II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3860 

To provide for a method by which the economic costs of significant regulatory 

actions may be offset by the repeal of other regulatory actions, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 1, 2020 

Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for a method by which the economic costs of 

significant regulatory actions may be offset by the repeal 

of other regulatory actions, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Lessening Regulatory Costs and Establishing a Federal 

6 Regulatory Budget Act of 2020’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Sense of Congress; purpose. 


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Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Establishing regulatory reform capacity. 

Sec. 5. Accountability. 

Sec. 6. Regulatory planning and budget. 

Sec. 7. Waiver. 

1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE. 

2 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con3 gress that— 

4 (1) the Federal Government should be prudent 

5 and financially responsible in the expenditure of 

6 funds, from both public and private sources; and 

7 (2) in addition to the management of the direct 

8 expenditure of taxpayer dollars through the budg9 eting process, it is essential to manage the costs as10 sociated with the governmental imposition of private 

11 expenditures required to comply with Federal regula12 tions. 

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is— 

14 (1) to remove unnecessary or outdated regula15 tions when a new significant regulation is issued; 

16 and 

17 (2) to prudently manage and control the cost of 

18 planned regulations through an annual budgeting 

19 process. 

20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

2 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (2) AGENCY RRO.—The term ‘‘agency RRO’’ 

5 means the employee or officer of an agency des6 ignated as the Regulatory Reform Officer under sec7 tion 4(a)(1). 

8 (3) COSTS.—The term ‘‘costs’’ means oppor9 tunity cost to society. 

10 (4) COST SAVINGS.—The term ‘‘cost savings’’ 

11 means the cost imposed by a regulatory action that 

12 is eliminated by the repeal, replacement, or modifica13 tion of such regulatory action. 

14 (5) DEREGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘de15 regulatory action’’ means the repeal, replacement, or 

16 modification of an existing regulatory action. 

17 (6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

18 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg19 et. 

20 (7) INCREMENTAL REGULATORY COST.—The 

21 term ‘‘incremental regulatory cost’’ means the dif22 ference between the estimated cost of issuing a sig23 nificant regulatory action and the estimated cost 

24 saved by issuing any deregulatory action. 


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1 (8) REGULATION; RULE.—The term ‘‘regula2 tion’’ or ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given the term 

3 ‘‘rule’’ in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

4 (9) REGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘regu5 latory action’’ means— 

6 (A) any regulation; and 

7 (B) any other regulatory guidance, state8 ment of policy, information collection request, 

9 form, or reporting, recordkeeping, or disclosure 

10 requirement that imposes a burden on the pub11 lic or governs agency operations. 

12 (10) SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTION.—The 

13 term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ means any reg14 ulatory action, other than monetary policy proposed 

15 or implemented by the Board of Governors of the 

16 Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market 

17 Committee, that is likely to— 

18 (A) have an annual effect on the economy 

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

20 a material way the economy, a sector of the 

21 economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 

22 environment, public health or safety, or State, 

23 local, or Tribal governments or communities; 


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1 (B) create a serious inconsistency or other2 wise interfere with an action taken or planned 

3 by another agency; 

4 (C) materially alter the budgetary impact 

5 of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan pro6 grams or the rights and obligations of recipi7 ents thereof; or 

8 (D) raise a novel legal or policy issue. 

9 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

10 the several States, the District of Columbia, and 

11 each territory or possession of the United States. 

12 (12) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

13 means a regulatory reform task force established 

14 under section 4(b)(1). 

15 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING REGULATORY REFORM CAPACITY. 

16 (a) REGULATORY REFORM OFFICERS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sec18 tion 7, not later than 60 days after the date of en19 actment of this Act, the head of each agency shall 

20 designate an employee or officer of the agency as the 

21 Regulatory Reform Officer. 

22 (2) DUTIES.—In accordance with applicable law 

23 and in consultation with relevant senior agency offi24 cials, each agency RRO shall oversee— 


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1 (A) the implementation of regulatory re2 form initiatives and policies for the agency to 

3 ensure that the agency effectively carries out 

4 regulatory reforms; and 

5 (B) the termination of programs and ac6 tivities that derive from or implement statutes, 

7 Executive orders, guidance documents, policy 

8 memoranda, rule interpretations, and similar 

9 documents, or relevant portions thereof, that 

10 have been repealed or rescinded. 

11 (b) REGULATORY REFORM TASK FORCES.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY TASK FORCE; 

13 MEMBERSHIP.—Except as provided in section 7, not 

14 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act, the head of each agency shall appoint and 

16 may remove members to the regulatory reform task 

17 force of the agency, which shall be composed of the 

18 following members: 

19 (A) The agency RRO. 

20 (B) A senior agency official from each rel21 evant component or office of the agency with 

22 significant authority for issuing or repealing 

23 regulatory actions. 

24 (C) Additional senior agency officials in25 volved in the development of rulemaking or 


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1 other regulatory action at the agency, as deter2 mined by the head of the agency. 

3 (2) CHAIR.—Unless otherwise designated by the 

4 head of the agency, the agency RRO shall chair the 

5 Task Force of the agency. 

6 (3) JOINT TASK FORCES.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—For the consideration 

8 of a joint rulemaking, the Director may form a 

9 joint regulatory reform task force composed of 

10 not fewer than 1 member from the Task Force 

11 of each relevant agency. 

12 (B) CONSULTATION.—Any joint regulatory 

13 reform task force formed under this paragraph 

14 shall consult with each relevant Task Force. 

15 (4) DUTIES.—Each Task Force shall— 

16 (A) conduct ongoing evaluations of regula17 tions and other regulatory actions and make 

18 recommendations that are consistent with and 

19 that could be implemented in accordance with 

20 applicable law to the head of the agency regard21 ing repeal, replacement, or modification of reg22 ulations and regulatory actions; and 

23 (B) to the extent practicable— 

24 (i) not later than 5 years after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, complete a 


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1 review of each regulation issued by the 

2 agency; 

3 (ii) for each regulation or regulatory 

4 action reviewed and identified for repeal, 

5 replacement, or modification, estimate the 

6 cost savings of such repeal, replacement, or 

7 modification, as applicable; and 

8 (iii) identify regulations that are ap9 propriate for repeal, replacement, or modi10 fication, and prioritize the evaluation of 

11 regulations that— 

12 (I) eliminate or have eliminated 

13 jobs or inhibit or have inhibited job 

14 creation; 

15 (II) are outdated, unnecessary, or 

16 ineffective; 

17 (III) impose costs that exceed 

18 benefits; 

19 (IV) create a serious inconsist20 ency or otherwise interfere with regu21 latory reform initiatives and policies; 

22 (V) were issued or are main23 tained in a manner that is incon24 sistent with the requirements of sec25 tion 515 of the Treasury and General 


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1 Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

2 (Public Law 106–554; 44 U.S.C. 

3 3516 note), or the guidance issued 

4 pursuant to that section, including 

5 any rule that relies in whole or in part 

6 on data, information, or methods that 

7 are not publicly available or that are 

8 insufficiently transparent to meet the 

9 standard for reproducibility; or 

10 (VI) were made pursuant to or to 

11 implement statutes, Executive orders, 

12 or other Presidential directives that 

13 have been subsequently rescinded or 

14 substantially modified. 

15 (c) CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—In per16 forming the tasks under this section, each agency RRO 

17 and Task Force— 

18 (1) shall seek input and other assistance from 

19 the public and from entities significantly affected by 

20 regulations, including State, local, and Tribal gov21 ernments, small businesses, consumers, non-govern22 mental organizations, and trade associations; and 

23 (2) may— 

24 (A) incorporate specific suggestions from 

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1 tory actions to recommend to the head of the 

2 agency; and 

3 (B) accept or solicit input from the public 

4 in any manner, if— 

5 (i) the process is transparent to the 

6 public and Congress; 

7 (ii) a list of each meeting, a list of 

8 each stakeholder that submitted a com9 ment, and a copy of each written comment 

10 are made publicly available online; and 

11 (iii) the Task Force issues a public 

12 notice of any public meeting to solicit input 

13 not less than 7 days before the public 

14 meeting and makes detailed minutes of the 

15 meeting available online not less than 7 

16 days after the date of the meeting. 

17 (d) TRANSPARENT REGULATORY REFORM.— 

18 (1) WEBSITE.—To the extent practicable, the 

19 head of each agency shall publish information about 

20 the Task Force of the agency and other regulatory 

21 reform initiatives on the website of the agency— 

22 (A) which shall include— 

23 (i) a list of the members of the Task 

24 Force of the agency; 


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1 (ii) a copy of each report issued under 

2 this subsection; and 

3 (iii) a link to or copy of each notice of 

4 a meeting or solicitation of public com5 ments issued by the Task Force of the 

6 agency; and 

7 (B) which may include— 

8 (i) an online forum to receive com9 ments from the public; and 

10 (ii) any other information about the 

11 Task Force or other regulatory reform ini12 tiatives at the agency. 

13 (2) REPORT.—Not less than twice a year, each 

14 agency RRO shall submit to the head of the agency 

15 a report on the activities performed under this sec16 tion and any recommendations resulting from such 

17 activities (which shall be posted by the head of the 

18 agency on a publicly accessible website), and shall 

19 include the following: 

20 (A) A description of any improvement 

21 made toward implementation of regulatory re22 form initiatives and policies. 

23 (B) For each regulation or other regu24 latory action reviewed by the Task Force, a de25 tailed description of the review. 


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1 (C) An inventory of each regulation or reg2 ulatory action the Task Force recommends the 

3 agency consider for repeal, replacement, or 

4 modification. 

5 (D) A list of all activities conducted under 

6 subsection (c), a summary of all comments re7 ceived, and a hyperlink to copies of each public 

8 comment received. 

9 SEC. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY. 

10 (a) INCORPORATION IN PERFORMANCE PLANS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency listed in section 

12 901(b)(1) of title 31, United States Code, shall in13 corporate in the annual performance plan of the 

14 agency required under section 1115(b) of title 31, 

15 United States Code, performance indicators that 

16 measure progress implementing this Act. 

17 (2) OMB GUIDANCE.—The Director shall issue, 

18 and update as necessary, guidance regarding the im19 plementation of this subsection. 

20 (b) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT.—The head of each 

21 agency shall consider the progress implementing this Act 

22 in assessing the performance of the Task Force of the 

23 agency and those individuals responsible for developing 

24 and issuing agency rules. 


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1 SEC. 6. REGULATORY PLANNING AND BUDGET. 

2 (a) UNIFIED AGENDA AND ANNUAL REGULATORY

3 PLAN.— 

4 (1) UNIFIED REGULATORY AGENDA.—During 

5 the months of April and October of each year, the 

6 Director shall publish a unified regulatory agenda, 

7 which shall include— 

8 (A) regulatory and deregulatory actions 

9 under development or review at agencies; 

10 (B) a Federal regulatory plan of all signifi11 cant regulatory actions and associated deregula12 tory actions that agencies reasonably expect to 

13 issue in proposed or final form in the fiscal year 

14 in which the unified regulatory agenda is pub15 lished and the following fiscal year; and 

16 (C) all information required to be included 

17 in the regulatory flexibility agenda under sec18 tion 602 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (2) AGENCY SUBMISSIONS.—In accordance with 

20 guidance issued by the Director and not less than 60 

21 days before each date of publication for the unified 

22 regulatory agenda under paragraph (1), the head of 

23 each agency shall submit to the Director an agenda 

24 of all regulatory actions and deregulatory actions 

25 under development at the agency, including the fol26 lowing: 


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1 (A) For each regulatory action and deregu2 latory action: 

3 (i) A regulation identifier number. 

4 (ii) A brief summary of the action. 

5 (iii) The legal authority for the action. 

6 (iv) Any legal deadline for the action. 

7 (v) The name and contact information 

8 for a knowledgeable agency official. 

9 (vi) Any other information as required 

10 by the Director. 

11 (B) An annual regulatory plan, which shall 

12 include a list of each significant regulatory ac13 tion the agency reasonably expects to issue in 

14 proposed or final form in the fiscal year in 

15 which the unified regulatory agenda is pub16 lished and the following fiscal year, including 

17 for each significant regulatory action: 

18 (i) A summary, including the fol19 lowing: 

20 (I) A statement of the regulatory 

21 objectives. 

22 (II) The legal authority for the 

23 action. 

24 (III) A statement of the need for 

25 the action. 


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1 (IV) The agency’s schedule for 

2 the action. 

3 (ii) The estimated cost. 

4 (iii) The estimated benefits. 

5 (iv) Any deregulatory action identified 

6 to offset the estimated cost of the signifi7 cant regulatory action and an explanation 

8 of how the agency will continue to achieve 

9 regulatory objectives if the deregulatory ac10 tion is taken. 

11 (v) A best approximation of the total 

12 cost or savings and any cost or savings as13 sociated with a deregulatory action. 

14 (vi) An estimate of the economic ef15 fects, including any estimate of the net ef16 fect that such action will have on the num17 ber of jobs in the United States, that was 

18 considered in drafting the action, or, if 

19 such estimate is not available, a statement 

20 affirming that no information on the eco21 nomic effects, including the effect on the 

22 number of jobs, of the action has been con23 sidered. 

24 (C) Information required under section 

25 602 of title 5, United States Code. 


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1 (D) Information required under any other 

2 law to be reported by agencies about significant 

3 regulatory actions, as determined by the Direc4 tor. 

5 (b) FEDERAL REGULATORY BUDGET.— 

6 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the April unified 

8 regulatory agenda described in subsection (a), 

9 the Director shall establish the annual Federal 

10 Regulatory Budget, which specifies the net 

11 amount of incremental regulatory costs allowed 

12 by the Federal Government and at each agency 

13 for the next fiscal year. 

14 (B) REGULATORY COST ALLOWANCE.—The 

15 Director may set the incremental regulatory 

16 cost allowance described in paragraph (1) to 

17 allow an increase, prohibit an increase, or re18 quire a decrease of incremental regulatory 

19 costs. 

20 (2) DEFAULT NET INCREMENTAL REGULATORY

21 COST.—If the Director does not set a net amount of 

22 incremental regulatory costs allowed for an agency, 

23 the net incremental regulatory cost allowed shall be 

24 zero. 


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1 (3) BALANCE ROLLOVER OF INCREMENTAL

2 REGULATORY COST ALLOWANCE.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an agency does not 

4 exhaust all of the incremental regulatory cost 

5 allowance for a fiscal year, the balance may be 

6 added to the incremental regulatory cost allow7 ance for the subsequent fiscal year, without in8 creasing the incremental regulatory costs al9 lowed for the Federal Government for the sub10 sequent fiscal year. 

11 (B) IDENTIFICATION.—The Director shall 

12 identify the total carryover incremental regu13 latory cost allowance available to an agency in 

14 the Federal Regulatory Budget. 

15 (c) SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTION REQUIRE16 MENTS.—Except as otherwise required by law, a signifi17 cant regulatory action shall have no effect unless— 

18 (1) the— 

19 (A) head of the agency identifies not less 

20 than 2 deregulatory actions to offset the costs 

21 of the significant regulatory action, and to the 

22 extent feasible, issues those deregulatory ac23 tions before or on the same schedule as the sig24 nificant regulatory action; 


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1 (B) incremental costs of the significant 

2 regulatory action as offset by any deregulatory 

3 action issued before or on the same schedule as 

4 the significant regulatory action do not cause 

5 the agency to exceed or contribute to the agen6 cy exceeding the incremental regulatory cost al7 lowance of the agency for that fiscal year; and 

8 (C) significant regulatory action was in9 cluded on the most recent version or update of 

10 the published unified regulatory agenda; or 

11 (2) the issuance of the significant regulatory ac12 tion was approved in advance in writing by the Di13 rector and the written approval is publicly available 

14 online before the issuance of the significant regu15 latory action. 

16 (d) GUIDANCE BY OMB.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

19 shall establish and issue guidance on how agencies 

20 should comply with the requirements of this section, 

21 which shall include— 

22 (A) a process for standardizing the meas23 urement and estimation of regulatory costs, in24 cluding cost savings associated with deregula25 tory actions; 


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1 (B) standards for determining what quali2 fies as a deregulatory action; 

3 (C) standards for determining the costs of 

4 existing regulatory actions that are considered 

5 for repeal, replacement, or modification; 

6 (D) a process for accounting for costs in 

7 different fiscal years; 

8 (E) methods to oversee the issuance of sig9 nificant regulatory actions offset by cost sav10 ings achieved at different times or by different 

11 agencies; 

12 (F) emergencies and other circumstances 

13 that may justify individual waivers of the re14 quirements of this section; and 

15 (G) standards by which the Director will 

16 determine whether a regulatory action or a col17 lection of regulatory actions qualifies as a sig18 nificant regulatory action. 

19 (2) UPDATES TO GUIDANCE.—The Director 

20 shall update the guidance issued pursuant to para21 graph (1) as necessary. 

22 SEC. 7. WAIVER. 

23 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Upon the written request 

24 of the head of an agency, the Director may issue a written 

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1 termines that the agency generally issues very few or no 

2 rules. 

3 (b) REVOCATION OF WAIVER.—The Director may re4 voke at any time a waiver issued under this section. 

5 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF WAIVERS.—The Direc6 tor shall maintain a publicly available list of each agency 

7 that is operating under a waiver issued under this section. 

8 (d) REQUIREMENT FOR WAIVER.—A waiver under 

9 this section shall not be effective unless the written waiver 

10 and the written request of the agency are publicly avail11 able on the website of the Office of Management and 

12 Budget. 

Æ 


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