Regulatory Reform Act of 1995

Summary

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Regulatory Analysis and Review Title II: Risk-Based Priorities Title III: Regulatory Accounting Title IV: Market Incentives and Economically Efficient Regulation Regulatory Reform Act of 1995 - Title I: Regulatory Analysis and Review - Amends Federal law to define "major rule" as a rule or a group of closely related rules that the proposing agency, the President, or an officer with presidentially delegated authority determines is likely to have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more in reasonably quantifiable direct and indirect costs, or has a significant impact on a subsector of the economy. (Sec. 101) Authorizes an agency, the President, or an officer with presidentially delegated authority to designate as a major rule also any rule or group of closely related rules which is likely to result in: (1) a substantial increase in costs or prices for wage earners, consumers, individual industries, nonprofit organizations, Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or (2) significant adverse effects on wages, economic growth, investment, productivity, innovation, the environment, public health or safety, or the ability of enterprises whose principal places of business are in the United States to compete in domestic or export markets. Excludes from the meaning of major rule under this Act any rule: (1) involving Federal taxes; (2) authorizing the introduction into commerce or recognizing the marketable status of a product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (3) exempting from notice and public procedure; or (4) relating to specified aspects of depository institutions with federally insured deposits or accounts. Requires each Federal agency, before publishing notice of proposed rulemaking for any rule, to determine whether the rule is or should be designated major. Provides for such determination by the President or by an officer with presidentially delegated authority. Requires the agency to issue at the time of the notice of proposed rulemaking a preliminary regulatory cost-benefit analysis, summarized in such notice, with specified contents. Requires issuance of a final regulatory analysis with the publication of a final major rule. Allows judicial review of an agency determination of major rule status, but not of such a determination by the President or by an officer with presidentially delegated authority. Prescribes executive oversight requirements and authority. Requires the President to require the heads of certain covered agencies to prepare: (1) a risk assessment for each proposed major rule relating to human health, safety, or the environment; and (2) for each such proposed or final rule, an assessment of incremental risk reduction or other benefits associated with each significant regulatory alternative considered by the agency in connection with the rule. Exempts from such requirements emergency situations and certain screening analyses. Limits covered agencies to: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency; (2) the Department of Labor; (3) the Food and Drug Administration; (4) the Consumer Product Safety Commission; (5) the Department of Transportation; (6) the Department of Energy; (7) the Department of Agriculture; (8) the Department of the Interior; and (9) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Specifies principles for risk assessment, risk characterization, and risk communication, requiring generally that scientific findings and best estimates of risk be distinguished from other considerations. Requires each covered agency to: (1) issue guidelines to implement risk assessment and risk characterization principles; and (2) publish, within 18 months after enactment of this Act, a plan to review and revise any risk assessment published before the end of such 18-month period if the agency determines that significant new information or methodologies are available that could significantly alter the results of the prior risk assessment. Requires an agency head or the President to determine for each major rule that: (1) the risk assessment and incremental benefit analysis are based on a scientific evaluation supported by the best available scientific data; and (2) there is no regulatory alternative allowed by statute under which the regulation is promulgated that would achieve an equivalent reduction in risk in a more cost-effective and flexible manner. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to: (1) survey periodically how each covered agency is conducting risk assessment; (2) make recommendations to the President and the Congress based on such surveys; (3) establish interagency mechanisms to promote coordination among agencies conducting risk assessment and promote use of state-of-the-art assessment practices; and (4) establish mechanisms between Federal and State agencies, including periodic meetings, to communicate state-of-the-art risk assessment practices and assess Federal-State cooperation. Requires each agency: (1) to identify in the Federal Register existing rules it determines to be major; and (2) to review each such rule, according to certain procedures, and amend, repeal, or renew the rule, with public participation. (Sec. 102) Authorizes each Federal agency head, in the administration of a Federal statute with respect to any State or locality, to adopt as a Federal rule, recordkeeping or reporting requirement, or implementation procedure a State or local rule, requirement, or procedure that is substantively equivalent to or more stringent than its Federal counterpart. Title II: Risk-Based Priorities - Risk Reduction Priorities Act of 1995 - Urges each covered agency to strive to set priorities and use the resources available under applicable laws to address human health, safety, and environmental risks: (1) which the agency considers most serious; and (2) which can be addressed in a cost- effective manner. (Sec. 204) Sets forth general criteria for determining the most serious risks, with review of agency determinations by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Requires each agency head to incorporate such risk-based priorities into budget and planning activities. (Sec. 205) Requires the OMB Director to enter into arrangements with an accredited scientific body to conduct: (1) a study of the methodologies for using comparative risk to rank dissimilar human health, safety, and environmental risks; and (2) a comparative risk analysis according to specified criteria. Requires reports to the President and the Congress. Exempts agency compliance or noncompliance with this title from judicial review. Prohibits judicial consideration of any analysis prepared under this title apart from the requirement, rule, program, or law to which it relates. Title III: Regulatory Accounting - Regulatory Accounting Act of 1995 - Requires the President to submit to Congress biennial accounting statements estimating the costs of Federal regulatory programs and corresponding benefits over the next five fiscal years. Prescribes the general contents of such statements. (Sec. 303) Requires the President, acting through the OMB Director, to submit to Congress along with the accounting statement an associated report containing impact analyses and recommendations for reform. (Sec. 304) Requires the OMB Director to provide guidance to agencies to standardize cost and benefit measures and the format of the accounting statements. (Sec. 305) Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after each accounting statement and associated report submitted to Congress, to make recommendations to the President for improving such statements and reports. Title IV: Market Incentives and Economically Efficient Regulation - Market Incentives Act of 1995 - Requires agencies to ensure that major rules, especially those that limit the emission of environmental pollutants or otherwise govern the use of natural resources, operate through the application of market-based mechanisms (or comparable alternatives). (Sec. 403) Requires each agency to include in each proposed rule an assessment of market-based mechanisms, which shall be reviewed by OMB.

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6 official files

• Reported to Senate (text)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 25 May 1995

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• Reported to Senate (PDF)

  Reported to Senate · EN · 25 May 1995

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• Reported to Senate with amendment(s)

  summary · EN · 25 May 1995

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• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 27 January 1995

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• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 27 January 1995

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 27 January 1995

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