II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1675

To establish a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 25, 1998

Mr. SHELBY (for himself and Mr. BOND) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To establish a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis.

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 ‘‘Congressional Office

5 of Regulatory Analysis Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) Federal regulations can have a positive im9 pact in protecting the environment and the health

10 and safety of all Americans; however, uncontrolled

11 increases in the costs that regulations place on the

12 economy cannot be sustained;
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1 (2) the legislative branch has a responsibility to

2 see that the laws it passes are properly implemented

3 by the executive branch;

4 (3) effective implementation of chapter 8 of

5 title 5 of the United States Code (relating to con6 gressional review of agency rulemaking) is essential

7 to controlling the regulatory burden that the Gov8 ernment places on the economy; and

9 (4) in order for the legislative branch to fulfill

10 its responsibilities under chapter 8 of title 5, United

11 States Code, it must have accurate and reliable in12 formation on which to base its decisions.

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab14 lish a congressional office to provide Congress with inde15 pendent, timely, and reasoned analyses of existing and an16 ticipated Federal rules and regulations, including—

17 (1) assessments of the need for, and effective18 ness of, existing and anticipated Federal rules and

19 regulations in meeting the mandates of underlying

20 statutes;

21 (2) statements of the existing and projected

22 economic and noneconomic impacts, including the

23 impacts of reporting requirements, of such rules and

24 regulations; and
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1 (3) separate assessments of the effects of exist2 ing and anticipated regulations on segments of the

3 public, such as geographic regions and small entities.

4 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a Con7 gressional Office of Regulatory Analysis (hereafter

8 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). The Office

9 shall be headed by a Director.

10 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall be ap11 pointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate and

12 the Speaker of the House of Representatives without

13 regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis

14 of the Director’s ability to perform the duties of the

15 Office.

16 (3) TERM.—The term of office of the Director

17 shall be 4 years, but no Director shall be permitted

18 to serve more than 3 terms. Any individual ap19 pointed as Director to fill a vacancy prior to the ex20 piration of a term shall serve only for the unexpired

21 portion of that term. An individual serving as Direc22 tor at the expiration of that term may continue to

23 serve until the individual’s successor is appointed.

24 (4) REMOVAL.—The Director may be removed

25 by a concurrent resolution of Congress.
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1 (5) COMPENSATION.—The Director shall re2 ceive compensation at a per annum gross rate equal

3 to the rate of basic pay for a position at level III

4 of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title

5 5, United States Code.

6 (b) PERSONNEL.—The Director shall appoint and fix

7 the compensation of such personnel as may be necessary

8 to carry out the duties and functions of the Office. All

9 personnel of the Office shall be appointed without regard

10 to political affiliation and solely on the basis of their fit11 ness to perform their duties. The Director may prescribe

12 the duties and responsibilities of the personnel of the Of13 fice, and delegate authority to perform any of the duties,

14 powers, and functions of the Office or the Director. For

15 purposes of pay (other than pay of the Director) and em16 ployment benefits, rights, and privileges, all personnel of

17 the Office shall be treated as if they were employees of

18 the Senate.

19 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—In carrying out

20 the duties and functions of the Office, the Director may

21 procure the temporary (not to exceed one year) or inter22 mittent services of experts or consultants or organizations

23 thereof by contract as independent contractors, or, in the

24 case of individual experts or consultants, by employment

25 at rates of pay not in excess of the daily equivalent of
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1 the highest rate of basic pay under the General Schedule

2 of section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.

3 (d) RELATIONSHIP TO EXECUTIVE BRANCH.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director is authorized

5 to secure information, data, estimates, and statistics

6 directly from the various departments, agencies, and

7 establishments of the executive branch of Govern8 ment, including the Office of Management and

9 Budget, and the regulatory agencies and commis10 sions of the Government. All such departments,

11 agencies, establishments, and regulatory agencies

12 and commissions shall promptly furnish the Director

13 any available material which the Director determines

14 to be necessary in the performance of the Director’s

15 duties and functions (other than material the disclo16 sure of which would be a violation of law).

17 (2) SERVICES.—Upon agreement with the head

18 of any such department, agency, establishment, or

19 regulatory agency or commission—

20 (A) the Director may use the services, fa21 cilities, and personnel with or without reim22 bursement of such department, agency, estab23 lishment, or commission; and

24 (B) the head of each such department,

25 agency, establishment, or regulatory agency or
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1 commission is authorized to provide the Office

2 such services, facilities, and personnel.

3 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AGENCIES OF CON4 GRESS.—In carrying out the duties and functions of the

5 Office, and for the purpose of coordinating the operations

6 of the Office with those of other congressional agencies

7 with a view to utilizing most effectively the information,

8 services and capabilities of all such agencies in carrying

9 out the various responsibilities assigned to each, the Direc10 tor is authorized to obtain information, data, estimates,

11 and statistics developed by the General Accounting Office,

12 Congressional Budget Office, and the Library of Congress,

13 and (upon agreement with them) to utilize their services,

14 facilities, and personnel with or without reimbursement.

15 The Comptroller General, the Director of the Congres16 sional Budget Office, and the Librarian of Congress are

17 authorized to provide the Office with the information,

18 data, estimates, and statistics, and the services, facilities,

19 and personnel, referred to in the preceding sentence.

20 (f) APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be

21 appropriated to the Office for fiscal years 1998 through

22 2006 such sums as may be necessary to enable the Office

23 to carry out its duties and functions.
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1 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES.

2 (a) TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS UNDER CHAPTER 8

3 FROM GAO TO OFFICE.—

4 (1) DIRECTOR’S AUTHORITY.—Section 801 of

5 title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking

6 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ each place it occurs and in7 serting ‘‘Director of the Office’’; and

8 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 804 is amended by

9 adding at the end the following:

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘Director of the Office’ means

11 the Director of the Congressional Office of Regu12 latory Affairs established under section 3 of the

13 Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis Act.’’.

14 (3) MAJOR RULES.—

15 (A) REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS.—In

16 addition to the assessment of an agency’s com17 pliance with the procedural steps for major

18 rules described under section 801(a)(2)(A) of

19 title 5, United States Code, the Office shall

20 conduct its own regulatory impact analysis of

21 such major rules. The analysis shall include—

22 (i) a description of the potential bene23 fits of the rule, including any beneficial ef24 fects that cannot be quantified in monetary

25 terms and the identification of those likely

26 to receive the benefits;
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1 (ii) a description of the potential costs

2 of the rule, including any adverse effects

3 that cannot be quantified in monetary

4 terms and the identification of those likely

5 to bear the costs;

6 (iii) a determination of the potential

7 net benefits of the rule, including an eval8 uation of effects that cannot be quantified

9 in monetary terms;

10 (iv) a description of alternative ap11 proaches that could achieve the same regu12 latory goal at a lower cost, together with

13 an analysis of the potential benefit and

14 costs and a brief explanation of the legal

15 reasons why such alternatives, if proposed,

16 could not be adopted; and

17 (v) a summary of how these results

18 differ, if at all, from the results that the

19 promulgating agency received when con20 ducting similar analyses.

21 (B) TIME FOR REPORT TO COMMITTEES.—

22 Section 801(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States

23 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘15’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘45’’.
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1 (4) NONMAJOR RULES.—The Office shall con2 duct a regulatory impact analysis, in accordance

3 with paragraph (3)(A), of any nonmajor rule, as de4 fined in section 804(3) of title 5, United States

5 Code, when requested to do so by a committee of the

6 Senate or House of Representatives, or individual

7 Senator or Representative.

8 (5) PRIORITIES.—

9 (A) ASSIGNMENT.—To ensure that analy10 ses of the most significant regulations occur,

11 the Office shall give first priority to, and is re12 quired to conduct analyses of, all major rules,

13 as defined in section 804(2) of title 5, United

14 States Code. Secondary priority shall be as15 signed to requests from committees of the Sen16 ate and the House of Representatives. Tertiary

17 priority shall be assigned to requests from indi18 vidual Senators and Representatives.

19 (B) DISCRETION TO DIRECTOR OF OF20 FICE.—The Director of the Office shall have

21 the discretion to assign priority among the sec22 ondary and tertiary requests.

23 (b) TRANSFER OF CERTAIN FUNCTIONS UNDER THE

24 UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT OF 1995 FROM

25 CBO TO OFFICE.—
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1 (1) COST OF REGULATIONS.—Section 103 of

2 the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2

3 U.S.C. 1511) is amended—

4 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘the Di5 rector’’ and inserting ‘‘the Director of the Con6 gressional Office of Regulatory Analysis’’; and

7 (B) in subsection (c), by inserting after

8 ‘‘Budget Office’’ the following: ‘‘or the Director

9 of the Congressional Office of Regulatory Anal10 ysis’’.

11 (2) ASSISTANCE TO THE CONGRESSIONAL OF12 FICE OF REGULATORY ANALYSIS.—Section 206 of

13 the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (2

14 U.S.C. 1536) is amended—

15 (A) by amending the section heading to

16 read as follows: ‘‘SEC. 206. ASSISTANCE TO

17 THE CONGRESSIONAL OFFICE OF REGU18 LATORY ANALYSIS.’’; and

19 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘the Di20 rector of the Congressional Budget Office’’ and

21 inserting ‘‘the Director of the Congressional Of22 fice of Regulatory Analysis’’.

23 (c) OTHER REPORTS.—In addition to the regulatory

24 impact analyses of major and nonmajor rules described

25 under subsection (a), the Office shall issue an annual re-
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1 port on an estimate of the total cost of Federal regulations

2 on the United States economy.

3 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall

5 take effect 180 days after the date of enactment of this

6 Act.

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