II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 59

To provide Governmentwide accounting of regulatory costs and benefits, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. THOMPSON (for himself, Mr. BREAUX, Mr. LOTT, and Mr. STEVENS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To provide Governmentwide accounting of regulatory costs

and benefits, 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 Right-to5 Know Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

7 The purposes of this Act are to—

8 (1) promote the public right-to-know about the

9 costs and benefits of Federal regulatory programs

10 and rules;
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1 (2) increase Government accountability; and

2 (3) improve the quality of Federal regulatory

3 programs and rules.

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 In this Act:

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro7 vided in this section, the definitions under section

8 551 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to

9 this Act.

10 (2) BENEFIT.—The term ‘‘benefit’’ means the

11 reasonably identifiable significant favorable effects,

12 quantifiable and nonquantifiable, including social,

13 health, safety, environmental, economic, and dis14 tributional effects, that are expected to result from

15 implementation of, or compliance with, a rule.

16 (3) COST.—The term ‘‘cost’’ means the reason17 ably identifiable significant adverse effects, quantifi18 able and nonquantifiable, including social, health,

19 safety, environmental, economic, and distributional

20 effects, that are expected to result from implementa21 tion of, or compliance with, a rule.

22 (4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means

23 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg24 et, acting through the Administrator of the Office of

25 Information and Regulatory Affairs.
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1 (5) MAJOR RULE.—The term ‘‘major rule’’

2 means any rule as that term is defined under section

3 804(2) of title 5, United States Code.

4 (6) PROGRAM ELEMENT.—The term ‘‘program

5 element’’ means a rule or related set of rules.

6 SEC. 4. ACCOUNTING STATEMENT.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 5, 2001,

8 and each year thereafter, the President, acting through

9 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,

10 shall prepare and submit to Congress, with the budget of

11 the United States Government submitted under section

12 1105 of title 31, United States Code, an accounting state13 ment and associated report containing—

14 (1) an estimate of the total annual costs and

15 benefits of Federal regulatory programs, including

16 rules and paperwork—

17 (A) in the aggregate;

18 (B) by agency, agency program, and pro19 gram element; and

20 (C) by major rule;

21 (2) an analysis of direct and indirect impacts of

22 Federal rules on Federal, State, local, and tribal

23 government, the private sector, small business,

24 wages, and economic growth; and
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1 (3) recommendations to reform inefficient or in2 effective regulatory programs or program elements.

3 (b) BENEFITS AND COSTS.—To the extent feasible,

4 the Director shall quantify the net benefits or net costs

5 under subsection (a)(1).

6 (c) YEARS COVERED BY ACCOUNTING STATE7 MENT.—Each accounting statement submitted under this

8 Act shall cover, at a minimum, the costs and correspond9 ing benefits for each of the 4 fiscal years preceding the

10 year in which the report is submitted. The statement may

11 cover any year preceding such years for the purpose of

12 revising previous estimates.

13 SEC. 5. NOTICE AND COMMENT.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Before submitting a statement

15 and report to Congress under section 4, the Director of

16 the Office of Management and Budget shall—

17 (1) provide public notice and an opportunity to

18 comment on the statement and report; and

19 (2) consult with the Comptroller General of the

20 United States on the statement and report.

21 (b) APPENDIX.—After consideration of the com22 ments, the Director shall incorporate an appendix to the

23 report addressing the public comments and peer review

24 comments under section 7.
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1 SEC. 6. GUIDANCE FROM THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT

2 AND BUDGET.

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

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office

5 of Management and Budget, in consultation with the

6 Council of Economic Advisors, shall issue guidelines to

7 agencies to standardize—

8 (1) most plausible measures of costs and bene9 fits; and

10 (2) the format of information provided for ac11 counting statements.

12 (b) REVIEW.—The Director shall review submissions

13 from the agencies to ensure consistency with the guide14 lines under this section.

15 SEC. 7. PEER REVIEW.

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

17 Management and Budget shall arrange for a nationally

18 recognized public policy research organization with exper19 tise in regulatory analysis and regulatory accounting to

20 provide independent and external peer review of the guide21 lines and each accounting statement and associated report

22 under this Act before such guidelines, statements, and re23 ports are made final.

24 (b) WRITTEN COMMENTS.—The peer review under

25 this section shall provide written comments to the Director

26 in a timely manner. The Director shall use the peer review
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1 comments in preparing the final guidelines, statements,

2 and associated reports.

3 (c) FACA.—Peer review under this section shall not

4 be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5

5 U.S.C. App.).

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