II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 846 

To require Federal agencies to review certain rules and regulations, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 24, 2015 

Mr. KIRK (for himself and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies to review certain rules and 

regulations, 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 ‘‘Small Business Regu5 latory Sunset Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’ has the meaning given 

9 the term in section 551 of title 5, United States 

10 Code; 


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1 (2) the term ‘‘covered rule’’ means any rule or 

2 group of rules— 

3 (A) for which an agency is required to pre4 pare a regulatory flexibility analysis under sec5 tion 603 or 604 of title 5, United States Code; 

6 and 

7 (B) that is a major rule; 

8 (3) the term ‘‘major rule’’ has the meaning 

9 given the term in section 804 of title 5, United 

10 States Code; and 

11 (4) the terms ‘‘rule’’ and ‘‘small entity’’ have 

12 the meanings given those terms in section 601 of 

13 title 5, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 3. PERIODIC REVIEW OF PREEXISTING SMALL BUSI15 NESS REGULATIONS. 

16 Section 610 of title 5, United States Code, is amend17 ed to read as follows: 

18 ‘‘§ 610. Periodic review of rules 

19 ‘‘(a)(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of en20 actment of the Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 

21 2015, each agency shall establish a plan for the periodic 

22 review of— 

23 ‘‘(A) each rule issued by the agency that the 

24 head of the agency determines has a significant eco25 nomic impact on a substantial number of small entiVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:14 Mar 31, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S846.IS S846

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1 ties, without regard to whether the agency per2 formed an analysis under section 604 with respect to 

3 the rule; and 

4 ‘‘(B) any small entity compliance guide required 

5 to be published by the agency under section 212 of 

6 the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fair7 ness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 note). 

8 ‘‘(2) In reviewing rules and small entity compliance 

9 guides under paragraph (1), the agency shall determine 

10 whether the rules and guides should— 

11 ‘‘(A) be amended or rescinded, consistent with 

12 the stated objectives of applicable statutes, to mini13 mize any significant adverse economic impacts on a 

14 substantial number of small entities (including an 

15 estimate of any adverse impacts on job creation and 

16 employment by small entities); or 

17 ‘‘(B) continue in effect without change. 

18 ‘‘(3) Each agency shall publish the plan established 

19 under paragraph (1) in the Federal Register and on the 

20 Web site of the agency. 

21 ‘‘(4) An agency may amend the plan established 

22 under paragraph (1) at any time by publishing the amend23 ment in the Federal Register and on the Web site of the 

24 agency. 


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1 ‘‘(b) Each plan established under subsection (a) shall 

2 provide for— 

3 ‘‘(1) the review of each rule and small entity 

4 compliance guide described in subsection (a)(1) in 

5 effect on the date of enactment of the Small Busi6 ness Regulatory Sunset Act of 2015— 

7 ‘‘(A) not later than 9 years after the date 

8 of publication of the plan in the Federal Reg9 ister; and 

10 ‘‘(B) every 9 years thereafter; and 

11 ‘‘(2) the review of each rule adopted and small 

12 entity compliance guide described in subsection 

13 (a)(1) that is published after the date of enactment 

14 of the Small Business Regulatory Sunset Act of 

15 2015— 

16 ‘‘(A) not later than 9 years after the date 

17 of publication of the final rule in the Federal 

18 Register; and 

19 ‘‘(B) every 9 years thereafter. 

20 ‘‘(c) In reviewing rules under the plan required under 

21 subsection (a), the agency shall consider— 

22 ‘‘(1) the continued need for the rule; 

23 ‘‘(2) the nature of complaints received by the 

24 agency from small entities concerning the rule; 


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1 ‘‘(3) comments by the Regulatory Enforcement 

2 Ombudsman and the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 

3 the Small Business Administration; 

4 ‘‘(4) the complexity of the rule; 

5 ‘‘(5) the extent to which the rule overlaps, du6 plicates, or conflicts with other Federal rules and, 

7 unless the head of the agency determines it to be in8 feasible, State and local rules; 

9 ‘‘(6) the contribution of the rule to the cumu10 lative economic impact of all Federal rules on the 

11 class of small entities affected by the rule, unless the 

12 head of the agency determines that such a calcula13 tion cannot be made; 

14 ‘‘(7) the length of time since the rule has been 

15 evaluated, or the degree to which technology, eco16 nomic conditions, or other factors have changed in 

17 the area affected by the rule; and 

18 ‘‘(8) the economic impact of the rule, includ19 ing— 

20 ‘‘(A) the estimated number of small enti21 ties to which the rule will apply; 

22 ‘‘(B) the estimated number of small entity 

23 jobs that will be lost or created due to the rule; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the projected reporting, record2 keeping, and other compliance requirements of 

3 the proposed rule, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) an estimate of the classes of small 

5 entities that will be subject to the require6 ment; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the type of professional skills 

8 necessary for preparation of the report or 

9 record. 

10 ‘‘(d)(1) Each agency shall submit an annual report 

11 regarding the results of the review required under sub12 section (a) to— 

13 ‘‘(A) Congress; and 

14 ‘‘(B) in the case of an agency that is not an 

15 independent regulatory agency (as defined in section 

16 3502(5) of title 44), the Administrator of the Office 

17 of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office 

18 of Management and Budget. 

19 ‘‘(2) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 

20 include a description of any rule or small entity compli21 ance guide with respect to which the agency made a deter22 mination of infeasibility under paragraph (5) or (6) of 

23 subsection (c), together with a detailed explanation of the 

24 reasons for the determination. 


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1 ‘‘(e) Each agency shall publish in the Federal Reg2 ister and on the Web site of the agency a list of the rules 

3 and small entity compliance guides to be reviewed under 

4 the plan required under subsection (a) that includes— 

5 ‘‘(1) a brief description of each rule or guide; 

6 ‘‘(2) for each rule, the reason why the head of 

7 the agency determined that the rule has a significant 

8 economic impact on a substantial number of small 

9 entities (without regard to whether the agency had 

10 prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis for the 

11 rule); and 

12 ‘‘(3) a request for comments from the public, 

13 the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Busi14 ness Administration, and the Regulatory Enforce15 ment Ombudsman concerning the enforcement of the 

16 rules or publication of the guides. 

17 ‘‘(f)(1) Not later than 6 months after each date de18 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (b), the 

19 Inspector General for each agency shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) determine whether the agency has con21 ducted the review required under subsection (b) ap22 propriately; and 

23 ‘‘(B) notify the head of the agency of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the results of the determination under 

25 subparagraph (A); and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) any issues preventing the Inspector 

2 General from determining that the agency has 

3 conducted the review required under subsection 

4 (b) appropriately. 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 6 months after the date on 

6 which the head of an agency receives a notice under para7 graph (1)(B) that the agency has not conducted the review 

8 required under subsection (b) appropriately, the agency 

9 shall address the issues identified in the notice. 

10 ‘‘(B) Not later than 30 days after the last day of the 

11 6-month period described in subparagraph (A), the In12 spector General for an agency that receives a notice de13 scribed in subparagraph (A) shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) determine whether the agency has ad15 dressed the issues identified in the notice; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) notify Congress if the Inspector General 

17 determines that the agency has not addressed the 

18 issues identified in the notice. 

19 ‘‘(C) Not later than 30 days after the date on which 

20 the Inspector General for an agency transmits a notice 

21 under subparagraph (B)(ii), an amount equal to 1 percent 

22 of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year to the ap23 propriations account of the agency that is used to pay sal24 aries shall be rescinded. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Nothing in this paragraph may be construed to 

2 prevent Congress from acting to prevent a rescission 

3 under subparagraph (C).’’. 

4 SEC. 4. SUNSET OF NEW SMALL BUSINESS REGULATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

6 (b) and beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 

7 each covered rule promulgated by an agency shall cease 

8 to have effect on the date that is 7 years after the date 

9 on which the final version of the covered rule is published. 

10 (b) EXTENSION OF RULE.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the end of the 7-year 

12 period described in subsection (a), an agency may 

13 take action to renew a covered rule in accordance 

14 with the process described in paragraph (2) and if 

15 such action is taken, the covered rule shall remain 

16 in effect until modified or repealed by the agency ac17 tion or statute. 

18 (2) RENEWAL PROCESS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—An agency may renew 

20 a covered rule by using the notice and comment 

21 rulemaking process. 

22 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting a 

23 rulemaking to renew a covered rule under sub24 paragraph (A), an agency shall— 


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1 (i) solicit and respond to public com2 ment from entities affected by the covered 

3 rule; 

4 (ii) compare the projected costs of the 

5 covered rule to the actual costs realized by 

6 implementation of the covered rule and de7 termine whether modifications can be made 

8 to the covered rule to lower the cost of the 

9 covered rule; 

10 (iii) consider whether any regulatory 

11 alternatives exist that would accomplish 

12 the same regulatory objective as the cov13 ered rule with less of an impact on affected 

14 small entities; and 

15 (iv) make modifications to the covered 

16 rule, if necessary, to reflect— 

17 (I) comments solicited under 

18 clause (i); 

19 (II) modifications described in 

20 clause (ii); and 

21 (III) any regulatory alternatives 

22 described in clause (iii). 

Æ 


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