IB 

Union Calendar No. 180 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 

[Report No. 114–238, Parts I and II] 

To amend title 5, united States Code, to provide for the publication, by 

the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information relating 

to rulemakings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2015 

Mr. RATCLIFFE (for himself, Mr. HOLDING, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, Mr. 

FORBES, Mr. MARINO, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. 

ZINKE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined 

by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 

within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

JULY 29, 2015 

Additional sponsors: Mr. BUCK, Mr. BARR, and Mr. OLSON

JULY 29, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

JULY 29, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary; committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend title 5, united States Code, to provide for the 

publication, by the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, of information relating to rulemakings, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘All Economic Regula5 tions are Transparent Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘ALERT Act 

6 of 2015’’. 

7 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF8 FAIRS PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION RE9 LATING TO RULES. 

10 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title 5, United States Code, is 

11 amended by inserting after chapter 6, the following new 

12 chapter: 

13 ‘‘CHAPTER 6A—OFFICE OF INFORMATION 

14 AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICA15 TION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 

16 RULES 

‘‘Sec. 651. Agency monthly submission to office of information and regulatory 

affairs. 

‘‘Sec. 652. Office of information and regulatory affairs publications. 

‘‘Sec. 653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly publication. 

‘‘Sec. 654. Definitions. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 651. AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO OFFICE OF 

18 INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS. 

19 ‘‘On a monthly basis, the head of each agency shall 

20 submit to the Administrator of the Office of Information 

21 and Regulatory Affairs (referred to in this chapter as the 


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1 ‘Administrator’), in such a manner as the Administrator 

2 may reasonably require, the following information: 

3 ‘‘(1) For each rule that the agency expects to 

4 propose or finalize during the following year: 

5 ‘‘(A) A summary of the nature of the rule, 

6 including the regulation identifier number and 

7 the docket number for the rule. 

8 ‘‘(B) The objectives of and legal basis for 

9 the issuance of the rule, including— 

10 ‘‘(i) any statutory or judicial deadline; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) whether the legal basis restricts 

13 or precludes the agency from conducting 

14 an analysis of the costs or benefits of the 

15 rule during the rule making, and if not, 

16 whether the agency plans to conduct an 

17 analysis of the costs or benefits of the rule 

18 during the rule making. 

19 ‘‘(C) Whether the agency plans to claim an 

20 exemption from the requirements of section 553 

21 pursuant to section 553(b)(B). 

22 ‘‘(D) The stage of the rule making as of 

23 the date of submission. 

24 ‘‘(E) Whether the rule is subject to review 

25 under section 610. 


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1 ‘‘(2) For any rule for which the agency expects 

2 to finalize during the following year and has issued 

3 a general notice of proposed rule making— 

4 ‘‘(A) an approximate schedule for com5 pleting action on the rule; 

6 ‘‘(B) an estimate of whether the rule will 

7 cost— 

8 ‘‘(i) less than $50,000,000; 

9 ‘‘(ii) $50,000,000 or more but less 

10 than $100,000,000; 

11 ‘‘(iii) $100,000,000 or more but less 

12 than $500,000,000; 

13 ‘‘(iv) $500,000,000 or more but less 

14 than $1,000,000,000; 

15 ‘‘(v) $1,000,000,000 or more but less 

16 than $5,000,000,000; 

17 ‘‘(vi) $5,000,000,000 or more but less 

18 than $10,000,000,000; or 

19 ‘‘(vii) $10,000,000,000 or more; and 

20 ‘‘(C) any estimate of the economic effects 

21 of the rule, including any estimate of the net ef22 fect that the rule will have on the number of 

23 jobs in the United States, that was considered 

24 in drafting the rule. If such estimate is not 

25 available, a statement affirming that no inforVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jul 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1759.RH H1759

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1 mation on the economic effects, including the 

2 effect on the number of jobs, of the rule has 

3 been considered. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 652. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF5 FAIRS PUBLICATIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) AGENCY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION PUBLISHED

7 MONTHLY.—Not later than 30 days after the submission 

8 of information pursuant to section 651, the Administrator 

9 shall make such information publicly available on the 

10 Internet. 

11 ‘‘(b) CUMULATIVE ASSESSMENT OF AGENCY RULE

12 MAKING PUBLISHED ANNUALLY.— 

13 ‘‘(1) PUBLICATION IN THE FEDERAL REG14 ISTER.—Not later than October 1 of each year, the 

15 Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register, 

16 for the previous year the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) The information that the Adminis18 trator received from the head of each agency 

19 under section 651. 

20 ‘‘(B) The number of rules and a list of 

21 each such rule— 

22 ‘‘(i) that was proposed by each agen23 cy, including, for each such rule, an indica24 tion of whether the issuing agency conVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:28 Jul 29, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1759.RH H1759

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1 ducted an analysis of the costs or benefits 

2 of the rule; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) that was finalized by each agen4 cy, including for each such rule an indica5 tion of whether— 

6 ‘‘(I) the issuing agency conducted 

7 an analysis of the costs or benefits of 

8 the rule; 

9 ‘‘(II) the agency claimed an ex10 emption from the procedures under 

11 section 553 pursuant to section 

12 553(b)(B); and 

13 ‘‘(III) the rule was issued pursu14 ant to a statutory mandate or the rule 

15 making is committed to agency discre16 tion by law. 

17 ‘‘(C) The number of agency actions and a 

18 list of each such action taken by each agency 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(i) repealed a rule; 

21 ‘‘(ii) reduced the scope of a rule; 

22 ‘‘(iii) reduced the cost of a rule; or 

23 ‘‘(iv) accelerated the expiration date 

24 of a rule. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The total cost (without reducing the 

2 cost by any offsetting benefits) of all rules pro3 posed or finalized, and the number of rules for 

4 which an estimate of the cost of the rule was 

5 not available. 

6 ‘‘(2) PUBLICATION ON THE INTERNET.—Not 

7 later than October 1 of each year, the Administrator 

8 shall make publicly available on the Internet the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(A) The analysis of the costs or benefits, 

11 if conducted, for each proposed rule or final 

12 rule issued by an agency for the previous year. 

13 ‘‘(B) The docket number and regulation 

14 identifier number for each proposed or final 

15 rule issued by an agency for the previous year. 

16 ‘‘(C) The number of rules and a list of 

17 each such rule reviewed by the Director of the 

18 Office of Management and Budget for the pre19 vious year, and the authority under which each 

20 such review was conducted. 

21 ‘‘(D) The number of rules and a list of 

22 each such rule for which the head of an agency 

23 completed a review under section 610 for the 

24 previous year. 


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1 ‘‘(E) The number of rules and a list of 

2 each such rule submitted to the Comptroller 

3 General under section 801. 

4 ‘‘(F) The number of rules and a list of 

5 each such rule for which a resolution of dis6 approval was introduced in either the House of 

7 Representatives or the Senate under section 

8 802. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 653. REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN AGEN10 CY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY PUBLICATION. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a rule 

12 may not take effect until the information required to be 

13 made publicly available on the Internet regarding such 

14 rule pursuant to section 652(a) has been so available for 

15 not less than 6 months. 

16 ‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement of subsection 

17 (a) shall not apply in the case of a rule— 

18 ‘‘(1) for which the agency issuing the rule 

19 claims an exception under section 553(b)(B); or 

20 ‘‘(2) which the President determines by Execu21 tive order should take effect because the rule is— 

22 ‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent 

23 threat to health or safety or other emergency; 

24 ‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of 

25 criminal laws; 


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1 ‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or 

2 ‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute imple3 menting an international trade agreement. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 654. DEFINITIONS. 

5 ‘‘In this chapter, the terms ‘agency’, ‘agency action’, 

6 ‘rule’, and ‘rule making’ have the meanings given those 

7 terms in section 551.’’. 

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

9 The table of chapters for part I of title 5, United States 

10 Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

11 chapter 5, the following: 

‘‘6. The Analysis of Regulatory Functions ............................................. 601

‘‘6A. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Publication of Information Relating to Rules .......................................... 651’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

13 (1) AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO THE OF14 FICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF15 FAIRS.—The first submission required pursuant to 

16 section 651 of title 5, United States Code, as added 

17 by subsection (a), shall be submitted not later than 

18 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

19 and monthly thereafter. 

20 (2) CUMULATIVE ASSESSMENT OF AGENCY

21 RULE MAKING.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of sec23 tion 652 of title 5, United States Code, as 

24 added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the 


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1 date that is 60 days after the date of the enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (B) DEADLINE.—The first requirement to 

4 publish or make available, as the case may be, 

5 under subsection (b) of section 652 of title 5, 

6 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 

7 shall be the first October 1 after the effective 

8 date of such subsection. 

9 (C) FIRST PUBLICATION.—The require10 ment under section 652(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 

11 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 

12 shall include for the first publication, any anal13 ysis of the costs or benefits conducted for a 

14 proposed or final rule, for the 10 years before 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 (3) REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN

17 AGENCY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY PUBLICATION.—Section 

18 653 of title 5, United States Code, as added by sub19 section (a), shall take effect on the date that is 8 

20 months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 180 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1759 

[Report No. 114–238, Parts I and II] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, united States Code, to provide for 

rulemakings, and for other purposes. Regulatory Affairs, of information relating to the publication, by the Office of Information and 

JULY 29, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform 

JULY 29, 2015 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


srobinson on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS