[House Report 114-238]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
114th Congress { } Rept. 114-238
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1st Session { } Part 1
======================================================================
ALL ECONOMIC REGULATIONS ARE TRANSPARENT ACT OF 2015
_______
July 29, 2015.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Chaffetz, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
together with
DISSENTING VIEWS
[To accompany H.R. 1759]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom
was referred the bill (H.R. 1759) to amend title 5, United
States Code, to provide for the publication, by the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information relating to
rulemakings, and for other purposes, having considered the
same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend
that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
Committee Statement and Views.................................... 2
Section-by-Section............................................... 4
Explanation of Amendments........................................ 5
Committee Consideration.......................................... 5
Roll Call Votes.................................................. 5
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch..................... 9
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the
Committee...................................................... 9
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............ 9
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 9
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................. 9
Federal Advisory Committee Act................................... 9
Unfunded Mandates Statement...................................... 9
Earmark Identification........................................... 10
Committee Estimate............................................... 10
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate... 10
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............ 11
Minority Views................................................... 15
Committee Statement and Views
PURPOSE AND SUMMARY
H.R. 1759, the All Economic Regulations are Transparent
(ALERT) Act brings needed transparency to the regulatory
process. The bill requires agencies to submit monthly
regulatory updates to the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs (OIRA) for all rules expected to be proposed or
released in the upcoming year. OIRA is then required to make
the monthly regulatory updates publicly available on the
Internet. The regulatory updates will include a summary, the
objective of each rule, its legal basis, and other information.
If a notice of proposed rulemaking has been issued for a rule,
the update must include a schedule for completing the
rulemaking, an estimate of the cost, and the economic effects
considered. A rule must be noticed for at least six months
before it can become effective.
H.R. 1759 requires OIRA to publish two annual cumulative
assessments of agency rulemaking on October 1st of each year.
One assessment, to be published in the Federal Register,
provides information about regulatory activity of the past
year, including the number of rules issued, any deregulatory
actions, and information received in the monthly updates. The
other assessment, to be published on the Internet, provides
information about the regulatory review process during the past
year, including cost-benefit analyses, the number of OIRA
reviews, and rules submitted to the Government Accountability
Office under the Congressional Review Act.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
Regulatory transparency is essential for public
participation. Enhanced transparency and public participation
in the regulatory process requires that the public be apprised
in a timely manner about upcoming rulemaking activity.
In recent years, regulatory transparency has diminished.
The public has been given less time to prepare for the
opportunity to participate in the regulatory process and less
time to prepare for the impact of the regulation itself.
Currently, the primary regulatory transparency tools are the
government-wide semi-annual ``Unified Agenda of Regulatory and
Deregulatory Actions'' (Unified Agenda) and annual agency
``Regulatory Plans,'' both required under Executive Order
12866.\1\ These tools are intended to provide notice and
transparency into both near term and long term anticipated
regulatory activity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\Exec. Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 Fed.
Reg. 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
While President Obama's Executive Order 13563 reaffirmed
Executive Order 12866, the current Administration has been
inconsistent in meeting the requirements for the Unified Agenda
and Regulatory Plans.\2\ Traditionally the Unified Agenda has
been issued in April and October of each year and the Executive
Order requires that the Regulatory Plans be issued with the
October agenda.\3\ The Administration never issued the Spring
2012 Unified Agenda and the Fall 2012 edition was issued in
late December.\4\ In 2013, the Spring Unified Agenda was issued
in July and the Fall Unified Agenda was issued in late
November, but it was not published in the Federal Register
until January 2014.\5\
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\2\Exec. Order No. 13563, Improving Regulation and Regulatory
Review, 76 Fed. Reg. 3821 (Jan. 18, 2011).
\3\See Exec. Order No. 12291, Federal Regulation, 3 C.F.R. 127
(Feb. 17, 1981), and Exec. Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and
Review, 58 Fed. Reg. 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
\4\See Leland E. Beck, OMB Releases Fall 2012 Unified Agenda &
Regulatory Plan: Meaning What?, Federal Regulations Advisor (Dec. 22,
2012), http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2012/12/22/omb-releases-fall-2012-
unified-agenda-regulatory-plan-meaning-what/.
\5\See Sofie Miller, New Regulatory Agenda Lists Thousands of New
Rules, Reg. Studies Center GWU (July 10, 2013) available at: http://
research.columbian.gwu.edu/regulatorystudies/sites/default/files/u41/
20130710_spring2013unifiedagenda.pdf, Leland E. Beck, Fall 2013 Unified
Agenda Published: Something New, Something Old, Federal Regulations
Advisor (Nov. 27, 2013), http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2013/11/27/fall-
2013-unified-agenda-published-something-new-something-old/, and
Introduction to the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and
Deregulatory Actions, 79 Fed. Reg. 895 (Jan. 7, 2014).
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Additionally, OIRA Administrators under the current
Administration have actively sought to shrink the scope of the
Unified Agenda.\6\ The Executive Order requires agencies to
provide information for the Unified Agenda for ``all
regulations under development or review.''\7\ However, in June
2012, OIRA Administrator Cass Sunstein issued a memorandum
encouraging agencies to reduce the number of rules included on
the agenda, by removing rules that are listed as long-term or
rules that are not expected to move forward within the next
year.\8\ In 2013, Administrator Howard Shelanski issued a
substantially similar memorandum.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\Clyde Wayne Crews, Big Sexy Holiday Fun with the Unified Agenda
of Federal Regulations, Forbes (Dec. 2, 2013) available at: http://
www.forbes.com/sites/waynecrews/2013/12/02/big-sexy-holiday-fun-with-
the-unified-agenda-of-federal-regulations/.
\7\Exec. Order No. 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 Fed.
Reg. 51735 (Sept. 30, 1993).
\8\Memorandum from OIRA Admin. Cass Sunstein ``Fall 2012 Regulatory
Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory
Actions'' (Jun. 13, 2012).
\9\Memorandum from OIRA Admin. Howard Shelanski ``Fall 2013
Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and
Deregulatory Actions'' (Aug. 7, 2013).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ALERT Act will modernize and expand the regulatory
transparency tools available to the public by requiring
agencies to make monthly updates for rules that are anticipated
to be proposed or finalized within the upcoming year. The ALERT
Act also creates a statutory deadline for OIRA to submit
information to the public about the rulemaking process and the
regulatory effects of rules issued and proposed during the past
year. The regulatory transparency tools in the ALERT Act will
create greater certainty about anticipated regulatory action
and the effects of such action on the public.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
H.R. 1759, the All Economic Regulations are Transparent
(ALERT) Act of 2015, was introduced on April 13, 2015 by Rep.
John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and referred to the Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on the
Judiciary. On April 15, 2015, the Committee on the Judiciary
favorably reported H.R. 1759 without amendment by a roll call
vote 14 to 9. On May 19, 2015, the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform held a Full Committee Business Meeting to
consider H.R. 1759. Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) offered an
amendment that was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 18.
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) offered an amendment that
was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 19. The bill was
then ordered favorably reported by a roll call vote 20 to 17.
In the 113th Congress, identical legislation (H.R. 2804)
was introduced on July 24, 2013 by Congressman George Holding
(R-NC). The bill was referred to the Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform and the Committee on the Judiciary. The
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform ordered the bill
favorably reported by roll call vote of 19 to 15 on February
11, 2015. H.R. 2804 passed the House on February 27, 2014 by a
vote of 236 to 179. The text of H.R. 2804 was included in H.R.
4, which passed the House on September 18, 2014.
Section-by-Section
Section 1. Short title
Designates the short title of the bill as the All Economic
Regulations are Transparent (ALERT) Act of 2015.
Section 2. OIRA publication of information relating to rules
Requires agency heads to submit to the Administrator of the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a monthly
update of each rule the agency expects to propose or finalize
in the upcoming year which includes for each rule: summary;
objectives; legal basis; whether comments will be requested on
the proposed rule; the stage of the rulemaking process; whether
the rule is subject to a regulatory review under 5 U.S.C.
Sec. 610; and, if a notice of proposed rulemaking has been
issued for a rule, the agency must also include a schedule for
completion and an estimate of the cost.
Requires the Administrator to make the monthly updates
publicly available on the Internet.
Requires the Administrator to publish an annual cumulative
assessment of agency rulemaking in the Federal Register. The
following information shall be included: information received
in the monthly submissions; cost and benefit analyses of rules;
agency action that reduced the scope of the regulatory state;
the total costs of rules; and the total number of rules for
which a cost estimate was unavailable.
Requires the OIRA Administrator to make publicly available
on the Internet on an annual basis certain information about
the review and analysis of each proposed or finalized rule. The
following information will be included: cost and benefits
analyses; docket numbers; regulatory identifier number; the
number and a list of rules reviewed by OIRA; and the number and
list of rules covered under the Congressional Review Act. The
first publication will require the cost and benefit analyses
for all proposed and final rules in the past 10 years.
Provides that a rule may not take effect until the monthly
submission to OIRA has been publicly available on the Internet
for not less than 6 months. The 6 month requirement does not
apply to rules that do not require notice and public comment
and rules the President issues an executive order declaring
necessary.
Section 3. Effective dates
Establishes effective dates for the monthly updates and
OIRA publications, and provides that the 6 month requirement
not take effect until 8 months after enactment.
Explanation of Amendments
Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) offered an amendment to
require the reporting of benefits in the monthly and annual
reports in addition to the costs, which the bill requires. The
amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 18.
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-MD) offered an amendment to
strike the six month provision in the underlying bill. The
amendment was not adopted by a roll call vote of 17 to 19. The
bill was then adopted and favorably reported to the House by a
roll call vote of 20 to 17.
Committee Consideration
On May 19, 2015 the Committee met in open session and
ordered reported favorably the bill, H.R. 1759, by a roll call
vote of 20 to17, a quorum being present.
Roll Call Votes
There were three recorded votes during consideration of
H.R. 1759:
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch
Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a
description of the application of this bill to the legislative
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of
employment or access to public services and accommodations.
This bill amends title 5, United States Code, to provide for
the publication, by the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs, of information relating to rulemakings. As such this
bill does not relate to employment or access to public services
and accommodations.
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of
this report.
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives
In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance
goal or objective of this bill is to amend title 5, United
States Code, to provide for the publication, by the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs, of information relating to
rulemakings.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of this bill establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee estimates that enacting this bill does not
direct the completion of any specific rule makings within the
meaning of 5 U.S.C. 551.
Federal Advisory Committee Act
The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).
Unfunded Mandates Statement
Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded
Mandates Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement as to
whether the provisions of the reported include unfunded
mandates. In compliance with this requirement the Committee has
received a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included
herein.
Earmark Identification
This bill does not include any congressional earmarks,
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in
clause 9 of rule XXI.
Committee Estimate
Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out
this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that rule provides
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of
1974.
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received
the following cost estimate for this bill from the Director of
Congressional Budget Office:
H.R. 1759--ALERT Act of 2015
H.R. 1759 would require federal agencies to provide certain
information to the public regarding proposed and final
regulations. The bill would require federal agencies to submit
information for a proposed new supplement to the Unified Agenda
of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (a semiannual
compilation of the federal regulations under development) that
would be published monthly. The Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs would be required to post that information
on the Internet on a monthly and annual basis. With certain
exceptions, regulations would not be effective until six months
after they have appeared in the proposed monthly report.
CBO estimates that preparing the monthly supplemental
reports for 3,000 to 4,000 final regulations each year would
cost less than a million dollars a year, subject to the
availability of appropriated funds, over the 2016-2020 period.
Because agencies routinely monitor the status of regulations
that are being processed, CBO does not expect this additional
reporting requirement would add a significant administrative
burden. Based on information from the Congressional Research
Service about the current regulatory process, CBO also expects
that the requirements in H.R. 1759 would not significantly
delay the implementation of final regulations.
Enacting H.R. 1759 could affect direct spending by some
agencies (such as the Tennessee Valley Authority) because their
operating costs are covered by receipts from the sale of goods,
fees, and other collections. Therefore, pay-as-you-go
procedures apply. Because most of those agencies can adjust the
amounts collected, CBO estimates that any net changes in direct
spending by those agencies would not be significant. Enacting
the bill would not affect revenues.
H.R. 1759 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
On May 4, 2015, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R.
1759 as ordered reported by the House Committee on the
Judiciary on April 15, 2015. The two versions of the
legislation are identical, and the CBO cost estimates are the
same.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
PART I. THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
Chapter Sec.
Organization...................................................101
* * * * * * *
The Analysis of Regulatory Functions...........................601
The Analysis of Regulatory Functions...........................601
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Publication of 6A.
651 Information Relating to Rules...................................
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 6A--OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICATION OF
INFORMATION RELATING TO RULES
Sec. 651. Agency monthly submission to office of information and
regulatory affairs.
Sec. 652. Office of information and regulatory affairs publications.
Sec. 653. Requirement for rules to appear in agency-specific monthly
publication.
Sec. 654. Definitions.
SEC. 651. AGENCY MONTHLY SUBMISSION TO OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND
REGULATORY AFFAIRS
On a monthly basis, the head of each agency shall submit to
the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs (referred to in this chapter as the ``Administrator''),
in such a manner as the Administrator may reasonably require,
the following information:
(1) For each rule that the agency expects to propose
or finalize during the following year:
(A) A summary of the nature of the rule,
including the regulation identifier number and
the docket number for the rule.
(B) The objectives of and legal basis for the
issuance of the rule, including--
(i) any statutory or judicial
deadline; and
(ii) whether the legal basis
restricts or precludes the agency from
conducting an analysis of the costs or
benefits of the rule during the rule
making, and if not, whether the agency
plans to conduct an analysis of the
costs or benefits of the rule during
the rule making.
(C) Whether the agency plans to claim an
exemption from the requirements of section 553
pursuant to section 553(b)(B).
(D) The stage of the rule making as of the
date of submission.
(E) Whether the rule is subject to review
under section 610.
(2) For any rule for which the agency expects to
finalize during the following year and has issued a
general notice of proposed rule making--
(A) an approximate schedule for completing
action on the rule;
(B) an estimate of whether the rule will
cost--
(i) less than $50,000,000;
(ii) $50,000,000 or more but less
than $100,000,000;
(iii) $100,000,000 or more but less
than $500,000,000;
(iv) $500,000,000 or more but less
than $1,000,000,000;
(v) $1,000,000,000 or more but less
than $5,000,000,000;
(vi) $5,000,000,000 or more but less
than $10,000,000,000; or
(vii) $10,000,000,000 or more; and
(C) any estimate of the economic effects of
the rule, including any estimate of the net
effect that the rule will have on the number of
jobs in the United States, that was considered
in drafting the rule. If such estimate is not
available, a statement affirming that no
information on the economic effects, including
the effect on the number of jobs, of the rule
has been considered.
SEC. 652. OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS PUBLICATIONS
(a) Agency-Specific information published monthly Not later
than 30 days after the submission of information pursuant to
section 651, the Administrator shall make such information
publicly available on the Internet.
(b) Cumulative assessment of agency rule making published
annually
(1) Publication in the federal register Not later
than October 1 of each year, the Administrator shall
publish in the Federal Register, for the previous year
the following:
(A) The information that the Administrator
received from the head of each agency under
section 651.
(B) The number of rules and a list of each
such rule--
(i) that was proposed by each agency,
including, for each such rule, an
indication of whether the issuing
agency conducted an analysis of the
costs or benefits of the rule; and
(ii) that was finalized by each
agency, including for each such rule an
indication of whether--
(I) the issuing agency
conducted an analysis of the
costs or benefits of the rule;
(II) the agency claimed an
exemption from the procedures
under section 553 pursuant to
section 553(b)(B); and
(III) the rule was issued
pursuant to a statutory mandate
or the rule making is committed
to agency discretion by law.
(C) The number of agency actions and a list
of each such action taken by each agency that--
(i) repealed a rule;
(ii) reduced the scope of a rule;
(iii) reduced the cost of a rule; or
(iv) accelerated the expiration date
of a rule.
(D) The total cost (without reducing the cost
by any offsetting benefits) of all rules
proposed or finalized, and the number of rules
for which an estimate of the cost of the rule
was not available.
(2) Publication on the internet Not later than
October 1 of each year, the Administrator shall make
publicly available on the Internet the following:
(A) The analysis of the costs or benefits, if
conducted, for each proposed rule or final rule
issued by an agency for the previous year.
(B) The docket number and regulation
identifier number for each proposed or final
rule issued by an agency for the previous year.
(C) The number of rules and a list of each
such rule reviewed by the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget for the
previous year, and the authority under which
each such review was conducted.
(D) The number of rules and a list of each
such rule for which the head of an agency
completed a review under section 610 for the
previous year.
(E) The number of rules and a list of each
such rule submitted to the Comptroller General
under section 801.
(F) The number of rules and a list of each
such rule for which a resolution of disapproval
was introduced in either the House of
Representatives or the Senate under section
802.
SEC. 653. REQUIREMENT FOR RULES TO APPEAR IN AGENCY-SPECIFIC MONTHLY
PUBLICATION
(a) In general Subject to subsection (b), a rule may not take
effect until the information required to be made publicly
available on the Internet regarding such rule pursuant to
section 652(a) has been so available for not less than 6
months.
(b) Exceptions The requirement of subsection (a) shall not
apply in the case of a rule--
(1) for which the agency issuing the rule claims an
exception under section 553(b)(B); or
(2) which the President determines by Executive order
should take effect because the rule is--
(A) necessary because of an imminent threat
to health or safety or other emergency;
(B) necessary for the enforcement of criminal
laws;
(C) necessary for national security; or
(D) issued pursuant to any statute
implementing an international trade agreement.
SEC. 654. DEFINITIONS
In this chapter, the terms ``agency'', ``agency action'',
``rule'', and ``rule making'' have the meanings given those
terms in section 551.
* * * * * * *
DISSENTING VIEWS
H.R. 1759, the ALERT Act, is another attack on agency
rulemakings that is mischaracterized by its proponents as
improving transparency. H.R. 1759 would be unnecessarily
burdensome for agencies. Agencies already are required to
provide status updates twice a year on their plans for
proposing and finalizing rules pursuant to the Regulatory
Flexibility Act and Executive Order 12866. This bill would
require agencies to report monthly.
The bill would impose an arbitrary and unnecessary
moratorium on rulemakings that would prohibit a rule from
taking effect until the Office of Information and Regulatory
Affairs (OIRA) has posted certain information online for at
least six months. The only narrow exceptions to this moratorium
would be if an agency claims an exception from the notice and
comment provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act or if
the President issues an executive order.
The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, which includes more
than 150 labor, scientific, health, and good government groups,
sent a letter to the Committee opposing the ALERT Act on May
18, 2015. The letter stated:
We are particularly concerned with the provision
contained in Section 653(a) that would delay important
rules, essential to protecting the health, safety, and
welfare of the American public, until six months after
information supplied by agency heads is posted on the
Internet by the Administrator of the Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), unless such
rules meet certain limited exceptions. As a result of
this requirement, the benefits of critically needed
regulations--whether measured in lives saved,
environmental damage averted, or money saved--would be
put on hold unnecessarily for six months or longer.
The bill would also require the Administrator of OIRA to
issue a cumulative report annually. Some of the reporting
requirements would be duplicative with current law and even
other sections of this legislation. The bill, for example,
would require OIRA to report the same information it is
required to report on a monthly basis under a different section
of this bill.
OIRA would also be required to report the total cost of all
rules proposed or finalized and the number of rules for which a
cost estimate was not available. OIRA is already required to
issue an annual report on the costs and benefits of federal
rules and paperwork under the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act
(P.L. 106-554). Unlike the Regulatory Right-to-Know Act,
however, this bill would explicitly prohibit OIRA from taking
into account benefits when providing the estimated cumulative
costs of proposed and final rules.
H.R. 1759 would require OIRA to provide a report on the
``number of rules and a list of each such rule for which a
resolution of disapproval was introduced in either the House or
Senate under section 802.'' This requirement exemplifies the
unnecessary and duplicative nature of H.R. 1759. Under this
requirement, the legislative branch would be requiring the
executive branch to report on the activities of the legislative
branch.
Ranking Member Cummings offered an amendment during the
Committee's consideration of H.R. 1759 that would have removed
the bill's six month moratorium on rules taking effect.
Representative Lynch offered an amendment that would have
required agencies to report on the benefits of proposed rules
instead of only the costs and that would have required OIRA to
include an estimate of the total benefits of all rules proposed
or finalized in the required annual cumulative reports.
These amendments, which were not adopted, would have
mitigated significant flaws in the underlying bill.
Elijah E. Cummings,
Ranking Member.