II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 168 

To codify and modify regulatory requirements of Federal agencies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 13, 2015 

Mr. ROBERTS (for himself, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. 

COATS, Mr. CRAPO, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. HATCH, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. JOHNSON, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. SESSIONS, 

Mr. WICKER, Mr. TILLIS, and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To codify and modify regulatory requirements of Federal 

agencies. 

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 Responsi5 bility for our Economy Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ means any authority of 

9 the United States that is— 


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1 (A) an agency as defined under section 

2 3502(1) of title 44, United States Code; and 

3 (B) shall include an independent regu4 latory agency as defined under section 3502(5) 

5 of title 44, United States Code; 

6 (2) the term ‘‘regulation’’— 

7 (A) means an agency statement of general 

8 applicability and future effect, which the agency 

9 intends to have the force and effect of law, that 

10 is designed to implement, interpret, or prescribe 

11 law or policy or to describe the procedure or 

12 practice requirements of an agency; and 

13 (B) shall not include— 

14 (i) regulations issued in accordance 

15 with the formal rulemaking provisions of 

16 sections 556 and 557 of title 5, United 

17 States Code; 

18 (ii) regulations that pertain to a mili19 tary or foreign affairs function of the 

20 United States, other than procurement 

21 regulations and regulations involving the 

22 import or export of non-defense articles 

23 and services; or 


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1 (iii) regulations that are limited to 

2 agency organization, management, or per3 sonnel matters; 

4 (3) the term ‘‘regulatory action’’ means any 

5 substantive action by an agency (normally published 

6 in the Federal Register) that promulgates or is ex7 pected to lead to the promulgation of a final regula8 tion, including notices of inquiry, advance notices of 

9 proposed rulemaking, and notices of proposed rule10 making; and 

11 (4) the term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ 

12 means any regulatory action that is likely to result 

13 in a regulation that may— 

14 (A) have an annual effect on the economy 

15 of $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect in 

16 a material way the economy, a sector of the 

17 economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 

18 environment, public health or safety, or State, 

19 local, or tribal governments or communities; 

20 (B) create a serious inconsistency or other21 wise interfere with an action taken or planned 

22 by another agency; 

23 (C) materially alter the budgetary impact 

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1 grams or the rights and obligation of recipients 

2 thereof; 

3 (D) add to the national debt; or 

4 (E) raise novel legal or policy issues aris5 ing out of legal mandates, the President’s prior6 ities, or the principles set forth in this Act. 

7 SEC. 3. AGENCY REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) FEDERAL REGULATORY SYSTEM.—The Federal 

9 regulatory system shall— 

10 (1) protect the public health, welfare, safety, 

11 and the environment of the United States, especially 

12 those promoting economic growth, innovation, com13 petitiveness, and job creation; 

14 (2) be based on the best available science and 

15 information; 

16 (3) allow for public participation and an open 

17 exchange of ideas; 

18 (4) promote predictability and reduce uncer19 tainty, including adherence to a clearly articulated 

20 timeline for the release of regulatory documents at 

21 all stages of the regulatory process; 

22 (5) identify and use the best, most innovative, 

23 and least burdensome tools for achieving regulatory 

24 ends; 


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1 (6) take into account benefits and costs, both 

2 quantitative and qualitative; 

3 (7) ensure that regulations are accessible, con4 sistent, written in plain language, and easy to under5 stand; and 

6 (8) measure, and seek to improve, the actual re7 sults of regulatory requirements. 

8 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—Each agency shall— 

9 (1) propose or adopt a regulation only upon a 

10 reasoned determination that the benefits of the regu11 lation justify the costs of the regulation to the extent 

12 permitted by law; 

13 (2) tailor regulations of the agency to impose 

14 the least burden on society, consistent with obtain15 ing regulatory objectives, taking into account, among 

16 other things, the costs of cumulative regulations; 

17 (3) select, in choosing among alternative regu18 latory approaches, those approaches that maximize 

19 net benefits, including potential economic, environ20 mental, public health and safety, and other advan21 tages, distributive impacts, and equity; 

22 (4) specify performance objectives, rather than 

23 specifying the behavior or manner of compliance 

24 that regulated entities are required to adopt; 


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1 (5) identify and assess available alternatives to 

2 direct regulation, including providing economic in3 centives to encourage the desired behavior, such as 

4 user fees or marketable permits, or providing infor5 mation upon which choices can be made by the pub6 lic; and 

7 (6) use the best available techniques to quantify 

8 anticipated present and future benefits and costs. 

9 SEC. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Regulations shall be— 

11 (1) adopted through a process that involves 

12 public participation; and 

13 (2) based, to the extent consistent with law, on 

14 the open exchange of information and perspectives 

15 among State, local, and tribal officials, experts in 

16 relevant disciplines, affected stakeholders in the pri17 vate sector, and the public as a whole. 

18 (b) OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE.—Each agency 

19 shall— 

20 (1) provide the public with an opportunity to 

21 participate in the regulatory process; 

22 (2) as authorized by law, afford the public a 

23 meaningful opportunity to comment through the 

24 Internet on any proposed regulation, with a com25 ment period that shall begin on the date on which 


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1 the proposed regulation is published in the Federal 

2 Register and be not less than 60 days, unless the 

3 relevant regulation is designated by the Adminis4 trator of the Office of Information and Regulatory 

5 Affairs to be an emergency rule; 

6 (3) provide, for both proposed and final rules, 

7 timely online access to the rulemaking docket on 

8 regulations.gov, including relevant scientific and 

9 technical findings, in an open format that can be 

10 easily searched and downloaded; and 

11 (4) for proposed rules, provide access to in12 clude, to the extent permitted by law, an opportunity 

13 for public comment on all pertinent parts of the 

14 rulemaking docket, including relevant scientific and 

15 technical findings. 

16 (c) SEEKING AFFECTED PARTIES.—Before issuing a 

17 notice of proposed rulemaking, each agency shall, where 

18 appropriate, seek the views of those who are likely to be 

19 affected, including those who are likely to benefit from and 

20 those who are potentially subject to such rulemaking. 

21 (d) DELAY OF IMPLEMENTATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An agency shall delay imple23 mentation of an interim final rule until final disposi24 tion of a challenge is entered by a court in the 

25 United States, if— 


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1 (A) the agency excepted the rule from no2 tice and public procedure under section 

3 553(b)(B) of title 5, United States Code; and 

4 (B) the agency exception of the rule de5 scribed under paragraph (1) is challenged in a 

6 court in the United States. 

7 (2) LENGTH OF DELAY.—If implementation of 

8 an interim final rule is delayed under paragraph (1), 

9 the delay shall continue until a final disposition of 

10 the challenge is entered by the court. 

11 SEC. 5. INTEGRATION AND INNOVATION. 

12 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

13 (1) some sectors and industries face a signifi14 cant number of regulatory requirements, some of 

15 which may be redundant, inconsistent, or overlap16 ping; and 

17 (2) greater coordination across agencies should 

18 reduce these requirements, thus reducing costs and 

19 simplifying and harmonizing rules. 

20 (b) PROMOTION OF INNOVATION.—In developing reg21 ulatory actions and identifying appropriate approaches, 

22 each agency shall— 

23 (1) promote coordination, simplification, and 

24 harmonization; and 


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1 (2) identify means to achieve regulatory goals 

2 that are designed to promote innovation. 

3 SEC. 6. FLEXIBLE APPROACHES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall identify and 

5 consider regulatory approaches that reduce burdens, espe6 cially economic burdens, and maintain flexibility and free7 dom of choice for the public. 

8 (b) CONTENTS.—The approaches described under 

9 subsection (a) shall include warnings, appropriate default 

10 rules, disclosure requirements, and the provision of infor11 mation to the public in a form that is clear and intelligible. 

12 SEC. 7. SCIENCE. 

13 Each agency shall ensure the objectivity of any sci14 entific and technological information and processes used 

15 to support the regulatory actions of the agency. 

16 SEC. 8. RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES OF EXISTING RULES. 

17 (a) RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSES.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—To facilitate the periodic re19 view of existing significant regulatory actions, agen20 cies shall consider how best to promote retrospective 

21 analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, 

22 insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to mod23 ify, streamline, expand, or repeal such regulations in 

24 accordance with what has been learned. 


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1 (2) AGREEMENT.—Once every 5 years, each 

2 agency may enter into an agreement with a qualified 

3 private organization to conduct the retrospective 

4 analysis described in paragraph (1) of the agency. 

5 (3) PUBLICATION ONLINE.—Any retrospective 

6 analyses conducted under this subsection, including 

7 supporting data, shall be published online. 

8 (b) AGENCY PLANS.— 

9 (1) PLAN.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

11 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

12 each agency shall develop and submit to the ap13 propriate congressional committees a prelimi14 nary plan for reviewing significant regulatory 

15 actions issued by the agency, consistent with 

16 law, under which the agency shall review its ex17 isting significant regulatory actions once every 

18 5 years to determine whether such regulations 

19 should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or 

20 repealed so as to make the regulatory program 

21 of the agency more effective or less burdensome 

22 in achieving the regulatory objectives. 

23 (B) REPEAL.—If the plan described in 

24 subparagraph (A) includes suggestions for 


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1 needed repeals a timeline for such repeals shall 

2 also be included in the plan. 

3 (2) REPORT.—Upon completion of a review 

4 under a plan submitted under paragraph (1), each 

5 agency shall submit to the appropriate congressional 

6 committees a report that— 

7 (A) describes the outcome of the review, 

8 including which regulations were modified, 

9 streamlined, expanded, or repealed; 

10 (B) describes the reasons for the modifica11 tions, streamlining, expansions, or repeals de12 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 

13 (C) in any case where an agency did not 

14 take action, describes the reasons why the agen15 cy did not take action to modify, streamline, ex16 pand, or repeal any significant regulatory ac17 tions. 

18 SEC. 9. JUDICIAL REVIEW. 

19 Any person may file a petition for judicial review of 

20 any agency action required under this Act within the 

21 United States Court of Appeals for the District of Colum22 bia Circuit or for the circuit in which such person resides 

23 or in which such person’s principal place of business is 

24 located. Courts of appeals of the United States shall have 

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1 view (other than in an enforcement proceeding) of such 

2 an action if any district court of the United States would 

3 have had jurisdiction of such action but for this section. 

Æ 


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