Vanessa K. Burrows
Legislative Attorney
Maeve P. Carey
Analyst in Government Organization and Management
On September 22, 2011, a group of Members from the House and the Senate introduced the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2011 (RAA, H.R. 3010 and S. 1606). Federal agencies currently issue regulations in accordance with requirements in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), as well as other statutes and executive orders that apply to rulemaking. The RAA would make the most significant legislative changes to the APA since its enactment in 1946. The RAA would modify and enact into law numerous new general procedures for rulemaking that appear in narrower form in existing law, executive orders, and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) documents. The Obama Administration has issued a Statement of Administration Policy against H.R. 3010. Some of the most significant changes are listed here. H.R. 3010 would:
• Require agencies to adopt the “least costly” rule that meets “relevant statutory objectives” unless the benefits justify additional costs.
• Provide for judicial review of certain requirements and determinations, for which judicial review is not presently available or for whether there is a question as to whether judicial review is available.
• Overhaul the current notice-and-comment (informal) rulemaking process by codifying and modifying existing requirements and instituting many procedural and substantive additions to informal rulemaking.
• Raise questions regarding how the RAA would interact with existing statutory requirements for cost-benefit analysis and statutory prohibitions on cost considerations.
• Impose new requirements on independent regulatory agencies, including costbenefit analysis and regulatory review by OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
• Impact existing case law on judicial deference to agency interpretations of rules and agency guidance.
• Provide that interim rules shall cease to have the effect of law if such rules are not finalized or rescinded in accordance with the RAA’s requirements within 270 days of publication of the interim rule or 18 months if the rule is a major or highimpact rule.
• Create a new category of rules, “high-impact” rules, and mandate trial-like formal rulemaking procedures for such rules.
• Require advance notices of proposed rulemaking for certain rules.
• Mandate the identification of costs and benefits, and assure that such benefits justify the cost, in major guidance documents and guidance that involves a novel legal or policy issue arising out of statutory mandates.
• Establish minimum time periods for comment in rulemakings.
• Grant the OIRA Administrator, in statute, increased powers and responsibilities.
• Enable Information Quality Act (IQA) petitions to determine if an agency’s proposed rule does not comply with the IQA.
Date of Report: November 29, 2011
Number of Pages: 91
Order Number: R42104
Price: $29.95
Follow us on TWITTER at http://www.twitter.com/alertsPHP or #CRSreports
Document available via e-mail as a pdf file or in paper form.
To order, e-mail Penny Hill Press or call us at 301-253-0881. Provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card number, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mail or postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.
Posts
