I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4763

To establish a 3-year pilot project for the General Accounting Office to

report to Congress on economically significant rules of Federal agencies,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 27, 2000

Mr. CONDIT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Government Reform

A BILL

To establish a 3-year pilot project for the General Accounting

Office to report to Congress on economically significant

rules of Federal agencies, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Truth in Regulating

5 Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act are to—

8 (1) increase the transparency of important reg9 ulatory decisions;
2

•HR 4763 IH

1 (2) promote effective congressional oversight to

2 ensure that agency rules fulfill statutory require3 ments in an efficient, effective, and fair manner; and

4 (3) increase the accountability of Congress and

5 the agencies to the people they serve.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act, the term—

8 (1) ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given such term

9 under section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code;

10 (2) ‘‘economically significant rule’’ means any

11 proposed or final rule, including an interim or direct

12 final rule, that may have an annual effect on the

13 economy of $100,000,000 or more or adversely af14 fect in a material way the economy, a sector of the

15 economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the envi16 ronment, public health or safety, or State, local, or

17 tribal governments or communities; and

18 (3) ‘‘independent evaluation’’ means a sub19 stantive evaluation of the agency’s data, method20 ology, and assumptions used in developing the eco21 nomically significant rule, including—

22 (A) an explanation of how any strengths or

23 weaknesses in those data, methodology, and as24 sumptions support or detract from conclusions

25 reached by the agency; and
3

•HR 4763 IH

1 (B) the implications, if any, of those

2 strengths or weaknesses for the rulemaking.

3 SEC. 4. PILOT PROJECT FOR REPORT ON RULES.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—

5 (1) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—When an agency

6 publishes an economically significant rule, a chair7 man or ranking member of a committee of jurisdic8 tion of either House of Congress may request the

9 Comptroller General of the United States to review

10 the rule.

11 (2) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall

12 submit a report on each economically significant rule

13 selected under paragraph (4) to the committees of

14 jurisdiction in each House of Congress not later

15 than 180 calendar days after a committee request is

16 received. The report shall include an independent

17 evaluation of the economically significant rule by the

18 Comptroller General.

19 (3) INDEPENDENT EVALUATION.—The inde20 pendent evaluation of the economically significant

21 rule by the Comptroller General under paragraph

22 (2) shall include—

23 (A) an evaluation of the agency’s analysis

24 of the potential benefits of the rule, including

25 any beneficial effects that cannot be quantified
4

•HR 4763 IH

1 in monetary terms and the identification of the

2 persons or entities likely to receive the benefits;

3 (B) an evaluation of the agency’s analysis

4 of the potential costs of the rule, including any

5 adverse effects that cannot be quantified in

6 monetary terms and the identification of the

7 persons or entities likely to bear the costs;

8 (C) an evaluation of the agency’s analysis

9 of alternative approaches set forth in the notice

10 of proposed rulemaking and in the rulemaking

11 record, as well as of any regulatory impact

12 analysis, federalism assessment, or other anal13 ysis or assessment prepared by the agency or

14 required for the economically significant rule;

15 and

16 (D) a summary of the results of the eval17 uation of the Comptroller General and the im18 plications of those results.

19 (4) PROCEDURES FOR PRIORITIES OF RE20 QUESTS.—The Comptroller General shall have dis21 cretion to develop procedures for determining the

22 priority and number of requests for review under

23 paragraph (1) for which a report will be submitted

24 under paragraph (2).
5

•HR 4763 IH

1 (b) AUTHORITY OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Each

2 agency shall promptly cooperate with the Comptroller

3 General in carrying out this Act. Nothing in this Act is

4 intended to expand or limit the authority of the General

5 Accounting Office.

6 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Gen8 eral Accounting Office to carry out this Act $5,200,000

9 for each of fiscal years 2000 through 2002.

10 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND DURATION OF PILOT

11 PROJECT.

12 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend13 ments made by this Act shall take effect 90 days after

14 the date of enactment of this Act.

15 (b) DURATION OF PILOT PROJECT.—The pilot

16 project under this Act shall continue for a period of 3

17 years, if in each fiscal year, or portion thereof included

18 in that period, a specific annual appropriation not less

19 than $5,200,000 or the pro-rated equivalent thereof shall

20 have been made for the pilot project.

21 (c) REPORT.—Before the conclusion of the 3-year pe22 riod, the Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a

23 report reviewing the effectiveness of the pilot project and
6

•HR 4763 IH

1 recommending whether or not Congress should perma2 nently authorize the pilot project.

Æ