II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3996 

To provide for a method by which the economic costs of significant regulatory 

actions may be offset by the repeal of other regulatory actions, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 5, 2022 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. SCOTT of South 

Carolina, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; 

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

A BILL 

To provide for a method by which the economic costs of 

significant regulatory actions may be offset by the repeal 

of other regulatory actions, 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 ‘‘Reducing Regulatory 

5 Burdens Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con8 gress that the Federal Government should be prudent and 


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1 financially responsible in the expenditure of funds, from 

2 both public and private sources. In addition to the man3 agement of the direct expenditure of taxpayer dollars 

4 through the budgeting process, it is essential to manage 

5 the costs associated with the governmental imposition of 

6 private expenditures required to comply with Federal reg7 ulations. 

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is— 

9 (1) to remove unnecessary or outdated regula10 tions when a new significant regulation is issued; 

11 and 

12 (2) to prudently manage and control the cost of 

13 planned regulations through an annual budgeting 

14 process. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

19 United States Code. 

20 (2) AGENCY RRO.—The term ‘‘agency RRO’’ 

21 means the Regulatory Reform Officer of an agency 

22 designated under section 4(a). 

23 (3) COSTS.—The term ‘‘costs’’ means oppor24 tunity cost to society. 


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1 (4) COST SAVINGS.—The term ‘‘cost savings’’ 

2 means the cost imposed by a regulatory action that 

3 is eliminated by the repeal, replacement, or modifica4 tion of the regulatory action. 

5 (5) DEREGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘de6 regulatory action’’ means the repeal, replacement, or 

7 modification of an existing regulatory action. 

8 (6) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

9 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg10 et. 

11 (7) INCREMENTAL REGULATORY COST.—The 

12 term ‘‘incremental regulatory cost’’ means the dif13 ference between the estimated cost of issuing a sig14 nificant regulatory action and the estimated cost 

15 saved by issuing any deregulatory action. 

16 (8) REGULATION; RULE.—The term ‘‘regula17 tion’’ or ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning given the term 

18 ‘‘rule’’ in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (9) REGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘regu20 latory action’’ means— 

21 (A) any regulation; and 

22 (B) any other regulatory guidance, state23 ment of policy, information collection request, 

24 form, or reporting, recordkeeping, or disclosure 


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1 requirements that imposes a burden on the pub2 lic or governs agency operations. 

3 (10) SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTION.—The 

4 term ‘‘significant regulatory action’’ means any reg5 ulatory action, other than monetary policy proposed 

6 or implemented by the Board of Governors of the 

7 Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market 

8 Committee, that is likely to— 

9 (A) have an annual effect on the economy 

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

11 a material way the economy, a sector of the 

12 economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the 

13 environment, public health or safety, or State, 

14 local, or Tribal governments or communities; 

15 (B) create a serious inconsistency or other16 wise interfere with an action taken or planned 

17 by another agency; 

18 (C) materially alter the budgetary impact 

19 of entitlements, grants, user fees, or loan pro20 grams or the rights and obligations of recipi21 ents thereof; or 

22 (D) raise a novel legal or policy issue. 

23 (11) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

24 the several States, the District of Columbia, and 

25 each territory or possession of the United States. 


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1 (12) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

2 means the regulatory reform task force of an agency 

3 described in section 4(b). 

4 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHING REGULATORY REFORM CAPACITY. 

5 (a) REGULATORY REFORM OFFICERS.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sec7 tion 7, not later than 60 days after the date of en8 actment of this Act, the head of each agency shall 

9 designate an employee or officer of the agency as the 

10 Regulatory Reform Officer. 

11 (2) DUTIES.—In accordance with applicable law 

12 and in consultation with relevant senior agency offi13 cials, each agency RRO shall oversee— 

14 (A) the implementation of regulatory re15 form initiatives and policies for the agency to 

16 ensure that the agency effectively carries out 

17 regulatory reforms; and 

18 (B) the termination of programs and ac19 tivities that derive from or implement statutes, 

20 Executive orders, guidance documents, policy 

21 memoranda, rule interpretations, and similar 

22 documents, or relevant portions thereof, that 

23 have been repealed or rescinded. 

24 (b) REGULATORY REFORM TASK FORCES.— 


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1 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY TASK FORCE; 

2 MEMBERSHIP.—Except as provided in section 7, not 

3 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act, the head of each agency shall appoint 

5 and may remove members to the regulatory reform 

6 task force of the agency, which shall be composed of 

7 the following members: 

8 (A) The agency RRO. 

9 (B) A senior agency official from each rel10 evant component or office of the agency with 

11 significant authority for issuing or repealing 

12 regulatory actions. 

13 (C) Additional senior agency officials in14 volved in the development of rulemaking or 

15 other regulatory action at the agency, as deter16 mined by the head of the agency. 

17 (2) CHAIR.—Unless otherwise designated by the 

18 head of the agency, the agency RRO shall chair the 

19 Task Force of the agency. 

20 (3) JOINT TASK FORCES.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—For the consideration 

22 of a joint rulemaking, the Director may form a 

23 joint regulatory reform task force composed of 

24 not less than 1 member from the Task Force 

25 of each relevant agency. 


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1 (B) CONSULTATION.—Any joint regulatory 

2 reform task force formed under this paragraph 

3 shall consult with each relevant Task Force. 

4 (4) DUTIES.—Each Task Force shall— 

5 (A) conduct ongoing evaluations of regula6 tions and other regulatory actions and make 

7 recommendations that are consistent with and 

8 that could be implemented in accordance with 

9 applicable law to the head of the agency regard10 ing repeal, replacement, or modification of reg11 ulations and regulatory actions; and 

12 (B) to the extent practicable— 

13 (i) not later than 5 years after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, complete a 

15 review of each regulation issued by the 

16 agency; 

17 (ii) for each regulation or regulatory 

18 action reviewed and identified for repeal, 

19 replacement, or modification, estimate the 

20 cost savings of the repeal, replacement, or 

21 modification, as applicable; and 

22 (iii) identify regulations that are ap23 propriate for repeal, replacement, or modi24 fication, and prioritize the evaluation of 

25 regulations that— 


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1 (I) eliminate or have eliminated 

2 jobs or inhibit or have inhibited job 

3 creation; 

4 (II) are outdated, unnecessary, or 

5 ineffective; 

6 (III) impose costs that exceed 

7 benefits; 

8 (IV) create a serious inconsist9 ency or otherwise interfere with regu10 latory reform initiatives and policies; 

11 (V) were issued or are main12 tained in a manner that is incon13 sistent with the requirements of sec14 tion 515 of the Treasury and General 

15 Government Appropriations Act, 2001 

16 (44 U.S.C. 3516 note), or the guid17 ance issued pursuant to that section, 

18 including any rule that relies in whole 

19 or in part on data, information, or 

20 methods that are not publicly avail21 able or that are insufficiently trans22 parent to meet the standard for repro23 ducibility; or 

24 (VI) were made pursuant to or to 

25 implement statutes, Executive orders, 


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1 or other Presidential directives that 

2 have been subsequently rescinded or 

3 substantially modified. 

4 (c) CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—In per5 forming the tasks under this section, each agency RRO 

6 and Task Force— 

7 (1) shall seek input and other assistance from 

8 the public and from entities significantly affected by 

9 regulations, including State, local, and Tribal gov10 ernments, small businesses, consumers, non-govern11 mental organizations, and trade associations; and 

12 (2) may— 

13 (A) incorporate specific suggestions from 

14 stakeholders in identifying the list of deregula15 tory actions to recommend to the head of the 

16 agency; and 

17 (B) accept or solicit input from the public 

18 in any manner, if— 

19 (i) the process is transparent to the 

20 public and Congress; 

21 (ii) a list of each meeting, a list of 

22 each stakeholder that submitted a com23 ment, and a copy of each written comment 

24 are made publicly available online; and 


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1 (iii) the Task Force issues a public 

2 notice of any public meeting to solicit input 

3 not less than 7 days before the public 

4 meeting and makes detailed minutes of the 

5 meeting available online not less than 7 

6 days after the date of the meeting. 

7 (d) TRANSPARENT REGULATORY REFORM.— 

8 (1) WEBSITE.—To the extent practicable, the 

9 head of each agency shall publish information about 

10 the Task Force of the agency and other regulatory 

11 reform initiatives on the website of the agency— 

12 (A) which shall include— 

13 (i) a list of the members of the Task 

14 Force of the agency; 

15 (ii) a copy of each report issued under 

16 this subsection; and 

17 (iii) a link to or copy of each notice of 

18 a meeting or solicitation of public com19 ments issued by the Task Force of the 

20 agency; and 

21 (B) which may include— 

22 (i) an online forum to receive com23 ments from the public; and 


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1 (ii) any other information about the 

2 Task Force or other regulatory reform ini3 tiatives at the agency. 

4 (2) REPORT.—Not less than twice a year, each 

5 agency RRO shall submit to the head of the agency 

6 a report on the activities performed under this sec7 tion and any recommendations resulting from those 

8 activities, which shall be posted by the head of the 

9 agency on a publicly accessible website and shall in10 clude the following: 

11 (A) A description of any improvement 

12 made toward implementation of regulatory re13 form initiatives and policies. 

14 (B) For each regulation or other regu15 latory action reviewed by the Task Force, a de16 tailed description of the review. 

17 (C) An inventory of each regulation or reg18 ulatory action the Task Force recommends the 

19 agency consider for repeal, replacement, or 

20 modification. 

21 (D) A list of all activities conducted under 

22 subsection (c), a summary of all comments re23 ceived, and a hyperlink to copies of each public 

24 comment received. 


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1 SEC. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY. 

2 (a) INCORPORATION IN PERFORMANCE PLANS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each agency listed in section 

4 901(b)(1) of title 31, United States Code, shall in5 corporate in the annual performance plan of the 

6 agency required under section 1115(b) of title 31, 

7 United States Code, performance indicators that 

8 measure progress implementing this Act. 

9 (2) OMB GUIDANCE.—The Director shall issue, 

10 and update as necessary, guidance regarding the im11 plementation of this subsection. 

12 (b) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT.—The head of each 

13 agency shall consider the progress implementing this Act 

14 in assessing the performance of the Task Force of the 

15 agency and those individuals responsible for developing 

16 and issuing agency rules. 

17 SEC. 6. REGULATORY PLANNING AND BUDGET. 

18 (a) UNIFIED AGENDA AND ANNUAL REGULATORY

19 PLAN.— 

20 (1) UNIFIED REGULATORY AGENDA.—During 

21 the months of April and October of each year, the 

22 Director shall publish a unified regulatory agenda, 

23 which shall include— 

24 (A) regulatory and deregulatory actions 

25 under development or review at agencies; 


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1 (B) a Federal regulatory plan of all signifi2 cant regulatory actions and associated deregula3 tory actions that agencies reasonably expect to 

4 issue in proposed or final form in the current 

5 and following fiscal year; and 

6 (C) all information required to be included 

7 in the regulatory flexibility agenda under sec8 tion 602 of title 5, United States Code. 

9 (2) AGENCY SUBMISSIONS.—In accordance with 

10 guidance issued by the Director and not less than 60 

11 days before each date of publication for the unified 

12 regulatory agenda under paragraph (1), the head of 

13 each agency shall submit to the Director an agenda 

14 of all regulatory actions and deregulatory actions 

15 under development at the agency, including the fol16 lowing: 

17 (A) For each regulatory action and deregu18 latory action: 

19 (i) A regulation identifier number. 

20 (ii) A brief summary of the action. 

21 (iii) The legal authority for the action. 

22 (iv) Any legal deadline for the action. 

23 (v) The name and contact information 

24 for a knowledgeable agency official. 


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1 (vi) Any other information as required 

2 by the Director. 

3 (B) An annual regulatory plan, which shall 

4 include a list of each significant regulatory ac5 tion the agency reasonably expects to issue in 

6 proposed or final form in the current and fol7 lowing fiscal year, including for each significant 

8 regulatory action: 

9 (i) A summary, including the fol10 lowing: 

11 (I) A statement of the regulatory 

12 objectives. 

13 (II) The legal authority for the 

14 action. 

15 (III) A statement of the need for 

16 the action. 

17 (IV) The agency’s schedule for 

18 the action. 

19 (ii) The estimated cost. 

20 (iii) The estimated benefits. 

21 (iv) Any deregulatory action identified 

22 to offset the estimated cost of such signifi23 cant regulatory action and an explanation 

24 of how the agency will continue to achieve 


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1 regulatory objectives if the deregulatory ac2 tion is taken. 

3 (v) A best approximation of the total 

4 cost or savings and any cost or savings as5 sociated with a deregulatory action. 

6 (vi) An estimate of the economic ef7 fects, including any estimate of the net ef8 fect that such action will have on the num9 ber of jobs in the United States, that was 

10 considered in drafting the action, or, if 

11 such estimate is not available, a statement 

12 affirming that no information on the eco13 nomic effects, including the effect on the 

14 number of jobs, of the action has been con15 sidered. 

16 (C) Information required under section 

17 602 of title 5, United States Code. 

18 (D) Information required under any other 

19 law to be reported by agencies about significant 

20 regulatory actions, as determined by the Direc21 tor. 

22 (b) FEDERAL REGULATORY BUDGET.— 

23 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—In the April unified reg24 ulatory agenda described in subsection (a), the Di25 rector— 


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1 (A) shall establish the annual Federal Reg2 ulatory Budget, which specifies the net amount 

3 of incremental regulatory costs allowed by the 

4 Federal Government and at each agency for the 

5 next fiscal year; and 

6 (B) may set the incremental regulatory 

7 cost allowance to allow an increase, prohibit an 

8 increase, or require a decrease of incremental 

9 regulatory costs. 

10 (2) DEFAULT NET INCREMENTAL REGULATORY

11 COST.—If the Director does not set a net amount of 

12 incremental regulatory costs allowed for an agency, 

13 the net incremental regulatory cost allowed shall be 

14 zero. 

15 (3) BALANCE ROLLOVER OF INCREMENTAL

16 REGULATORY COST ALLOWANCE.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an agency does not 

18 exhaust all of the incremental regulatory cost 

19 allowance for a fiscal year, the balance may be 

20 added to the incremental regulatory cost allow21 ance for the subsequent fiscal year, without in22 creasing the incremental regulatory costs al23 lowed for the Federal Government for the sub24 sequent fiscal year. 


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1 (B) TOTAL CARRYOVER.—The Director 

2 shall identify the total carryover incremental 

3 regulatory cost allowance available to an agency 

4 in the Federal Regulatory Budget. 

5 (c) SIGNIFICANT REGULATORY ACTION REQUIRE6 MENTS.—Except as otherwise required by law, a signifi7 cant regulatory action shall have no effect unless— 

8 (1) the— 

9 (A) head of the agency identifies not less 

10 than 2 deregulatory actions to offset the costs 

11 of the significant regulatory action, and to the 

12 extent feasible, issues those deregulatory ac13 tions before or on the same schedule as the sig14 nificant regulatory action; 

15 (B) incremental costs of the significant 

16 regulatory action as offset by any deregulatory 

17 action issued before or on the same schedule as 

18 the significant regulatory action do not cause 

19 the agency to exceed or contribute to the agen20 cy exceeding the incremental regulatory cost al21 lowance of the agency for that fiscal year; and 

22 (C) significant regulatory action was in23 cluded on the most recent version or update of 

24 the published unified regulatory agenda; or 


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1 (2) the issuance of the significant regulatory ac2 tion was approved in advance in writing by the Di3 rector and the written approval is publicly available 

4 online prior to the issuance of the significant regu5 latory action. 

6 (d) GUIDANCE BY OMB.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

9 establish and issue guidance on how agencies should 

10 comply with the requirements of this section, which 

11 shall include the following: 

12 (A) A process for standardizing the meas13 urement and estimation of regulatory costs, in14 cluding cost savings associated with deregula15 tory actions. 

16 (B) Standards for determining what quali17 fies as a deregulatory action. 

18 (C) Standards for determining the costs of 

19 existing regulatory actions that are considered 

20 for repeal, replacement, or modification. 

21 (D) A process for accounting for costs in 

22 different fiscal years. 

23 (E) Methods to oversee the issuance of sig24 nificant regulatory actions offset by cost savVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3996.IS S3996

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1 ings achieved at different times or by different 

2 agencies. 

3 (F) Emergencies and other circumstances 

4 that may justify individual waivers of the re5 quirements of this section. 

6 (G) Standards by which the Director will 

7 determine whether a regulatory action or a col8 lection of regulatory actions qualifies as a sig9 nificant regulatory action. 

10 (2) UPDATES TO GUIDANCE.—The Director 

11 shall update the guidance issued pursuant to this 

12 section as necessary. 

13 SEC. 7. WAIVER. 

14 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Upon the written request 

15 of the head of an agency, the Director may issue a written 

16 waiver of the requirements of section 4 if the Director de17 termines that the agency generally issues very few or no 

18 rules. 

19 (b) REVOCATION OF WAIVER.—The Director may re20 voke at any time a waiver issued under this section. 

21 (c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF WAIVERS.—The Direc22 tor shall maintain a publicly available list of each agency 

23 that is operating under a waiver issued under this section. 

24 (d) REQUIREMENT FOR WAIVER.—A waiver shall not 

25 be effective unless the written waiver and the written reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Apr 07, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3996.IS S3996

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1 quest of the agency are publicly available on the website 

2 of the Office of Management and Budget. 

Æ 


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