IIB
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1074
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JULY 27, 1999
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs
AN ACT
To provide Governmentwide accounting of regulatory costs
and benefits, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Right-to-
Know Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) promote the public right-to-know about the
costs and benefits of Federal regulatory programs
and rules;
(2) increase Government accountability; and
(3) improve the quality of Federal regulatory
programs and rules.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this section, the definitions under section
551 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to
this Act.
(2) BENEFIT.—The term ‘‘benefit’’ means the
reasonably identifiable significant favorable effects,
quantifiable and nonquantifiable, including social,
health, safety, environmental, and economic effects,
that are expected to result from implementation of,
or compliance with, a rule.
(3) COST.—The term ‘‘cost’’ means the reason-
ably identifiable significant adverse effects, quantifi-
able and nonquantifiable, including social, health,
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safety, environmental, and economic effects, that are
expected to result from implementation of, or com-
pliance with, a rule.
(4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means
the Director of the Office of Management and Budg-
et.
(5) MAJOR RULE.—The term ‘‘major rule’’ has
the meaning that term has under section 804(2) of
title 5, United States Code.
(6) NONMAJOR
RULE.—The term ‘‘nonmajor
rule’’ means any rule, as that term is defined in sec-
tion 804(3) of title 5, United States Code, other
than a major rule.
(7) PAPERWORK.—The term ‘‘paperwork’’ has
the meaning given the term ‘‘collection of informa-
tion’’ under section 3502 of title 44, United States
Code.
(8) PROGRAM
COMPONENT.—The term ‘‘pro-
gram component’’ means a set of related rules.
SEC. 4. ACCOUNTING STATEMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 5, 2001,
and on the first Monday in February of each year there-
after, the President, acting through the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget, shall prepare and sub-
mit to the Congress an accounting statement and associ-
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ated report containing an estimate of the total annual
costs and benefits of Federal regulatory programs, includ-
ing rules and paperwork—
(1) in the aggregate;
(2) by agency, agency program, and program
component; and
(3) by major rule.
(b) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.—In addition to the
information required under subsection (a), the Director
shall include in each accounting statement under sub-
section (a) the following information:
(1) An analysis of impacts of Federal rules and
paperwork on Federal, State, local, and tribal gov-
ernment, the private sector, small business, wages,
consumer prices, economic growth as well as on pub-
lic health, public safety, the environment, consumer
protection, equal opportunity, and other public policy
goals.
(2) An identification and analysis of overlaps,
duplications, and potential inconsistencies among
Federal regulatory programs.
(3) Recommendations to reform inefficient or
ineffective regulatory programs or program compo-
nents, including recommendations for addressing
market failures that are not adequately addressed by
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existing regulatory programs or program compo-
nents.
(c) NET BENEFITS AND COSTS.—To the extent fea-
sible, the Director shall, in estimates contained in any sub-
mission under subsection (a), quantify the net benefits or
net costs of—
(1) each program component covered by the
submission;
(2) each major rule covered by the submission;
and
(3) each option for which costs and benefits
were included in any regulatory impact analysis
issued for any major rule covered by the submission.
(d) SUMMARY OF REGULATORY ACTIVITY.—The Di-
rector shall include in each submission under subsection
(a) a table stating the number of major rules and the
number of nonmajor rules issued by each agency in the
preceding fiscal year.
(e) YEARS
COVERED
BY
ACCOUNTING
STATE-
MENT.—Each accounting statement submitted under this
section shall, at a minimum—
(1) cover expected costs and benefits for the fis-
cal year for which the statement is submitted and
each of the 4 fiscal years following that fiscal year;
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(2) cover previously expected costs and benefits
for each of the 2 fiscal years preceding the fiscal
year for which the statement is submitted, or the
most recent revision of such costs and benefits; and
(3) with respect to each major rule, include the
estimates of costs and benefits for each of the fiscal
years referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) that
were included in the regulatory impact analysis that
was prepared for the major rule.
(f) DELAYED APPLICATION OF CERTAIN REQUIRE-
MENTS.—
(1) APPLICATION AFTER FIRST STATEMENT.—
The following requirements shall not apply to the
first accounting statement submitted under this sec-
tion:
(A) The requirement under subsection
(a)(2) to include estimates with respect to pro-
gram components.
(B) The requirement under subsection
(b)(2).
(2) 
APPLICATION
AFTER
SECOND
STATE-
MENT.—The requirement under subsection (b)(1) to
include analyses of impacts on wages, consumer
prices, economic growth, public health, public safety,
the environment, consumer protection, equal oppor-