104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3136

AN ACT

To provide for enactment of the Senior Citizens’

increase in the public debt limit.ness Act of 1996, and to provide for a permanentAct, and the Small Business Growth and FairRight to Work Act of 1996, the Line Item Veto
104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3136

AN ACT

To provide for enactment of the Senior Citizens’ Right to

Work Act of 1996, the Line Item Veto Act, and the

Small Business Growth and Fairness Act of 1996, and

to provide for a permanent increase in the public debt

limit.
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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 ‘‘Contract with America

5 Advancement Act of 1996’’.

6 TITLE I—SOCIAL SECURITY

7 EARNINGS LIMITATION

8 AMENDMENTS

9 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE OF TITLE.

10 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Senior Citizens’ Right

11 to Work Act of 1996’’.

12 SEC. 102. INCREASES IN MONTHLY EXEMPT AMOUNT FOR

13 PURPOSES OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY EARN14 INGS LIMIT.

15 (a) INCREASE IN MONTHLY EXEMPT AMOUNT FOR

16 INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE ATTAINED RETIREMENT

17 AGE.—Section 203(f)(8)(D) of the Social Security Act (42

18 U.S.C. 403(f)(8)(D)) is amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of

20 this subsection, the exempt amount which is applica21 ble to an individual who has attained retirement age

22 (as defined in section 216(l)) before the close of the

23 taxable year involved shall be—
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1 ‘‘(i) for each month of any taxable year

2 ending after 1995 and before 1997,

$1,041.662 3 ⁄3,

4 ‘‘(ii) for each month of any taxable year

5 ending after 1996 and before 1998, $1,125.00,

6 ‘‘(iii) for each month of any taxable year

7 ending after 1997 and before 1999,

$1,208.331 8 ⁄3,

9 ‘‘(iv) for each month of any taxable year

10 ending after 1998 and before 2000,

$1,291.662 11 ⁄3,

12 ‘‘(v) for each month of any taxable year

13 ending after 1999 and before 2001,

$1,416.662 14 ⁄3,

15 ‘‘(vi) for each month of any taxable year

16 ending after 2000 and before 2002,

$2,083.331 17 ⁄3, and

18 ‘‘(vii) for each month of any taxable year

19 ending after 2001 and before 2003,

20 $2,500.00.’’.

21 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

22 (1) Section 203(f)(8)(B)(ii) of such Act (42

23 U.S.C. 403(f)(8)(B)(ii)) is amended—

24 (A) by striking ‘‘the taxable year ending

25 after 1993 and before 1995’’ and inserting ‘‘the
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1 taxable year ending after 2001 and before 2003

2 (with respect to individuals described in sub3 paragraph (D)) or the taxable year ending after

4 1993 and before 1995 (with respect to other in5 dividuals)’’; and

6 (B) in subclause (II), by striking ‘‘for

7 1992’’ and inserting ‘‘for 2000 (with respect to

8 individuals described in subparagraph (D)) or

9 1992 (with respect to other individuals)’’.

10 (2) The second sentence of section 223(d)(4)(A)

11 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(4)(A)) is amended by

12 striking ‘‘the exempt amount under section 203(f)(8)

13 which is applicable to individuals described in sub14 paragraph (D) thereof’’ and inserting the following:

15 ‘‘an amount equal to the exempt amount which

16 would be applicable under section 203(f)(8), to indi17 viduals described in subparagraph (D) thereof, if

18 section 102 of the Senior Citizens’ Right to Work

19 Act of 1996 had not been enacted’’.

20 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

21 this section shall apply with respect to taxable years end22 ing after 1995.

23 SEC. 103. CONTINUING DISABILITY REVIEWS.

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS FOR CON25 TINUING DISABILITY REVIEWS.—Section 201(g)(1)(A) of
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1 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401(g)(1)(A)) is

2 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Of the

3 amounts authorized to be made available out of the Fed4 eral Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the

5 Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund under the pre6 ceding sentence, there are hereby authorized to be made

7 available from either or both of such Trust Funds for con8 tinuing disability reviews—

9 ‘‘(i) for fiscal year 1996, $260,000,000;

10 ‘‘(ii) for fiscal year 1997, $360,000,000;

11 ‘‘(iii) for fiscal year 1998, $570,000,000;

12 ‘‘(iv) for fiscal year 1999, $720,000,000;

13 ‘‘(v) for fiscal year 2000, $720,000,000;

14 ‘‘(vi) for fiscal year 2001, $720,000,000; and

15 ‘‘(viii) for fiscal year 2002, $720,000,000.

16 For purposes of this subparagraph, the term ‘continuing

17 disability review’ means a review conducted pursuant to

18 section 221(i) and a review or disability eligibility redeter19 mination conducted to determine the continuing disability

20 and eligibility of a recipient of benefits under the supple21 mental security income program under title XVI, including

22 any review or redetermination conducted pursuant to sec23 tion 207 or 208 of the Social Security Independence and

24 Program Improvements Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-

25 296).’’.
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1 (b) ADJUSTMENT TO DISCRETIONARY SPENDING

2 LIMITS.—Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and

3 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 is amended by

4 adding the following new subparagraph:

5 ‘‘(H) CONTINUING DISABILITY REVIEWS.—

6 (i) Whenever a bill or joint resolution making

7 appropriations for fiscal year 1996, 1997, 1998,

8 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2002 is enacted that

9 specifies an amount for continuing disability re10 views under the heading ‘Limitation on Admin11 istrative Expenses’ for the Social Security Ad12 ministration, the adjustments for that fiscal

13 year shall be the additional new budget author14 ity provided in that Act for such reviews for

15 that fiscal year and the additional outlays flow16 ing from such amounts, but shall not exceed—

17 ‘‘(I) for fiscal year 1996, $15,000,000

18 in additional new budget authority and

19 $60,000,000 in additional outlays;

20 ‘‘(II) for fiscal year 1997,

21 $25,000,000 in additional new budget au22 thority and $160,000,000 in additional

23 outlays;

24 ‘‘(III) for fiscal year 1998,

25 $145,000,000 in additional new budget au-
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1 thority and $370,000,000 in additional

2 outlays;

3 ‘‘(IV) for fiscal year 1999,

4 $280,000,000 in additional new budget au5 thority and $520,000,000 in additional

6 outlays;

7 ‘‘(V) for fiscal year 2000,

8 $317,500,000 in additional new budget au9 thority and $520,000,000 in additional

10 outlays;

11 ‘‘(VI) for fiscal year 2001,

12 $317,500,000 in additional new budget au13 thority and $520,000,000 in additional

14 outlays; and

15 ‘‘(VII) for fiscal year 2002,

16 $317,500,000 in additional new budget au17 thority and $520,000,000 in additional

18 outlays.

19 ‘‘(ii) As used in this subparagraph—

20 ‘‘(I) the term ‘continuing disability re21 views’ has the meaning given such term by

22 section 201(g)(1)(A) of the Social Security

23 Act;

24 ‘‘(II) the term ‘additional new budget

25 authority’ means new budget authority
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1 provided for a fiscal year, in excess of

2 $100,000,000, for the Supplemental Secu3 rity Income program and specified to pay

4 for the costs of continuing disability re5 views attributable to the Supplemental Se6 curity Income program; and

7 ‘‘(III) the term ‘additional outlays’

8 means outlays, in excess of $200,000,000

9 in a fiscal year, flowing from the amounts

10 specified for continuing disability reviews

11 under the heading ‘Limitation on Adminis12 trative Expenses’ for the Social Security

13 Administration, including outlays in that

14 fiscal year flowing from amounts specified

15 in Acts enacted for prior fiscal years (but

16 not before 1996).’’.

17 (c) BUDGET ALLOCATION ADJUSTMENT BY BUDGET

18 COMMITTEE.—Section 606 of the Congressional Budget

19 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amended by

20 adding the following new subsection:

21 ‘‘(e) CONTINUING DISABILITY REVIEW ADJUST22 MENT.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—(A) For fiscal year 1996,

24 upon the enactment of the Contract with America

25 Advancement Act of 1996, the Chairmen of the
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1 Committees on the Budget of the Senate and House

2 of Representatives shall make the adjustments re3 ferred to in subparagraph (C) to reflect $15,000,000

4 in additional new budget authority and $60,000,000

5 in additional outlays for continuing disability reviews

6 (as defined in section 201(g)(1)(A) of the Social Se7 curity Act).

8 ‘‘(B) When the Committee on Appropriations

9 reports an appropriations measure for fiscal year

10 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2002 that speci11 fies an amount for continuing disability reviews

12 under the heading ‘Limitation on Administrative Ex13 penses’ for the Social Security Administration, or

14 when a conference committee submits a conference

15 report thereon, the Chairman of the Committee on

16 the Budget of the Senate or House of Representa17 tives (whichever is appropriate) shall make the ad18 justments referred to in subparagraph (C) to reflect

19 the additional new budget authority for continuing

20 disability reviews provided in that measure or con21 ference report and the additional outlays flowing

22 from such amounts for continuing disability reviews.

23 ‘‘(C) The adjustments referred to in this sub24 paragraph consist of adjustments to—
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1 ‘‘(i) the discretionary spending limits for

2 that fiscal year as set forth in the most recently

3 adopted concurrent resolution on the budget;

4 ‘‘(ii) the allocations to the Committees on

5 Appropriations of the Senate and the House of

6 Representatives for that fiscal year under sec7 tions 302(a) and 602(a); and

8 ‘‘(iii) the appropriate budgetary aggregates

9 for that fiscal year in the most recently adopted

10 concurrent resolution on the budget.

11 ‘‘(D) The adjustments under this paragraph for

12 any fiscal year shall not exceed the levels set forth

13 in section 251(b)(2)(H) of the Balanced Budget and

14 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 for that fis15 cal year. The adjusted discretionary spending limits,

16 allocations, and aggregates under this paragraph

17 shall be considered the appropriate limits, alloca18 tions, and aggregates for purposes of congressional

19 enforcement of this Act and concurrent budget reso20 lutions under this Act.

21 ‘‘(2) REPORTING REVISED SUBALLOCATIONS.—

22 Following the adjustments made under paragraph

23 (1), the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate

24 and the House of Representatives may report appro25 priately revised suballocations pursuant to sections
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1 302(b) and 602(b) of this Act to carry out this sub2 section.

3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section,

4 the terms ‘continuing disability reviews’, ‘additional

5 new budget authority’, and ‘additional outlays’ shall

6 have the same meanings as provided in section

7 251(b)(2)(H)(ii) of the Balanced Budget and Emer8 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985.’’.

9 (d) USE OF FUNDS AND REPORTS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of Social

11 Security shall ensure that funds made available for

12 continuing disability reviews (as defined in section

13 201(g)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act) are used, to

14 the greatest extent practicable, to maximize the com15 bined savings in the old-age, survivors, and disability

16 insurance, supplemental security income, medicare,

17 and medicaid programs.

18 (2) REPORT.—The Commissioner of Social Se19 curity shall provide annually (at the conclusion of

20 each of the fiscal years 1996 through 2002) to the

21 Congress a report on continuing disability reviews

22 which includes—

23 (A) the amount spent on continuing dis24 ability reviews in the fiscal year covered by the
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1 report, and the number of reviews conducted,

2 by category of review;

3 (B) the results of the continuing disability

4 reviews in terms of cessations of benefits or de5 terminations of continuing eligibility, by pro6 gram; and

7 (C) the estimated savings over the short-,

8 medium-, and long-term to the old-age, survi9 vors, and disability insurance, supplemental se10 curity income, medicare, and medicaid pro11 grams from continuing disability reviews which

12 result in cessations of benefits and the esti13 mated present value of such savings.

14 (e) OFFICE OF CHIEF ACTUARY IN THE SOCIAL SE15 CURITY ADMINISTRATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 702 of the Social

17 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 902) is amended—

18 (A) by redesignating subsections (c) and

19 (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

20 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the

21 following new subsection:

22 ‘‘Chief Actuary

23 ‘‘(c)(1) There shall be in the Administration a Chief

24 Actuary, who shall be appointed by, and in direct line of

25 authority to, the Commissioner. The Chief Actuary shall
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1 be appointed from individuals who have demonstrated, by

2 their education and experience, superior expertise in the

3 actuarial sciences. The Chief Actuary shall serve as the

4 chief actuarial officer of the Administration, and shall ex5 ercise such duties as are appropriate for the office of the

6 Chief Actuary and in accordance with professional stand7 ards of actuarial independence. The Chief Actuary may

8 be removed only for cause.

9 ‘‘(2) The Chief Actuary shall be compensated at the

10 highest rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive Service

11 under section 5382(b) of title 5, United States Code.’’.

12 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE OF SUBSECTION.—The

13 amendments made by this subsection shall take ef14 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

15 SEC. 104. ENTITLEMENT OF STEPCHILDREN TO CHILD’S IN16 SURANCE BENEFITS BASED ON ACTUAL DE17 PENDENCY ON STEPPARENT SUPPORT.

18 (a) REQUIREMENT OF ACTUAL DEPENDENCY FOR

19 FUTURE ENTITLEMENTS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d)(4) of the So21 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(4)) is amended

22 by striking ‘‘was living with or’’.

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made

24 by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to benefits

25 of individuals who become entitled to such benefits
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1 for months after the third month following the

2 month in which this Act is enacted.

3 (b) TERMINATION OF CHILD’S INSURANCE BENE4 FITS BASED ON WORK RECORD OF STEPPARENT UPON

5 NATURAL PARENT’S DIVORCE FROM STEPPARENT.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 202(d)(1) of the So7 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(d)(1)) is amend8 ed—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara10 graph (F);

11 (B) by striking the period at the end of

12 subparagraph (G) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and

13 (C) by inserting after subparagraph (G)

14 the following new subparagraph:

15 ‘‘(H) if the benefits under this subsection are

16 based on the wages and self-employment income of

17 a stepparent who is subsequently divorced from such

18 child’s natural parent, the month after the month in

19 which such divorce becomes final.’’.

20 (2) NOTIFICATION.—Section 202(d) of such Act

21 (42 U.S.C. 402(d)) is amended by adding the follow22 ing new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(10) For purposes of paragraph (1)(H)—
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1 ‘‘(A) each stepparent shall notify the Commis2 sioner of Social Security of any divorce upon such

3 divorce becoming final; and

4 ‘‘(B) the Commissioner shall annually notify

5 any stepparent of the rule for termination described

6 in paragraph (1)(H) and of the requirement de7 scribed in subparagraph (A).’’.

8 (3) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

9 (A) The amendments made by paragraph

10 (1) shall apply with respect to final divorces oc11 curring after the third month following the

12 month in which this Act is enacted.

13 (B) The amendment made by paragraph

14 (2) shall take effect on the date of the enact15 ment of this Act.

16 SEC. 105. DENIAL OF DISABILITY BENEFITS TO DRUG AD17 DICTS AND ALCOHOLICS.

18 (a) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO TITLE II DISABIL19 ITY BENEFITS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 223(d)(2) of the So21 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 423(d)(2)) is amended

22 by adding at the end the following:

23 ‘‘(C) An individual shall not be considered to be

24 disabled for purposes of this title if alcoholism or

25 drug addiction would (but for this subparagraph) be
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1 a contributing factor material to the Commissioner’s

2 determination that the individual is disabled.’’.

3 (2) REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE REQUIRE4 MENTS.—

5 (A) Section 205(j)(1)(B) of such Act (42

6 U.S.C. 405(j)(1)(B)) is amended to read as fol7 lows:

8 ‘‘(B) In the case of an individual entitled to benefits

9 based on disability, the payment of such benefits shall be

10 made to a representative payee if the Commissioner of So11 cial Security determines that such payment would serve

12 the interest of the individual because the individual also

13 has an alcoholism or drug addiction condition (as deter14 mined by the Commissioner) and the individual is incapa15 ble of managing such benefits.’’.

16 (B) Section 205(j)(2)(C)(v) of such Act

17 (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(2)(C)(v)) is amended by

18 striking ‘‘entitled to benefits’’ and all that fol19 lows through ‘‘under a disability’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘described in paragraph (1)(B)’’.

21 (C) Section 205(j)(2)(D)(ii)(II) of such

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(2)(D)(ii)(II)) is amended

23 by striking all that follows ‘‘15 years, or’’ and

24 inserting ‘‘described in paragraph (1)(B).’’.
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1 (D) Section 205(j)(4)(A)(i)(II) of such Act

2 (42 U.S.C. 405(j)(4)(A)(ii)(II)) is amended by

3 striking ‘‘entitled to benefits’’ and all that fol4 lows through ‘‘under a disability’’ and inserting

5 ‘‘described in paragraph (1)(B)’’.

6 (3) TREATMENT REFERRALS FOR INDIVIDUALS

7 WITH AN ALCOHOLISM OR DRUG ADDICTION CONDI8 TION.—Section 222 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 422) is

9 amended by adding at the end the following new

10 subsection:

11 ‘‘Treatment Referrals for Individuals with an Alcoholism

12 or Drug Addiction Condition

13 ‘‘(e) In the case of any individual whose benefits

14 under this title are paid to a representative payee pursu15 ant to section 205(j)(1)(B), the Commissioner of Social

16 Security shall refer such individual to the appropriate

17 State agency administering the State plan for substance

18 abuse treatment services approved under subpart II of

19 part B of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act (42

20 U.S.C. 300x–21 et seq.).’’.

21 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (c)

22 of section 225 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 425(c)) is re23 pealed.

24 (5) EFFECTIVE DATES.—
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1 (A) The amendments made by paragraphs

2 (1) and (4) shall apply to any individual who

3 applies for, or whose claim is finally adjudicated

4 by the Commissioner of Social Security with re5 spect to, benefits under title II of the Social Se6 curity Act based on disability on or after the

7 date of the enactment of this Act, and, in the

8 case of any individual who has applied for, and

9 whose claim has been finally adjudicated by the

10 Commissioner with respect to, such benefits be11 fore such date of enactment, such amendments

12 shall apply only with respect to such benefits

13 for months beginning on or after January 1,

14 1997.

15 (B) The amendments made by paragraphs

16 (2) and (3) shall apply with respect to benefits

17 for which applications are filed after the third

18 month following the month in which this Act is

19 enacted.

20 (C) Within 90 days after the date of the

21 enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of So22 cial Security shall notify each individual who is

23 entitled to monthly insurance benefits under

24 title II of the Social Security Act based on dis25 ability for the month in which this Act is en-
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1 acted and whose entitlement to such benefits

2 would terminate by reason of the amendments

3 made by this subsection. If such an individual

4 reapplies for benefits under title II of such Act

5 (as amended by this Act) based on disability

6 within 120 days after the date of the enactment

7 of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security

8 shall, not later than January 1, 1997, complete

9 the entitlement redetermination (including a

10 new medical determination) with respect to

11 such individual pursuant to the procedures of

12 such title.

13 (b) AMENDMENTS RELATING TO SSI BENEFITS.—

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1614(a)(3) of the

15 Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c(a)(3)) is

16 amended by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(I) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), an individ18 ual shall not be considered to be disabled for purposes of

19 this title if alcoholism or drug addiction would (but for

20 this subparagraph) be a contributing factor material to

21 the Commissioner’s determination that the individual is

22 disabled.’’.

23 (2) REPRESENTATIVE PAYEE REQUIRE24 MENTS.—
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1 (A) Section 1631(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II) of such

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II)) is amend3 ed to read as follows:

4 ‘‘(II) In the case of an individual eligible for benefits

5 under this title by reason of disability, the payment of

6 such benefits shall be made to a representative payee if

7 the Commissioner of Social Security determines that such

8 payment would serve the interest of the individual because

9 the individual also has an alcoholism or drug addiction

10 condition (as determined by the Commissioner) and the

11 individual is incapable of managing such benefits.’’.

12 (B) Section 1631(a)(2)(B)(vii) of such Act

13 (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(B)(vii)) is amended by

14 striking ‘‘eligible for benefits’’ and all that fol15 lows through ‘‘is disabled’’ and inserting ‘‘de16 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II)’’.

17 (C) Section 1631(a)(2)(B)(ix)(II) of such

18 Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(B)(ix)(II)) is

19 amended by striking all that follows ‘‘15 years,

20 or’’ and inserting ‘‘described in subparagraph

21 (A)(ii)(II).’’.

22 (D) Section 1631(a)(2)(D)(i)(II) of such

23 Act (42 U.S.C. 1383(a)(2)(D)(i)(II)) is amend24 ed by striking ‘‘eligible for benefits’’ and all
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1 that follows through ‘‘is disabled’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘described in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II)’’.

3 (3) TREATMENT REFERRALS FOR INDIVIDUALS

4 WITH AN ALCOHOLISM OR DRUG ADDICTION CONDI5 TION.—Title XVI of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et

6 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following

7 new section:

8 ‘‘TREATMENT REFERRALS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH AN

9 ALCOHOLISM OR DRUG ADDICTION CONDITION

10 ‘‘SEC. 1636. In the case of any individual whose bene11 fits under this title are paid to a representative payee pur12 suant to section 1631(a)(2)(A)(ii)(II), the Commissioner

13 of Social Security shall refer such individual to the appro14 priate State agency administering the State plan for sub15 stance abuse treatment services approved under subpart

16 II of part B of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act

17 (42 U.S.C. 300x–21 et seq.).’’.

18 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

19 (A) Section 1611(e) of such Act (42

20 U.S.C. 1382(e)) is amended by striking para21 graph (3).

22 (B) Section 1634 of such Act (42 U.S.C.

23 1383c) is amended by striking subsection (e).

24 (5) EFFECTIVE DATES.—

25 (A) The amendments made by paragraphs

26 (1) and (4) shall apply to any individual who
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1 applies for, or whose claim is finally adjudicated

2 by the Commissioner of Social Security with re3 spect to, supplemental security income benefits

4 under title XVI of the Social Security Act based

5 on disability on or after the date of the enact6 ment of this Act, and, in the case of any indi7 vidual who has applied for, and whose claim has

8 been finally adjudicated by the Commissioner

9 with respect to, such benefits before such date

10 of enactment, such amendments shall apply

11 only with respect to such benefits for months

12 beginning on or after January 1, 1997.

13 (B) The amendments made by paragraphs

14 (2) and (3) shall apply with respect to supple15 mental security income benefits under title XVI

16 of the Social Security Act for which applica17 tions are filed after the third month following

18 the month in which this Act is enacted.

19 (C) Within 90 days after the date of the

20 enactment of this Act, the Commissioner of So21 cial Security shall notify each individual who is

22 eligible for supplemental security income bene23 fits under title XVI of the Social Security Act

24 for the month in which this Act is enacted and

25 whose eligibility for such benefits would termi-
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1 nate by reason of the amendments made by this

2 subsection. If such an individual reapplies for

3 supplemental security income benefits under

4 title XVI of such Act (as amended by this Act)

5 within 120 days after the date of the enactment

6 of this Act, the Commissioner of Social Security

7 shall, not later than January 1, 1997, complete

8 the eligibility redetermination (including a new

9 medical determination) with respect to such in10 dividual pursuant to the procedures of such

11 title.

12 (D) For purposes of this paragraph, the

13 phrase ‘‘supplemental security income benefits

14 under title XVI of the Social Security Act’’ in15 cludes supplementary payments pursuant to an

16 agreement for Federal administration under

17 section 1616(a) of the Social Security Act and

18 payments pursuant to an agreement entered

19 into under section 212(b) of Public Law 93–66.

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 201(c) of

21 the Social Security Independence and Program Improve22 ments Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 425 note) is repealed.

23 (d) SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING FOR ALCOHOL AND

24 SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT PROGRAMS.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Out of any money in the

2 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are here3 by appropriated to supplement State and Tribal pro4 grams funded under section 1933 of the Public

5 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–33),

6 $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1997 and

7 1998.

8 (2) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—Amounts appro9 priated under paragraph (1) shall be in addition to

10 any funds otherwise appropriated for allotments

11 under section 1933 of the Public Health Service Act

12 (42 U.S.C. 300x–33) and shall be allocated pursuant

13 to such section 1933.

14 (3) USE OF FUNDS.—A State or Tribal govern15 ment receiving an allotment under this subsection

16 shall consider as priorities, for purposes of expend17 ing funds allotted under this subsection, activities

18 relating to the treatment of the abuse of alcohol and

19 other drugs.

20 SEC. 106. PILOT STUDY OF EFFICACY OF PROVIDING INDI21 VIDUALIZED INFORMATION TO RECIPIENTS

22 OF OLD-AGE AND SURVIVORS INSURANCE

23 BENEFITS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—During a 2-year period beginning

25 as soon as practicable in 1996, the Commissioner of Social
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1 Security shall conduct a pilot study of the efficacy of pro2 viding certain individualized information to recipients of

3 monthly insurance benefits under section 202 of the Social

4 Security Act, designed to promote better understanding

5 of their contributions and benefits under the social secu6 rity system. The study shall involve solely beneficiaries

7 whose entitlement to such benefits first occurred in or

8 after 1984 and who have remained entitled to such bene9 fits for a continuous period of not less than 5 years. The

10 number of such recipients involved in the study shall be

11 of sufficient size to generate a statistically valid sample

12 for purposes of the study, but shall not exceed 600,000

13 beneficiaries.

14 (b) ANNUALIZED STATEMENTS.—During the course

15 of the study, the Commissioner shall provide to each of

16 the beneficiaries involved in the study one annualized

17 statement, setting forth the following information:

18 (1) an estimate of the aggregate wages and

19 self-employment income earned by the individual on

20 whose wages and self-employment income the benefit

21 is based, as shown on the records of the Commis22 sioner as of the end of the last calendar year ending

23 prior to the beneficiary’s first month of entitlement;

24 (2) an estimate of the aggregate of the em25 ployee and self-employment contributions, and the
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1 aggregate of the employer contributions (separately

2 identified), made with respect to the wages and self3 employment income on which the benefit is based, as

4 shown on the records of the Commissioner as of the

5 end of the calendar year preceding the beneficiary’s

6 first month of entitlement; and

7 (3) an estimate of the total amount paid as

8 benefits under section 202 of the Social Security Act

9 based on such wages and self-employment income, as

10 shown on the records of the Commissioner as of the

11 end of the last calendar year preceding the issuance

12 of the statement for which complete information is

13 available.

14 (c) INCLUSION WITH MATTER OTHERWISE DISTRIB15 UTED TO BENEFICIARIES.—The Commissioner shall en16 sure that reports provided pursuant to this section are,

17 to the maximum extent practicable, included with other

18 reports currently provided to beneficiaries on an annual

19 basis.

20 (d) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—The Commissioner

21 shall report to each House of the Congress regarding the

22 results of the pilot study conducted pursuant to this sec23 tion not later than 60 days after the completion of such

24 study.
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1 SEC. 107. PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDI2 CARE TRUST FUNDS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part A of title XI of the Social

4 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘PROTECTION OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE

7 TRUST FUNDS

8 ‘‘SEC. 1145. (a) IN GENERAL.—No officer or em9 ployee of the United States shall—

10 ‘‘(1) delay the deposit of any amount into (or

11 delay the credit of any amount to) any Federal fund

12 or otherwise vary from the normal terms, proce13 dures, or timing for making such deposits or credits,

14 ‘‘(2) refrain from the investment in public debt

15 obligations of amounts in any Federal fund, or

16 ‘‘(3) redeem prior to maturity amounts in any

17 Federal fund which are invested in public debt obli18 gations for any purpose other than the payment of

19 benefits or administrative expenses from such Fed20 eral fund.

21 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC DEBT OBLIGATION.—For purposes of

22 this section, the term ‘public debt obligation’ means any

23 obligation subject to the public debt limit established

24 under section 3101 of title 31, United States Code.

25 ‘‘(c) FEDERAL FUND.—For purposes of this section,

26 the term ‘Federal fund’ means—
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1 ‘‘(1) the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insur2 ance Trust Fund;

3 ‘‘(2) the Federal Disability Insurance Trust

4 Fund;

5 ‘‘(3) the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust

6 Fund; and

7 ‘‘(4) the Federal Supplementary Medical Insur8 ance Trust Fund.’’.

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

10 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment

11 of this Act.

12 SEC. 108. PROFESSIONAL STAFF FOR THE SOCIAL SECU13 RITY ADVISORY BOARD.

14 Section 703(i) of the Social Security Act (42

15 U.S.C. 903(i)) is amended in the first sentence by insert16 ing after ‘‘Staff Director’’ the following: ‘‘, and three pro17 fessional staff members one of whom shall be appointed

18 from among individuals approved by the members of the

19 Board who are not members of the political party rep20 resented by the majority of the Board,’’.

21 TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS

22 REGULATORY FAIRNESS

23 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

24 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Business Regu25 latory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 202. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) a vibrant and growing small business sector

4 is critical to creating jobs in a dynamic economy;

5 (2) small businesses bear a disproportionate

6 share of regulatory costs and burdens;

7 (3) fundamental changes that are needed in the

8 regulatory and enforcement culture of Federal agen9 cies to make agencies more responsive to small busi10 ness can be made without compromising the statu11 tory missions of the agencies;

12 (4) three of the top recommendations of the

13 1995 White House Conference on Small Business in14 volve reforms to the way government regulations are

15 developed and enforced, and reductions in govern16 ment paperwork requirements;

17 (5) the requirements of chapter 6 of title 5,

18 United States Code, have too often been ignored by

19 government agencies, resulting in greater regulatory

20 burdens on small entities than necessitated by stat21 ute; and

22 (6) small entities should be given the oppor23 tunity to seek judicial review of agency actions re24 quired by chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code.

25 SEC. 203. PURPOSES.

26 The purposes of this title are—
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1 (1) to implement certain recommendations of

2 the 1995 White House Conference on Small Busi3 ness regarding the development and enforcement of

4 Federal regulations;

5 (2) to provide for judicial review of chapter 6

6 of title 5, United States Code;

7 (3) to encourage the effective participation of

8 small businesses in the Federal regulatory process;

9 (4) to simplify the language of Federal regula10 tions affecting small businesses;

11 (5) to develop more accessible sources of infor12 mation on regulatory and reporting requirements for

13 small businesses;

14 (6) to create a more cooperative regulatory en15 vironment among agencies and small businesses that

16 is less punitive and more solution-oriented; and

17 (7) to make Federal regulators more account18 able for their enforcement actions by providing small

19 entities with a meaningful opportunity for redress of

20 excessive enforcement activities.

21 Subtitle A—Regulatory Compliance

22 Simplification

23 SEC. 211. DEFINITIONS.

24 For purposes of this subtitle—
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1 (1) the terms ‘‘rule’’ and ‘‘small entity’’ have

2 the same meanings as in section 601 of title 5, Unit3 ed States Code;

4 (2) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the same meaning as

5 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code; and

6 (3) the term ‘‘small entity compliance guide’’

7 means a document designated as such by an agency.

8 SEC. 212. COMPLIANCE GUIDES.

9 (a) COMPLIANCE GUIDE.—For each rule or group of

10 related rules for which an agency is required to prepare

11 a final regulatory flexibility analysis under section 604 of

12 title 5, United States Code, the agency shall publish one

13 or more guides to assist small entities in complying with

14 the rule, and shall designate such publications as ‘‘small

15 entity compliance guides’’. The guides shall explain the ac16 tions a small entity is required to take to comply with a

17 rule or group of rules. The agency shall, in its sole discre18 tion, taking into account the subject matter of the rule

19 and the language of relevant statutes, ensure that the

20 guide is written using sufficiently plain language likely to

21 be understood by affected small entities. Agencies may

22 prepare separate guides covering groups or classes of simi23 larly affected small entities, and may cooperate with asso24 ciations of small entities to develop and distribute such

25 guides.
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1 (b) COMPREHENSIVE SOURCE OF INFORMATION.—

2 Agencies shall cooperate to make available to small enti3 ties through comprehensive sources of information, the

4 small entity compliance guides and all other available in5 formation on statutory and regulatory requirements af6 fecting small entities.

7 (c) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—An agency’s

8 small entity compliance guide shall not be subject to judi9 cial review, except that in any civil or administrative ac10 tion against a small entity for a violation occurring after

11 the effective date of this section, the content of the small

12 entity compliance guide may be considered as evidence of

13 the reasonableness or appropriateness of any proposed

14 fines, penalties or damages.

15 SEC. 213. INFORMAL SMALL ENTITY GUIDANCE.

16 (a) GENERAL.—Whenever appropriate in the interest

17 of administering statutes and regulations within the juris18 diction of an agency which regulates small entities, it shall

19 be the practice of the agency to answer inquiries by small

20 entities concerning information on, and advice about, com21 pliance with such statutes and regulations, interpreting

22 and applying the law to specific sets of facts supplied by

23 the small entity. In any civil or administrative action

24 against a small entity, guidance given by an agency apply25 ing the law to facts provided by the small entity may be
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1 considered as evidence of the reasonableness or appro2 priateness of any proposed fines, penalties or damages

3 sought against such small entity.

4 (b) PROGRAM.—Each agency regulating the activities

5 of small entities shall establish a program for responding

6 to such inquiries no later than 1 year after enactment of

7 this section, utilizing existing functions and personnel of

8 the agency to the extent practicable.

9 (c) REPORTING.—Each agency regulating the activi10 ties of small business shall report to the Committee on

11 Small Business and Committee on Governmental Affairs

12 of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business and

13 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representa14 tives no later than 2 years after the date of the enactment

15 of this section on the scope of the agency’s program, the

16 number of small entities using the program, and the

17 achievements of the program to assist small entity compli18 ance with agency regulations.

19 SEC. 214. SERVICES OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

20 CENTERS.

21 (a) Section 21(c)(3) of the Small Business Act (15

22 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is amended—

23 (1) in subparagraph (O), by striking ‘‘and’’ at

24 the end;
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1 (2) in subparagraph (P), by striking the period

2 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

3 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (P) the fol4 lowing new subparagraphs:

5 ‘‘(Q) providing information to small busi6 ness concerns regarding compliance with regu7 latory requirements; and

8 ‘‘(R) developing informational publications,

9 establishing resource centers of reference mate10 rials, and distributing compliance guides pub11 lished under section 312(a) of the Small Busi12 ness Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of

13 1996.’’.

14 (b) Nothing in this Act in any way affects or limits

15 the ability of other technical assistance or extension pro16 grams to perform or continue to perform services related

17 to compliance assistance.

18 SEC. 215. COOPERATION ON GUIDANCE.

19 Agencies may, to the extent resources are available

20 and where appropriate, in cooperation with the states, de21 velop guides that fully integrate requirements of both Fed22 eral and state regulations where regulations within an

23 agency’s area of interest at the Federal and state levels

24 impact small entities. Where regulations vary among the
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1 states, separate guides may be created for separate states

2 in cooperation with State agencies.

3 SEC. 216. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This subtitle and the amendments made by this sub5 title shall take effect on the expiration of 90 days after

6 the date of enactment of this subtitle.

7 Subtitle B—Regulatory

8 Enforcement Reforms

9 SEC. 221. DEFINITIONS.

10 For purposes of this subtitle—

11 (1) the terms ‘‘rule’’ and ‘‘small entity’’ have

12 the same meanings as in section 601 of title 5, Unit13 ed States Code;

14 (2) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the same meaning as

15 in section 551 of title 5, United States Code; and

16 (3) the term ‘‘small entity compliance guide’’

17 means a document designated as such by an agency.

18 SEC. 222. SMALL BUSINESS AND AGRICULTURE ENFORCE19 MENT OMBUDSMAN.

20 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is

21 amended—

22 (1) by redesignating section 30 as section 31;

23 and

24 (2) by inserting after section 29 the following

25 new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 30. OVERSIGHT OF REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT.

2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

3 term—

4 ‘‘(1) ‘‘Board’’ means a Regional Small Business

5 Regulatory Fairness Board established under sub6 section (c); and

7 ‘‘(2) ‘‘Ombudsman’’ means the Small Business

8 and Agriculture Regulatory Enforcement Ombuds9 man designated under subsection (b).

10 ‘‘(b) SBA ENFORCEMENT OMBUDSMAN.—

11 ‘‘(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of

12 enactment of this section, the Administrator shall

13 designate a Small Business and Agriculture Regu14 latory Enforcement Ombudsman, who shall report

15 directly to the Administrator, utilizing personnel of

16 the Small Business Administration to the extent

17 practicable. Other agencies shall assist the Ombuds18 man and take actions as necessary to ensure compli19 ance with the requirements of this section. Nothing

20 in this section is intended to replace or diminish the

21 activities of any Ombudsman or similar office in any

22 other agency.

23 ‘‘(2) The Ombudsman shall—

24 ‘‘(A) work with each agency with regu25 latory authority over small businesses to ensure

26 that small business concerns that receive or are
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1 subject to an audit, on-site inspection, compli2 ance assistance effort, or other enforcement re3 lated communication or contact by agency per4 sonnel are provided with a means to comment

5 on the enforcement activity conducted by such

6 personnel;

7 ‘‘(B) establish means to receive comments

8 from small business concerns regarding actions

9 by agency employees conducting compliance or

10 enforcement activities with respect to the small

11 business concern, means to refer comments to

12 the Inspector General of the affected agency in

13 the appropriate circumstances, and otherwise

14 seek to maintain the identity of the person and

15 small business concern making such comments

16 on a confidential basis to the same extent as

17 employee identities are protected under section

18 7 of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5

19 U.S.C.App.);

20 ‘‘(C) based on substantiated comments re21 ceived from small business concerns and the

22 Boards, annually report to Congress and af23 fected agencies evaluating the enforcement ac24 tivities of agency personnel including a rating of

25 the responsiveness to small business of the var-
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1 ious regional and program offices of each agen2 cy;

3 ‘‘(D) coordinate and report annually on the

4 activities, findings and recommendations of the

5 Boards to the Administrator and to the heads

6 of affected agencies; and

7 ‘‘(E) provide the affected agency with an

8 opportunity to comment on draft reports pre9 pared under subparagraph (C), and include a

10 section of the final report in which the affected

11 agency may make such comments as are not

12 addressed by the Ombudsman in revisions to

13 the draft.

14 ‘‘(c) REGIONAL SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY

15 FAIRNESS BOARDS.—

16 ‘‘(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of

17 enactment of this section, the Administrator shall

18 establish a Small Business Regulatory Fairness

19 Board in each regional office of the Small Business

20 Administration.

21 ‘‘(2) Each Board established under paragraph

22 (1) shall—

23 ‘‘(A) meet at least annually to advise the

24 Ombudsman on matters of concern to small
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1 businesses relating to the enforcement activities

2 of agencies;

3 ‘‘(B) report to the Ombudsman on sub4 stantiated instances of excessive enforcement

5 actions of agencies against small business con6 cerns including any findings or recommenda7 tions of the Board as to agency enforcement

8 policy or practice; and

9 ‘‘(C) prior to publication, provide comment

10 on the annual report of the Ombudsman pre11 pared under subsection (b).

12 ‘‘(3) Each Board shall consist of five members,

13 who are owners, operators, or officers of small busi14 ness concerns, appointed by the Administrator, after

15 receiving the recommendations of the chair and

16 ranking minority member of the Committees on

17 Small Business of the House of Representatives and

18 the Senate. Not more than three of the Board mem19 bers shall be of the same political party. No member

20 shall be an officer or employee of the Federal Gov21 ernment, in either the executive branch or the Con22 gress.

23 ‘‘(4) Members of the Board shall serve at the

24 pleasure of the Administrator for terms of three

25 years or less.
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1 ‘‘(5) The Administrator shall select a chair

2 from among the members of the Board who shall

3 serve at the pleasure of the Administrator for not

4 more than 1 year as chair.

5 ‘‘(6) A majority of the members of the Board

6 shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of busi7 ness, but a lesser number may hold hearings.

8 ‘‘(d) POWERS OF THE BOARDS.

9 ‘‘(1) The Board may hold such hearings and

10 collect such information as appropriate for carrying

11 out this section.

12 ‘‘(2) The Board may use the United States

13 mails in the same manner and under the same con14 ditions as other departments and agencies of the

15 Federal Government.

16 ‘‘(3) The Board may accept donations of serv17 ices necessary to conduct its business, provided that

18 the donations and their sources are disclosed by the

19 Board.

20 ‘‘(4) Members of the Board shall serve without

21 compensation, provided that, members of the Board

22 shall be allowed travel expenses, including per diem

23 in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized for em24 ployees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57

25 of title 5, United States Code, while away from their
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1 homes or regular places of business in the perform2 ance of services for the Board.’’.

3 SEC. 223. RIGHTS OF SMALL ENTITIES IN ENFORCEMENT

4 ACTIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency regulating the activi6 ties of small entities shall establish a policy or program

7 within 1 year of enactment of this section to provide for

8 the reduction, and under appropriate circumstances for

9 the waiver, of civil penalties for violations of a statutory

10 or regulatory requirement by a small entity. Under appro11 priate circumstances, an agency may consider ability to

12 pay in determining penalty assessments on small entities.

13 (b) CONDITIONS AND EXCLUSIONS.—Subject to the

14 requirements or limitations of other statutes, policies or

15 programs established under this section shall contain con16 ditions or exclusions which may include, but shall not be

17 limited to—

18 (1) requiring the small entity to correct the vio19 lation within a reasonable correction period;

20 (2) limiting the applicability to violations dis21 covered through participation by the small entity in

22 a compliance assistance or audit program operated

23 or supported by the agency or a state;

24 (3) excluding small entities that have been sub25 ject to multiple enforcement actions by the agency;
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1 (4) excluding violations involving willful or

2 criminal conduct;

3 (5) excluding violations that pose serious

4 health, safety or environmental threats; and

5 (6) requiring a good faith effort to comply with

6 the law.

7 (c) REPORTING.—Agencies shall report to the Com8 mittee on Small Business and Committee on Govern9 mental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Small

10 Business and Committee on Judiciary of the House of

11 Representatives no later than 2 years after the date of

12 enactment of this section on the scope of their program

13 or policy, the number of enforcement actions against small

14 entities that qualified or failed to qualify for the program

15 or policy, and the total amount of penalty reductions and

16 waivers.

17 SEC. 224. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This subtitle and the amendments made by this sub19 title shall take effect on the expiration of 90 days after

20 the date of enactment of this subtitle.
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1 Subtitle C—Equal Access to Justice

2 Act Amendments

3 SEC. 231. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS.

4 (a) Section 504(a) of title 5, United States Code, is

5 amended by adding at the end the following new para6 graph:

7 ‘‘(4) If, in an adversary adjudication arising from an

8 agency action to enforce a party’s compliance with a statu9 tory or regulatory requirement, the demand by the agency

10 is substantially in excess of the decision of the adjudicative

11 officer and is unreasonable when compared with such deci12 sion, under the facts and circumstances of the case, the

13 adjudicative officer shall award to the party the fees and

14 other expenses related to defending against the excessive

15 demand, unless the party has committed a willful violation

16 of law or otherwise acted in bad faith, or special cir17 cumstances make an award unjust. Fees and expenses

18 awarded under this paragraph shall be paid only as a con19 sequence of appropriations provided in advance.’’.

20 (b) Section 504(b) of title 5, United States Code, is

21 amended—

22 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘$75’’ and

23 inserting ‘‘$125’’;
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1 (2) at the end of paragraph (1)(B), by inserting

2 before the semicolon ‘‘or for purposes of subsection

3 (a)(4), a small entity as defined in section 601’’;

4 (3) at the end of paragraph (1)(D), by striking

5 ‘‘and’’;

6 (4) at the end of paragraph (1)(E), by striking

7 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

8 (5) at the end of paragraph (1), by adding the

9 following new subparagraph:

10 ‘‘(F) ‘demand’ means the express demand of

11 the agency which led to the adversary adjudication,

12 but does not include a recitation by the agency of

13 the maximum statutory penalty (i) in the adminis14 trative complaint, or (ii) elsewhere when accom15 panied by an express demand for a lesser amount.’’.

16 SEC. 232. JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.

17 (a) Section 2412(d)(1) of title 28, United States

18 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new

19 subparagraph:

20 ‘‘(D) If, in a civil action brought by the United States

21 or a proceeding for judicial review of an adversary adju22 dication described in section 504(a)(4) of title 5, the de23 mand by the United States is substantially in excess of

24 the judgment finally obtained by the United States and

25 is unreasonable when compared with such judgment,
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1 under the facts and circumstances of the case, the court

2 shall award to the party the fees and other expenses relat3 ed to defending against the excessive demand, unless the

4 party has committed a willful violation of law or otherwise

5 acted in bad faith, or special circumstances make an

6 award unjust. Fees and expenses awarded under this sub7 paragraph shall be paid only as a consequence of appro8 priations provided in advance.’’.

9 (b) Section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code,

10 is amended—

11 (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘$75’’ and

12 inserting ‘‘$125’’;

13 (2) at the end of paragraph (2)(B), by inserting

14 before the semicolon ‘‘or for purposes of subsection

15 (d)(1)(D), a small entity as defined in section 601

16 of title 5’’;

17 (3) at the end of paragraph (2)(G), by striking

18 ‘‘and’’;

19 (4) at the end of paragraph (2)(H), by striking

20 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

21 (5) at the end of paragraph (2), by adding the

22 following new subparagraph:

23 ‘‘(I) ‘demand’ means the express demand of the

24 United States which led to the adversary adjudica25 tion, but shall not include a recitation of the maxi-
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1 mum statutory penalty (i) in the complaint, or (ii)

2 elsewhere when accompanied by an express demand

3 for a lesser amount.’’.

4 SEC. 233. EFFECTIVE DATE.

5 The amendments made by sections 331 and 332 shall

6 apply to civil actions and adversary adjudications com7 menced on or after the date of the enactment of this sub8 title.

9 Subtitle D—Regulatory Flexibility

10 Act Amendments

11 SEC. 241. REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSES.

12 (a) INITIAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS.—

13 (1) SECTION 603.—Section 603(a) of title 5,

14 United States Code, is amended—

15 (A) by inserting after ‘‘proposed rule’’, the

16 phrase ‘‘, or publishes a notice of proposed rule17 making for an interpretative rule involving the

18 internal revenue laws of the United States’’;

19 and

20 (B) by inserting at the end of the sub21 section, the following new sentence: ‘‘In the

22 case of an interpretative rule involving the in23 ternal revenue laws of the United States, this

24 chapter applies to interpretative rules published

25 in the Federal Register for codification in the
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1 Code of Federal Regulations, but only to the

2 extent that such interpretative rules impose on

3 small entities a collection of information re4 quirement.’’.

5 (2) SECTION 601.—Section 601 of title 5, Unit6 ed States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

7 end of paragraph (5), by striking the period at the

8 end of paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and by

9 adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(7) the term ‘collection of information’—

11 ‘‘(A) means the obtaining, causing to be

12 obtained, soliciting, or requiring the disclosure

13 to third parties or the public, of facts or opin14 ions by or for an agency, regardless of form or

15 format, calling for either—

16 ‘‘(i) answers to identical questions

17 posed to, or identical reporting or record18 keeping requirements imposed on, 10 or

19 more persons, other than agencies, instru20 mentalities, or employees of the United

21 States; or

22 ‘‘(ii) answers to questions posed to

23 agencies, instrumentalities, or employees of

24 the United States which are to be used for

25 general statistical purposes; and
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1 ‘‘(B) shall not include a collection of infor2 mation described under section 3518(c)(1) of

3 title 44, United States Code.

4 ‘‘(8) RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENT.—The

5 term ‘recordkeeping requirement’ means a require6 ment imposed by an agency on persons to maintain

7 specified records.

8 (b) FINAL REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ANALYSIS.—

9 Section 604 of title 5, United States Code, is amended—

10 (1) in subsection (a) to read as follows:

11 ‘‘(a) When an agency promulgates a final rule under

12 section 553 of this title, after being required by that sec13 tion or any other law to publish a general notice of pro14 posed rulemaking, or promulgates a final interpretative

15 rule involving the internal revenue laws of the United

16 States as described in section 603(a), the agency shall pre17 pare a final regulatory flexibility analysis. Each final regu18 latory flexibility analysis shall contain—

19 ‘‘(1) a succinct statement of the need for, and

20 objectives of, the rule;

21 ‘‘(2) a summary of the significant issues raised

22 by the public comments in response to the initial

23 regulatory flexibility analysis, a summary of the as24 sessment of the agency of such issues, and a state-
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1 ment of any changes made in the proposed rule as

2 a result of such comments;

3 ‘‘(3) a description of and an estimate of the

4 number of small entities to which the rule will apply

5 or an explanation of why no such estimate is avail6 able;

7 ‘‘(4) a description of the projected reporting,

8 record keeping and other compliance requirements of

9 the rule, including an estimate of the classes of

10 small entities which will be subject to the require11 ment and the type of professional skills necessary

12 for preparation of the report or record; and

13 ‘‘(5) a description of the steps the agency has

14 taken to minimize the significant economic impact

15 on small entities consistent with the stated objectives

16 of applicable statutes, including a statement of the

17 factual, policy, and legal reasons for selecting the al18 ternative adopted in the final rule and why each one

19 of the other significant alternatives to the rule con20 sidered by the agency which affect the impact on

21 small entities was rejected.’’; and

22 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘at the time’’

23 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘such analysis or

24 a summary thereof.’’.
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1 SEC. 242. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

2 Section 611 of title 5, United States Code, is amend3 ed to read as follows:

4 ‘‘§ 611. Judicial review

5 ‘‘(a)(1) For any rule subject to this chapter, a small

6 entity that is adversely affected or aggrieved by final agen7 cy action is entitled to judicial review of agency compliance

8 with the requirements of sections 601, 604, 605(b),

9 608(b), and 610 in accordance with chapter 7. Agency

10 compliance with sections 607 and 609(a) shall be judicially

11 reviewable in connection with judicial review of section

12 604.

13 ‘‘(2) Each court having jurisdiction to review such

14 rule for compliance with section 553, or under any other

15 provision of law, shall have jurisdiction to review any

16 claims of noncompliance with sections 601, 604, 605(b),

17 608(b), and 610 in accordance with chapter 7. Agency

18 compliance with sections 607 and 609(a) shall be judicially

19 reviewable in connection with judicial review of section

20 604.

21 ‘‘(3)(A) A small entity may seek such review during

22 the period beginning on the date of final agency action

23 and ending one year later, except that where a provision

24 of law requires that an action challenging a final agency

25 action be commenced before the expiration of one year,
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1 such lesser period shall apply to an action for judicial re2 view under this section.

3 ‘‘(B) In the case where an agency delays the issuance

4 of a final regulatory flexibility analysis pursuant to section

5 608(b) of this chapter, an action for judicial review under

6 this section shall be filed not later than—

7 ‘‘(i) one year after the date the analysis is made

8 available to the public, or

9 ‘‘(ii) where a provision of law requires that an

10 action challenging a final agency regulation be com11 menced before the expiration of the 1-year period,

12 the number of days specified in such provision of law

13 that is after the date the analysis is made available

14 to the public.

15 ‘‘(4) In granting any relief in an action under this

16 section, the court shall order the agency to take corrective

17 action consistent with this chapter and chapter 7, includ18 ing, but not limited to—

19 ‘‘(A) remanding the rule to the agency, and

20 ‘‘(B) deferring the enforcement of the rule

21 against small entities unless the court finds that

22 continued enforcement of the rule is in the public in23 terest.

24 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to

25 limit the authority of any court to stay the effective date
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1 of any rule or provision thereof under any other provision

2 of law or to grant any other relief in addition to the re3 quirements of this section.

4 ‘‘(b) In an action for the judicial review of a rule,

5 the regulatory flexibility analysis for such rule, including

6 an analysis prepared or corrected pursuant to paragraph

7 (a)(4), shall constitute part of the entire record of agency

8 action in connection with such review.

9 ‘‘(c) Compliance or noncompliance by an agency with

10 the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to judicial

11 review only in accordance with this section.

12 ‘‘(d) Nothing in this section bars judicial review of

13 any other impact statement or similar analysis required

14 by any other law if judicial review of such statement or

15 analysis is otherwise permitted by law.’’.

16 SEC. 243. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

17 (a) Section 605(b) of title 5, United States Code, is

18 amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(b) Sections 603 and 604 of this title shall not apply

20 to any proposed or final rule if the head of the agency

21 certifies that the rule will not, if promulgated, have a sig22 nificant economic impact on a substantial number of small

23 entities. If the head of the agency makes a certification

24 under the preceding sentence, the agency shall publish

25 such certification in the Federal Register at the time of
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1 publication of general notice of proposed rulemaking for

2 the rule or at the time of publication of the final rule,

3 along with a statement providing the factual basis for such

4 certification. The agency shall provide such certification

5 and statement to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the

6 Small Business Administration.’’.

7 (b) Section 612 of title 5, United States Code is

8 amended—

9 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘the commit10 tees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House

11 of Representatives, the Select Committee on Small

12 Business of the Senate, and the Committee on Small

13 Business of the House of Representatives’’ and in14 serting ‘‘the Committees on the Judiciary and Small

15 Business of the Senate and House of Representa16 tives’’.

17 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘his views

18 with respect to the’’ and inserting in lieu thereof,

19 ‘‘his or her views with respect to compliance with

20 this chapter, the adequacy of the rulemaking record

21 with respect to small entities and the’’.

22 SEC. 244. SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY REVIEW PANELS.

23 (a) SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH AND INTERAGENCY

24 COORDINATION.— Section 609 of title 5, United States

25 Code is amended—
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1 (1) before ‘‘techniques,’’ by inserting ‘‘the rea2 sonable use of’’;

3 (2) in paragraph (4), after ‘‘entities’’ by insert4 ing ‘‘including soliciting and receiving comments

5 over computer networks’’;

6 (3) by designating the current text as sub7 section (a); and

8 (4) by adding the following:

9 ‘‘(b) Prior to publication of an initial regulatory flexi10 bility analysis which a covered agency is required to con11 duct by this chapter—

12 ‘‘(1) a covered agency shall notify the Chief

13 Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Admin14 istration and provide the Chief Counsel with infor15 mation on the potential impacts of the proposed rule

16 on small entities and the type of small entities that

17 might be affected;

18 ‘‘(2) not later than 15 days after the date of re19 ceipt of the materials described in paragraph (1),

20 the Chief Counsel shall identify individuals rep21 resentative of affected small entities for the purpose

22 of obtaining advice and recommendations from those

23 individuals about the potential impacts of the pro24 posed rule;
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1 ‘‘(3) the agency shall convene a review panel for

2 such rule consisting wholly of full time Federal em3 ployees of the office within the agency responsible

4 for carrying out the proposed rule, the Office of In5 formation and Regulatory Affairs within the Office

6 of Management and Budget, and the Chief Counsel;

7 ‘‘(4) the panel shall review any material the

8 agency has prepared in connection with this chapter,

9 including any draft proposed rule, collect advice and

10 recommendations of each individual small entity rep11 resentative identified by the agency after consulta12 tion with the Chief Counsel, on issues related to sub13 sections 603(b), paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) and

14 603(c);

15 ‘‘(5) not later than 60 days after the date a

16 covered agency convenes a review panel pursuant to

17 paragraph (3), the review panel shall report on the

18 comments of the small entity representatives and its

19 findings as to issues related to subsections 603(b),

20 paragraphs (3), (4) and (5) and 603(c), provided

21 that such report shall be made public as part of the

22 rulemaking record; and

23 ‘‘(6) where appropriate, the agency shall modify

24 the proposed rule, the initial regulatory flexibility
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1 analysis or the decision on whether an initial regu2 latory flexibility analysis is required.

3 ‘‘(c) An agency may in its discretion apply subsection

4 (b) to rules that the agency intends to certify under sub5 section 605(b), but the agency believes may have a greater

6 than de minimis impact on a substantial number of small

7 entities.

8 ‘‘(d) For purposed of this section, the term covered

9 agency means the Environmental Protection Agency and

10 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the

11 Department of Labor.

12 ‘‘(e) The Chief Counsel for Advocacy, in consultation

13 with the individuals identified in subsection (b)(2), and

14 with the Administrator of the Office of Information and

15 Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and

16 Budget, may waive the requirements of subsections (b)(3),

17 (b)(4), and (b)(5) by including in the rulemaking record

18 a written finding, with reasons therefor, that those re19 quirements would not advance the effective participation

20 of small entities in the rulemaking process. For purposes

21 of this subsection, the factors to be considered in making

22 such a finding are as follows:

23 ‘‘(1) In developing a proposed rule, the extent

24 to which the covered agency consulted with individ25 uals representative of affected small entities with re-
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1 spect to the potential impacts of the rule and took

2 such concerns into consideration.

3 ‘‘(2) Special circumstances requiring prompt is4 suance of the rule.

5 ‘‘(3) Whether the requirements of subsection

6 (b) would provide the individuals identified in sub7 section (b)(2) with a competitive advantage relative

8 to other small entities.’’.

9 (b) SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY CHAIRPERSONS.—

10 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this

11 Act, the head of each covered agency that has conducted

12 a final regulatory flexibility analysis shall designate a

13 small business advocacy chairperson using existing person14 nel to the extent possible, to be responsible for implement15 ing this section and to act as permanent chair of the agen16 cy’s review panels established pursuant to this section.

17 SEC. 245. EFFECTIVE DATE.

18 This subtitle shall become effective on the expiration

19 of 90 days after the date of enactment of this subtitle,

20 except that such amendments shall not apply to interpre21 tative rules for which a notice of proposed rulemaking was

22 published prior to the date of enactment.
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1 Subtitle E—Congressional Review

2 SEC. 251. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE3 MAKING.

4 Title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting

5 immediately after chapter 7 the following new chapter:

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 8—CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW

7 OF AGENCY RULEMAKING

‘‘Sec.

‘‘801. Congressional review.

‘‘802. Congressional disapproval procedure.

‘‘803. Special rule on statutory, regulatory, and judicial deadlines.

‘‘804. Definitions.

‘‘805. Judicial review.

‘‘806. Applicability; severability.

‘‘807. Exemption for monetary policy.

‘‘808. Effective date of certain rules.

8 ‘‘§ 801. Congressional review

9 ‘‘(a)(1)(A) Before a rule can take effect, the Federal

10 agency promulgating such rule shall submit to each House

11 of the Congress and to the Comptroller General a report

12 containing—

13 ‘‘(i) a copy of the rule;

14 ‘‘(ii) a concise general statement relating to the

15 rule, including whether it is a major rule; and

16 ‘‘(iii) the proposed effective date of the rule.

17 ‘‘(B) On the date of the submission of the report

18 under subparagraph (A), the Federal agency promulgating

19 the rule shall submit to the Comptroller General and make

20 available to each House of Congress—
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1 ‘‘(i) a complete copy of the cost-benefit analysis

2 of the rule, if any;

3 ‘‘(ii) the agency’s actions relevant to sections

4 603, 604, 605, 607, and 609;

5 ‘‘(iii) the agency’s actions relevant to sections

6 202, 203, 204, and 205 of the Unfunded Mandates

7 Reform Act of 1995; and

8 ‘‘(iv) any other relevant information or require9 ments under any other Act and any relevant Execu10 tive Orders.

11 ‘‘(C) Upon receipt of a report submitted under sub12 paragraph (A), each House shall provide copies of the re13 port to the Chairman and Ranking Member of each stand14 ing committee with jurisdiction under the rules of the

15 House of Representatives or the Senate to report a bill

16 to amend the provision of law under which the rule is is17 sued.

18 ‘‘(2)(A) The Comptroller General shall provide a re19 port on each major rule to the committees of jurisdiction

20 in each House of the Congress by the end of 15 calendar

21 days after the submission or publication date as provided

22 in section 802(b)(2). The report of the Comptroller Gen23 eral shall include an assessment of the agency’s compli24 ance with procedural steps required by paragraph (1)(B).
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1 ‘‘(B) Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Comp2 troller General by providing information relevant to the

3 Comptroller General’s report under subparagraph (A).

4 ‘‘(3) A major rule relating to a report submitted

5 under paragraph (1) shall take effect on the latest of—

6 ‘‘(A) the later of the date occurring 60 days

7 after the date on which—

8 ‘‘(i) the Congress receives the report sub9 mitted under paragraph (1); or

10 ‘‘(ii) the rule is published in the Federal

11 Register, if so published;

12 ‘‘(B) if the Congress passes a joint resolution of

13 disapproval described in section 802 relating to the

14 rule, and the President signs a veto of such resolu15 tion, the earlier date—

16 ‘‘(i) on which either House of Congress

17 votes and fails to override the veto of the Presi18 dent; or

19 ‘‘(ii) occurring 30 session days after the

20 date on which the Congress received the veto

21 and objections of the President; or

22 ‘‘(C) the date the rule would have otherwise

23 taken effect, if not for this section (unless a joint

24 resolution of disapproval under section 802 is en25 acted).
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1 ‘‘(4) Except for a major rule, a rule shall take effect

2 as otherwise provided by law after submission to Congress

3 under paragraph (1).

4 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), the effective

5 date of a rule shall not be delayed by operation of this

6 chapter beyond the date on which either House of Con7 gress votes to reject a joint resolution of disapproval under

8 section 802.

9 ‘‘(b)(1) A rule shall not take effect (or continue), if

10 the Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval, de11 scribed under section 802, of the rule.

12 ‘‘(2) A rule that does not take effect (or does not

13 continue) under paragraph (1) may not be reissued in sub14 stantially the same form, and a new rule that is substan15 tially the same as such a rule may not be issued, unless

16 the reissued or new rule is specifically authorized by a law

17 enacted after the date of the joint resolution disapproving

18 the original rule.

19 ‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this

20 section (except subject to paragraph (3)), a rule that

21 would not take effect by reason of subsection (a)(3) may

22 take effect, if the President makes a determination under

23 paragraph (2) and submits written notice of such deter24 mination to the Congress.
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1 ‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) applies to a determination made

2 by the President by Executive Order that the rule should

3 take effect because such rule is—

4 ‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent threat

5 to health or safety or other emergency;

6 ‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal

7 laws;

8 ‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or

9 ‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute implement10 ing an international trade agreement.

11 ‘‘(3) An exercise by the President of the authority

12 under this subsection shall have no effect on the proce13 dures under section 802 or the effect of a joint resolution

14 of disapproval under this section.

15 ‘‘(d)(1) In addition to the opportunity for review oth16 erwise provided under this chapter, in the case of any rule

17 for which a report was submitted in accordance with sub18 section (a)(1)(A) during the period beginning on the date

19 occurring—

20 ‘‘(A) in the case of the Senate, 60 session days,

21 or

22 ‘‘(B) in the case of the House of Representa23 tives, 60 legislative days,

24 before the date the Congress adjourns a session of Con25 gress through the date on which the same or succeeding
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1 Congress first convenes its next session, section 802 shall

2 apply to such rule in the succeeding session of Congress.

3 ‘‘(2)(A) In applying section 802 for purposes of such

4 additional review, a rule described under paragraph (1)

5 shall be treated as though—

6 ‘‘(i) such rule were published in the Federal

7 Register (as a rule that shall take effect) on—

8 ‘‘(I) in the case of the Senate, the 15th

9 session day, or

10 ‘‘(II) in the case of the House of Rep11 resentatives, the 15th legislative day,

12 after the succeeding session of Congress first con13 venes; and

14 ‘‘(ii) a report on such rule were submitted to

15 Congress under subsection (a)(1) on such date.

16 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed

17 to affect the requirement under subsection (a)(1) that a

18 report shall be submitted to Congress before a rule can

19 take effect.

20 ‘‘(3) A rule described under paragraph (1) shall take

21 effect as otherwise provided by law (including other sub22 sections of this section).

23 ‘‘(e)(1) For purposes of this subsection, section 802

24 shall also apply to any major rule promulgated between
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1 March 1, 1996, and the date of the enactment of this

2 chapter.

3 ‘‘(2) In applying section 802 for purposes of Congres4 sional review, a rule described under paragraph (1) shall

5 be treated as though—

6 ‘‘(A) such rule were published in the Federal

7 Register on the date of enactment of this chapter;

8 and

9 ‘‘(B) a report on such rule were submitted to

10 Congress under subsection (a)(1) on such date.

11 ‘‘(3) The effectiveness of a rule described under para12 graph (1) shall be as otherwise provided by law, unless

13 the rule is made of no force or effect under section 802.

14 ‘‘(f) Any rule that takes effect and later is made of

15 no force or effect by enactment of a joint resolution under

16 section 802 shall be treated as though such rule had never

17 taken effect.

18 ‘‘(g) If the Congress does not enact a joint resolution

19 of disapproval under section 802 respecting a rule, no

20 court or agency may infer any intent of the Congress from

21 any action or inaction of the Congress with regard to such

22 rule, related statute, or joint resolution of disapproval.

23 ‘‘§ 802. Congressional disapproval procedure

24 ‘‘(a) For purposes of this section, the term ‘joint res25 olution’ means only a joint resolution introduced in the
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1 period beginning on the date on which the report referred

2 to in section 801(a)(1)(A) is received by Congress and

3 ending 60 days thereafter (excluding days either House

4 of Congress is adjourned for more than 3 days during a

5 session of Congress), the matter after the resolving clause

6 of which is as follows: ‘That Congress disapproves the rule

7 submitted by the ll relating to ll, and such rule

8 shall have no force or effect.’ (The blank spaces being ap9 propriately filled in).

10 ‘‘(b)(1) A joint resolution described in subsection (a)

11 shall be referred to the committees in each House of Con12 gress with jurisdiction.

13 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the term ‘submis14 sion or publication date’ means the later of the date on

15 which—

16 ‘‘(A) the Congress receives the report submitted

17 under section 801(a)(1); or

18 ‘‘(B) the rule is published in the Federal Reg19 ister, if so published.

20 ‘‘(c) In the Senate, if the committee to which is re21 ferred a joint resolution described in subsection (a) has

22 not reported such joint resolution (or an identical joint

23 resolution) at the end of 20 calendar days after the sub24 mission or publication date defined under subsection

25 (b)(2), such committee may be discharged from further
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1 consideration of such joint resolution upon a petition sup2 ported in writing by 30 Members of the Senate, and such

3 joint resolution shall be placed on the calendar.

4 ‘‘(d)(1) In the Senate, when the committee to which

5 a joint resolution is referred has reported, or when a com6 mittee is discharged (under subsection (c)) from further

7 consideration of a joint resolution described in subsection

8 (a), it is at any time thereafter in order (even though a

9 previous motion to the same effect has been disagreed to)

10 for a motion to proceed to the consideration of the joint

11 resolution, and all points of order against the joint resolu12 tion (and against consideration of the joint resolution) are

13 waived. The motion is not subject to amendment, or to

14 a motion to postpone, or to a motion to proceed to the

15 consideration of other business. A motion to reconsider the

16 vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to shall

17 not be in order. If a motion to proceed to the consideration

18 of the joint resolution is agreed to, the joint resolution

19 shall remain the unfinished business of the Senate until

20 disposed of.

21 ‘‘(2) In the Senate, debate on the joint resolution,

22 and on all debatable motions and appeals in connection

23 therewith, shall be limited to not more than 10 hours,

24 which shall be divided equally between those favoring and

25 those opposing the joint resolution. A motion further to
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1 limit debate is in order and not debatable. An amendment

2 to, or a motion to postpone, or a motion to proceed to

3 the consideration of other business, or a motion to recom4 mit the joint resolution is not in order.

5 ‘‘(3) In the Senate, immediately following the conclu6 sion of the debate on a joint resolution described in sub7 section (a), and a single quorum call at the conclusion of

8 the debate if requested in accordance with the rules of the

9 Senate, the vote on final passage of the joint resolution

10 shall occur.

11 ‘‘(4) Appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating

12 to the application of the rules of the Senate to the proce13 dure relating to a joint resolution described in subsection

14 (a) shall be decided without debate.

15 ‘‘(e) In the Senate the procedure specified in sub16 section (c) or (d) shall not apply to the consideration of

17 a joint resolution respecting a rule—

18 ‘‘(1) after the expiration of the 60 session days

19 beginning with the applicable submission or publica20 tion date, or

21 ‘‘(2) if the report under section 801(a)(1)(A)

22 was submitted during the period referred to in sec23 tion 801(d)(1), after the expiration of the 60 session

24 days beginning on the 15th session day after the

25 succeeding session of Congress first convenes.
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1 ‘‘(f) If, before the passage by one House of a joint

2 resolution of that House described in subsection (a), that

3 House receives from the other House a joint resolution

4 described in subsection (a), then the following procedures

5 shall apply:

6 ‘‘(1) The joint resolution of the other House

7 shall not be referred to a committee.

8 ‘‘(2) With respect to a joint resolution described

9 in subsection (a) of the House receiving the joint

10 resolution—

11 ‘‘(A) the procedure in that House shall be

12 the same as if no joint resolution had been re13 ceived from the other House; but

14 ‘‘(B) the vote on final passage shall be on

15 the joint resolution of the other House.

16 ‘‘(g) This section is enacted by Congress—

17 ‘‘(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

18 the Senate and House of Representatives, respec19 tively, and as such it is deemed a part of the rules

20 of each House, respectively, but applicable only with

21 respect to the procedure to be followed in that

22 House in the case of a joint resolution described in

23 subsection (a), and it supersedes other rules only to

24 the extent that it is inconsistent with such rules; and
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1 ‘‘(2) with full recognition of the constitutional

2 right of either House to change the rules (so far as

3 relating to the procedure of that House) at any time,

4 in the same manner, and to the same extent as in

5 the case of any other rule of that House.

6 ‘‘§ 803. Special rule on statutory, regulatory, and judi7 cial deadlines

8 ‘‘(a) In the case of any deadline for, relating to, or

9 involving any rule which does not take effect (or the effec10 tiveness of which is terminated) because of enactment of

11 a joint resolution under section 802, that deadline is ex12 tended until the date 1 year after the date of enactment

13 of the joint resolution. Nothing in this subsection shall be

14 construed to affect a deadline merely by reason of the

15 postponement of a rule’s effective date under section

16 801(a).

17 ‘‘(b) The term ‘deadline’ means any date certain for

18 fulfilling any obligation or exercising any authority estab19 lished by or under any Federal statute or regulation, or

20 by or under any court order implementing any Federal

21 statute or regulation.

22 ‘‘§ 804. Definitions

23 ‘‘For purposes of this chapter—

24 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal agency’ means any

25 agency as that term is defined in section 551(1).
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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘‘major rule’’ means any rule

2 that the Administrator of the Office of Information

3 and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management

4 and Budget finds has resulted in or is likely to re5 sult in—

6 ‘‘(A) an annual effect on the economy of

7 $100,000,000 or more;

8 ‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for

9 consumers, individual industries, Federal,

10 State, or local government agencies, or geo11 graphic regions; or

12 ‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi13 tion, employment, investment, productivity, in14 novation, or on the ability of United States15 based enterprises to compete with foreign-based

16 enterprises in domestic and export markets.

17 The term does not include any rule promulgated

18 under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the

19 amendments made by that Act.

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘rule’ has the meaning given

21 such term in section 551, except that such term does

22 not include—

23 ‘‘(A) any rule of particular applicability,

24 including a rule that approves or prescribes for

25 the future rates, wages, prices, services, or al-
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1 lowances therefor, corporate or financial struc2 tures, reorganizations, mergers, or acquisitions

3 thereof, or accounting practices or disclosures

4 bearing on any of the foregoing;

5 ‘‘(B) any rule relating to agency manage6 ment or personnel; or

7 ‘‘(C) any rule of agency organization, pro8 cedure, or practice that does not substantially

9 affect the rights or obligations of non-agency

10 parties.

11 ‘‘§ 805. Judicial review

12 ‘‘No determination, finding, action, or omission under

13 this chapter shall be subject to judicial review.

14 ‘‘§ 806. Applicability; severability

15 ‘‘(a) This chapter shall apply notwithstanding any

16 other provision of law.

17 ‘‘(b) If any provision of this chapter or the applica18 tion of any provision of this chapter to any person or cir19 cumstance, is held invalid, the application of such provi20 sion to other persons or circumstances, and the remainder

21 of this chapter, shall not be affected thereby.

22 ‘‘§ 807. Exemption for monetary policy

23 ‘‘Nothing in this chapter shall apply to rules that con24 cern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the
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1 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the

2 Federal Open Market Committee.

3 ‘‘§ 808. Effective date of certain rules

4 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 801—

5 ‘‘(1) any rule that establishes, modifies, opens,

6 closes, or conducts a regulatory program for a com7 mercial, recreational, or subsistence activity related

8 to hunting, fishing, or camping, or

9 ‘‘(2) any rule which an agency for good cause

10 finds (and incorporates the finding and a brief state11 ment of reasons therefor in the rule issued) that no12 tice and public procedure thereon are impracticable,

13 unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest,

14 shall take effect at such time as the Federal agency pro15 mulgating the rule determines.’’.

16 SEC. 252. EFFECTIVE DATE.

17 The amendment made by section 351 shall take effect

18 on the date of enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 253. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

20 The table of chapters for part I of title 5, United

21 States Code, is amended by inserting immediately after

22 the item relating to chapter 7 the following:

‘‘8. Congressional Review of Agency Rulemaking ........... 801’’.
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1 TITLE III—PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT

2 SEC. 301. INCREASE IN PUBLIC DEBT LIMIT.

3 Subsection (b) of section 3101 of title 31, United

4 States Code, is amended by striking the dollar limitation

5 contained in such subsection and inserting

6 ‘‘$5,500,000,000,000’’.

Passed the House of Representatives March 28,

1996.

Attest:

Clerk.