I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2636

To direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish

commissions to review regulations issued by certain Federal departments

and agencies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JULY 14, 1993

Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming (for himself, Mr. ZIMMER, and Mr. SCHIFF) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Operations

A BILL

To direct the Director of the Office of Management and

Budget to establish commissions to review regulations

issued by certain Federal departments and agencies.

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 ‘‘Commissions on Regu5 latory Reform Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDING AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that Federal reg8 ulations have placed an unprecedented burden on all pri-
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1 vate citizens of the United States, to the extent that eco2 nomic growth is significantly hampered.

3 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to dem4 onstrate the need to reexamine the policies and procedures

5 of Federal agencies which impose regulatory burden, to

6 determine what changes are necessary and desirable in

7 those policies and procedures.

8 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each of the commissions estab10 lished under section 4 by the Director of the Office of

11 Management and Budget (hereinafter in this Act referred

12 to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall review in accordance with this

13 section the regulations issued by the department or agency

14 with respect to which the commission is established.

15 (b) STANDARDS FOR REVIEW.—In reviewing regula16 tions under this section, a commission shall examine and

17 determine the following:

18 (1) Whether the regulations are—

19 (A) within the scope of authority of the

20 statutes under which the regulations were is21 sued; and

22 (B) in accordance with the original intent

23 of the Congress in approving those statutes.

24 (2) Whether administrative decisions made

25 under the regulations were based on adequate infor-
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1 mation concerning the need for and consequences of

2 proposed Government action.

3 (3) Whether regulatory action was taken only in

4 instances where potential economic benefits to soci5 ety of taking an action have exceeded the economic

6 costs to society of taking the action.

7 (4) Whether the objectives of regulatory actions

8 were selected to minimize net economic costs to

9 society.

10 (5) Whether in selecting among alternative ap11 proaches for achieving objectives of regulatory ac12 tions, the alternative selected was the alternative in13 volving the least net economic cost to society.

14 (6) Whether Federal agencies, in selecting regu15 latory priorities, have taken into account—

16 (A) the condition of the particular employ17 ers and employees affected by regulatory ac18 tions;

19 (B) the condition of the regional and na20 tional economy; and

21 (C) other Federal regulatory actions being

22 considered.

23 (c) CONSULTATION AND COMMENT.—In carrying out

24 reviews under this section, a commission shall—

25 (1) consult with the Congress; and
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1 (2) solicit and consider views and suggestions of

2 persons affected by the regulations reviewed by the

3 commission.

4 (d) REPORTS.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each commission established

6 under section 4 shall submit reports in accordance

7 with this subsection to the Director, the head of the

8 department or agency with respect to which the

9 commission is established, and the Congress. The re10 ports shall consist of—

11 (A) an interim report submitted by not

12 later than 1 year after the completion of ap13 pointments of the members of the commission;

14 (B) an interim report submitted by not

15 later than 2 years after the completion of those

16 appointments; and

17 (C) a final report submitted by not later

18 than 3 years after the completion of those ap19 pointments.

20 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report under this sub21 section shall describe the determinations made by

22 the commission under each of paragraphs (1), (2),

23 (3), (4), (5), and (6) of subsection (b) for the period

24 covered by the report.
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSIONS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall estab4 lish 5 commissions to carry out reviews under section 3.

5 Of the commissions established under this section—

6 (1) 1 shall be established with respect to each

7 of—

8 (A) the Environmental Protection Agency;

9 (B) the Occupational Safety and Health

10 Administration; and

11 (C) the Health Care Financing Adminis12 tration; and

13 (2) 1 shall be established with respect to each

14 of 2 Federal departments or agencies selected by the

15 Director.

16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—Each commission established

17 under this section shall be composed of 14 members as

18 follows:

19 (1) 2 members of the Senate appointed by the

20 President pro tempore of the Senate, who shall be

21 members of different political parties.

22 (2) 2 members appointed by the Speaker of the

23 House of Representatives, who shall be members of

24 different political parties.

25 (3) 5 members appointed by the President from

26 among persons affected by regulatory actions of the
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1 department or agency with respect to which the

2 commission is established, of whom not more than 3

3 may be members of the same political party.

4 (4) 5 members appointed by the head of the de5 partment or agency with respect to which the com6 mission is established, from among the career em7 ployees of the agency.

8 (c) COMPENSATION.—A member of a commission

9 may not receive any additional compensation by reason of

10 service on the commission.

11 (d) EXPENSES.—The head of a Federal department

12 or agency with respect to which a commission is estab13 lished under this section shall pay the expenses incurred

14 by the commission in carrying out this Act.

15 (e) TERMINATION.—A commission established by this

16 section shall terminate on the date the commission sub17 mits a final report under section 3(d)(1)(C).

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