II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1339 

To provide for the compilation and reporting of participation data relating 

to Federal rulemaking. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 7, 2011 

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

referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide for the compilation and reporting of participation 

data relating to Federal rulemaking. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Informa5 tion Reporting Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORTING AND COMPILATION OF PARTICIPATION 

7 DATA. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 

9 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 

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


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1 (2) the term ‘‘General Services Administration 

2 Office’’ means— 

3 (A) except as provided under subparagraph 

4 (B), the Regulatory Information Service Center; 

5 or 

6 (B) another office within the General Serv7 ices Administration designated by the Adminis8 trator of General Services; 

9 (3) the term ‘‘participant’’ means the employing 

10 or affiliated organization of an individual rep11 resenting interests before an agency promulgating a 

12 rule; 

13 (4) the term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given 

14 under section 551(4) of title 5, United States Code; 

15 and 

16 (5) the term ‘‘rulemaking’’ has the meaning 

17 given under section 551(5) of title 5, United States 

18 Code. 

19 (b) REPRESENTATION BY PARTICIPANTS.—For pur20 poses of this section, a participant represents— 

21 (1) an economic interest when the participant— 

22 (A) has a substantial economic interest in 

23 the outcome of the rulemaking; 


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1 (B) represents an entity with a substantial 

2 economic interest in the outcome of the rule3 making; or 

4 (C) represents an association that receives 

5 substantial membership dues or contributions 

6 from entities that have a substantial economic 

7 interest in the outcome of the rulemaking; 

8 (2) a non-economic interest when the partici9 pant claims to represent the public at large and does 

10 not represent an economic interest; 

11 (3) a citizen interest when the participant does 

12 not claim to represent the public at large and does 

13 not represent an economic interest; and 

14 (4) an unknown interest if the promulgating 

15 agency cannot reasonably discern whether the partic16 ipant represents an economic, non-economic, or cit17 izen interest. 

18 (c) SUBMISSION OF REGULATORY INFORMATION TO

19 GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.—Before publica20 tion in the Federal Register of a final rule under section 

21 553 of title 5, United States Code, the promulgating agen22 cy shall submit to the General Services Administration Of23 fice a list of all non-Federal Government participants who 

24 provided public comments to the agency on the rule, speci25 fying, as reasonably possible— 


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1 (1) the name and address of the participant; 

2 (2) the participant’s organizational affiliation, 

3 where appropriate; 

4 (3) whether the participant represents an eco5 nomic interest, a non-economic interest, a citizen in6 terest, or an unknown interest; and 

7 (4) whether any comment of the participant af8 fected or did not affect the content of the final rule. 

9 (d) COMPILATION, PUBLICATION, AND REPORTING

10 OF INFORMATION BY GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRA11 TION.— 

12 (1) SEARCHABLE DATABASE.—The General 

13 Services Administration Office shall compile the in14 formation provided by promulgating agencies under 

15 subsection (c) into a searchable database made pub16 licly available on the Internet. The database shall be 

17 kept as current as reasonably possible. 

18 (2) QUARTERLY TREND AND OVERVIEW STATIS19 TICS.—The General Services Administration Office 

20 shall make publicly available on the Internet quar21 terly trend and overview statistics. The General 

22 Services Administration Office shall present the data 

23 received from promulgating agencies in a manner so 

24 as to facilitate oversight, and shall emphasize the 

25 relative level and effectiveness of participation in the 


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1 regulatory process of economic, non-economic, and 

2 citizen interests. 

3 (3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The General Services 

4 Administration Office shall submit an annual report 

5 to the relevant committees of Congress that summa6 rizes the data received from promulgating agencies, 

7 with an emphasis on the relative level and effective8 ness of participation in the regulatory process of 

9 economic, non-economic, and citizen interests. 

10 (4) CONSULTATION.—In performing its duties 

11 under this section, the General Services Administra12 tion Office shall consult with the Administrative 

13 Conference of the United States as the General 

14 Services Administration Office determines appro15 priate. 

16 (e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 90 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of Gen18 eral Services shall promulgate regulations necessary to im19 plement this section. 

20 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of 

22 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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