I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 75 
To amend title 5, united States Code, to provide for the publication, by 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information relating 
to rulemakings, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2017 
Mr. RATCLIFFE (for himself, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. MARINO, Mr. BARR, and 
Mr. HOLDING) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 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 
A BILL 
To amend title 5, united States Code, to provide for the 
publication, by the Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs, of information relating to rulemakings, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘All Economic Regula-
tions are Transparent Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘ALERT Act 
of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AF-
FAIRS PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION RE-
LATING TO RULES. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after chapter 6, the following new 
chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 6A—OFFICE OF INFORMATION 
AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICA-
TION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 
RULES 
‘‘Sec. 651. Agency monthly submission to office of information and regulatory 
affairs. 
‘‘Sec. 652. Office of information and regulatory affairs publications. 
‘‘Sec. 653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly publica-
tion. 
‘‘Sec. 654. Definitions. 
‘‘SEC. 651. AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO OFFICE OF 
INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS. 
‘‘On a monthly basis, the head of each agency shall 
submit to the Administrator of the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs (referred to in this chapter as the 
‘Administrator’), in such a manner as the Administrator 
may reasonably require, the following information: 
‘‘(1) For each rule that the agency expects to 
propose or finalize during the following year: 
‘‘(A) A summary of the nature of the rule, 
including the regulation identifier number and 
the docket number for the rule. 
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‘‘(B) The objectives of and legal basis for 
the issuance of the rule, including— 
‘‘(i) any statutory or judicial deadline; 
and 
‘‘(ii) whether the legal basis restricts 
or precludes the agency from conducting 
an analysis of the costs or benefits of the 
rule during the rule making, and if not, 
whether the agency plans to conduct an 
analysis of the costs or benefits of the rule 
during the rule making. 
‘‘(C) Whether the agency plans to claim an 
exemption from the requirements of section 553 
pursuant to section 553(b)(B). 
‘‘(D) The stage of the rule making as of 
the date of submission. 
‘‘(E) Whether the rule is subject to review 
under section 610. 
‘‘(2) For any rule for which the agency expects 
to finalize during the following year and has issued 
a general notice of proposed rule making— 
‘‘(A) an approximate schedule for com-
pleting action on the rule; 
‘‘(B) an estimate of whether the rule will 
cost— 
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of information pursuant to section 651, the Administrator 
shall make such information publicly available on the 
Internet. 
‘‘(b) CUMULATIVE ASSESSMENT OF AGENCY RULE 
MAKING PUBLISHED ANNUALLY.— 
‘‘(1) PUBLICATION
IN
THE
FEDERAL
REG-
ISTER.—Not later than October 1 of each year, the 
Administrator shall publish in the Federal Register, 
for the previous year the following: 
‘‘(A) The information that the Adminis-
trator received from the head of each agency 
under section 651. 
‘‘(B) The number of rules and a list of 
each such rule— 
‘‘(i) that was proposed by each agen-
cy, including, for each such rule, an indica-
tion of whether the issuing agency con-
ducted an analysis of the costs or benefits 
of the rule; and 
‘‘(ii) that was finalized by each agen-
cy, including for each such rule an indica-
tion of whether— 
‘‘(I) the issuing agency conducted 
an analysis of the costs or benefits of 
the rule; 
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‘‘(II) the agency claimed an ex-
emption from the procedures under 
section 
553 
pursuant 
to 
section 
553(b)(B); and 
‘‘(III) the rule was issued pursu-
ant to a statutory mandate or the rule 
making is committed to agency discre-
tion by law. 
‘‘(C) The number of agency actions and a 
list of each such action taken by each agency 
that— 
‘‘(i) repealed a rule; 
‘‘(ii) reduced the scope of a rule; 
‘‘(iii) reduced the cost of a rule; or 
‘‘(iv) accelerated the expiration date 
of a rule. 
‘‘(D) The total cost (without reducing the 
cost by any offsetting benefits) of all rules pro-
posed or finalized, and the number of rules for 
which an estimate of the cost of the rule was 
not available. 
‘‘(2) PUBLICATION
ON
THE
INTERNET.—Not 
later than October 1 of each year, the Administrator 
shall make publicly available on the Internet the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(A) The analysis of the costs or benefits, 
if conducted, for each proposed rule or final 
rule issued by an agency for the previous year. 
‘‘(B) The docket number and regulation 
identifier number for each proposed or final 
rule issued by an agency for the previous year. 
‘‘(C) The number of rules and a list of 
each such rule reviewed by the Director of the 
Office of Management and Budget for the pre-
vious year, and the authority under which each 
such review was conducted. 
‘‘(D) The number of rules and a list of 
each such rule for which the head of an agency 
completed a review under section 610 for the 
previous year. 
‘‘(E) The number of rules and a list of 
each such rule submitted to the Comptroller 
General under section 801. 
‘‘(F) The number of rules and a list of 
each such rule for which a resolution of dis-
approval was introduced in either the House of 
Representatives or the Senate under section 
802. 
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‘‘SEC. 653. REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN AGEN-
CY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY PUBLICATION. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), a rule 
may not take effect until the information required to be 
made publicly available on the Internet regarding such 
rule pursuant to section 652(a) has been so available for 
not less than 6 months. 
‘‘(b) EXCEPTIONS.—The requirement of subsection 
(a) shall not apply in the case of a rule— 
‘‘(1) for which the agency issuing the rule 
claims an exception under section 553(b)(B); or 
‘‘(2) which the President determines by Execu-
tive order should take effect because the rule is— 
‘‘(A) necessary because of an imminent 
threat to health or safety or other emergency; 
‘‘(B) necessary for the enforcement of 
criminal laws; 
‘‘(C) necessary for national security; or 
‘‘(D) issued pursuant to any statute imple-
menting an international trade agreement. 
‘‘SEC. 654. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘In this chapter, the terms ‘agency’, ‘agency action’, 
‘rule’, and ‘rule making’ have the meanings given those 
terms in section 551.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of chapters for part I of title 5, United States 
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Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
chapter 5, the following: 
‘‘6. The Analysis of Regulatory Functions .............................................
601
‘‘6A. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Publication of In-
formation Relating to Rules ..........................................
651’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 
(1) AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO THE OF-
FICE
OF
INFORMATION
AND
REGULATORY
AF-
FAIRS.—The first submission required pursuant to 
section 651 of title 5, United States Code, as added 
by subsection (a), shall be submitted not later than 
30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
and monthly thereafter. 
(2) CUMULATIVE
ASSESSMENT
OF
AGENCY 
RULE MAKING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of sec-
tion 652 of title 5, United States Code, as 
added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the 
date that is 60 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(B) DEADLINE.—The first requirement to 
publish or make available, as the case may be, 
under subsection (b) of section 652 of title 5, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 
shall be the first October 1 after the effective 
date of such subsection. 
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(C) FIRST
PUBLICATION.—The require-
ment under section 652(b)(2)(A) of title 5, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a), 
shall include for the first publication, any anal-
ysis of the costs or benefits conducted for a 
proposed or final rule, for the 10 years before 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(3) REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN 
AGENCY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY PUBLICATION.—Section 
653 of title 5, United States Code, as added by sub-
section (a), shall take effect on the date that is 8 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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