I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2577 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a Federal 

regulatory budget and to impose cost controls on that budget, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2021 

Mr. GOOD of Virginia (for himself, Ms. MACE, and Mr. WEBER of Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Rules, the Judiciary, Oversight and Reform, and Small Business, for a period to be subsequently 

determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish 

a Federal regulatory budget and to impose cost controls 

on that budget, 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 ‘‘Article I Regulatory 

5 Budget Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PRESIDENT’S ANNUAL BUDGET SUBMISSIONS. 

2 Section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(40)(A) for the first fiscal year that begins at 

5 least 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

6 paragraph, and every fiscal year thereafter until the 

7 fifth fiscal year that begins after the date of enact8 ment of this paragraph, a projection of the Federal 

9 regulatory cost of any proposed Federal regulation, 

10 rule, or statement (as such terms are defined in sec11 tion 321 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974) 

12 for the fiscal year and at least each of the 4 ensuing 

13 fiscal years, which shall include— 

14 ‘‘(i) the projection of the Federal regu15 latory cost by agency and program; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) any changes in a Federal regulation, 

17 rule, or statement in the Unified Agenda of 

18 Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, 

19 compiled by the Regulatory Information Service 

20 Center of the General Services Administration; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(B) for the fifth fiscal year that begins after 

23 the date of enactment of this paragraph, and every 

24 fiscal year thereafter, a regulatory authority budget 

25 analysis of the Federal regulatory cost of complying 

26 with all current and proposed Federal regulations, 


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1 rules, and statements and proposals (as such terms 

2 are defined in section 321 of the Congressional 

3 Budget Act of 1974) for complying with section 322 

4 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 for the fis5 cal year for which the budget is submitted and the 

6 4 fiscal years after that year, which shall include a 

7 regulatory authority budget analysis of the Federal 

8 regulatory cost by agency and program.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. ESTIMATION AND DISCLOSURE OF COSTS OF FED10 ERAL REGULATION. 

11 (a) COSTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR OF NEW FEDERAL

12 REGULATIONS.—Chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code, 

13 popularly known as the ‘‘Regulatory Flexibility Act’’, is 

14 amended— 

15 (1) in section 603— 

16 (A) in subsection (a), in the second sen17 tence, by inserting before the period the fol18 lowing: ‘‘and shall discuss in detail whether the 

19 cost to businesses of complying with the pro20 posed rule will vary depending on the size of the 

21 business and, if so, to what extent the cost will 

22 vary and what factors contribute to the vari23 ation’’; 

24 (B) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1), 

2 (2), (3), and (4) as subparagraphs (A), 

3 (B), (C), and (D), respectively, and adjust4 ing the margin accordingly; 

5 (ii) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’; and 

6 (iii) by striking ‘‘Consistent with the’’ 

7 and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) The analysis of significant alternatives to the 

9 proposed rule shall include a detailed analysis of the costs 

10 and benefits of the proposed rule and each alternative, 

11 which shall separately address the costs and benefits for 

12 each industry. 

13 ‘‘(3) Consistent with the’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(e) Each initial regulatory flexibility analysis shall 

16 also contain a description of the nature and amount of 

17 monetary costs that will be incurred by small entities, 

18 other businesses, and individuals in complying with the 

19 proposed rule.’’; 

20 (2) in section 604(a)— 

21 (A) in the first paragraph designated as 

22 paragraph (6) (relating to minimization of sig23 nificant economic impacts), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

24 at the end; 


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1 (B) by redesignating the second paragraph 

2 (6) (relating to covered agencies), as paragraph 

3 (8); and 

4 (C) by inserting after paragraph (6) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(7) a statement of the nature and amount of 

7 monetary costs that will be incurred by small enti8 ties, other businesses, and individuals in complying 

9 with the rule; and’’; and 

10 (3) in section 607, by inserting before the pe11 riod the following: ‘‘, except that estimates of mone12 tary costs under sections 603(d) and 604(a)(7) shall 

13 only be in the form of a numerical description’’. 

14 (b) AGENCY REPORTS.—Each agency that prepares 

15 an initial regulatory flexibility analysis under chapter 6 

16 of title 5, United States Code, shall, at the same time sub17 mit to each House of Congress, the Congressional Budget 

18 Office, and the Office of Management and Budget a cost 

19 estimate and cost benefit analysis of any new proposed 

20 regulations, rules, or statements that would have a Fed21 eral regulatory cost (as defined in section 321 of the Con22 gressional Budget Act of 1974, as added by this Act) of 

23 at least $100,000,000 for any fiscal year. 

24 SEC. 4. GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS. 

25 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 


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1 (1) the terms ‘‘agency’’ and ‘‘rule’’ have the 

2 meanings given such terms in section 551 of title 5, 

3 United States Code; 

4 (2) the term ‘‘guidance document’’ means an 

5 agency statement of general applicability and future 

6 effect, other than a rule, that sets forth a policy on 

7 a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an in8 terpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue; and 

9 (3) the term ‘‘significant guidance document’’— 

10 (A) means a guidance document that the 

11 Office of Management and Budget determines 

12 will be disseminated to regulated entities or the 

13 general public and may reasonably be antici14 pated to— 

15 (i) lead to an annual effect of not less 

16 than $100,000,000 on, or adversely affect 

17 in a material way, the economy, a sector of 

18 the economy, productivity, competition, 

19 jobs, the environment, public health or 

20 safety, or State, local, or tribal govern21 ments or communities; 

22 (ii) create a serious inconsistency or 

23 otherwise interfere with an action taken or 

24 planned by an agency other than the agen25 cy issuing the guidance document; 


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1 (iii) materially alter the budgetary im2 pact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or 

3 loan programs or the rights or obligations 

4 of recipients thereof; or 

5 (iv) raise novel legal or policy issues 

6 arising out of legal mandates, the priorities 

7 of the President, or the principles set forth 

8 in Executive Order 12866 (5 U.S.C. 601 

9 note; relating to regulatory planning and 

10 review); and 

11 (B) does not include a guidance document 

12 that the Office of Management and Budget de13 termines— 

14 (i) relates to regulations issued in ac15 cordance with the formal rulemaking provi16 sions of sections 556 and 557 of title 5, 

17 United States Code; 

18 (ii) pertains to a military or foreign 

19 affairs function of the United States, other 

20 than procurement regulations and regula21 tions involving the import or export of non22 defense articles and services; 

23 (iii) relates to regulations that are 

24 limited to agency organization, manage25 ment, or personnel matters; or 


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1 (iv) is within a category of guidance 

2 documents exempted by the Administrator 

3 of the Office of Information and Regu4 latory Affairs. 

5 (b) LIMITATION ON GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—An 

6 agency may not issue a significant guidance document un7 less the agency issues the significant guidance document 

8 after notice and an opportunity for comment in accord9 ance with the requirements for the promulgation of a rule 

10 under chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code. 

11 (c) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person ag12 grieved of an action taken or failed to be taken under a 

13 guidance document that was not issued in accordance with 

14 subsection (b) may bring a civil action in an appropriate 

15 district court of the United States alleging that the guid16 ance document should have been treated as a significant 

17 guidance document. 

18 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET 

19 ACT OF 1974. 

20 (a) FEDERAL REGULATORY BUDGET COST CONTROL

21 SYSTEM.—Title III of the Congressional Budget Act of 

22 1974 is amended— 

23 (1) by inserting before section 300 the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘PART A—GENERAL PROVISIONS’’; 

2 and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘PART B—FEDERAL REGULATORY BUDGET COST 

5 CONTROL 

6 ‘‘SEC. 321. DEFINITIONS. 

7 ‘‘In this part— 

8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘CBO’ means the Congressional 

9 Budget Office; 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘direct cost of Federal regulation’ 

11 means all costs incurred by, and expenditures re12 quired of, the Federal Government in issuing and 

13 enforcing Federal regulations, rules, and statements 

14 and Federal statutes; 

15 ‘‘(3) the term ‘Federal regulation, rule, or 

16 statement’— 

17 ‘‘(A) includes any guidance document 

18 issued after notice and an opportunity for com19 ment in accordance with the requirements for 

20 the promulgation of a rule under chapter 5 of 

21 title 5, United States Code; and 

22 ‘‘(B) does not include— 

23 ‘‘(i) a Federal regulation, rule, or 

24 statement applying to— 

25 ‘‘(I) the military; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) agency organization, man2 agement, or personnel; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) a Federal regulation, rule, or 

4 statement designated by the President as 

5 being— 

6 ‘‘(I) necessary because of an im7 minent threat to health or safety or 

8 other emergency; 

9 ‘‘(II) necessary for the enforce10 ment of criminal laws; or 

11 ‘‘(III) necessary for national se12 curity; 

13 ‘‘(4) the term ‘Federal regulatory cost’— 

14 ‘‘(A) means all costs incurred by, and ex15 penditures required of, the private sector, 

16 States, or local governments in complying with 

17 any Federal regulation, rule, or statement or 

18 any Federal statute; and 

19 ‘‘(B) does not include the value of any ben20 efit under the Federal regulation, rule, or state21 ment or the Federal statute; 

22 ‘‘(5) the term ‘gross domestic product’ means 

23 the gross domestic product of the United States dur24 ing a fiscal year, consistent with Department of 

25 Commerce definitions; 


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1 ‘‘(6) the term ‘OMB’ means the Office of Man2 agement and Budget; and 

3 ‘‘(7) the term ‘regulatory baseline’ means the 

4 projection described in section 326(a) of the Federal 

5 regulatory cost for the fiscal year after the date of 

6 the projection and the outyears. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 322. ESTABLISHMENT OF LEVEL AND ALLOCATIONS. 

8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF LEVEL.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the require10 ments under section 301, a concurrent resolution on 

11 the budget for a fiscal year shall set forth the appro12 priate level for the Federal regulatory cost for the 

13 fiscal year and for at least each of the 4 ensuing fis14 cal years. 

15 ‘‘(2) TRANSITION PERIOD.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For the first fiscal 

17 year that begins at least 120 days after the 

18 date of enactment of this section, and each fis19 cal year thereafter until the fiscal year de20 scribed in section 326(a), the Committee on the 

21 Budget of the Senate and the Committee on the 

22 Budget of the House of Representatives shall 

23 include in the concurrent resolution on the 

24 budget for the fiscal year as the appropriate 

25 level for the Federal regulatory cost for the fisVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2577.IH H2577

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1 cal year and any other fiscal year covered by 

2 the resolution the proposed levels submitted by 

3 the President under section 1105(a)(40) of title 

4 31, United States Code. 

5 ‘‘(B) AMENDMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the Senate and 

7 the House of Representatives, it shall not 

8 be in order to consider an amendment to 

9 a concurrent resolution on the budget that, 

10 if agreed to, would result in a net increase 

11 in a level included pursuant to subpara12 graph (A). 

13 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER AND APPEAL.—A point 

14 of order under clause (i) may only be 

15 waived by the affirmative vote of three16 fifths of the Members, duly chosen and 

17 sworn. An affirmative vote of three-fifths 

18 of Members, duly chosen and sworn, shall 

19 be required to sustain an appeal of the rul20 ing of the Chair on a point of order raised 

21 under clause (i). 

22 ‘‘(3) DEFAULT TOTAL.—If there is not a level 

23 for the Federal regulatory cost that is in effect for 

24 a fiscal year under a concurrent resolution on the 

25 budget— 


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1 ‘‘(A) for the first fiscal year that begins at 

2 least 120 days after the date of enactment of 

3 this section, and every fiscal year thereafter 

4 until the fiscal year described in subparagraph 

5 (B), the appropriate level for the Federal regu6 latory cost for the fiscal year shall be the pro7 posed level submitted by the President under 

8 section 1105(a)(40) of title 31, United States 

9 Code; 

10 ‘‘(B) for the fifth fiscal year that begins 

11 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

12 appropriate level for the Federal regulatory cost 

13 for the fiscal year shall be the amount of the 

14 first regulatory baseline submitted under sec15 tion 326; and 

16 ‘‘(C) for each fiscal year after the fiscal 

17 year described in subparagraph (B), the appro18 priate level for the Federal regulatory cost for 

19 the fiscal year shall be the level for the most re20 cent fiscal year for which such a level was in ef21 fect (under subparagraph (B), this subpara22 graph, or a concurrent resolution on the budg23 et). 

24 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION OF TOTALS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the first fiscal year 

2 that begins at least 120 days after the date of enact3 ment of this section, and each fiscal year thereafter, 

4 the joint explanatory statement accompanying the 

5 conference report on a concurrent resolution on the 

6 budget for such fiscal year shall include allocations 

7 of the Federal regulatory cost in effect under sub8 section (a) for such fiscal year and at least each of 

9 the 4 ensuing fiscal years— 

10 ‘‘(A) among each committee of the Senate 

11 and each committee of the House of Represent12 atives; 

13 ‘‘(B) by major functional category; and 

14 ‘‘(C) by agency. 

15 ‘‘(2) SUBALLOCATIONS.—As soon as practicable 

16 after receiving an allocation under paragraph (1), 

17 each committee shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) suballocate its allocation— 

19 ‘‘(i) among its subcommittees; 

20 ‘‘(ii) among programs over which the 

21 committee has jurisdiction; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) by agency; and 

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1 allocation made by the committee under sub2 paragraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(c) POINT OF ORDER.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a concurrent resolution 

5 on the budget setting forth the appropriate level for 

6 the Federal regulatory cost for a fiscal year has been 

7 agreed to, it shall not be in order in the Senate or 

8 the House of Representatives to consider any bill or 

9 resolution, or amendment thereto, which would cause 

10 an allocation or suballocation of the Federal regu11 latory cost made under subsection (b) for that fiscal 

12 year to be exceeded. 

13 ‘‘(2) WAIVER AND APPEAL.—A point of order 

14 under paragraph (1) may only be waived by the af15 firmative vote of three-fifths of the Members, duly 

16 chosen and sworn. An affirmative vote of three-fifths 

17 of Members, duly chosen and sworn, shall be re18 quired to sustain an appeal of the ruling of the 

19 Chair on a point of order raised under paragraph 

20 (1). 

21 ‘‘(d) DETERMINATIONS BY BUDGET COMMITTEES.— 

22 For purposes of this section, the amount of the Federal 

23 regulatory cost for a fiscal year and the amount of the 

24 Federal regulatory cost of a bill or resolution, or amend25 ment thereto, shall be determined by the Committee on 


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1 the Budget of the Senate or the Committee on the Budget 

2 of the House of Representatives, as the case may be. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 323. ANALYSIS OF FEDERAL REGULATORY COST BY 

4 CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—CBO shall prepare for each bill 

6 or resolution of a public character reported by any com7 mittee of the Senate or the House of Representatives (ex8 cept the Committee on Appropriations of each House), 

9 and submit to such committee— 

10 ‘‘(1) an estimate of the costs which would be in11 curred by the private sector in carrying out or com12 plying with such bill or resolution in the fiscal year 

13 in which it is to become effective and in each of the 

14 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year, which shall 

15 include— 

16 ‘‘(A) a net present value estimate of the 

17 cost of compliance by the private sector with 

18 such bill or resolution; and 

19 ‘‘(B) a discussion of the methodology used 

20 to prepare, and the basis for, each such esti21 mate; and 

22 ‘‘(2) a comparison of the estimate of costs de23 scribed in paragraph (1) with any available esti24 mates of costs made by such committee or by any 

25 agency. 


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1 ‘‘(b) LOOK-BACK REVIEWS.—CBO shall periodically 

2 submit to Congress a report, prepared in consultation with 

3 the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 

4 United States, that— 

5 ‘‘(1) reviews a sample of laws of a public char6 acter for which an estimate was prepared under sub7 section (a)(1); and 

8 ‘‘(2) compares the estimates of the costs de9 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) 

10 and the actual costs incurred by the private sector 

11 in carrying out or complying with the law in the fis12 cal year in which it took effect and in each of the 

13 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘SEC. 324. ENFORCEMENT. 

15 ‘‘(a) ENFORCEMENT LANGUAGE REQUIRED IN AP16 PROPRIATION ACTS.—If a concurrent resolution on the 

17 budget that includes levels and allocations of the Federal 

18 regulatory cost for a fiscal year has been agreed to, it shall 

19 not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representa20 tives to consider a bill, joint resolution, amendment be21 tween the Houses, or conference report making appropria22 tions for the fiscal year that does not include a provision 

23 prohibiting amounts made available under the measure 

24 from being obligated or expended to enforce a Federal reg25 ulation, rule, or statement that would cause a breach of 


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1 any level or allocation of the Federal regulatory cost in 

2 effect for a fiscal year. 

3 ‘‘(b) WAIVER AND APPEAL.—Subsection (a) may be 

4 waived or suspended in the Senate only by an affirmative 

5 vote of two-thirds of the Members, duly chosen and sworn. 

6 An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members of the 

7 Senate, duly chosen and sworn, shall be required to sus8 tain an appeal of the ruling of the Chair on a point of 

9 order raised under subsection (a). 

10 ‘‘(c) REVIEW OF COST.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DETERMINATIONS OF COST.— 

12 ‘‘(A) BEA DETERMINATION.—The Bureau 

13 of Economic Analysis of the Department of 

14 Commerce shall determine the change in the 

15 Federal regulatory cost attributable to each 

16 newly promulgated, or amendment to a, Federal 

17 regulation, rule, or statement. 

18 ‘‘(B) GUIDANCE FOR AGENCIES.—The Bu19 reau of Economic Analysis of the Department 

20 of Commerce shall issue guidance to agencies 

21 regarding the methodology to be used to deter22 mine the amount of, and any change in, the 

23 Federal regulatory cost attributable to each 

24 newly promulgated, or amendment to a, Federal 

25 regulation, rule, or statement. 


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1 ‘‘(C) MANDATORY USE BY AGENCIES.—For 

2 purposes of any analysis conducted by an agen3 cy (without regard to whether the analysis is 

4 conducted for purposes of this Act), each agen5 cy shall determine the amount of, and any 

6 change in, the Federal regulatory cost attrib7 utable to each newly promulgated, or amend8 ment to a, Federal regulation, rule, or state9 ment in accordance with the guidance issued 

10 under subparagraph (B). 

11 ‘‘(2) OMB DETERMINATION.—The OMB shall 

12 determine whether the change in the Federal regu13 latory cost determined under paragraph (1) would 

14 cause a breach of any level or allocation of the Fed15 eral regulatory cost in effect for a fiscal year, which 

16 shall incorporate any reduction to the level or alloca17 tion of the Federal regulatory cost attributable to a 

18 revision of a Federal regulation, rule, or statement 

19 during the fiscal year. 

20 ‘‘(3) CBO REVIEW.—The CBO shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) review the methodology used by the 

22 Bureau of Economic Analysis and the OMB for 

23 each determination under paragraphs (1) and 

24 (2); and 


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1 ‘‘(B) issue an opinion on whether the 

2 change in the Federal regulatory cost attrib3 utable to the applicable newly promulgated, or 

4 amendment to a, Federal regulation, rule, or 

5 statement would cause a breach of any level or 

6 allocation of the Federal regulatory cost in ef7 fect for a fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The OMB shall issue a di9 rective prohibiting funds from being obligated or expended 

10 to enforce a newly promulgated, or amendment to a, Fed11 eral regulation, rule, or statement during a fiscal year if— 

12 ‘‘(1) the OMB determines that change in the 

13 Federal regulatory cost attributable to the newly 

14 promulgated, or amendment to a, Federal regula15 tion, rule, or statement, as determined by the Bu16 reau of Economic Analysis under subsection (c)(1), 

17 would cause a breach of any level or allocation of the 

18 Federal regulatory cost in effect for the fiscal year; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(2) the appropriation Act making the applica21 ble appropriations for the fiscal year contains a pro22 vision described in subsection (a). 

23 ‘‘(e) OFFSETTING SAVINGS.—In making determina24 tions under this section with respect to a newly promul25 gated, or amendment to a, Federal regulation, rule, or 


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1 statement, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the CBO, 

2 and the OMB shall subtract from the amount of the Fed3 eral regulatory cost, and any applicable allocation thereof, 

4 any reduction to the Federal regulatory cost that is attrib5 utable to a revision of another Federal regulation, rule, 

6 or statement made as part of the same rulemaking. 

7 ‘‘(f) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person ag8 grieved of an action taken or failed to be taken under a 

9 Federal regulation, rule, or statement for which the OMB 

10 has issued a directive prohibiting enforcement under sub11 section (d) may bring a civil action in an appropriate dis12 trict court of the United States alleging that the Federal 

13 regulation, rule, or statement should not have been en14 forced. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 325. OMB–CBO REPORTS. 

16 ‘‘Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

17 of this section, and not later than September 15th of each 

18 odd-numbered year thereafter, OMB and CBO shall joint19 ly submit to the President, the Senate, and the House of 

20 Representatives a report that includes— 

21 ‘‘(1) a projection of the direct cost of Federal 

22 regulation and the Federal regulatory cost for the 

23 first fiscal year beginning after the date of the re24 port and at least each of the 4 ensuing fiscal years; 


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1 ‘‘(2) a calculation of the estimated direct cost 

2 of Federal regulation and Federal regulatory cost as 

3 a percentage of the gross domestic product; 

4 ‘‘(3) the reduction in estimated gross domestic 

5 product attributable to private sector compliance 

6 with all Federal regulations, rules, or statements 

7 and all Federal statutes; 

8 ‘‘(4) a detailed description of the effect on the 

9 economy of the United States of Federal regulations, 

10 rules, and statements and Federal statutes, which 

11 shall be categorized as relating to— 

12 ‘‘(A) regulation of the economy; 

13 ‘‘(B) security, including homeland security; 

14 ‘‘(C) the environment; 

15 ‘‘(D) health and safety; or 

16 ‘‘(E) the Federal budget; 

17 ‘‘(5) a discussion of the expected reduction in 

18 personnel, administrative overhead, and pro19 grammatic costs that would be achieved by Federal 

20 agencies that issue regulations, rules, or statements 

21 with a Federal regulatory cost if the Federal agen22 cies reduced the Federal regulatory cost by 5 per23 cent; 


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1 ‘‘(6) recommendations for budgeting, technical, 

2 and estimating changes to improve the Federal regu3 latory budgeting process; 

4 ‘‘(7) the Federal regulatory cost imposed by 

5 each Executive branch agency on regulated entities; 

6 ‘‘(8) the direct cost of Federal regulation attrib7 utable to each Executive branch agency; 

8 ‘‘(9) the Federal regulatory costs imposed by 

9 each Executive branch agency on small businesses, 

10 small organizations, and small governmental juris11 dictions (as those terms are defined in section 601 

12 of title 5, United States Code); and 

13 ‘‘(10) the sum of the costs described in para14 graph (9). 

15 ‘‘SEC. 326. REGULATORY BASELINE. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the fifth fiscal year that be17 gins after the date of enactment of this section and for 

18 every second fiscal year thereafter, CBO, in consultation 

19 with OMB, shall submit to the President, the Senate, and 

20 the House of Representatives a regulatory baseline, con21 sisting of a projection of the Federal regulatory cost for 

22 the fiscal year and at least each of the 4 ensuing fiscal 

23 years. In preparing the projection of the regulatory base24 line under this subsection, for the second fiscal year cov25 ered under the projection and each fiscal year thereafter, 


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1 CBO shall adjust the baseline for the estimated growth 

2 during that fiscal year in the gross domestic product. 

3 ‘‘(b) DEADLINE.—The CBO shall submit a regu4 latory baseline required under subsection (a) for a fiscal 

5 year not later than the date on which the CBO submits 

6 the report required under section 202(e)(1) with respect 

7 to that fiscal year. 

8 ‘‘(c) REGULAR UPDATES ON DEVELOPMENT OF REG9 ULATORY BASELINE.—Not later than the date on which 

10 the CBO submits the report required under section 

11 202(e)(1) with respect to each fiscal year during the pe12 riod beginning on the date of enactment of this section 

13 and ending on the date on which the CBO submits the 

14 first projection of the Federal regulatory cost under sub15 section (a), the CBO shall submit to the Committee on 

16 the Budget of the Senate and the Committee on the Budg17 et of the House of Representatives an annual update on 

18 the progress of the CBO in developing the regulatory base19 line.’’. 

20 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

21 The table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of the Con22 gressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 

23 is amended— 

24 (1) by inserting before the item relating to sec25 tion 300 the following: 

‘‘PART A. GENERAL PROVISIONS’’; 


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1 and 

2 (2) by inserting after the item relating to sec3 tion 315 the following: 

‘‘PART B. FEDERAL REGULATORY BUDGET COST CONTROL

‘‘Sec. 321. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 322. Establishment of level and allocations. 

‘‘Sec. 323. Analysis of Federal regulatory cost by Congressional Budget Office. 

‘‘Sec. 324. Enforcement. 

‘‘Sec. 325. OMB–CBO reports. 

‘‘Sec. 326. Regulatory baseline.’’. 

4 SEC. 6. STUDY OF NONMAJOR RULES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

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

7 that term in section 551 of title 5, United States 

8 Code; 

9 (2) the term ‘‘covered guidance document’’ 

10 means any guidance document that has resulted or 

11 is likely to result in an annual effect on the economy 

12 of not less than $10,000,000; 

13 (3) the term ‘‘covered nonmajor rule’’ means 

14 any rule that has resulted in or is likely to result in 

15 an annual effect on the economy of not less than 

16 $10,000,000 and not more than $100,000,000; 

17 (4) the term ‘‘guidance document’’ means an 

18 agency statement of general applicability and future 

19 effect, other than a rule, that sets forth a policy on 

20 a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue or an in21 terpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue; 


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•HR 2577 IH

1 (5) the term ‘‘Federal regulatory cost’’ has the 

2 meaning given that term under section 321 of the 

3 Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as added by this 

4 Act; and 

5 (6) the term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given that 

6 term in section 804 of title 5, United States Code. 

7 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 120 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, 

9 the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit 

10 to Congress a report regarding covered nonmajor rules 

11 and covered guidance documents, which shall include, for 

12 the 4-year period immediately preceding the report— 

13 (1) the number of covered nonmajor rules pro14 mulgated; 

15 (2) the number of covered nonmajor rules im16 plemented; 

17 (3) the number of covered guidance documents 

18 developed; 

19 (4) the number of covered guidance documents 

20 issued; 

21 (5) the Federal regulatory cost of each covered 

22 nonmajor rule implemented; 

23 (6) the Federal regulatory cost of each covered 

24 guidance document issued; 


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•HR 2577 IH

1 (7) the aggregate Federal regulatory cost of all 

2 covered nonmajor rules implemented; 

3 (8) the aggregate Federal regulatory cost of all 

4 covered guidance documents issued; and 

5 (9) a discussion of any covered nonmajor rule 

6 for which an initial regulatory flexibility analysis was 

7 prepared under section 603 of title 5, United States 

8 Code, a final regulatory flexibility analysis was pre9 pared under section 604 of title 5, United States 

10 Code, or a cost benefit analysis was prepared that 

11 underestimated the actual Federal regulatory cost of 

12 implementing the covered nonmajor rule. 

Æ 


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