Protecting Jobs and Wages from Regulations Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.3270 | Sponsor: Rep. Burchett, Tim (R-TN)
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Protecting Jobs and Wages from Regulations Act of 2021
This bill revises and expands the requirements for federal agency rulemaking by requiring agencies, in making a rule, to base all preliminary and final factual determinations on evidence and to consider the legal authority under which the rule may be proposed, the specific nature and significance of the problem the agency may address with the rule, any reasonable alternatives for the rule, and the potential costs and benefits associated with such alternatives.


To reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze and formulate 
   new regulations and guidance documents, to clarify the nature of 
judicial review of agency interpretations, to ensure complete analysis 
    of potential impacts on small entities of rules, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Jobs and Wages from 
Regulations Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 551 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) `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 American Industry 
                Classification System, reduce employment not related to 
                new regulatory compliance by 1 percent or more annually 
                during the 1-year, 5-year, or 10-year period after 
                implementation;
                    ``(B) in one or more sectors of the economy that 
                has a 6-digit code under the North American Industry 
                Classification System, reduce average weekly wages for 
                employment not related to new regulatory compliance by 
                1 percent 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 conducted by the 
                Bureau of Labor Statistics) in which the most recent 
                annual unemployment rate for the industry area is 
                greater than 5 percent, as determined by the Bureau of 
                Labor Statistics in the Current Population Survey, 
                reduce employment not related to new regulatory 
                compliance during the first year after implementation; 
                or
                    ``(D) in any industry area in which the Bureau of 
                Labor Statistics projects in the Occupational 
                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.''.

SEC. 3. RULE MAKING.

    (a) Section 553(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
striking ``(a) This section applies'' and inserting ``(a) 
Applicability.--This section applies''.
    (b) Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) Rule Making Considerations.--In a rule making, an agency 
shall make all preliminary and final factual determinations based on 
evidence and consider, in addition to other applicable considerations, 
the following:
            ``(1) The legal authority under which a rule may be 
        proposed, including whether a rule making is required by 
        statute, and if so, whether by a specific date, or whether the 
        agency has discretion to commence a rule making.
            ``(2) Other statutory considerations applicable to whether 
        the agency can or should propose a rule or undertake other 
        agency action.
            ``(3) The specific nature and significance of the problem 
        the agency may address with a rule (including the degree and 
        nature of risks the problem poses and the priority of 
        addressing those risks compared to other matters or activities 
        within the agency's jurisdiction), whether the problem warrants 
        new agency action, and the countervailing risks that may be 
        posed by alternatives for new agency action.
            ``(4) Whether existing rules have created or contributed to 
        the problem the agency may address with a rule and whether 
        those rules could be amended or rescinded to address the 
        problem in whole or part.
            ``(5) Any reasonable alternatives for a new rule or other 
        response identified by the agency or interested persons, 
        including not only responses that mandate particular conduct or 
        manners of compliance, but also--
                    ``(A) the alternative of no Federal response;
                    ``(B) amending or rescinding existing rules;
                    ``(C) potential regional, State, local, or tribal 
                regulatory action or other responses that could be 
                taken in lieu of agency action; and
                    ``(D) potential responses that--
                            ``(i) specify performance objectives rather 
                        than conduct or manners of compliance;
                            ``(ii) establish economic incentives to 
                        encourage desired behavior;
                            ``(iii) provide information upon which 
                        choices can be made by the public; or
                            ``(iv) incorporate other innovative 
                        alternatives rather than agency actions that 
                        specify conduct or manners of compliance.
            ``(6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law--
                    ``(A) the potential costs and benefits associated 
                with potential alternative rules and other responses 
                considered under section 553(b)(5), including direct, 
                indirect, and cumulative costs and benefits and 
                estimated impacts on jobs (including an estimate of the 
                net gain or loss in domestic jobs), wages, economic 
                growth, innovation, economic competitiveness, and 
                impacts on low income populations;
                    ``(B) means to increase the cost-effectiveness of 
                any Federal response; and
                    ``(C) incentives for innovation, consistency, 
                predictability, lower costs of enforcement and 
                compliance (to government entities, regulated entities, 
                and the public), and flexibility.''.
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