SEC. 4. PERFORMANCE OF CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW FUNC-
TIONS BY THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OF-
FICE PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) IN GENERAL.—A pilot project shall be established
by the Comptroller General of the United States under
which the Comptroller General may review a published
economically significant proposed or interim rule at the
request of a committee of either House of Congress with
jurisdiction over the subject matter of the rule.
(b) INDEPENDENT AUDIT AND ASSESSMENT.—The
independent audit and assessment of an economically sig-
nificant rule by the Comptroller General shall consist of
the following:
(1) ANALYSIS
REGARDING
POTENTIAL
BENE-
FITS.—An analysis of the agency’s and the public’s
assessment of the potential benefits of the rule, in-
cluding any beneficial effects that cannot be quan-
tified in monetary terms and the identification of the
persons or entities likely to receive the benefits.
Such analysis may include, upon the request of the
Committee, the Comptroller General’s development
of a separate benefit assessment based on the data
available to the agency, including data generated
after publication of the rule in the Federal Register.
(2) ANALYSIS REGARDING POTENTIAL COSTS.—
An analysis of the agency’s and public’s assessment
of the potential costs of the rule, including any ad-
verse effects that cannot be quantified in monetary
terms and the identification of the persons or enti-
ties likely to bear the costs. Such analysis may in-
clude, upon the request of the Committee, the
Comptroller General’s development of a separate
cost assessment based on the data available to the
agency, including data generated after publication of
the rule in the Federal Register.
(3) ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES.—An analysis
of the agency’s and the public’s alternative ap-
proaches that could achieve the objectives of the
agency in a more cost effective manner. For each
such alternative assessed, the Comptroller General
shall state whether current law forecloses the agency
from selecting a particular alternative. Such an anal-
ysis may include, upon the request of the Com-
mittee, the development of separate alternatives by
the Comptroller that were not cited by the agency or
submitted by the public to the agency.
(4) ANALYSIS
AND
ASSESSMENT
OF
IMPACT
STATEMENT OR REPORT.—An analysis and assess-
ment of any impact statement or report prepared by
the agency, including those reports and assessments
mandated by executive orders or statutes, as part of
the rulemaking, including any assessment of impacts
on State and local governments.
(5) LIST
OF
ANALYSES, GROUPS, ENTITIES,
AND SOURCES CONSULTED.—A list of all analyses,
groups, entities, and sources consulted in developing
the analyses and assessments set forth in para-
graphs (1), (2), (3), and (4).
(c) PROCEDURES FOR PRIORITIES OF REQUESTS.—
The Comptroller General shall have discretion to develop
procedures for determining the priority and number of re-
quests for review under subsection (a) for which a report
will be submitted under subsection (e).
(d) AGENCY COOPERATION AND COMMENTS.—Upon
request of the Comptroller General, each agency shall pro-
vide any available or existing records, information, or data
upon which the agency relied in developing an economi-
cally significant rule. The agency may provide records, in-
formation, and data not requested by the Comptroller
General but which the agency determines are relevant to
its development of an economically significant rule.
(e) SUBMISSION OF REPORT.—
(1) INTERIM AUDIT.—The Comptroller General
shall submit an interim audit to the Committee re-
questing the report 30 days after the close of the
comment period unless the final regulation must
issue less than 120 days from the date of publication
of the proposed or interim rule in which case the re-
port shall issue within 10 days after the close of the
comment period. The interim audit shall contain the
assessments set forth in paragraphs (1) through (4)
of subsection (b) for the proposed rule. The agency
shall not be required to consider any alternatives in
this report in the development of a final rule to the
extent that the agency determines that it cannot
consider the alternative under established law.
(2) FINAL
AUDIT.—The Comptroller General
shall prepare and transmit an independent audit
containing the assessments and analyses set forth in
paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (b) on the
final rule within 30 days after publication in the
Federal Register. In addition to the required anal-
yses and assessments, the Comptroller General shall
provide a summary of the differences, to the extent
such differences exist, between the proposed and
final rule. The Comptroller General may incorporate
any material in the final report that the Comptroller
General utilized in preparing the interim report pur-
suant to paragraph (1).
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Comp-
troller General to carry out this Act $5,200,000 for the
fiscal year 2001.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE AND DURATION OF PILOT
PROJECT.
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 90
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
(b) DURATION
OF
PILOT
PROJECT.—The pilot
project established under section 4(a) shall continue for
a period of 5 years if, in each fiscal year or portion thereof
included in that period, a specific annual appropriation of
not less than $5,200,000 or the pro-rated equivalent
thereof shall have been made for the pilot project.
(c) REPORT.—Before the conclusion of the 5-year pe-
riod referred to in subsection (b), the Comptroller General
shall submit to Congress a report reviewing the effective-
ness of the pilot project and what, if any, changes should
be made to the procedures set forth in section 4 and rec-
ommending whether or not Congress should permanently
authorize the pilot project.
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