IIA

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 450

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

FEBRUARY 27 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 22), 1995

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

AN ACT

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDING.

2 The Congress finds that effective steps for improving

3 the efficiency and proper management of Government op4 erations, including enactment of a new law or laws to re5 quire (1) that the Federal rulemaking process include

6 cost/benefit analysis, including analysis of costs resulting

7 from the loss of property rights, and (2) for those Federal

8 regulations that are subject to risk analysis and risk as9 sessment that those regulations undergo standardized risk

10 analysis and risk assessment using the best scientific and

11 economic procedures, will be promoted if a moratorium on

12 new rulemaking actions is imposed and an inventory of

13 such action is conducted.

14 SEC. 3. MORATORIUM ON REGULATIONS.

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

16 period, a Federal agency may not take any regulatory

17 rulemaking action, unless an exception is provided under

18 section 5. Beginning 30 days after the date of the enact19 ment of this Act, the effectiveness of any regulatory rule20 making action taken or made effective during the morato21 rium period but before the date of the enactment shall

22 be suspended until the end of the moratorium period, un23 less an exception is provided under section 5.

24 (b) INVENTORY OF RULEMAKINGS.—Not later than

25 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

26 President shall conduct an inventory and publish in the
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1 Federal Register a list of all regulatory rulemaking actions

2 covered by subsection (a) taken or made effective during

3 the moratorium period but before the date of the enact4 ment.

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

6 JUDICIAL DEADLINES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any deadline for, relating to, or

8 involving any action dependent upon, any regulatory rule9 making actions authorized or required to be taken before

10 the end of the moratorium period is extended for 5 months

11 or until the end of the moratorium period, whichever is

12 later.

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

14 means any date certain for fulfilling any obligation or ex15 ercising any authority established by or under any Federal

16 statute or regulation, or by or under any court order im17 plementing any Federal statute or regulation.

18 (c) IDENTIFICATION OF POSTPONED DEADLINES.—

19 Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment

20 of this Act, the President shall identify and publish in the

21 Federal Register a list of deadlines covered by subsection

22 (a).
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1 SEC. 5. EMERGENCY EXCEPTIONS; EXCLUSIONS.

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

3 or both, shall not apply to a regulatory rulemaking action

4 if—

5 (1) the head of a Federal agency otherwise au6 thorized to take the action submits a written request

7 to the Administrator of the Office of Information

8 and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Manage9 ment and Budget and submits a copy thereof to the

10 appropriate committees of each House of the Con11 gress;

12 (2) the Administrator of the Office of Informa13 tion and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of

14 Management and Budget finds in writing that a

15 waiver for the action is (A) necessary because of an

16 imminent threat to health or safety or other emer17 gency, or (B) necessary for the enforcement of

18 criminal laws; and

19 (3) the Federal agency head publishes the find20 ing and waiver in the Federal Register.

21 (b) EXCLUSIONS.—The head of an agency shall pub22 lish in the Federal Register any action excluded because

23 of a certification under section 6(3)(B).

24 (c) CIVIL RIGHTS EXCEPTION.—Section 3(a) or 4(a),

25 or both, shall not apply to a regulatory rulemaking action

26 to establish or enforce any statutory rights against dis-
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1 crimination on the basis of age, race, religion, gender, na2 tional origin, or handicapped or disability status except

3 such rulemaking actions that establish, lead to, or other4 wise rely on the use of a quota or preference based on

5 age, race, religion, gender, national origin, or handicapped

6 or disability status.

7 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

8 For purposes of this Act:

9 (1) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal

10 agency’’ means any agency as that term is defined

11 in section 551(1) of title 5, United States Code (re12 lating to administrative procedure).

13 (2) MORATORIUM PERIOD.—The term ‘‘morato14 rium period’’ means the period of time—

15 (A) beginning November 20, 1994; and

16 (B) ending on the earlier of—

17 (i) the first date on which there have

18 been enacted one or more laws that—

19 (I) require that the Federal rule20 making process include cost/benefit

21 analysis, including analysis of costs

22 resulting from the loss of property

23 rights; and

24 (II) for those Federal regulations

25 that are subject to risk analysis and
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1 risk assessment, require that those

2 regulations undergo standardized risk

3 analysis and risk assessment using the

4 best scientific and economic proce5 dures; or

6 (ii) December 31, 1995;

7 except that in the case of a regulatory rulemaking

8 action with respect to determining that a species is

9 an endangered species or a threatened species under

10 section 4(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act of

11 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(a)(1)) or designating critical

12 habitat under section 4(a)(3) of that Act (16 U.S.C.

13 1533(a)(3)), the term means the period of time be14 ginning on the date described in subparagraph (A)

15 and ending on the earlier of the first date on which

16 there has been enacted after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act a law authorizing appropriations to

18 carry out the Endangered Species Act of 1973, or

19 December 31, 1996.

20 (3) REGULATORY RULEMAKING ACTION.—

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

22 rulemaking action’’ means any rulemaking on

23 any rule normally published in the Federal Reg24 ister, including—
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1 (i) the issuance of any substantive

2 rule, interpretative rule, statement of agen3 cy policy, notice of inquiry, advance notice

4 of proposed rulemaking, or notice of pro5 posed rulemaking, and

6 (ii) any other action taken in the

7 course of the process of rulemaking (except

8 a cost benefit analysis or risk assessment,

9 or both).

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

11 rulemaking action’’ does not include—

12 (i) any agency action that the head of

13 the agency and the Administrator of the

14 Office of Information and Regulatory Af15 fairs within the Office of Management and

16 Budget certify in writing is limited to re17 pealing, narrowing, or streamlining a rule,

18 regulation, or administrative process or

19 otherwise reducing regulatory burdens;

20 (ii) any agency action that the head of

21 the agency and the Administrator of the

22 Office of Information and Regulatory Af23 fairs within the Office of Management and

24 Budget certify in writing is limited to mat25 ters relating to military or foreign affairs
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1 functions, statutes implementing inter2 national trade agreements, including all

3 agency actions required by the Uruguay

4 Round Agreements Act, or agency manage5 ment, personnel, or public property, loans,

6 grants, benefits, or contracts;

7 (iii) any agency action that the head

8 of the agency and the Administrator of the

9 Office of Information and Regulatory Af10 fairs within the Office of Management and

11 Budget certify in writing is limited to a

12 routine administrative function of the

13 agency;

14 (iv) any agency action that—

15 (I) is taken by an agency that su16 pervises and regulates insured deposi17 tory institutions, affiliates of such in18 stitutions, credit unions, or govern19 ment sponsored housing enterprises;

20 and

21 (II) the head of the agency cer22 tifies would meet the standards for an

23 exception or exclusion described in

24 this Act; or
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1 (v) any agency action that the head of

2 the agency certifies is limited to interpret3 ing, implementing, or administering the in4 ternal revenue laws of the United States.

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

6 or a part of an agency statement of general or par7 ticular applicability and future effect designed to im8 plement, interpret, or prescribe law or policy. Such

9 term does not include the approval or prescription,

10 on a case-by-case or consolidated case basis, for the

11 future of rates, wages, corporation, or financial

12 structures or reorganizations thereof, prices, facili13 ties, appliances, services or allowances therefor, or of

14 valuations, costs, or accounting, or practices bearing

15 on any of the foregoing, nor does it include any ac16 tion taken in connection with the safety of aviation

17 or any action taken in connection with the imple18 mentation of monetary policy or to ensure the safety

19 and soundness of federally insured depository insti20 tutions, any affiliate of such an institution, credit

21 unions, or government sponsored housing enterprises

22 or to protect the Federal deposit insurance funds.

23 Such term also does not include granting an applica24 tion for a license, registration, or similar authority,

25 granting or recognizing an exemption, granting a
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1 variance or petition for relief from a regulatory re2 quirement, or other action relieving a restriction (in3 cluding any agency action which establishes, modi4 fies, or conducts a regulatory program for a rec5 reational or subsistence activity, including but not

6 limited to hunting, fishing, and camping, if a Fed7 eral law prohibits the recreational or subsistence ac8 tivity in the absence of the agency action) or taking

9 any action necessary to permit new or improved ap10 plications of technology or allow the manufacture,

11 distribution, sale, or use of a substance or product.

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

13 means agency process for formulating, amending, or

14 repealing a rule.

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

16 whole or part of an agency permit, certificate, ap17 proval, registration, charter, membership, statutory

18 exemption, or other form of permission.

19 (7) IMMINENT THREAT TO HEALTH OR SAFE20 TY.—The term ‘‘imminent threat to health or safe21 ty’’ means the existence of any condition, cir22 cumstance, or practice reasonably expected to cause

23 death, serious illness, or severe injury to humans, or

24 substantial endangerment to private property during

25 the moratorium period.
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1 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS.

2 No private right of action may be brought against

3 any Federal agency for a violation of this Act. This prohi4 bition shall not affect any private right of action or remedy

5 otherwise available under any other law.

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

7 (a) APPLICABILITY.—This Act shall apply notwith8 standing any other provision of law.

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

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

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

12 provision to other persons or circumstances, and the re13 mainder of this Act, shall not be affected thereby.

14 SEC. 9. REGULATIONS TO AID BUSINESS COMPETITIVE15 NESS.

16 Section 3(a) or 4(a), or both, shall not apply to any

17 of the following regulatory rulemaking actions (or any

18 such action relating thereto):

19 (1) CONDITIONAL RELEASE OF TEXTILE IM20 PORTS.—A final rule published on December 2,

21 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 61798), to provide for the con22 ditional release by the Customs Service of textile im23 ports suspected of being imported in violation of

24 United States quotas.

25 (2) TEXTILE IMPORTS.—Any action which the

26 head of the relevant agency and the Administrator
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1 of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

2 certify in writing is a substantive rule, interpretive

3 rule, statement of agency policy, or notice of pro4 posed rulemaking to interpret, implement, or admin5 ister laws pertaining to the import of textiles and

6 apparel including section 334 of the Uruguay Round

7 Agreements Act (P.L. 103–465), relating to textile

8 rules of origin.

9 (3) CUSTOMS MODERNIZATION.—Any action

10 which the head of the relevant agency and the Ad11 ministrator of the Office of Information and Regu12 latory Affairs certify in writing is a substantive rule,

13 interpretive rule, statement of agency policy, or no14 tice of proposed rulemaking to interpret, implement,

15 or administer laws pertaining to the customs mod16 ernization provisions contained in title VI of the

17 North American Free Trade Agreement Implemen18 tation Act (P.L. 103–182).

19 (4) ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO CHINA RE20 GARDING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION

21 AND MARKET ACCESS.—A regulatory rulemaking ac22 tion providing notice of a determination that the

23 People’s Republic of China’s failure to enforce intel24 lectual property rights and to provide market access

25 is unreasonable and constitutes a burden or restric-
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1 tion on United States commerce, and a determina2 tion that trade action is appropriate and that sanc3 tions are appropriate, taken under section

4 304(a)(1)(A)(ii), section 304(a)(1)(B), and section

5 301(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 and with respect

6 to which a notice of determination was published on

7 February 7, 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 7230).

8 (5) TRANSFER OF SPECTRUM.—A regulatory

9 rulemaking action by the Federal Communications

10 Commission to transfer 50 megahertz of spectrum

11 below 5 GHz from government use to private use,

12 taken under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

13 of 1993 and with respect to which notice of proposed

14 rulemaking was published at 59 Federal Register

15 59393.

16 (6) PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES LI17 CENSES.—A regulatory rulemaking action by the

18 Federal Communications Commission to establish

19 criteria and procedures for issuing licenses utilizing

20 competitive bidding procedures to provide personal

21 communications services—

22 (A) taken under section 309(j) of the Com23 munications Act and with respect to which a

24 final rule was published on December 7, 1994

25 (59 Fed. Reg. 63210); or
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1 (B) taken under sections 3(n) and 332 of

2 the Communications Act and with respect to

3 which a final rule was published on December

4 2, 1994 (59 Fed. Reg. 61828).

5 (7) WIDE-AREA SPECIALIZED MOBILE RADIO LI6 CENSES.—A regulatory rulemaking action by the

7 Federal Communications Commission to provide for

8 competitive bidding for wide-area specialized mobile

9 radio licenses, taken under section 309(j) of the

10 Communications Act and with respect to which a

11 proposed rule was published on February 14, 1995

12 (60 Fed. Reg. 8341).

13 (8) IMPROVED TRADING OPPORTUNITIES FOR

14 REGIONAL EXCHANGES.—A regulatory rulemaking

15 action by the Securities and Exchange Commission

16 to provide for increased competition among the stock

17 exchanges, taken under the Unlisted Trading Privi18 leges Act of 1994 and with respect to which pro19 posed rulemaking was published on February 9,

20 1995 (60 Fed. Reg. 7718).

21 SEC. 10. DELAYING EFFECTIVE DATE OF RULES WITH RE22 SPECT TO SMALL BUSINESSES.

23 (a) DELAY EFFECTIVENESS.—For any rule resulting

24 from a regulatory rulemaking action that is suspended or

25 prohibited by this Act, the effective date of the rule with
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1 respect to small businesses may not occur before six

2 months after the end of the moratorium period.

3 (b) SMALL BUSINESS DEFINED.—In this section, the

4 term ‘‘small business’’ means any business with 100 or

5 fewer employees.

Passed the House of Representatives February 24,

1995.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.