[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3270 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3270
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 17, 2021
Mr. Burchett introduced the following 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, 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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