IB

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 450

[Report No. 104–39, Part I]

To ensure economy and efficiency of Federal Government operations by establishing a moratorium on regulatory rulemaking actions, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 9, 1995

Mr. DELAY (for himself, Mr. MCINTOSH, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. BONILLA,

Mr. HASTERT, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. MICA, Mr. MILLER of Florida, Mr.

HUTCHINSON, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Mr. POMBO, Mr. TALENT, Mr. ZELIFF,

Mrs. CUBIN, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. SCARBOROUGH, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr.

SOUDER, Mr. LONGLEY, Mr. TATE, Mr. WAMP, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr.

WELLER, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. EHRLICH, Mrs.

SEASTRAND, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. FOX, Mr. BARR, Mrs. SMITH, Mr. BLILEY, and Mr. EWING) introduced the following bill; which was referred

to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight 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

JANUARY 23, 1995

Additional sponsors: Ms. DUNN of Washington, Mr. DICKEY, Mr. FORBES,

Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FUNDERBURK, Mr. GOODLATTE,

Mr. COBURN, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. JONES, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. MARTINI, Mr. BONO, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. COX of

California, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. LARGENT, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr.

CLINGER, Mr. DORNAN, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky, Mr.

WICKER, Mr. DREIER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. DAVIS, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. NETHERCUTT, Mr. LINDER, Mr.

NEY, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. COMBEST, Mr. ROYCE, Mr.

THORNBERRY, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. GALLEGLY,

Mr. HOSTETTLER, Mr. PETE GEREN of Texas, Mr. BAKER of Louisiana,

Ms. DANNER, Ms. PRYCE, Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SKEEN, and Mr. LATOURETTE
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FEBRUARY 16, 1995

Reported from the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight with an

amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 9, 1995]

A BILL

To ensure economy and efficiency of Federal Government

operations by establishing a moratorium on regulatory

rulemaking 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 ‘‘Regulatory Transition

5 Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDING.

7 The Congress finds that effective steps for improving

8 the efficiency and proper management of Government oper9 ations, including enactment of a new law or laws to require

10 (1) that the Federal rulemaking process include cost/benefit

11 analysis, including analysis of costs resulting from the loss

12 of property rights, and (2) for those Federal regulations that

13 are subject to risk analysis and risk assessment that those

14 regulations undergo standardized risk analysis and risk as15 sessment using the best scientific and economic procedures,

16 will be promoted if a moratorium on new rulemaking ac-
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1 tions is imposed and an inventory of such action is con2 ducted.

3 SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON REGULATIONS.

4 (a) MORATORIUM.—Until the end of the moratorium

5 period, a Federal agency may not take any regulatory rule6 making action, unless an exception is provided under sec7 tion 5. Beginning 30 days after the date of the enactment

8 of this Act, the effectiveness of any regulatory rulemaking

9 action taken or made effective during the moratorium pe10 riod but before the date of the enactment shall be suspended

11 until the end of the moratorium period, unless an exception

12 is provided under section 5.

13 (b) INVENTORY OF RULEMAKINGS.—Not later than 30

14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Presi15 dent shall conduct an inventory and publish in the Federal

16 Register a list of all regulatory rulemaking actions covered

17 by subsection (a) taken or made effective during the morato18 rium period but before the date of the enactment.

19 SEC. 4. SPECIAL RULE ON STATUTORY, REGULATORY, AND

20 JUDICIAL DEADLINES.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any deadline for, relating to, or in22 volving any action dependent upon, any regulatory rule23 making actions authorized or required to be taken before

24 the end of the moratorium period is extended for 5 months
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1 or until the end of the moratorium period, whichever is

2 later.

3 (b) DEADLINE DEFINED.—The term ‘‘deadline’’ means

4 any date certain for fulfilling any obligation or exercising

5 any authority established by or under any Federal statute

6 or regulation, or by or under any court order implementing

7 any Federal statute or regulation.

8 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF POSTPONED DEADLINES.—Not

9 later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this

10 Act, the President shall identify and publish in the Federal

11 Register a list of deadlines covered by subsection (a).

12 SEC. 5. EMERGENCY EXCEPTIONS; EXCLUSIONS.

13 (a) EMERGENCY EXCEPTION.—Section 3(a) or 4(a), or

14 both, shall not apply to a regulatory rulemaking action if—

15 (1) the head of a Federal agency otherwise au16 thorized to take the action submits a written request

17 to the Administrator of the Office of Information and

18 Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management

19 and Budget and submits a copy thereof to the appro20 priate committees of each House of the Congress;

21 (2) the Administrator of the Office of Informa22 tion and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Man23 agement and Budget finds in writing that a waiver

24 for the action is (A) necessary because of an immi25 nent threat to health or safety or other emergency, or
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1 (B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal laws;

2 and

3 (3) the Federal agency head publishes the finding

4 and waiver in the Federal Register.

5 (b) EXCLUSIONS.—The head of an agency shall publish

6 in the Federal Register any action excluded because of a

7 certification under section 6(3)(B).

8 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

9 For purposes of this Act:

10 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal agen11 cy’’ means any agency as that term is defined in sec12 tion 551(1) of title 5, United States Code (relating to

13 administrative procedure).

14 (2) MORATORIUM PERIOD.—The term ‘‘morato15 rium period’’ means the period of time—

16 (A) beginning November 20, 1994; and

17 (B) ending on the earlier of—

18 (i) the first date on which there have

19 been enacted one or more laws that—

20 (I) require that the Federal rule21 making process include cost/benefit

22 analysis, including analysis of costs re23 sulting from the loss of property rights;

24 and
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1 (II) for those Federal regulations

2 that are subject to risk analysis and

3 risk assessment, require that those reg4 ulations undergo standardized risk

5 analysis and risk assessment using the

6 best scientific and economic procedures;

7 or

8 (ii) December 31, 1995.

9 (3) REGULATORY RULEMAKING ACTION.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘regulatory

11 rulemaking action’’ means any rulemaking on

12 any rule normally published in the Federal Reg13 ister, including—

14 (i) the issuance of any substantive rule,

15 interpretative rule, statement of agency pol16 icy, notice of inquiry, advance notice of

17 proposed rulemaking, or notice of proposed

18 rulemaking, and

19 (ii) any other action taken in the

20 course of the process of rulemaking (except

21 a cost benefit analysis or risk assessment, or

22 both).

23 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘regulatory

24 rulemaking action’’ does not include—
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1 (i) any agency action that the head of

2 the agency and the Administrator of the Of3 fice of Information and Regulatory Affairs

4 within the Office of Management and Budg5 et certify in writing is limited to repealing,

6 narrowing, or streamlining a rule, regula7 tion, or administrative process or otherwise

8 reducing regulatory burdens;

9 (ii) any agency action that the head of

10 the agency and the Administrator of the Of11 fice of Information and Regulatory Affairs

12 within the Office of Management and Budg13 et certify in writing is limited to matters

14 relating to military or foreign affairs func15 tions, statutes implementing international

16 trade agreements, or agency management,

17 personnel, or public property, loans, grants,

18 benefits, or contracts;

19 (iii) any agency action that the head

20 of the agency and the Administrator of the

21 Office of Information and Regulatory Af22 fairs within the Office of Management and

23 Budget certify in writing is limited to a

24 routine administrative function of the

25 agency;
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1 (iv) any agency action that—

2 (I) is taken by an agency that su3 pervises and regulates insured deposi4 tory institutions, affiliates of such in5 stitutions, credit unions, or government

6 sponsored housing enterprises; and

7 (II) the head of the agency cer8 tifies would meet the standards for an

9 exception or exclusion described in this

10 Act; or

11 (v) any agency action that the head of

12 the agency certifies is limited to interpret13 ing, implementing, or administering the in14 ternal revenue laws of the United States.

15 (4) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ means the whole or

16 a part of an agency statement of general or particu17 lar applicability and future effect designed to imple18 ment, interpret, or prescribe law or policy. Such term

19 does not include the approval or prescription, on a

20 case-by-case or consolidated case basis, for the future

21 of rates, wages, corporation, or financial structures or

22 reorganizations thereof, prices, facilities, appliances,

23 services or allowances therefor, or of valuations, costs,

24 or accounting, or practices bearing on any of the fore25 going, nor does it include any action taken in connec-
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1 tion with the implementation of monetary policy or

2 to ensure the safety and soundness of federally insured

3 depository institutions, any affiliate of such an insti4 tution, credit unions, or government sponsored hous5 ing enterprises or to protect the Federal deposit insur6 ance funds. Such term also does not include the

7 granting an application for a license, registration, or

8 similar authority, granting or recognizing an exemp9 tion, granting a variance or petition for relief from

10 a regulatory requirement, or other action relieving a

11 restriction or taking any action necessary to permit

12 new or improved applications of technology or allow

13 the manufacture, distribution, sale, or use of a sub14 stance or product.

15 (5) RULEMAKING.—The term ‘‘rulemaking’’

16 means agency process for formulating, amending, or

17 repealing a rule.

18 (6) LICENSE.—The term ‘‘license’’ means the

19 whole or part of an agency permit, certificate, ap20 proval, registration, charter, membership, statutory

21 exemption, or other form of permission.

22 (7) IMMINENT THREAT TO HEALTH OR SAFE23 TY.—The term ‘‘imminent threat to health or safety’’

24 means the existence of any condition, circumstance, or

25 practice reasonably expected to cause death, serious
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1 illness, or severe injury to humans, or substantial

2 endangerment to private property during the morato3 rium period.

4 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS.

5 No private right of action may be brought against any

6 Federal agency for a violation of this Act. This prohibition

7 shall not affect any private right of action or remedy other8 wise available under any other law.

9 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAW; SEVERABILITY.

10 (a) APPLICABILITY.—This Act shall apply notwith11 standing any other provision of law.

12 (b) SEVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or

13 the application of any provision of this Act to any person

14 or circumstance, is held invalid, the application of such

15 provision to other persons or circumstances, and the re16 mainder of this Act, shall not be affected thereby.

Æ