II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 439

To direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish

commissions to review regulations issued by certain Federal departments

and agencies, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 16 (legislative day, JANUARY 30), 1995

Mr. THOMAS (for himself, Mr. LOTT, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. COATS,

Mr. MURKOWSKI, and Mr. COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To direct the Director of the Office of Management and

Budget to establish commissions to review regulations

issued by certain Federal departments and agencies, and

for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Reform

5 Commissions Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDING AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) excessive and misguided regulations impose

2 enormous economic costs that, like excessive taxes,

3 stifle economic growth and job creation; and

4 (2) the cost of complying with Federal regula5 tions alone is estimated between $300,000,000,000

6 and $500,000,000,000 per year, which amounts to

7 $4,000 to $6,000 per working man and woman in

8 America.

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to dem10 onstrate the need to reexamine the policies and procedures

11 of Federal agencies which impose regulatory burden, to

12 determine what changes are necessary and desirable in

13 those policies and procedures.

14 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each of the commissions estab16 lished under section 4 by the Director of the Office of

17 Management and Budget (referred to in this Act as the

18 ‘‘Director’’) shall review the regulations issued by the de19 partment or agency with respect to which the commission

20 is established.

21 (b) STANDARDS OF REVIEW.—In reviewing regula22 tions under this section, each commission shall examine

23 and determine—

24 (1) whether the regulations are—
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1 (A) within the scope of authority of the

2 statutes under which the regulations were is3 sued; and

4 (B) in accordance with the original intent

5 of the Congress in approving the statutes;

6 (2) whether administrative decisions made

7 under the regulations were based on adequate infor8 mation concerning the need for and consequences of

9 proposed Governmental action;

10 (3) whether regulatory action was taken only in

11 instances where potential economic benefits to soci12 ety of taking an action exceed the economic costs to

13 society of taking the action;

14 (4) whether the objectives of regulatory actions

15 were selected to minimize net economic costs to

16 society;

17 (5) whether in selecting among alternative ap18 proaches for achieving objectives of regulatory ac19 tions, the alternative selected was the alternative in20 volving the least net economic cost to society;

21 (6) whether Federal agencies, in selecting regu22 latory priorities, have taken into account—

23 (A) the condition of the particular employ24 ers and employees affected by regulatory ac25 tions;
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1 (B) the condition of the regional and na2 tional economy; and

3 (C) other Federal regulatory actions being

4 considered; and

5 (7) whether the regulations are subject to judi6 cial review.

7 (c) CONSULTATION AND COMMENT.—In carrying out

8 reviews under this section, each commission shall—

9 (1) consult with the Congress and relevant con10 gressional committees; and

11 (2) solicit and consider views and suggestions of

12 persons affected by the regulations reviewed by the

13 commission.

14 (d) REPORTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each commission established

16 under section 4 shall submit reports in accordance

17 with this subsection to the Congress, the Director,

18 and the head of the department or agency with re19 spect to which the commission is established. The re20 ports shall consist of—

21 (A) an interim report submitted by not

22 later than 1 year after the completion of ap23 pointments of the members of the commission;
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1 (B) a final report submitted by not later

2 than 2 years after the completion of the ap3 pointments.

4 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report under this sub5 section shall describe the determinations made by

6 the commission under each of paragraphs (1), (2),

7 (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) of subsection (b) for the

8 period covered by the report.

9 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSIONS.

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall establish

12 3 commissions to carry out reviews under section 3. Of

13 the commissions established under this section, one shall

14 be established with respect to each of—

15 (1) the Environmental Protection Agency;

16 (2) the Department of Labor; and

17 (3) the Department of the Interior.

18 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—Each commission established

19 under this section shall be composed of 13 members as

20 follows:

21 (1) 2 Members of the Senate appointed by the

22 Majority Leader of the Senate, who shall be Mem23 bers of different political parties.
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1 (2) 2 Members appointed by the Speaker of the

2 House of Representatives, who shall be Members of

3 different political parties.

4 (3) 5 members appointed by the President from

5 among persons affected by regulatory actions of the

6 department or agency with respect to which the

7 commission is established, of whom not more than 3

8 may be members of the same political party.

9 (4) 4 members appointed by the head of the de10 partment or agency with respect to which the com11 mission is established, from among the career em12 ployees of the agency.

13 (c) COMPENSATION.—Each member of the commis14 sion shall serve without compensation in addition to that

15 received for such member’s services as an officer or em16 ployee of the United States.

17 (d) EXPENSES.—The head of a Federal department

18 or agency with respect to which a commission is estab19 lished under this section shall pay the expenses incurred

20 by the commission in carrying out this Act.

21 (e) TERMINATION.—Each commission established by

22 this section shall terminate on the date the commission

23 submits a final report under section 3(d)(1)(B).

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