notices of inquiry, advance notices of 

6 proposed rulemaking, and notices of proposed rule7 making; and 

8 (4) the term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

9 means any regulatory action that is likely to result 

10 in a regulation that may— 

11 (A) have an annual effect on the economy 

12 of $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect in 

13 a material way the economy, a sector of the 

14 economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 

15 environment, public health or safety, or State, 

16 local, or tribal governments or communities; 

17 (B) create a serious inconsistency or other18 wise interfere with an action taken or planned 

19 by another agency; 

20 (C) materially alter the budgetary impact 

21 of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan pro22 grams or the rights and obligation of recipients 

23 thereof; 

24 (D) add to the national debt; or 


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1 (E) raise novel legal or policy issues aris2 ing out of legal mandates, the President’s prior3 ities, or the principles set forth in this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. AGENCY REQUIREMENTS. 

5 (a) FEDERAL REGULATORY SYSTEM.—The Federal 

6 regulatory system shall— 

7 (1) protect the public health, welfare, safety, 

8 and the environment of the United States, especially 

9 those promoting economic growth, innovation, com10 petitiveness, and job creation; 

11 (2) be based on the best available science and 

12 information; 

13 (3) allow for public participation and an open 

14 exchange of ideas; 

15 (4) promote predictability and reduce uncer16 tainty, including adherence to a clearly articulated 

17 timeline for the release of regulatory documents at 

18 all stages of the regulatory process; 

19 (5) identify and use the best, most innovative, 

20 and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory 

21 ends; 

22 (6) take into account benefits and costs, both 

23 quantitative and qualitative; 


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1 (7) ensure that regulations are accessible, con2 sistent, written in plain language, and easy to under3 stand; and 

4 (8) measure, and seek to improve, the actual re5 sults of regulatory requirements. 

6 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each agency shall— 

7 (1) propose or adopt a regulation only upon a 

8 reasoned determination that the benefits of the regu9 lation justify the costs of the regulation to the extent 

10 permitted by law; 

11 (2) tailor regulations of the agency to impose 

12 the least burden on society, consistent with obtain13 ing regulatory objectives, taking into account, among 

14 other things, the costs of cumulative regulations; 

15 (3) in choosing among alternative regulatory 

16 approaches, select those approaches that maximize 

17 net benefits, including potential economic, environ18 mental, public health and safety, and other advan19 tages, distributive impacts, and equity; 

20 (4) specify performance objectives, rather than 

21 specifying the behavior or manner of compliance 

22 that regulated entities are required to adopt; 

23 (5) identify and assess available alternatives to 

24 direct regulation, including providing economic in25 centives to encourage the desired behavior, such as 


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1 user fees or marketable permits, or providing infor2 mation upon which choices can be made by the pub3 lic; and 

4 (6) use the best available techniques to quantify 

5 anticipated present and future benefits and costs. 

6 SEC. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Regulations shall be— 

8 (1) adopted through a process that involves 

9 public participation; and 

10 (2) based, to the extent consistent with law, on 

11 the open exchange of information and perspectives 

12 among State, local, and tribal officials, experts in 

13 relevant disciplines, affected stakeholders in the pri14 vate sector, and the public as a whole. 

15 (b) OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE.—Each agency 

16 shall— 

17 (1) provide the public with an opportunity to 

18 participate in the regulatory process; 

19 (2) as authorized by law, afford the public a 

20 meaningful opportunity to comment through the 

21 Internet on any proposed regulation, with a com22 ment period that shall begin on the date on which 

23 the proposed regulation is published in the Federal 

24 Register and be not less than 60 days, unless the 

25 relevant regulation is designated by the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Jan 19, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S69.IS S69

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1 trator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

2 Affairs to be an emergency rule; 

3 (3) provide, for both proposed and final rules, 

4 timely online access to the rule making docket on 

5 regulations.gov, including relevant scientific and 

6 technical findings, in an open format that can be 

7 easily searched and downloaded; and 

8 (4) for proposed rules, provide access to in9 clude, to the extent permitted by law, an opportunity 

10 for public comment on all pertinent parts of the rule 

11 making docket, including relevant scientific and 

12 technical findings. 

13 (c) SEEKING AFFECTED PARTIES.—Before issuing a 

14 notice of proposed rule making, each agency shall, where 

15 appropriate, seek the views of those who are likely to be 

16 affected, including those who are likely to benefit from and 

17 those who are potentially subject to such rule making. 

18 (d) DELAY OF IMPLEMENTATION.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency shall delay imple20 mentation of an interim final rule until final disposi21 tion of a challenge is entered by a court in the 

22 United States, if— 

23 (A) the agency excepted the rule from no24 tice and public procedure under section 

25 553(b)(B) of title 5, United States Code; and 


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1 (B) the agency exception of the rule de2 scribed under paragraph (1) is challenged in a 

3 court in the United States. 

4 (2) LENGTH OF DELAY.—If implementation of 

5 an interim final rule is delayed under paragraph (1), 

6 the delay shall continue until a final disposition of 

7 the challenge is entered by the court. 

8 SEC. 5. INTEGRATION AND INNOVATION. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

10 (1) some sectors and industries face a signifi11 cant number of regulatory requirements, some of 

12 which may be redundant, inconsistent, or overlap13 ping; and 

14 (2) greater coordination across agencies should 

15 reduce these requirements, thus reducing costs and 

16 simplifying and harmonizing rules. 

17 (b) PROMOTION OF INNOVATION.—In developing reg18 ulatory actions and identifying appropriate approaches, 

19 each agency shall— 

20 (1) promote coordination, simplification, and 

21 harmonization; and 

22 (2) identify means to achieve regulatory goals 

23 that are designed to promote innovation. 


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1 SEC. 6. FLEXIBLE APPROACHES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall identify and 

3 consider regulatory approaches that reduce burdens, espe4 cially economic burdens, and maintain flexibility and free5 dom of choice for the public. 

6 (b) CONTENTS.—The approaches described under 

7 subsection (a) shall include warnings, appropriate default 

8 rules, disclosure requirements, and the provision of infor9 mation to the public in a form that is clear and intelligible. 

10 SEC. 7. SCIENCE. 

11 Each agency shall ensure the objectivity of any sci12 entific and technological information and processes used 

13 to support the regulatory actions of the agency. 

14 SEC. 8. RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES OF EXISTING RULES. 

15 (a) RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate the periodic re17 view of existing significant regulatory actions, agen18 cies shall consider how best to promote retrospective 

19 analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, 

20 insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to mod21 ify, streamline, expand, or repeal such regulations in 

22 accordance with what has been learned. 

23 (2) AGREEMENT.—Once every 5 years, each 

24 agency may enter into an agreement with a qualified 

25 private organization to conduct the retrospective 

26 analysis described in paragraph (1) of the agency. 


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1 (3) PUBLICATION ONLINE.—Any retrospective 

2 analyses conducted under this subsection, including 

3 supporting data, shall be published online. 

4 (b) AGENCY PLANS.— 

5 (1) PLAN.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

7 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

8 each agency shall develop and submit to the ap9 propriate congressional committees a prelimi10 nary plan for reviewing significant regulatory 

11 actions issued by the agency, consistent with 

12 law, under which the agency shall review its ex13 isting significant regulatory actions once every 

14 5 years to determine whether such regulations 

15 should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or 

16 repealed so as to make the regulatory program 

17 of the agency more effective or less burdensome 

18 in achieving the regulatory objectives. 

19 (B) REPEAL.—If the plan described in 

20 subparagraph (A) includes suggestions for 

21 needed repeals, a timeline for such repeals shall 

22 also be included in the plan. 

23 (2) REPORT.—Upon completion of a review 

24 under a plan submitted under paragraph (1), each 


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1 agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

2 committees a report that— 

3 (A) describes the outcome of the review, 

4 including which regulations were modified, 

5 streamlined, expanded, or repealed; 

6 (B) describes the reasons for the modifica7 tions, streamlining, expansions, or repeals de8 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

9 (C) in any case where an agency did not 

10 take action, describes the reasons why the agen11 cy did not take action to modify, streamline, ex12 pand, or repeal any significant regulatory ac13 tions. 

14 SEC. 9. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

15 Any person may file a petition for judicial review of 

16 any agency action required under this Act within the 

17 United States Court of Appeals for the District of Colum18 bia Circuit or for the circuit in which such person resides 

19 or in which such person’s principal place of business is 

20 located. Courts of appeals of the United States shall have 

21 exclusive jurisdiction of any action to obtain judicial re22 view (other than in an enforcement proceeding) of such 

23 an action if any district court of the United States would 

24 have had jurisdiction of such action but for this section. 

Æ 


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