Principled Rulemaking Act of 2015
(Sec. 3) This bill revises the federal agency rulemaking process to require a agencies to promulgate only rules (defined to exclude agency actions involving a military or foreign affairs function of the United States or a matter relating to agency management or personnel or to public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts) that are required by law, necessary to interpret a law, or made necessary by public need, to protect or improve the health and safety of the public, the environment, or the wellbeing of the people of the United States.
Before promulgating such a rule, an agency must:
Such considerations shall be included as part of the rulemaking record and shall be considered by a court only in determining whether the final rule is: (1) arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion; or (2) unsupported by substantial evidence where the standard is otherwise provided by law.
This bill shall not apply:
Judicial review of agency or OIRA compliance with this bill is limited.
(Sec. 4) Agencies must issue rules through a process that involves public participation, including by providing for timely online access to the rulemaking docket of the agency on an easily accessible federal website.
Before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking, each agency shall seek the views of those who are likely to be affected by the rule.
(Sec. 5) In developing regulatory actions and identifying appropriate approaches, each agency shall: (1) attempt to promote coordination, simplification, and harmonization; and (2) seek to identify means to achieve regulatory goals that are designed to promote innovation.
(Sec. 6) When issuing a rule, each agency shall ensure that any scientific and technological information and processes used to support any regulatory action of the agency is the best objective, peer-reviewed, and reproducible information publicly available.
[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1818 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1818
To amend title 5, United States Code, to reform the rule making process
of agencies.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 21, 2015
Mr. Lankford introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 5, United States Code, to reform the rule making process
of agencies.
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 ``Principled Rulemaking Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(1) the terms ``agency'', ``rule'', and ``rule making''
have the meanings given those terms in section 551 of title 5,
United States Code; and
(2) the term ``regulatory action'' means any substantive
action by an agency (normally published in the Federal
Register) that promulgates or is expected to lead to the
promulgation of a final regulation, including notices of
inquiry, advance notices of proposed rule making, and notices
of proposed rule making.
SEC. 3. RULE MAKING CONSIDERATIONS.
Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following:
``(f) Rule Making Considerations.--
``(1) In general.--An agency shall only promulgate a rule
under this section that is--
``(A) required by law;
``(B) necessary to interpret a law; or
``(C) made necessary by compelling public need,
such as a material failure of the private markets to
protect or improve the health and safety of the public,
the environment, or the wellbeing of the people of the
United States.
``(2) Considerations.--Before promulgating a rule under
this section, an agency shall--
``(A) identify and assess the significance of the
problem that the agency intends to address with the
rule, including, where applicable, the failures of
private markets or public institutions that warrant new
agency action;
``(B) consider the legal authority under which the
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;
``(C) examine whether existing rules or other
laws--
``(i) have created or contributed to the
problem identified under subparagraph (A); and
``(ii) should be modified to achieve the
intended regulatory objective more effectively;
``(D) identify and assess available alternatives to
direct regulation, including by providing--
``(i) economic incentives to encourage the
desired behavior, such as user fees or
marketable permits; or
``(ii) information upon which choices may
be made by the public;
``(E) consider, to the extent reasonable, the
degree and nature of the risks posed by various
substances or activities within the jurisdiction of the
agency;
``(F) if after determining that a rule is the best
available method of achieving the regulatory objective,
design the rule in the most cost-effective manner to
achieve the regulatory objective;
``(G) in carrying out subparagraph (F), consider--
``(i) incentives for innovation,
consistency, predictability, flexibility,
distributive impacts, and equity; and
``(ii) the costs of enforcement and
compliance to the Federal Government, regulated
entities, and the public;
``(H) assess the costs and the benefits of the
intended rule and, recognizing that some costs and
benefits (including quantifable and qualitative
measures) are difficult to quantify--
``(i) propose or adopt a rule only upon a
reasoned determination that the benefits of the
intended rule justify the costs of the rule;
and
``(ii) select approaches that maximize net
benefits, unless a statute requires another
regulatory approach;
``(I) base decisions on the best reasonably
obtainable scientific, technical, economic, and other
information concerning the need for, and consequences
of, the intended rule;
``(J) identify and assess alternative forms of
regulation and, to the extent feasible, specify
performance objectives, and not the behavior or manner
of compliance that regulated entities are required to
adopt;
``(K) seek views of appropriate State, local, and
tribal officials before imposing regulatory
requirements that may significantly or uniquely affect
those governmental entities;
``(L) assess the effects of rules on State, local,
and tribal governments, including specifically the
availability of resources to carry out those mandates,
and seek to minimize those burdens that uniquely or
significantly affect those governmental entities,
consistent with achieving the regulatory objective of
the agency;
``(M) as appropriate, seek to harmonize agency
action with related State, local, and tribal regulatory
and other governmental functions;
``(N) avoid the promulgation of a rule that is
inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative with other
rules of the agency or those of other agencies;
``(O) tailor the rule--
``(i) to impose the least burden on
society, including individuals, businesses of
differing sizes, and other entities, including
small communities and governmental entities;
and
``(ii) in a manner that is consistent with
obtaining the regulatory objective, taking into
account, and to the extent practicable, the
costs of cumulative rules; and
``(P) in order to minimize the potential for
uncertainty and litigation arising from such
uncertainty, draft the rule in a manner that is simple
and easy to understand.''.
SEC. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
(a) In General.--To promote an open exchange with the public, each
agency shall, consistent with section 553 of title 5, United States
Code, and other applicable requirements, issue rules through a process
that involves public participation, including--
(1) providing the public with an opportunity to participate
in the regulatory process; and
(2) to the extent feasible--
(A) affording the public a meaningful opportunity
to submit comments through the Internet on any proposed
rule for a period of not less than 60 days;
(B) providing, for both proposed and final rules,
timely online access to the rule making docket of the
agency on an easily accessible Federal website,
including relevant scientific and technical findings,
in an open, searchable, and downloadable format; and
(C) providing an opportunity for public comment on
all pertinent parts of the proposed rule making docket
of the agency, including relevant scientific and
technical findings.
(b) Comments From Affected Parties.--Before issuing a notice of
proposed rule making, each agency shall, when feasible and appropriate,
seek the views of those who are likely to be affected by the rule,
including those who are likely to benefit from and those who are
potentially subject to the rule.
SEC. 5. INTEGRATION AND INNOVATION.
In developing regulatory actions and identifying appropriate
approaches, each agency shall--
(1) attempt to promote coordination, simplification, and
harmonization; and
(2) seek to identify, as appropriate, means to achieve
regulatory goals that are designed to promote innovation.
SEC. 6. FLEXIBLE APPROACHES.
Where relevant, feasible, and consistent with regulatory
objectives, and to the extent permitted by law, each agency shall
identify and consider regulatory approaches that--
(1) reduce burdens and maintain flexibility and freedom of
choice for the public;
(2) include warnings, appropriate default rules, and
disclosure requirements; and
(3) provide information to the public in a form that is
clear and intelligible.
SEC. 7. SCIENCE.
Each agency shall ensure the objectivity of any scientific and
technological information and processes used to support each regulatory
action of the agency.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-480.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-342. Additional views filed.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 114-342. Additional views filed.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 613.
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