104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1

AN ACT

To curb the practice of imposing unfunded Federal mandates

on States and local governments; to strengthen the partnership between the Federal Government and State, local

and tribal governments; to end the imposition, in the

absence of full consideration by Congress, of Federal

mandates on State, local, and tribal governments without

adequate funding, in a manner that may displace other

essential governmental priorities; and to ensure that the

Federal Government pays the costs incurred by those

governments in complying with certain requirements

under Federal statutes and regulations, 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 ‘‘Unfunded Mandate

5 Reform Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

2 The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to strengthen the partnership between the

4 Federal Government and State, local, and tribal gov5 ernments;

6 (2) to end the imposition, in the absence of full

7 consideration by Congress, of Federal mandates on

8 State, local, and tribal governments without ade9 quate Federal funding, in a manner that may dis10 place other essential State, local, and tribal govern11 mental priorities;

12 (3) to assist Congress in its consideration of

13 proposed legislation establishing or revising Federal

14 programs containing Federal mandates affecting

15 State, local, and tribal governments, and the private

16 sector by—

17 (A) providing for the development of infor18 mation about the nature and size of mandates

19 in proposed legislation; and

20 (B) establishing a mechanism to bring

21 such information to the attention of the Senate

22 and the House of Representatives before the

23 Senate and the House of Representatives vote

24 on proposed legislation;
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1 (4) to promote informed and deliberate deci2 sions by Congress on the appropriateness of Federal

3 mandates in any particular instance;

4 (5) to require that Congress consider whether

5 to provide funding to assist State, local, and tribal

6 governments in complying with Federal mandates, to

7 require analyses of the impact of private sector man8 dates, and through the dissemination of that infor9 mation provide informed and deliberate decisions by

10 Congress and Federal agencies and retain competi11 tive balance between the public and private sectors;

12 (6) to establish a point-of-order vote on the con13 sideration in the Senate and House of Representa14 tives of legislation containing significant Federal

15 mandates; and

16 (7) to assist Federal agencies in their consider17 ation of proposed regulations affecting State, local,

18 and tribal governments, by—

19 (A) requiring that Federal agencies de20 velop a process to enable the elected and other

21 officials of State, local, and tribal governments

22 to provide input when Federal agencies are de23 veloping regulations; and

24 (B) requiring that Federal agencies pre25 pare and consider better estimates of the budg-
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1 etary impact of regulations containing Federal

2 mandates upon State, local, and tribal govern3 ments before adopting such regulations, and en4 suring that small governments are given special

5 consideration in that process.

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this Act—

8 (1) the terms defined under section 408(h) of

9 the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control

10 Act of 1974 (as added by section 101 of this Act)

11 shall have the meanings as so defined; and

12 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

13 the Congressional Budget Office.

14 SEC. 4. EXCLUSIONS.

15 This Act shall not apply to any provision in a bill,

16 joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report

17 before Congress and any provision in a proposed or final

18 Federal regulation that—

19 (1) enforces constitutional rights of individuals;

20 (2) establishes or enforces any statutory rights

21 that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race,

22 color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or

23 disability;

24 (3) requires compliance with accounting and

25 auditing procedures with respect to grants or other
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1 money or property provided by the United States

2 Government;

3 (4) provides for emergency assistance or relief

4 at the request of any State, local, or tribal govern5 ment or any official of a State, local, or tribal gov6 ernment;

7 (5) is necessary for the national security or the

8 ratification or implementation of international treaty

9 obligations; or

10 (6) the President designates as emergency legis11 lation and that the Congress so designates in stat12 ute.

13 SEC. 5. AGENCY ASSISTANCE.

14 Each agency shall provide to the Director such infor15 mation and assistance as the Director may reasonably re16 quest to assist the Director in carrying out this Act.

17 TITLE I—LEGISLATIVE

18 ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORM

19 SEC. 101. LEGISLATIVE MANDATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND

20 REFORM .

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title IV of the Congressional

22 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amend23 ed by adding at the end thereof the following new section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 408. LEGISLATIVE MANDATE ACCOUNTABILITY AND

2 REFORM .

3 ‘‘(a) DUTIES OF CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—When a committee of au5 thorization of the Senate or the House of Represent6 atives reports a bill or joint resolution of public

7 character that includes any Federal mandate, the re8 port of the committee accompanying the bill or joint

9 resolution shall contain the information required by

10 paragraphs (3) and (4).

11 ‘‘(2) SUBMISSION OF BILLS TO THE DIREC12 TOR.—When a committee of authorization of the

13 Senate or the House of Representatives orders re14 ported a bill or joint resolution of a public character,

15 the committee shall promptly provide the bill or joint

16 resolution to the Director of the Congressional

17 Budget Office and shall identify to the Director any

18 Federal mandates contained in the bill or resolution.

19 ‘‘(3) REPORTS ON FEDERAL MANDATES.—Each

20 report described under paragraph (1) shall con21 tain—

22 ‘‘(A) an identification and description of

23 any Federal mandates in the bill or joint resolu24 tion, including the direct costs to State, local,

25 and tribal governments, and to the private sec-
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1 tor, required to comply with the Federal man2 dates;

3 ‘‘(B) a qualitative, and if practicable, a

4 quantitative assessment of costs and benefits

5 anticipated from the Federal mandates (includ6 ing the effects on health and safety and the

7 protection of the natural environment); and

8 ‘‘(C) a statement of the degree to which a

9 Federal mandate affects both the public and

10 private sectors and the extent to which Federal

11 payment of public sector costs or the modifica12 tion or termination of the Federal mandate as

13 provided under subsection (c)(1)(B) would af14 fect the competitive balance between State,

15 local, or tribal governments and privately owned

16 businesses including a description of the ac17 tions, if any, taken by the committee to avoid

18 any adverse impact on the private sector or the

19 competitive balance between the public sector

20 and the private sector.

21 ‘‘(4) INTERGOVERNMENTAL MANDATES.—If any

22 of the Federal mandates in the bill or joint resolu23 tion are Federal intergovernmental mandates, the

24 report required under paragraph (1) shall also con25 tain—
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1 ‘‘(A)(i) a statement of the amount, if any,

2 of increase or decrease in authorization of ap3 propriations under existing Federal financial

4 assistance programs, or of authorization of ap5 propriations for new Federal financial assist6 ance, provided by the bill or joint resolution and

7 usable for activities of State, local, or tribal

8 governments subject to the Federal intergovern9 mental mandates;

10 ‘‘(ii) a statement of whether the committee

11 intends that the Federal intergovernmental

12 mandates be partly or entirely unfunded, and if

13 so, the reasons for that intention; and

14 ‘‘(iii) if funded in whole or in part, a state15 ment of whether and how the committee has

16 created a mechanism to allocate the funding in

17 a manner that is reasonably consistent with the

18 expected direct costs among and between the

19 respective levels of State, local, and tribal gov20 ernment; and

21 ‘‘(B) any existing sources of Federal as22 sistance in addition to those identified in sub23 paragraph (A) that may assist State, local, and

24 tribal governments in meeting the direct costs

25 of the Federal intergovernmental mandates.
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1 ‘‘(5) PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION AND INFOR2 MATION.—When a committee of authorization of the

3 Senate or the House of Representatives reports a

4 bill or joint resolution of public character, the com5 mittee report accompanying the bill or joint resolu6 tion shall contain, if relevant to the bill or joint reso7 lution, an explicit statement on the extent to which

8 the bill or joint resolution preempts any State, local,

9 or tribal law, and, if so, an explanation of the rea10 sons for such preemption.

11 ‘‘(6) PUBLICATION OF STATEMENT FROM THE

12 DIRECTOR.—

13 ‘‘(A) Upon receiving a statement (includ14 ing any supplemental statement) from the Di15 rector under subsection (b), a committee of the

16 Senate or the House of Representatives shall

17 publish the statement in the committee report

18 accompanying the bill or joint resolution to

19 which the statement relates if the statement is

20 available at the time the report is printed.

21 ‘‘(B) If the statement is not published in

22 the report, or if the bill or joint resolution to

23 which the statement relates is expected to be

24 considered by the Senate or the House of Rep25 resentatives before the report is published, the
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1 committee shall cause the statement, or a sum2 mary thereof, to be published in the Congres3 sional Record in advance of floor consideration

4 of the bill or joint resolution.

5 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR; STATEMENTS ON

6 BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS OTHER THAN APPRO7 PRIATIONS BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS.—

8 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL MAN9 DATES IN REPORTED BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS.—

10 For each bill or joint resolution of a public character

11 reported by any committee of authorization of the

12 Senate or the House of Representatives, the Director

13 of the Congressional Budget Office shall prepare

14 and submit to the committee a statement as follows:

15 ‘‘(A) If the Director estimates that the di16 rect cost of all Federal intergovernmental man17 dates in the bill or joint resolution will equal or

18 exceed $50,000,000 (adjusted annually for in19 flation) in the fiscal year in which any Federal

20 intergovernmental mandate in the bill or joint

21 resolution (or in any necessary implementing

22 regulation) would first be effective or in any of

23 the 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year, the

24 Director shall so state, specify the estimate, and

25 briefly explain the basis of the estimate.
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1 ‘‘(B) The estimate required under subpara2 graph (A) shall include estimates (and brief ex3 planations of the basis of the estimates) of—

4 ‘‘(i) the total amount of direct cost of

5 complying with the Federal intergovern6 mental mandates in the bill or joint resolu7 tion, but no more than 10 years beyond

8 the effective date of the mandate; and

9 ‘‘(ii) the amount, if any, of increase in

10 authorization of appropriations under ex11 isting Federal financial assistance pro12 grams, or of authorization of appropria13 tions for new Federal financial assistance,

14 provided by the bill or joint resolution and

15 usable by State, local, or tribal govern16 ments for activities subject to the Federal

17 intergovernmental mandates.

18 ‘‘(C) If the Director determines that it is

19 not feasible to make a reasonable estimate that

20 would be required under subparagraphs (A) and

21 (B), the Director shall not make the estimate,

22 but shall report in the statement that the rea23 sonable estimate cannot be made and shall in24 clude the reasons for that determination in the

25 statement. If such determination is made by the
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1 Director, a point of order shall lie only under

2 subsection (c)(1)(A) and as if the requirement

3 of subsection (c)(1)(A) had not been met.

4 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL PRIVATE SECTOR MANDATES IN

5 REPORTED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS.—For

6 each bill or joint resolution of a public character re7 ported by any committee of authorization of the

8 Senate or the House of Representatives, the Director

9 of the Congressional Budget Office shall prepare

10 and submit to the committee a statement as follows:

11 ‘‘(A) If the Director estimates that the di12 rect cost of all Federal private sector mandates

13 in the bill or joint resolution will equal or ex14 ceed $200,000,000 (adjusted annually for infla15 tion) in the fiscal year in which any Federal

16 private sector mandate in the bill or joint reso17 lution (or in any necessary implementing regu18 lation) would first be effective or in any of the

19 4 fiscal years following such fiscal year, the Di20 rector shall so state, specify the estimate, and

21 briefly explain the basis of the estimate.

22 ‘‘(B) Estimates required under this para23 graph shall include estimates (and a brief expla24 nation of the basis of the estimates) of—
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1 ‘‘(i) the total amount of direct costs of

2 complying with the Federal private sector

3 mandates in the bill or joint resolution, but

4 no more than 10 years beyond the effective

5 date of the mandate; and

6 ‘‘(ii) the amount, if any, of increase in

7 authorization of appropriations under ex8 isting Federal financial assistance pro9 grams, or of authorization of appropria10 tions for new Federal financial assistance,

11 provided by the bill or joint resolution usa12 ble by the private sector for the activities

13 subject to the Federal private sector man14 dates.

15 ‘‘(C) If the Director determines that it is

16 not feasible to make a reasonable estimate that

17 would be required under subparagraphs (A) and

18 (B), the Director shall not make the estimate,

19 but shall report in the statement that the rea20 sonable estimate cannot be made and shall in21 clude the reasons for that determination in the

22 statement.

23 ‘‘(3) LEGISLATION FALLING BELOW THE DI24 RECT COSTS THRESHOLDS.—If the Director esti25 mates that the direct costs of a Federal mandate
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1 will not equal or exceed the thresholds specified in

2 paragraphs (1) and (2), the Director shall so state

3 and shall briefly explain the basis of the estimate.

4 ‘‘(4) AMENDED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLU5 TIONS; CONFERENCE REPORTS.—If a bill or

6 joint resolution is passed in an amended form

7 (including if passed by one House as an amend8 ment in the nature of a substitute for the text

9 of a bill or joint resolution from the other

10 House) or is reported by a committee of con11 ference in amended form, and the amended

12 form contains a Federal mandate not previously

13 considered by either House or which contains

14 an increase in the direct cost of a previously

15 considered Federal mandate, then the commit16 tee of conference shall ensure, to the greatest

17 extent practicable, that the Director shall pre18 pare a statement as provided in this paragraph

19 or a supplemental statement for the bill or joint

20 resolution in that amended form.

21 ‘‘(c) LEGISLATION SUBJECT TO POINT OF ORDER IN

22 THE SENATE.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be in order in

24 the Senate to consider—
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1 ‘‘(A) any bill or joint resolution that is re2 ported by a committee unless the committee has

3 published a statement of the Director on the di4 rect costs of Federal mandates in accordance

5 with subsection (a)(6) before such consider6 ation; and

7 ‘‘(B) any bill, joint resolution, amendment,

8 motion, or conference report that would in9 crease the direct costs of Federal intergovern10 mental mandates by an amount that causes the

11 thresholds specified in subsection (b)(1)(A) to

12 be exceeded, unless—

13 ‘‘(i) the bill, joint resolution, amend14 ment, motion, or conference report pro15 vides direct spending authority for each

16 fiscal year for the Federal intergovern17 mental mandates included in the bill, joint

18 resolution, amendment, motion, or con19 ference report in an amount that is equal

20 to the direct costs of such mandate;

21 ‘‘(ii) the bill, joint resolution, amend22 ment, motion, or conference report pro23 vides an increase in receipts and an in24 crease in direct spending authority for

25 each fiscal year for the Federal intergov-
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1 ernmental mandates included in the bill,

2 joint resolution, amendment, motion, or

3 conference report in an amount equal to

4 the direct costs of such mandate; or

5 ‘‘(iii) the bill, joint resolution, amend6 ment, motion, or conference report in7 cludes an authorization for appropriations

8 in an amount equal to the direct costs of

9 such mandate, and—

10 ‘‘(I) identifies a specific dollar

11 amount of the direct costs of the man12 date for each year or other period up

13 to 10 years during which the mandate

14 shall be in effect under the bill, joint

15 resolution, amendment, motion or con16 ference report, and such estimate is

17 consistent with the estimate deter18 mined under paragraph (5) for each

19 fiscal year; and

20 ‘‘(II) identifies any appropriation

21 bill that is expected to provide for

22 Federal funding of the direct cost re23 ferred to under subclause (III);

24 ‘‘(III)(aa) provides that if for any

25 fiscal year the responsible Federal
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1 agency determines that there are in2 sufficient appropriations to provide

3 for the estimated direct costs of the

4 mandate, the Federal agency shall

5 (not later than 30 days after the be6 ginning of the fiscal year) notify the

7 appropriate authorizing committees of

8 Congress of the determination and

9 submit either—

10 ‘‘(1) a statement that the

11 agency has determined, based on

12 a re-estimate of the direct costs

13 of a mandate, after consultation

14 with State, local, and tribal gov15 ernments, that the amount ap16 propriated is sufficient to pay for

17 the direct costs of the mandate;

18 or

19 ‘‘(2) legislative recommenda20 tions for either implementing a

21 less costly mandate or making

22 the mandate ineffective for the

23 fiscal year;

24 ‘‘(bb) provides expedited proce25 dures for the consideration of the
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1 statement or legislative recommenda2 tions referred to in item (aa) by Con3 gress not later than 30 days after the

4 statement or recommendations are

5 submitted to Congress; and

6 ‘‘(cc) provides that the mandate

7 shall—

8 ‘‘(1) in the case of a state9 ment referred to in item (aa)(1),

10 cease to be effective 60 days

11 after the statement is submitted

12 unless Congress has approved the

13 agency’s determination by joint

14 resolution during the 60-day pe15 riod;

16 ‘‘(2) cease to be effective 60

17 days after the date the legislative

18 recommendations of the respon19 sible Federal agency are submit20 ted to Congress under item

21 (aa)(2) unless Congress provides

22 otherwise by law; or

23 ‘‘(3) in the case of a man24 date that has not yet taken ef25 fect, continue not to be effective
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1 unless Congress provides other2 wise by law.

3 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The provisions

4 of paragraph (1)(B)(III) shall not be construed to

5 prohibit or otherwise restrict a State, local, or tribal

6 government from voluntarily electing to remain sub7 ject to the original Federal intergovernmental man8 date, complying with the programmatic or financial

9 responsibilities of the original Federal intergovern10 mental mandate and providing the funding necessary

11 consistent with the costs of Federal agency assist12 ance, monitoring, and enforcement.

13 ‘‘(3) COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS.—(A)

14 Paragraph (1)—

15 ‘‘(i) shall not apply to any bill or resolution

16 reported by the Committee on Appropriations of

17 the Senate or the House of Representatives; but

18 ‘‘(ii) shall apply to—

19 ‘‘(I) any legislative provision increas20 ing direct costs of a Federal intergovern21 mental mandate contained in any bill or

22 resolution reported by such Committee;

23 ‘‘(II) any legislative provision increas24 ing direct costs of a Federal intergovern25 mental mandate contained in any amend-
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1 ment offered to a bill or resolution re2 ported by such Committee;

3 ‘‘(III) any legislative provision in4 creasing direct costs of a Federal intergov5 ernmental mandate in a conference report

6 accompanying a bill or resolution reported

7 by such Committee; and

8 ‘‘(IV) any legislative provision increas9 ing direct costs of a Federal intergovern10 mental mandate contained in any amend11 ments in disagreement between the two

12 Houses to any bill or resolution reported

13 by such Committee.

14 ‘‘(B) Upon a point of order being made by any

15 Senator against any provision listed in subparagraph

16 (A)(ii), and the point of order being sustained by the

17 Chair, such specific provision shall be deemed strick18 en from the bill, resolution, amendment, amendment

19 in disagreement, or conference report and may not

20 be offered as an amendment from the floor.

21 ‘‘(4) DETERMINATIONS OF APPLICABILITY TO

22 PENDING LEGISLATION.—For purposes of this sub23 section, in the Senate, the presiding officer of the

24 Senate shall consult with the Committee on Govern25 mental Affairs, to the extent practicable, on ques-
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1 tions concerning the applicability of this section to

2 a pending bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion,

3 or conference report.

4 ‘‘(5) DETERMINATIONS OF FEDERAL MANDATE

5 LEVELS.—For purposes of this subsection, in the

6 Senate, the levels of Federal mandates for a fiscal

7 year shall be determined based on the estimates

8 made by the Committee on the Budget.

9 ‘‘(d) ENFORCEMENT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT10 ATIVES.—It shall not be in order in the House of Rep11 resentatives to consider a rule or order that waives the

12 application of subsection (c) to a bill or joint resolution

13 reported by a committee of authorization.

14 ‘‘(e) REQUESTS FROM SENATORS.—At the written

15 request of a Senator, the Director shall, to the extent prac16 ticable, prepare an estimate of the direct costs of a Fed17 eral intergovernmental mandate contained in a bill, joint

18 resolution, amendment, or motion of such Senator.

19 ‘‘(f) CLARIFICATION OF APPLICATION.—(1) This sec20 tion applies to any bill, joint resolution, amendment, mo21 tion, or conference report that reauthorizes appropria22 tions, or that amends existing authorizations of appropria23 tions, to carry out any statute, or that otherwise amends

24 any statute, only if enactment of the bill, joint resolution,

25 amendment, motion, or conference report—
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1 ‘‘(A) would result in a net reduction in or elimi2 nation of authorization of appropriations for Federal

3 financial assistance that would be provided to State,

4 local, or tribal governments for use for the purpose

5 of complying with any Federal intergovernmental

6 mandate, or to the private sector for use to comply

7 with any Federal private sector mandate, and would

8 not eliminate or reduce duties established by the

9 Federal mandate by a corresponding amount; or

10 ‘‘(B) would result in a net increase in the ag11 gregate amount of direct costs of Federal intergov12 ernmental mandates or Federal private sector man13 dates otherwise than as described in subparagraph

14 (A).

15 ‘‘(2)(A) For purposes of this section, the direct cost

16 of the Federal mandates in a bill, joint resolution, amend17 ment, motion, or conference report that reauthorizes ap18 propriations, or that amends existing authorizations of ap19 propriations, to carry out a statute, or that otherwise

20 amends any statute, means the net increase, resulting

21 from enactment of the bill, joint resolution, amendment,

22 motion, or conference report, in the amount described

23 under subparagraph (B)(i) over the amount described

24 under subparagraph (B)(ii).
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1 ‘‘(B) The amounts referred to under subparagraph

2 (A) are—

3 ‘‘(i) the aggregate amount of direct costs of

4 Federal mandates that would result under the stat5 ute if the bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion,

6 or conference report is enacted; and

7 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount of direct costs of

8 Federal mandates that would result under the stat9 ute if the bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion,

10 or conference report were not enacted.

11 ‘‘(C) For purposes of this paragraph, in the case of

12 legislation to extend authorization of appropriations, the

13 authorization level that would be provided by the extension

14 shall be compared to the auhorization level for the last

15 year in which authorization of appropriations is already

16 provided.

17 ‘‘(g) EXCLUSIONS.—This section shall not apply to

18 any provision in a bill, joint resolution, amendment, mo19 tion, or conference report before Congress that—

20 ‘‘(1) enforces constitutional rights of individ21 uals;

22 ‘‘(2) establishes or enforces any statutory rights

23 that prohibit discrimination on the basis of race,

24 color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or

25 disability;
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1 ‘‘(3) requires compliance with accounting and

2 auditing procedures with respect to grants or other

3 money or property provided by the United States

4 Government;

5 ‘‘(4) provides for emergency assistance or relief

6 at the request of any State, local, or tribal govern7 ment or any official of a State, local, or tribal gov8 ernment;

9 ‘‘(5) is necessary for the national security or

10 the ratification or implementation of international

11 treaty obligations; or

12 ‘‘(6) the President designates as emergency leg13 islation and that the Congress so designates in stat14 ute.

15 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Federal intergovernmental man17 date’ means—

18 ‘‘(A) any provision in legislation, statute,

19 or regulation that—

20 ‘‘(i) would impose an enforceable duty

21 upon State, local, or tribal governments,

22 except—

23 ‘‘(I) a condition of Federal as24 sistance; or
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1 ‘‘(II) a duty arising from partici2 pation in a voluntary Federal pro3 gram, except as provided in subpara4 graph (B)); or

5 ‘‘(ii) would reduce or eliminate the

6 amount of authorization of appropriations

7 for—

8 ‘‘(I) Federal financial assistance

9 that would be provided to State, local,

10 or tribal governments for the purpose

11 of complying with any such previously

12 imposed duty unless such duty is re13 duced or eliminated by a correspond14 ing amount; or

15 ‘‘(II) the control of borders by

16 the Federal Government; or reim17 bursement to State, local, or tribal

18 governments for the net cost associ19 ated with illegal, deportable, and ex20 cludable aliens, including court-man21 dated expenses related to emergency

22 health care, education or criminal jus23 tice; when such a reduction or elimi24 nation would result in increased net

25 costs to State, local, or tribal govern-
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1 ments in providing education or emer2 gency health care to, or incarceration

3 of, illegal aliens; except that this

4 subclause shall not be in effect with

5 respect to a State, local, or tribal gov6 ernment, to the extent that such gov7 ernment has not fully cooperated in

8 the efforts of the Federal Government

9 to locate, apprehend, and deport ille10 gal aliens;

11 ‘‘(B) any provision in legislation, statute,

12 or regulation that relates to a then-existing

13 Federal program under which $500,000,000 or

14 more is provided annually to State, local, and

15 tribal governments under entitlement authority,

16 if the provision—

17 ‘‘(i)(I) would increase the stringency

18 of conditions of assistance to State, local,

19 or tribal governments under the program;

20 or

21 ‘‘(II) would place caps upon, or other22 wise decrease, the Federal Government’s

23 responsibility to provide funding to State,

24 local, or tribal governments under the pro25 gram; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) the State, local, or tribal govern2 ments that participate in the Federal pro3 gram lack authority under that program to

4 amend their financial or programmatic re5 sponsibilities to continue providing re6 quired services that are affected by the leg7 islation, statute, or regulation.

8 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Federal private sector mandate’

9 means any provision in legislation, statute, or regu10 lation that—

11 ‘‘(A) would impose an enforceable duty

12 upon the private sector except—

13 ‘‘(i) a condition of Federal assistance;

14 or

15 ‘‘(ii) a duty arising from participation

16 in a voluntary Federal program; or

17 ‘‘(B) would reduce or eliminate the amount

18 of authorization of appropriations for Federal

19 financial assistance that will be provided to the

20 private sector for the purposes of ensuring com21 pliance with such duty.

22 ‘‘(3) The term ‘Federal mandate’ means a Fed23 eral intergovernmental mandate or a Federal private

24 sector mandate, as defined in paragraphs (1) and

25 (2).
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1 ‘‘(4) The terms ‘Federal mandate direct costs’

2 and ‘direct costs’—

3 ‘‘(A)(i) in the case of a Federal intergov4 ernmental mandate, mean the aggregate esti5 mated amounts that all State, local, and tribal

6 governments would be required to spend in

7 order to comply with the Federal intergovern8 mental mandate; or

9 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a provision referred to

10 in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), mean the amount of

11 Federal financial assistance eliminated or re12 duced;

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of a Federal private sec14 tor mandate, mean the aggregate estimated

15 amounts that the private sector will be required

16 to spend in order to comply with the Federal

17 private sector mandate;

18 ‘‘(C) shall not include—

19 ‘‘(i) estimated amounts that the State,

20 local, and tribal governments (in the case

21 of a Federal intergovernmental mandate)

22 or the private sector (in the case of a Fed23 eral private sector mandate) would

24 spend—
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1 ‘‘(I) to comply with or carry out

2 all applicable Federal, State, local,

3 and tribal laws and regulations in ef4 fect at the time of the adoption of the

5 Federal mandate for the same activity

6 as is affected by that Federal man7 date; or

8 ‘‘(II) to comply with or carry out

9 State, local, and tribal governmental

10 programs, or private-sector business

11 or other activities in effect at the time

12 of the adoption of the Federal man13 date for the same activity as is af14 fected by that mandate; or

15 ‘‘(ii) expenditures to the extent that

16 such expenditures will be offset by any di17 rect savings to the State, local, and tribal

18 governments, or by the private sector, as a

19 result of—

20 ‘‘(I) compliance with the Federal

21 mandate; or

22 ‘‘(II) other changes in Federal

23 law or regulation that are enacted or

24 adopted in the same bill or joint reso25 lution or proposed or final Federal
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1 regulation and that govern the same

2 activity as is affected by the Federal

3 mandate; and

4 ‘‘(D) shall be determined on the assump5 tion that State, local, and tribal governments,

6 and the private sector will take all reasonable

7 steps necessary to mitigate the costs resulting

8 from the Federal mandate, and will comply with

9 applicable standards of practice and conduct es10 tablished by recognized professional or trade as11 sociations. Reasonable steps to mitigate the

12 costs shall not include increases in State, local,

13 or tribal taxes or fees.

14 ‘‘(5) The term ‘amount’, with respect to an au15 thorization of appropriations for Federal financial

16 assistance, means the amount of budget authority

17 for any Federal grant assistance program or any

18 Federal program providing loan guarantees or direct

19 loans.

20 ‘‘(6) The term ‘private sector’ means all per21 sons or entitles in the United States, including indi22 viduals, partnerships, associations, corporations, and

23 educational and nonprofit institutions, but shall not

24 include State, local, or tribal governments.
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1 ‘‘(7) The term ‘local government’ has the same

2 meaning as in section 6501(6) of title 31, United

3 States Code.

4 ‘‘(8) The term ‘tribal government’ means any

5 Indian tribe, band, nation, or other organized group

6 or community, including any Alaska Native village

7 or regional or village corporation as defined in or es8 tablished pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Set9 tlement Act (85 Stat. 688; 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)

10 which is recognized as eligible for the special pro11 grams and services provided by the United States to

12 Indians because of their special status as Indians.

13 ‘‘(9) The term ‘small government’ means any

14 small governmental jurisdictions defined in section

15 601(5) of title 5, United States Code, and any tribal

16 government.

17 ‘‘(10) The term ‘State’ has the same meaning

18 as in section 6501(9) of title 31, United State Code.

19 ‘‘(11) The term ‘agency’ has the meaning as de20 fined in section 551(1) of title 5, United States

21 Code, but does not include independent regulatory

22 agencies, as defined in section 3502(10) of title 44,

23 United States Code, or the Office of the Comptroller

24 of the Currency or the Office of Thrift Supervision.
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1 ‘‘(12) The term ‘regulation’ or ‘rule’ has the

2 meaning of ‘rule’ as defined in section 601(2) of title

3 5, United States Code.

4 ‘‘(13) The term ‘direct savings’, when used with

5 respect to the result of compliance with the Federal

6 mandate—

7 ‘‘(A) in the case of a Federal intergovern8 mental mandate, means the aggregate esti9 mated reduction in costs to any State, local, or

10 tribal government as a result of compliance

11 with the Federal intergovernmental mandate;

12 and

13 ‘‘(B) in the case of a Federal private sec14 tor mandate, means the aggregate estimated re15 duction in costs to the private sector as a result

16 of compliance with the Federal private sector

17 mandate.’’.

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—

19 The table of contents in section 1(b) of the Congressional

20 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 is amend21 ed by adding after the item relating to section 407 the

22 following new item:

‘‘Sec. 408. Legislative mandate accountability and reform.’’.

23 SEC. 102. ASSISTANCE TO COMMITTEES AND STUDIES.

24 The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control

25 Act of 1974 is amended—
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1 (1) in section 202—

2 (A) in subsection (c)—

3 (i) by redesignating paragraph (2) as

4 paragraph (3); and

5 (ii) by inserting after paragraph (1)

6 the following new paragraph:

7 ‘‘(2) At the request of any committee of the

8 Senate or the House of Representatives, the Office

9 shall, to the extent practicable, consult with and as10 sist such committee in analyzing the budgetary or fi11 nancial impact of any proposed legislation that may

12 have—

13 ‘‘(A) a significant budgetary impact on

14 State, local, or tribal governments; or

15 ‘‘(B) a significant financial impact on the

16 private sector.’’;

17 (B) by amending subsection (h) to read as

18 follows:

19 ‘‘(h) STUDIES.—

20 ‘‘(1) CONTINUING STUDIES.—The Director of

21 the Congressional Budget Office shall conduct con22 tinuing studies to enhance comparisons of budget

23 outlays, credit authority, and tax expenditures.

24 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL MANDATE STUDIES.—
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1 ‘‘(A) At the request of any Chairman or

2 ranking member of the minority of a Committee

3 of the Senate or the House of Representatives,

4 the Director shall, to the extent practicable,

5 conduct a study of a Federal mandate legisla6 tive proposal.

7 ‘‘(B) In conducting a study on intergovern8 mental mandates under subparagraph (A), the

9 Director shall—

10 ‘‘(i) solicit and consider information

11 or comments from elected officials (includ12 ing their designated representatives) of

13 State, local, or tribal governments as may

14 provide helpful information or comments;

15 ‘‘(ii) consider establishing advisory

16 panels of elected officials or their des17 ignated representatives, of State, local, or

18 tribal governments if the Director deter19 mines that such advisory panels would be

20 helpful in performing responsibilities of the

21 Director under this section; and

22 ‘‘(iii) if, and to the extent that the Di23 rector determines that accurate estimates

24 are reasonably feasible, include estimates

25 of—
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1 ‘‘(I) the future direct cost of the

2 Federal mandate to the extent that

3 such costs significantly differ from or

4 extend beyond the 5-year period after

5 the mandate is first effective; and

6 ‘‘(II) any disproportionate budg7 etary effects of Federal mandates

8 upon particular industries or sectors

9 of the economy, States, regions, and

10 urban or rural or other types of com11 munities, as appropriate.

12 ‘‘(C) In conducting a study on private sec13 tor mandates under subparagraph (A), the Di14 rector shall provide estimates, if and to the ex15 tent that the Director determines that such es16 timates are reasonably feasible, of—

17 ‘‘(i) future costs of Federal private

18 sector mandates to the extent that such

19 mandates differ significantly from or ex20 tend beyond the 5-year time period re21 ferred to in subparagraph (B)(iii)(I);

22 ‘‘(ii) any disproportionate financial ef23 fects of Federal private sector mandates

24 and of any Federal financial assistance in

25 the bill or joint resolution upon any par-
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1 ticular industries or sectors of the econ2 omy, States, regions, and urban or rural or

3 other types of communities; and

4 ‘‘(iii) the effect of Federal private sec5 tor mandates in the bill or joint resolution

6 on the national economy, including the ef7 fect on productivity, economic growth, full

8 employment, creation of productive jobs,

9 and international competitiveness of

10 United States goods and services.’’; and

11 (2) in section 301(d) by adding at the end

12 thereof the following new sentence: ‘‘Any Committee

13 of the House of Representatives or the Senate that

14 anticipates that the committee will consider any pro15 posed legislation establishing, amending, or reau16 thorizing any Federal program likely to have a sig17 nificant budgetary impact on any State, local, or

18 tribal government, or likely to have a significant fi19 nancial impact on the private sector, including any

20 legislative proposal submitted by the executive

21 branch likely to have such a budgetary or financial

22 impact, shall include its views and estimates on that

23 proposal to the Committee on the Budget of the ap24 plicable House.’’.
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1 SEC. 103. COST OF REGULATIONS.

2 (a) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the

3 Congress that Federal agencies should review and evaluate

4 planned regulations to ensure that the cost estimates pro5 vided by the Congressional Budget Office will be carefully

6 considered as regulations are promulgated.

7 (b) STATEMENT OF COST.—At the written request of

8 any Senator, the Director shall, to the extent practicable,

9 prepare—

10 (1) an estimate of the costs of regulations im11 plementing an Act containing a Federal mandate

12 covered by section 408 of the Congressional Budget

13 and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as added by

14 section 101(a) of this Act; and

15 (2) a comparison of the costs of such regula16 tions with the cost estimate provided for such Act by

17 the Congressional Budget Office.

18 (c) COOPERATION OF OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND

19 BUDGET.—At the request of the Director of the Congres20 sional Budget Office, the Director of the Office of Man21 agement and Budget shall provide data and cost estimates

22 for regulations implementing an Act containing a Federal

23 mandate covered by section 408 of the Congressional

24 Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, as added

25 by section 101(a) of this Act.
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1 SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Con3 gressional Budget Office $4,500,000 for each of the fiscal

4 years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 to

5 carry out the provisions of this Act.

6 SEC. 105. EXERCISE OF RULEMAKING POWERS.

7 The provisions of section 101 are enacted by Con8 gress—

9 (1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of

10 the Senate and the House of Representatives, re11 spectively, and as such they shall be considered as

12 part of the rules of such House, respectively, and

13 such rules shall supersede other rules only to the ex14 tent that they are inconsistent therewith; and

15 (2) with full recognition of the constitutional

16 right of either House to change such rules (so far

17 as relating to such House) at any time, in the same

18 manner, and to the same extent as in the case of

19 any other rule of each House.

20 SEC. 106. REPEAL OF CERTAIN ANALYSIS BY CONGRES21 SIONAL BUDGET OFFICE.

22 Section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974

23 is amended—

24 (1) in subsection (a)—

25 (A) by striking paragraph (2);
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1 (B) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘para2 graphs (1) and (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph

3 (1)’’; and

4 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and

5 (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;

6 (2) by striking ‘‘(a)’’; and

7 (3) by striking subsections (b) and (c).

8 SEC. 107. CONSIDERATION FOR FEDERAL FUNDING.

9 Nothing in this Act shall preclude a State, local, or

10 tribal government that already complies with all or part

11 of the Federal intergovernmental mandates included in the

12 bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference re13 port from consideration for Federal funding for the cost

14 of the mandate, including the costs the State, local, or

15 tribal government is currently paying and any additional

16 costs necessary to meet the mandate.

17 SEC. 108. IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.

18 (a) FINDINGS.—The Senate finds that—

19 (1) the Congress should be concerned about

20 shifting costs from Federal to State and local au21 thorities and should be equally concerned about the

22 growing tendency of States to shift costs to local

23 governments;

24 (2) cost shifting from States to local govern25 ments has, in many instances, forced local govern-
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1 ments to raise property taxes or curtail sometimes

2 essential services; and

3 (3) increases in local property taxes and cuts in

4 essential services threaten the ability of many citi5 zens to attain and maintain the American dream of

6 owning a home in a safe, secure community.

7 (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the

8 Senate that—

9 (1) the Federal Government should not shift

10 certain costs to the State, and States should end the

11 practice of shifting costs to local governments, which

12 forces many local governments to increase property

13 taxes;

14 (2) States should end the imposition, in the ab15 sence of full consideration by their legislatures, of

16 State issued mandates on local governments without

17 adequate State funding, in a manner that may dis18 place other essential government priorities; and

19 (3) one primary objective of this Act and other

20 efforts to change the relationship among Federal,

21 State, and local governments should be to reduce

22 taxes and spending at all levels and to end the prac23 tice of shifting costs from one level of government to

24 another with little or no benefit to taxpayers.
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1 SEC. 109. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This title shall take effect on January 1, 1996 or on

3 the date 90 days after appropriations are made available

4 as authorized under section 104, whichever is earlier and

5 shall apply to legislation considered on and after such

6 date.

7 TITLE II—REGULATORY

8 ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORM

9 SEC. 201. REGULATORY PROCESS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall, to the extent

11 permitted in law—

12 (1) assess the effects of Federal regulations on

13 State, local, and tribal governments (other than to

14 the extent that such regulations incorporate require15 ments specifically set forth in legislation), and the

16 private sector, including specifically the availability

17 of resources to carry out any Federal intergovern18 mental mandates in those regulations; and

19 (2) seek to minimize those burdens that unique20 ly or significantly affect such governmental entities,

21 consistent with achieving statutory and regulatory

22 objectives.

23 (b) STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL GOVERNMENT

24 INPUT.—Each agency shall, to the extent permitted in

25 law, develop an effective process to permit elected officials

26 (or their designated representatives) of State, local, and
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1 tribal governments to provide meaningful and timely input

2 in the development of regulatory proposals containing sig3 nificant Federal intergovernmental mandates. Such a

4 process shall be consistent with all applicable laws.

5 (c) AGENCY PLAN.—

6 (1) EFFECTS ON STATE, LOCAL, AND TRIBAL

7 GOVERNMENTS.—Before establishing any regulatory

8 requirements that might significantly or uniquely af9 fect small governments, agencies shall have devel10 oped a plan under which the agency shall—

11 (A) provide notice of the contemplated re12 quirements to potentially affected small govern13 ments, if any;

14 (B) enable officials of affected small gov15 ernments to provide input under subsection (b);

16 and

17 (C) inform, educate, and advise small gov18 ernments on compliance with the requirements.

19 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to each

21 agency to carry out the provisions of this section,

22 and for no other purpose, such sums as are nec23 essary.
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1 SEC. 202. STATEMENTS TO ACCOMPANY SIGNIFICANT REG2 ULATORY ACTIONS.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before promulgating any final

4 rule that includes any Federal intergovernmental mandate

5 that may result in the expenditure by State, local, or tribal

6 governments, and the private sector, in the aggregate, of

7 $100,000,000 or more (adjusted annually for inflation by

8 the Consumer Price Index) in any 1 year, and before pro9 mulgating any general notice of proposed rulemaking that

10 is likely to result in promulgation of any such rule, the

11 agency shall prepare a written statement containing—

12 (1) estimates by the agency, including the un13 derlying analysis, of the anticipated costs to State,

14 local, and tribal governments and the private sector

15 of complying with the Federal intergovernmental

16 mandate, and of the extent to which such costs may

17 be paid with funds provided by the Federal Govern18 ment or otherwise paid through Federal financial as19 sistance;

20 (2) estimates by the agency, if and to the ex21 tent that the agency determines that accurate esti22 mates are reasonably feasible, of—

23 (A) the future costs of the Federal inter24 governmental mandate; and

25 (B) any disproportionate budgetary effects

26 of the Federal intergovernmental mandate upon
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1 any particular regions of the Nation or particu2 lar State, local, or tribal governments, urban or

3 rural or other types of communities;

4 (3) a qualitative, and if possible, a quantitative

5 assessment of costs and benefits anticipated from

6 the Federal intergovernmental mandate (such as the

7 enhancement of health and safety and the protection

8 of the natural environment);

9 (4) the effect of the Federal private sector man10 date on the national economy, including the effect on

11 productivity, economic growth, full employment, cre12 ation of productive jobs, and international competi13 tiveness of United States goods and services; and

14 (5)(A) a description of the extent of the agen15 cy’s prior consultation with elected representatives

16 (or their designated representatives) of the affected

17 State, local, and tribal governments;

18 (B) a summary of the comments and concerns

19 that were presented by State, local, or tribal govern20 ments either orally or in writing to the agency;

21 (C) a summary of the agency’s evaluation of

22 those comments and concerns; and

23 (D) the agency’s position supporting the need

24 to issue the regulation containing the Federal inter25 governmental mandates (considering, among other
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1 things, the extent to which costs may or may not be

2 paid with funds provided by the Federal Govern3 ment).

4 (b) AGENCY STATEMENT; PRIVATE SECTOR MAN5 DATES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act,

6 an agency statement prepared pursuant to subsection (a)

7 shall also be prepared for a Federal private sector man8 date that may result in the expenditure by State, local,

9 tribal governments, or the private sector, in the aggregate,

10 of $100,000,000 or more (adjusted annually for inflation

11 by the Consumer Price Index) in any 1 year.

12 (c) PROMULGATION.—In promulgating a general no13 tice of proposed rulemaking or a final rule for which a

14 statement under subsection (a) is required, the agency

15 shall include in the promulgation a summary of the infor16 mation contained in the statement.

17 (d) PREPARATION IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER

18 STATEMENT.—Any agency may prepare any statement re19 quired under subsection (a) in conjunction with or as a

20 part of any other statement or analysis, provided that the

21 statement or analysis satisfies the provisions of subsection

22 (a).
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1 SEC. 203. ASSISTANCE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET

2 OFFICE.

3 The Director of the Office of Management and

4 Budget shall—

5 (1) collect from agencies the statements pre6 pared under section 202; and

7 (2) periodically forward copies of such state8 ments to the Director of the Congressional Budget

9 Office on a reasonably timely basis after promulga10 tion of the general notice of proposed rulemaking or

11 of the final rule for which the statement was pre12 pared.

13 SEC. 204. PILOT PROGRAM ON SMALL GOVERNMENT FLEXI14 BILITY.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

16 Management and Budget, in consultation with Federal

17 agencies, shall establish pilot programs in at least 2 agen18 cies to test innovative, and more flexible regulatory ap19 proaches that—

20 (1) reduce reporting and compliance burdens on

21 small governments; and

22 (2) meet overall statutory goals and objectives.

23 (b) PROGRAM FOCUS.—The pilot programs shall

24 focus on rules in effect or proposed rules, or a combination

25 thereof.
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1 SEC. 205. EFFECTIVE DATE.

2 This title and the amendments made by this title

3 shall take effect 60 days after the date of enactment.

4 TITLE III—REVIEW OF UN5 FUNDED FEDERAL MAN6 DATES

7 SEC. 301. BASELINE STUDY OF COSTS AND BENEFITS.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Advisory Commission

10 on Intergovernmental Relations (hereafter in this title re11 ferred to as the ‘‘Advisory Commission’’), in consultation

12 with the Director, shall begin a study to examine the

13 measurement and definition issues involved in calculating

14 the total costs and benefits to State, local, and tribal gov15 ernments of compliance with Federal law.

16 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—The study required by this

17 section shall consider—

18 (1) the feasibility of measuring indirect costs

19 and benefits as well as direct costs and benefits of

20 the Federal, State, local, and tribal relationship; and

21 (2) how to measure both the direct and indirect

22 benefits of Federal financial assistance and tax ben23 efits to State, local, and tribal governments.
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1 SEC. 302. REPORT ON UNFUNDED FEDERAL MANDATES BY

2 ADVISORY COMMISSION ON INTERGOVERN3 MENTAL RELATIONS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Commission on

5 Intergovernmental Relations shall in accordance with this

6 section—

7 (1) investigate and review the role of unfunded

8 Federal mandates in intergovernmental relations and

9 their impact on State, local, tribal, and Federal gov10 ernment objectives and responsibilities;

11 (2) make recommendations to the President

12 and the Congress regarding—

13 (A) allowing flexibility for State, local, and

14 tribal governments in complying with specific

15 unfunded Federal mandates for which terms of

16 compliance are unnecessarily rigid or complex;

17 (B) reconciling any 2 or more unfunded

18 Federal mandates which impose contradictory

19 or inconsistent requirements;

20 (C) terminating unfunded Federal man21 dates which are duplicative, obsolete, or lacking

22 in practical utility;

23 (D) suspending, on a temporary basis, un24 funded Federal mandates which are not vital to

25 public health and safety and which compound

26 the fiscal difficulties of State, local, and tribal
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1 governments, including recommendations for

2 triggering such suspension;

3 (E) consolidating or simplifying unfunded

4 Federal mandates, or the planning or reporting

5 requirements of such mandates, in order to re6 duce duplication and facilitate compliance by

7 State, local, and tribal governments with those

8 mandates; and

9 (F) establishing common Federal defini10 tions or standards to be used by State, local,

11 and tribal governments in complying with un12 funded Federal mandates that use different

13 definitions or standards for the same terms or

14 principles; and

15 (3) identify in each recommendation made

16 under paragraph (2), to the extent practicable, the

17 specific unfunded Federal mandates to which the

18 recommendation applies.

19 (b) TREATMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR METRIC

20 SYSTEMS OF MEASUREMENT.—

21 (1) TREATMENT.—For purposes of subsection

22 (a) (1) and (2), the Commission shall consider re23 quirements for metric systems of measurement to be

24 Federal mandates.
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1 (2) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term

2 ‘‘requirements for metric systems of measurement’’

3 means requirements of the departments, agencies,

4 and other entities of the Federal Government that

5 State, local, and tribal governments utilize metric

6 systems of measurement.

7 (c) CRITERIA.—

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall estab9 lish criteria for making recommendations under sub10 section (a).

11 (2) ISSUANCE OF PROPOSED CRITERIA.—The

12 Commission shall issue proposed criteria under this

13 subsection not later than 60 days after the date of

14 the enactment of this Act, and thereafter provide a

15 period of 30 days for submission by the public of

16 comments on the proposed criteria.

17 (3) FINAL CRITERIA.—Not later than 45 days

18 after the date of issuance of proposed criteria, the

19 Commission shall—

20 (A) consider comments on the proposed

21 criteria received under paragraph (2);

22 (B) adopt and incorporate in final criteria

23 any recommendations submitted in those com24 ments that the Commission determines will aid
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1 the Commission in carrying out its duties under

2 this section; and

3 (C) issue final criteria under this sub4 section.

5 (d) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 9 months

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

8 Commission shall—

9 (A) prepare and publish a preliminary re10 port on its activities under this title, including

11 preliminary recommendations pursuant to sub12 section (a);

13 (B) publish in the Federal Register a no14 tice of availability of the preliminary report;

15 and

16 (C) provide copies of the preliminary re17 port to the public upon request.

18 (2) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The Commission shall

19 hold public hearings on the preliminary rec20 ommendations contained in the preliminary report of

21 the Commission under this subsection.

22 (e) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after

23 the date of the publication of the preliminary report under

24 subsection (c), the Commission shall submit to the Con25 gress, including the Committee on Government Reform
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1 and Oversight of the House of Representatives and the

2 Committee on Governmental Affairs of the Senate, and

3 to the President a final report on the findings, conclusions,

4 and recommendations of the Commission under this sec5 tion.

6 SEC. 303. SPECIAL AUTHORITIES OF ADVISORY COMMIS7 SION.

8 (a) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—For purposes of

9 carrying out this title, the Advisory Commission may pro10 cure temporary and intermittent services of experts or

11 consultants under section 3109(b) of title 5, United States

12 Code.

13 (b) DETAIL OF STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—

14 Upon request of the Executive Director of the Advisory

15 Commission, the head of any Federal department or agen16 cy may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the person17 nel of that department or agency to the Advisory Commis18 sion to assist it in carrying out this title.

19 (c) CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—The Advisory Commis20 sion may, subject to appropriations, contract with and

21 compensate government and private persons (including

22 agencies) for property and services used to carry out its

23 duties under this title.
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1 SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Advi3 sory Commission to carry out section 301 and section 302,

4 $1,250,000 for each of fiscal years 1995 and 1996.

5 TITLE IV—JUDICIAL REVIEW

6 SEC. 401. JUDICIAL REVIEW.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any statement or report prepared

8 under this Act, and any compliance or noncompliance with

9 the provisions of this Act, and any determination concern10 ing the applicability of the provisions of this Act shall not

11 be subject to judicial review.

12 (b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—No provision of this

13 Act or amendment made by this Act shall be construed

14 to create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,

15 enforceable by any person in any administrative or judicial

16 action. No ruling or determination made under the provi17 sions of this Act or amendments made by this Act shall

18 be considered by any court in determining the intent of

19 Congress or for any other purpose.

Passed the Senate January 27 (legislative day, January 10), 1995.

Attest:

Secretary.
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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1

AN ACT

To curb the practice of imposing unfunded Federal

statutes and regulations, and for other purposes.plying with certain requirements under Federalthe costs incurred by those governments in comand to ensure that the Federal Government paysdisplace other essential governmental priorities;without adequate funding, in a manner that maydates on State, local, and tribal governmentsfull consideration by Congress, of Federal manments; to end the imposition, in the absence ofGovernment and State, local and tribal governstrengthen the partnership between the Federalmandates on States and local governments; to