I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 185 
To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze and formulate 
new regulations and guidance documents. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2015 
Mr. GOODLATTE (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. 
MARINO, Mr. SESSIONS, and Mr. FRANKS of Arizona) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze 
and formulate new regulations and guidance documents. 
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 ‘‘Regulatory Account-
ability Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 551 of title 5, United States Code, is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
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(2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(15) ‘major rule’ means any rule that the Ad-
ministrator of the Office of Information and Regu-
latory Affairs determines is likely to impose— 
‘‘(A) an annual cost on the economy of 
$100,000,000 or more, adjusted annually for 
inflation; 
‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 
consumers, 
individual 
industries, 
Federal, 
State, local, or tribal government agencies, or 
geographic regions; 
‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi-
tion, employment, investment, productivity, in-
novation, or on the ability of United States- 
based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 
enterprises in domestic and export markets; or 
‘‘(D) significant impacts on multiple sec-
tors of the economy; 
‘‘(16) ‘high-impact rule’ means any rule that 
the Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs determines is likely to impose an 
annual cost on the economy of $1,000,000,000 or 
more, adjusted annually for inflation; 
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‘‘(17) ‘negative-impact on jobs and wages rule’ 
means any rule that the agency that made the rule 
or the Administrator of the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs determines is likely to— 
‘‘(A) in one or more sectors of the economy 
that has a 6-digit code under the North Amer-
ican Industry Classification System, reduce em-
ployment not related to new regulatory compli-
ance by 1 percent or more annually during the 
1-year, 5-year, or 10-year period after imple-
mentation; 
‘‘(B) in one or more sectors of the econ-
omy that has a 6-digit code under the North 
American Industry Classification System, re-
duce average weekly wages for employment not 
related to new regulatory compliance by 1 per-
cent or more annually during the 1-year, 5- 
year, or 10-year period after implementation; 
‘‘(C) in any industry area (as such term is 
defined in the Current Population Survey con-
ducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics) in 
which the most recent annual unemployment 
rate for the industry area is greater than 5 per-
cent, as determined by the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics in the Current Population Survey, re-
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duce employment not related to new regulatory 
compliance during the first year after imple-
mentation; or 
‘‘(D) in any industry area in which the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics projects in the Occupa-
tional Employment Statistics program that the 
employment level will decrease by 1 percent or 
more, further reduce employment not related to 
new regulatory compliance during the first year 
after implementation; 
‘‘(18) ‘guidance’ means an agency statement of 
general applicability and future effect, other than a 
regulatory action, that sets forth a policy on a statu-
tory, regulatory or technical issue or an interpreta-
tion of a statutory or regulatory issue; 
‘‘(19) ‘major guidance’ means guidance that the 
Administrator of the Office of Information and Reg-
ulatory Affairs finds is likely to lead to— 
‘‘(A) an annual cost on the economy of 
$100,000,000 or more, adjusted annually for 
inflation; 
‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 
consumers, 
individual 
industries, 
Federal, 
State, local or tribal government agencies, or 
geographic regions; 
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