119-s1556

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1556 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 1556

 To require the review of promulgated agency regulations and prohibit 
 rulemaking by agencies, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 May 1, 2025

 Mr. Risch (for himself and Mr. Crapo) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 
 and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To require the review of promulgated agency regulations and prohibit 
 rulemaking by agencies, 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 ``Zero Based Regulations Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Agency.--The term ``agency'' has the meaning given that 
 term in 

section 551 of title 5, United States Code.

    (2) Rule; regulation.--The terms ``rule'' and 
 ``regulation'' have the meaning given the term ``rule'' in 
 

section 551 of title 5, United States Code.

SEC. 3. ONGOING REVIEW PROCESS FOR EXISTING RULES.

    (a) In General.--Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, 
each agency shall conduct a review of each part of any title of the 
Code of Federal Regulations promulgated by the agency according to a 
schedule established by the Administrator of the Office of Information 
and Regulatory Affairs.

    (b) Schedule.--

    (1) In general.--The Administrator of the Office of 
 Information and Regulatory Affairs shall annually develop a 
 schedule of the parts of the Code of Federal Regulations that 
 agencies shall review under subsection

    (a) .

    (2) Volume of rules under review.--In developing the review 
 schedule required under paragraph

    (1) , the Administrator of the 
 Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs shall ensure that 
 the volume of rules that are reviewed by agencies in any given 
 year is such that the public can engage and provide meaningful 
 input in any individual rulemaking, with approximately 20 
 percent of the total regulations of an agency subject to review 
 each year.

    (3) Publication.--
        (A) In general.--The review schedule shall be 
 published on the website of the Office of Information 
 and Regulatory Affairs not later than January 1 of each 
 year.
        (B) Code of federal regulations.--The Director of 
 the Federal Register shall publish on the cover sheet 
 of each individual part in each new edition of the Code 
 of Federal Regulations the date of any completed or 
 scheduled review for that part.
            (c) Repeal of Rule Prior to Review.--Prior to the date of a review 
pursuant to the schedule developed by the Administrator of the Office 
of Information and Regulatory Affairs under subsection

    (b) , each agency 
shall repeal the part of the Code of Federal Regulations that is under 
review.
            (d) Retrospective Analysis.--

    (1) In general.--Each agency shall perform a retrospective 
 analysis of the part being reviewed to determine--
        (A) whether the goals of the rule are being 
 achieved, based on the legislative intent articulated 
 in the statute under which the rule was promulgated;
        (B) whether the goals of the rule justify the costs 
 of the rule; and
            (C) whether there are less restrictive alternatives 
 to accomplish the goals of the rule.

    (2) Process.--The Administrator of the Office of 
 Information and Regulatory Affairs shall--
        (A) develop a standardized process for the required 
 retrospective analysis; and
        (B) publish the process on the website of the 
 Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs not later 
 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

    (e) Reinstatement of a Rule.--

    (1) In general.--An agency seeking to reinstate a rule that 
 has been repealed under subsection
            (c) --
        (A) shall promulgate a new rule in accordance with 
 the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5, and 
 chapter 7, of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
 known as the ``Administrative Procedure Act''); and
        (B) shall not promulgate the rule without 
 completing a retrospective analysis under subsection
            (d) of the original rule.

    (2) Notice of proposed rulemaking.--
        (A) In general.--An agency shall publish a notice 
 of proposed rulemaking and hold, at minimum, 2 public 
 hearings designed to maximize public participation in 
 the rulemaking process.
        (B) Publication.--The agency shall publish a copy 
 of the retrospective analysis on the website of the 
 agency prior to the date of the public hearings 
 required under subparagraph
        (A) .

    (3) Regulatory burden.--A new rule promulgated by an agency 
 under this subsection shall not impose more than 70 percent of 
 the original estimated cost of the repealed version of the 
 rule.

SEC. 4. DESIGNATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE RULES COORDINATOR.

 Each agency head shall designate an officer within the office of 
the general counsel of the agency, to be known as the administrative 
rules coordinator, to oversee the implementation of this Act.

SEC. 5. PROCESS FOR NEW OR AMENDED RULES.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection
            (c) , and subject 
to the requirements under subsection
            (d) , effective on the date of 
enactment of this Act and ending on the last day of the fiscal year in 
which this Act is enacted, an agency may not conduct any new rulemaking 
action unless the following conditions are met:

    (1) The rulemaking is narrowly-tailored to achieve 1 or 
 more of the following objectives:
        (A) To reduce or remove a regulatory burden.
        (B) To remove obsolete, outdated, or unnecessary 
 regulations.
            (C) To comply with a new statutory requirement or 
 court order.
            (D) To prevent a substantiated and well-documented 
 threat to public health, peace, or safety.

    (2) At least 1 existing rule is repealed or significantly 
 simplified in conjunction with the new or amended rule so that 
 the net regulatory burden is decreased. Upon approval of the 
 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, this condition 
 shall not apply if the rulemaking is mandated by Federal law or 
 by court order.

    (3) At least 1 public hearing is conducted.

    (4) The agency--
        (A) completes a cost-benefit analysis of the new or 
 amended rule, using a standardized form developed by 
 the Administrator of the Office of Information and 
 Regulatory Affairs pursuant to subsection

    (b) ;
        (B) publishes such form on the website of the 
 agency not later than 90 days after the date on which 
 the review under subparagraph
        (A) begins; and
            (C) publishes a copy of the prospective analysis on 
 the website of the agency.

    (b) OIRA Forms.--The Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs shall develop a standardized form to be distributed 
to agencies for the purpose of conducting a prospective analysis of new 
or amended regulations.
            (c) Exceptions.--An agency may conduct a new rulemaking action 
during the period specified under subsection

    (a) if--

    (1) there is good cause for the rulemaking action under 
 

section 553

    (b)
        (B) of title 5, United States Code; or

    (2) the President waives the requirements under subsection

    (a) .
            (d) Additional Requirements.--

    (1) Single rulemaking docket.--All proposed amendments to 
 an existing part of a title of the Code of Federal Regulations 
 shall be contained in a single rulemaking docket and shall be 
 published on regulations.gov, or a successor website.

    (2) Review.--
        (A) In general.--If the new rulemaking action 
 results in a new part in the Code of Federal 
 Regulations, the agency shall conduct the retrospective 
 analysis described under 

section 3
            (d) on the new part 
 not later than 5 years after the rule becomes final and 
 every 5 years thereafter.
        (B) Publication of review date.--
            (i) Cover sheet.--The agency shall publish 
 the agency review date for any completed or 
 scheduled review on the cover sheet of each 
 individual part.
            (ii) Website.--The Director of the Federal 
 Register and the Director of the Government 
 Publishing Office shall publish the agency 
 review date for each completed and scheduled 
 review on ecfr.gov, or a successor website.

    (3) Amendments.--Effective on the date of enactment of this 
 Act and ending on the last day of the fiscal year in which this 
 Act is enacted, an agency shall, to the extent practicable, 
 only amend regulations in conjunction with the reinstatement of 
 those regulations under 

section 3

    (e) .
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