TITLE III—REGULATORY 
DECREES AND SETTLEMENTS 
SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Sunshine for Regu-
latory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 302. CONSENT DECREE AND SETTLEMENT REFORM. 
(a) APPLICATION.—The provisions of this section 
apply in the case of— 
(1) a consent decree or settlement agreement in 
an action to compel agency action alleged to be un-
lawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed that per-
tains to a regulatory action that affects the rights of 
private parties other than the plaintiff or the rights 
of State, local or Tribal government entities— 
(A) brought under chapter 7 of title 5, 
United States Code; or 
(B) brought under any other statute au-
thorizing such an action; and 
(2) any other consent decree or settlement 
agreement that requires agency action that pertains 
to a regulatory action that affects the rights of pri-
vate parties other than the plaintiff or the rights of 
State, local or Tribal government entities.
(b) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an action to be re-
solved by a consent decree or a settlement agreement de-
scribed in paragraph (1), the following shall apply: 
(1) The complaint in the action, the consent de-
cree or settlement agreement, the statutory basis for 
the consent decree or settlement agreement and its 
terms, and any award of attorneys’ fees or costs 
shall be published, including electronically, in a read-
ily accessible manner by the defendant agency. 
(2) Until the conclusion of an opportunity for 
affected parties to intervene in the action, a party 
may not file with the court a motion for a consent 
decree or to dismiss the case pursuant to a settle-
ment agreement. 
(3) In considering a motion to intervene by any 
party that would be affected by the agency action in 
dispute, the court shall presume, subject to rebuttal, 
that the interests of that party would not be rep-
resented adequately by the current parties to the ac-
tion. In considering a motion to intervene filed by a 
State, local or Tribal government entity, the court 
shall take due account of whether the movant— 
(A) administers jointly with the defendant 
agency the statutory provisions that give rise to 
the regulatory duty alleged in the complaint; or
(B) administers State, local or Tribal regu-
latory authority that would be preempted by the 
defendant agency’s discharge of the regulatory 
duty alleged in the complaint. 
(4) If the court grants a motion to intervene in 
the action, the court shall include the plaintiff, the 
defendant agency, and the intervenors in settlement 
discussions. Settlement efforts conducted shall be 
pursuant to a court’s mediation or alternative dis-
pute resolution program, or by a district judge, mag-
istrate judge, or special master, as determined by 
the assigned judge. 
(5) The defendant agency shall publish in the 
Federal Register and by electronic means any pro-
posed consent decree or settlement agreement for no 
fewer than 60 days of public comment before filing 
it with the court, including a statement of the statu-
tory basis for the proposed consent decree or settle-
ment agreement and its terms, allowing comment on 
any issue related to the matters alleged in the com-
plaint or addressed or affected by the consent decree 
or settlement agreement. 
(6) The defendant agency shall— 
(A) respond to public comments received 
under paragraph (5); and
(B) when moving that the court enter the 
consent decree or for dismissal pursuant to the 
settlement agreement— 
(i) inform the court of the statutory 
basis for the proposed consent decree or 
settlement agreement and its terms; 
(ii) submit to the court a summary of 
the public comments and agency responses; 
(iii) certify the index to the adminis-
trative record of the notice and comment 
proceeding to the court; and 
(iv) make that record fully accessible 
to the court. 
(7) The court shall include in the judicial 
record the full administrative record, the index to 
which was certified by the agency under paragraph 
(6). 
(8) If the consent decree or settlement agree-
ment requires an agency action by a date certain, 
the agency shall, when moving for entry of the con-
sent decree or dismissal based on the settlement 
agreement— 
(A) inform the court of any uncompleted 
mandatory duties to take regulatory action that 
the decree or agreement does not address;
(B) how the decree or agreement, if ap-
proved, would affect the discharge of those du-
ties; and 
(C) why the decree’s or agreement’s effects 
on the order in which the agency discharges its 
mandatory duties is in the public interest. 
(9) The court shall presume, subject to rebut-
tal, that it is proper to allow amicus participation by 
any party who filed public comments on the consent 
decree or settlement agreement during the court’s 
consideration of a motion to enter the decree or dis-
miss the case on the basis of the agreement. 
(10) The court shall ensure that the proposed 
consent decree or settlement agreement allows suffi-
cient time and procedure for the agency to comply 
with chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, and 
other applicable statutes that govern rule making 
and, unless contrary to the public interest, the provi-
sions of any executive orders that govern rule mak-
ing. 
(11) The defendant agency may, at its discre-
tion, hold a public hearing pursuant to notice in the 
Federal Register and by electronic means, on wheth-
er to enter into the consent decree or settlement 
agreement. If such a hearing is held, then, in ac-
cordance with paragraph (6), the agency shall sub-
mit to the court a summary of the proceedings and 
the certified index to the hearing record, full access 
to the hearing record shall be given to the court, and 
the full hearing record shall be included in the judi-
cial record. 
(12) The Attorney General, in cases litigated by 
the Department of Justice, or the head of the de-
fendant Federal agency, in cases litigated independ-
ently by that agency, shall certify to the court his 
or her approval of any proposed consent decree or 
settlement agreement that contains any of the fol-
lowing terms— 
(A) in the case of a consent decree, terms 
that— 
(i) convert into mandatory duties the 
otherwise discretionary authorities of an 
agency to propose, promulgate, revise or 
amend regulations; 
(ii) commit the agency to expend 
funds that Congress has not appropriated 
and that have not been budgeted for the 
action in question, or commit an agency to 
seek a particular appropriation or budget 
authorization;
(iii) divest the agency of discretion 
committed to it by Congress or the Con-
stitution, whether such discretionary power 
was granted to respond to changing cir-
cumstances, to make policy or managerial 
choices, or to protect the rights of third 
parties; or 
(iv) otherwise afford relief that the 
court could not enter on its own authority 
upon a final judgment in the litigation; or 
(B) in the case of a settlement agreement, 
terms that— 
(i) interfere with the agency’s author-
ity to revise, amend, or issue rules through 
the procedures set forth in chapter 5 of 
title 5, United States Code, or any other 
statute or executive order prescribing rule 
making procedures for rule makings that 
are the subject of the settlement agree-
ment; 
(ii) commit the agency to expend 
funds that Congress has not appropriated 
and that have not been budgeted for the 
action in question; or
(iii) provide a remedy for the agency’s 
failure to comply with the terms of the set-
tlement agreement other than the revival 
of the action resolved by the settlement 
agreement, if the agreement commits the 
agency to exercise its discretion in a par-
ticular way and such discretionary power 
was committed to the agency by Congress 
or the Constitution to respond to changing 
circumstances, to make policy or manage-
rial choices, or to protect the rights of 
third parties. 
(c) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Each agency shall submit an 
annual report to Congress on the number, identity, and 
content of complaints, consent decrees, and settlement 
agreements described in paragraph (1) for that year, the 
statutory basis for each consent decree or settlement 
agreement and its terms, and any awards of attorneys fees 
or costs in actions resolved by such decrees or agreements. 
SEC. 303. MOTIONS TO MODIFY CONSENT DECREES. 
When a defendant agency moves the court to modify 
a previously entered consent decree described under sec-
tion 302 and the basis of the motion is that the terms 
of the decree are no longer fully in the public interest due 
to the agency’s obligations to fulfill other duties or due
to changed facts and circumstances, the court shall review 
the motion and the consent decree de novo. 
SEC. 304. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
The provisions of this title apply to any covered con-
sent decree or settlement agreement proposed to a court 
after the date of enactment of this title. 
TITLE 
IV—UNFUNDED 
MAN-
DATES 
INFORMATION 
AND 
TRANSPARENCY 
SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Unfunded Mandates 
Information and Transparency Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 402. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this title is— 
(1) to improve the quality of the deliberations 
of Congress with respect to proposed Federal man-
dates by— 
(A) providing Congress and the public with 
more complete information about the effects of 
such mandates; and 
(B) ensuring that Congress acts on such 
mandates only after focused deliberation on 
their effects; and 
(2) to enhance the ability of Congress and the 
public to identify Federal mandates that may impose
undue harm on consumers, workers, employers, 
small businesses, and State, local, and tribal govern-
ments. 
SEC. 403. PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OF-
FICE 
STUDIES 
ON 
POLICIES 
INVOLVING 
CHANGES IN CONDITIONS OF GRANT AID. 
Section 202(g) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 (2 U.S.C. 602(g)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL STUDIES.—At the request of 
any Chairman or ranking member of the minority of 
a Committee of the Senate or the House of Rep-
resentatives, the Director shall conduct an assess-
ment comparing the authorized level of funding in a 
bill or resolution to the prospective costs of carrying 
out any changes to a condition of Federal assistance 
being imposed on State, local, or tribal governments 
participating in the Federal assistance program con-
cerned or, in the case of a bill or joint resolution 
that authorizes such sums as are necessary, an as-
sessment of an estimated level of funding compared 
to such costs.’’.
SEC. 404. CLARIFYING THE DEFINITION OF DIRECT COSTS 
TO REFLECT CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OF-
FICE PRACTICE. 
Section 421(3) of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 (2 U.S.C. 658(3)(A)(i)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A)(i), by inserting ‘‘incur 
or’’ before ‘‘be required’’; and 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting after ‘‘to 
spend’’ the following: ‘‘or could forgo in profits, in-
cluding costs passed on to consumers or other enti-
ties taking into account, to the extent practicable, 
behavioral changes,’’. 
SEC. 405. EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF REPORTING RE-
QUIREMENTS TO INCLUDE REGULATIONS IM-
POSED 
BY 
INDEPENDENT 
REGULATORY 
AGENCIES. 
Paragraph (1) of section 421 of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658) is amended by striking 
‘‘, but does not include independent regulatory agencies’’ 
and inserting ‘‘, except it does not include the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal 
Open Market Committee’’.