Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB76 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 76
5	5	To amend title 5, United States Code, to improve the effectiveness of major
6	6	rules in accomplishing their regulatory objectives by promoting retrospec-
7	7	tive review, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	JANUARY13, 2025
10	10	Mr. L
11	11	ANKFORD(for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill;
12	12	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu-
13	13	rity and Governmental Affairs
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend title 5, United States Code, to improve the effec-
16	16	tiveness of major rules in accomplishing their regulatory
17	17	objectives by promoting retrospective review, and for
18	18	other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Setting Manageable 4
23	23	Analysis Requirements in Text Act of 2025’’ or the 5
24	24	‘‘SMART Act of 2025’’. 6
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28	28	SEC. 2. INCORPORATING RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW INTO 1
29	29	NEW MAJOR RULES. 2
30	30	(a) I
31	31	NGENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 3
32	32	5, United States Code, is amended— 4
33	33	(1) in section 551— 5
34	34	(A) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘and’’ 6
35	35	at the end; 7
36	36	(B) in paragraph (14), by striking the pe-8
37	37	riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 9
38	38	(C) by adding at the end the following: 10
39	39	‘‘(15) ‘Administrator’ means the Administrator 11
40	40	of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs 12
41	41	of the Office of Management and Budget established 13
42	42	under section 3503 of title 44 and any successor to 14
43	43	that office; and 15
44	44	‘‘(16) ‘major rule’ means any rule that the Ad-16
45	45	ministrator finds has resulted in or is likely to result 17
46	46	in— 18
47	47	‘‘(A) an annual effect on the economy of 19
48	48	$100,000,000 or more; 20
49	49	‘‘(B) a major increase in costs or prices for 21
50	50	consumers, individual industries, Federal, 22
51	51	State, or local government agencies, or geo-23
52	52	graphic regions; or 24
53	53	‘‘(C) significant adverse effects on competi-25
54	54	tion, employment, investment, productivity, in-26
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58	58	novation, health, safety, the environment, or the 1
59	59	ability of United States-based enterprises to 2
60	60	compete with foreign-based enterprises in do-3
61	61	mestic and export markets.’’; and 4
62	62	(2) in section 553, by adding at the end the fol-5
63	63	lowing: 6
64	64	‘‘(f) M
65	65	AJORRULEFRAMEWORKS.— 7
66	66	‘‘(1) I
67	67	N GENERAL.—On and after the date that 8
68	68	is 1 year after the date of enactment of this sub-9
69	69	section— 10
70	70	‘‘(A) with respect to a proposed rule pub-11
71	71	lished by an agency in the Federal Register 12
72	72	that the agency reasonably expects would meet 13
73	73	the definition of a major rule, the agency shall 14
74	74	include a potential framework for assessing the 15
75	75	implemented rule, which shall include a general 16
76	76	statement of how the agency intends to measure 17
77	77	the effectiveness of the rule; and 18
78	78	‘‘(B) with respect to a final major rule 19
79	79	published by an agency in the Federal Register, 20
80	80	including a major rule that the agency did not 21
81	81	initially reasonably expect would meet the defi-22
82	82	nition of a major rule under subparagraph (A), 23
83	83	the agency shall include a framework for assess-24
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87	87	ing the major rule under paragraph (2), which 1
88	88	shall include— 2
89	89	‘‘(i) a statement of the regulatory ob-3
90	90	jectives of the major rule, including a sum-4
91	91	mary of the societal benefit and cost of the 5
92	92	major rule; 6
93	93	‘‘(ii) the methodology by which the 7
94	94	agency plans to analyze the qualitative and 8
95	95	quantitative outcomes of the major rule so 9
96	96	that the agency can assess— 10
97	97	‘‘(I) the effectiveness and bene-11
98	98	fits of the major rule in producing the 12
99	99	regulatory objectives of the major 13
100	100	rule; and 14
101	101	‘‘(II) the effects and costs of the 15
102	102	major rule on regulated and other af-16
103	103	fected entities; 17
104	104	‘‘(iii) a plan for gathering data, in-18
105	105	cluding public input, regarding the meth-19
106	106	odology described in clause (ii) on an ongo-20
107	107	ing basis or at periodic times; and 21
108	108	‘‘(iv) a time frame, as appropriate to 22
109	109	the major rule and not more than 10 years 23
110	110	after the effective date of the major rule, 24
111	111	under which the agency shall conduct the 25
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115	115	assessment of the major rule in accordance 1
116	116	with paragraph (2)(A). 2
117	117	‘‘(2) A
118	118	SSESSMENT.— 3
119	119	‘‘(A) I
120	120	N GENERAL.—Each agency shall as-4
121	121	sess the data gathered under paragraph 5
122	122	(1)(B)(iii), using the methodology set forth in 6
123	123	paragraph (1)(B)(ii) or any other appropriate 7
124	124	methodology developed after the issuance of a 8
125	125	final major rule— 9
126	126	‘‘(i) to analyze how the actual benefits 10
127	127	and costs of the major rule may have var-11
128	128	ied from those anticipated at the time the 12
129	129	major rule was issued; and 13
130	130	‘‘(ii) to determine whether— 14
131	131	‘‘(I) the major rule is accom-15
132	132	plishing the regulatory objective of the 16
133	133	major rule; 17
134	134	‘‘(II) the major rule has been 18
135	135	rendered unnecessary, taking into 19
136	136	consideration— 20
137	137	‘‘(aa) changes in the subject 21
138	138	area affected by the major rule; 22
139	139	and 23
140	140	‘‘(bb) whether the major 24
141	141	rule overlaps with, duplicates, or 25
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145	145	conflicts with other rules or, to 1
146	146	the extent feasible, State and 2
147	147	local government regulations; 3
148	148	‘‘(III) the major rule needs to be 4
149	149	expanded, streamlined, or otherwise 5
150	150	modified in order to accomplish the 6
151	151	regulatory objective of the major rule; 7
152	152	and 8
153	153	‘‘(IV) other alternatives to the 9
154	154	major rule or a modification of the 10
155	155	major rule could better achieve the 11
156	156	regulatory objective of the major rule 12
157	157	by increasing the benefits of the 13
158	158	major rule or imposing a smaller bur-14
159	159	den on society, or both, taking into 15
160	160	consideration any changes in the regu-16
161	161	latory environment that may have 17
162	162	made the major rule more or less nec-18
163	163	essary or effective, and any cost al-19
164	164	ready incurred. 20
165	165	‘‘(B) D
166	166	IFFERENT METHODOLOGY .—If an 21
167	167	agency uses a methodology other than the 22
168	168	methodology set forth in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) 23
169	169	to assess data under subparagraph (A), the 24
170	170	agency shall include notification of the revised 25
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174	174	methodology and an explanation of the changes 1
175	175	in circumstances that necessitated the use of 2
176	176	that other methodology as part of the notice re-3
177	177	quired under subparagraph (D). 4
178	178	‘‘(C) S
179	179	UBSEQUENT ASSESSMENTS .—If, 5
180	180	after an assessment of a major rule under sub-6
181	181	paragraph (A), an agency determines that the 7
182	182	major rule will remain in effect with or without 8
183	183	modification, the agency shall, in consultation 9
184	184	with the Administrator, include with the assess-10
185	185	ment produced under subparagraph (A) a list of 11
186	186	circumstances or events that would necessitate 12
187	187	a subsequent review in accordance with sub-13
188	188	paragraph (A) to ensure that the major rule 14
189	189	continues to meet the regulatory objective of 15
190	190	the major rule. 16
191	191	‘‘(D) P
192	192	UBLICATION.—Not later than 180 17
193	193	days after the date on which an agency com-18
194	194	pletes an assessment of a major rule under sub-19
195	195	paragraph (A), the agency shall publish promi-20
196	196	nently on the website of the agency the results 21
197	197	of the assessment, including the circumstances 22
198	198	or events that would necessitate a subsequent 23
199	199	assessment of the major rule under subpara-24
200	200	graph (C). 25
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204	204	‘‘(3) AGENCY HEAD RESPONSIBILITIES .—The 1
205	205	head of each agency shall— 2
206	206	‘‘(A) oversee the timely compliance of the 3
207	207	agency with this subsection; and 4
208	208	‘‘(B) ensure that the results of each as-5
209	209	sessment conducted under paragraph (2) are 6
210	210	published promptly in accordance with para-7
211	211	graph (2)(D). 8
212	212	‘‘(4) OMB
213	213	OVERSIGHT.—The Administrator 9
214	214	shall— 10
215	215	‘‘(A) issue guidance for agencies regarding 11
216	216	the development of the framework under para-12
217	217	graph (1) and the conduct of the assessments 13
218	218	under paragraph (2)(A); 14
219	219	‘‘(B) encourage and assist agencies to 15
220	220	streamline and coordinate the assessment of 16
221	221	major rules with similar or related regulatory 17
222	222	objectives; 18
223	223	‘‘(C) exempt an agency from including the 19
224	224	framework required under paragraph (1)(B) 20
225	225	when publishing a final major rule, if— 21
226	226	‘‘(i) the agency did not issue a notice 22
227	227	of proposed rule making for the major rule 23
228	228	in order to provide a timely response to an 24
229	229	emergency or comply with a statutorily im-25
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233	233	posed deadline, in accordance with para-1
234	234	graph (6)(B); or 2
235	235	‘‘(ii) the Administrator determines 3
236	236	that— 4
237	237	‘‘(I) the major final rule falls 5
238	238	within a category of major rules that 6
239	239	are routine or periodic in nature, in-7
240	240	cluding those issued on an annual 8
241	241	basis in order to put in place annual 9
242	242	spending programs; or 10
243	243	‘‘(II) for any other reason, the 11
244	244	conduct of an assessment would be 12
245	245	impracticable, unnecessary, or con-13
246	246	trary to the public interest; and 14
247	247	‘‘(D) extend the deadline specified by an 15
248	248	agency for an assessment of a major rule under 16
249	249	paragraph (1)(B)(iv) or paragraph (2)(C) for a 17
250	250	period of not more than 90 days if the agency 18
251	251	justifies why the agency is unable to complete 19
252	252	the assessment by that deadline. 20
253	253	‘‘(5) R
254	254	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing in 21
255	255	this subsection may be construed to affect— 22
256	256	‘‘(A) the authority of an agency to assess 23
257	257	or modify a major rule of the agency earlier 24
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261	261	than the end of the time frame specified for the 1
262	262	major rule under paragraph (1)(B)(iv); or 2
263	263	‘‘(B) any other provision of law that re-3
264	264	quires an agency to conduct retrospective re-4
265	265	views of rules issued by the agency. 5
266	266	‘‘(6) A
267	267	PPLICABILITY.— 6
268	268	‘‘(A) I
269	269	N GENERAL.—This subsection shall 7
270	270	not apply to— 8
271	271	‘‘(i) a major rule of an agency— 9
272	272	‘‘(I) that the Administrator re-10
273	273	viewed before the date of enactment of 11
274	274	this subsection; 12
275	275	‘‘(II) for which the agency is re-13
276	276	quired to conduct a retrospective re-14
277	277	view under— 15
278	278	‘‘(aa) section 2222 of the 16
279	279	Economic Growth and Regu-17
280	280	latory Paperwork Reduction Act 18
281	281	of 1996 (12 U.S.C. 3311); 19
282	282	‘‘(bb) section 170(d) of the 20
283	283	Financial Stability Act of 2010 21
284	284	(12 U.S.C. 5370(d)); or 22
285	285	‘‘(cc) any other provision of 23
286	286	law with requirements that the 24
287	287	Administrator determines— 25
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291	291	‘‘(AA) include robust 1
292	292	public participation; 2
293	293	‘‘(BB) include signifi-3
294	294	cant agency consideration 4
295	295	and analysis of whether the 5
296	296	rule is achieving the regu-6
297	297	latory objective of the rule; 7
298	298	and 8
299	299	‘‘(CC) meet, are sub-9
300	300	stantially similar to, or ex-10
301	301	ceed the requirements of 11
302	302	this subsection; 12
303	303	‘‘(III) for which the authorizing 13
304	304	statute of the rule is subject to peri-14
305	305	odic authorization by Congress not 15
306	306	less frequently than once every 10 16
307	307	years; or 17
308	308	‘‘(IV) for which the authorizing 18
309	309	statute of the rule requires the pro-19
310	310	mulgation of a new or revised rule not 20
311	311	less frequently than once every 10 21
312	312	years; or 22
313	313	‘‘(ii) interpretative rules, general 23
314	314	statements of policy, or rules of agency or-24
315	315	ganization, procedure, or practice. 25
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319	319	‘‘(B) GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTION .—In the 1
320	320	case of a major rule for which an agency has 2
321	321	not issued a notice of proposed rule making, the 3
322	322	agency shall publish the framework required 4
323	323	under paragraph (1)(B) in the Federal Register 5
324	324	not later than 6 months after the date on which 6
325	325	the agency publishes the final major rule. 7
326	326	‘‘(7) J
327	327	UDICIAL REVIEW.— 8
328	328	‘‘(A) I
329	329	N GENERAL.—Judicial review of 9
330	330	agency compliance with this subsection— 10
331	331	‘‘(i) shall be strictly limited to— 11
332	332	‘‘(I) whether an agency published 12
333	333	the framework for assessment of a 13
334	334	major rule described in paragraph (1); 14
335	335	or 15
336	336	‘‘(II) whether an agency pub-16
337	337	lished the assessment or subsequent 17
338	338	assessment of a major rule described 18
339	339	in subparagraphs (A), (C), and (D) of 19
340	340	paragraph (2); and 20
341	341	‘‘(ii) shall not include a substantive 21
342	342	review of the framework, assessment, or 22
343	343	action of an agency under this subsection. 23
344	344	‘‘(B) R
345	345	EMEDY AVAILABLE .—In granting 24
346	346	relief in an action brought under subparagraph 25
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350	350	(A), a court may only issue an order remanding 1
351	351	the major rule to the agency to comply with 2
352	352	paragraph (1) or subparagraph (A), (C), or (D) 3
353	353	of paragraph (2), as applicable. 4
354	354	‘‘(C) E
355	355	FFECTIVE DATE OF MAJOR RULE .— 5
356	356	If, in an action brought under subparagraph 6
357	357	(A)(i), a court determines that the agency did 7
358	358	not comply, the major rule shall take effect not-8
359	359	withstanding any order issued by the court. 9
360	360	‘‘(D) A
361	361	DMINISTRATOR.—Any determina-10
362	362	tion, action, or inaction of the Administrator 11
363	363	shall not be subject to judicial review.’’. 12
364	364	(b) A
365	365	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 13
366	366	are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 14
367	367	necessary to carry out the amendments made by sub-15
368	368	section (a). 16
369	369	Æ
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