[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2432 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 277
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2432
[Report No. 108-490, Part I]
To amend the Paperwork Reduction Act and titles 5 and 31, United States
Code, to reform Federal paperwork and regulatory processes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 11, 2003
Mr. Ose (for himself, Mr. Tanner, Mr. Tom Davis of Virginia, Mr. Moore,
Mr. Janklow, Mr. Matheson, and Mr. Ryan of Wisconsin) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government
Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
May 14, 2004
Additional sponsors: Mr. Istook, Mr. Schrock, and Mrs. Kelly
May 14, 2004
Reported from the Committee on Government Reform with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
May 14, 2004
Referral to the Committee on the Budget extended for a period ending
not later than May 14, 2004
May 14, 2004
Committee on the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June
11, 2003]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Paperwork Reduction Act and titles 5 and 31, United States
Code, to reform Federal paperwork and regulatory processes.
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 ``Paperwork and Regulatory
Improvements Act of 2004''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In 1980, in the Paperwork Reduction Act, Congress
established the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(OIRA) in the Office of Management and Budget. OIRA's principal
responsibility is to reduce the paperwork burden on the public
that results from the collection of information by or for the
Federal Government. In 2002, OIRA estimated that the paperwork
burden imposed on the public was 7.7 billion hours, at a cost
of $230 billion. The Internal Revenue Service accounted for 83
percent of the paperwork burden.
(2) In 1995, Congress amended the Paperwork Reduction Act
and established annual governmentwide paperwork reduction goals
of 10 percent for each of fiscal years 1996 and 1997, and 5
percent for each of fiscal years 1998 through 2001, but the
paperwork burden increased, rather than decreased, in each of
those fiscal years and fiscal year 2002. Both the Office of
Management and Budget and the Internal Revenue Service need to
devote additional attention to paperwork reduction.
(3) In 2002, the House Report accompanying the Treasury and
General Government Appropriations Act, 2003 (House Report 107-
575) stated, ``The Office of Management and Budget has reported
that paperwork burdens on Americans have increased in each of
the last six years. Since the Internal Revenue Service imposes
over 80 percent of these paperwork burdens, the Committee
believes that OMB should work to identify and review proposed
and existing IRS paperwork.''.
(4) One key to success in paperwork reduction is the Office
of Management and Budget's systematic review of every new and
revised agency paperwork proposal. Recent statutory exemptions
from that office's review responsibility, especially those
without any stated justification, should be removed.
(5) In 2000, researchers Mark Crain of George Mason
University and Thomas Hopkins of the Rochester Institute of
Technology, in their October 2001 publication titled ``The
Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms'', estimated that
Americans spend $843 billion annually to comply with Federal
regulations. Congress has a responsibility to review major
rules (as defined by section 804 of title 5, United States
Code) proposed by agencies, especially regulatory alternatives
and the costs and benefits associated with each of them. In
2000, in the Truth in Regulating Act, Congress established new
responsibility within the General Accounting Office to assist
Congress with this responsibility.
(6) In 1996, because of the increasing costs and
incompletely estimated benefits of Federal rules and paperwork,
Congress required the Office of Management and Budget for the
first time to submit an annual report to Congress on the total
costs and benefits to the public of Federal rules and paperwork
requirements, including an assessment of the effects of Federal
rules on the private sector and State and local governments. In
1998, Congress changed the annual report's due date to coincide
with the due date of the President's budget, so that Congress
and the public could be given an opportunity to simultaneously
review both the on-budget and off-budget costs associated with
the regulatory and paperwork requirements of each Federal
agency. In 2000, Congress made this a permanent annual
reporting requirement.
(7) The Office of Management and Budget requires agencies
to submit annual budget and paperwork burden estimates in order
to prepare certain required reports for Congress, but it does
not require agencies to submit estimates on costs and benefits
of agency rules and paperwork. The Office of Management and
Budget needs to require agencies to submit such estimates on
costs and benefits to help prepare the annual accounting
statement and associated report required under section 624 of
the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001.
SEC. 3. REDUCTION OF TAX PAPERWORK.
Section 3504 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding
at the end the following new subsection:
``(i) In carrying out subsection (c)(3), the Director shall (in
consultation with the Internal Revenue Service and the Office of Tax
Policy of the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Advocacy of
the Small Business Administration) conduct a review of the collections
of information conducted by the Internal Revenue Service to identify
actions that the Internal Revenue Service can take to reduce the
information collection burden imposed on small business concerns,
consistent with section 3520(c)(1) of this chapter. The Director shall
include the results of the review in the annual report that the
Director submits under section 3514 of this chapter for fiscal year
2006.''.
SEC. 4. REPEAL OF EXEMPTIONS FROM PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT, ETC.
(a) Repeals.--The following provisions of the Farm Security and
Rural Investment Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-171) are repealed:
(1) Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 1601(c)(2).
(2) Section 1601(c)(3).
(3) Section 2702(b)(1)(A).
(4) Section 2702(b)(2)(A).
(5) Section 2702(c).
(6) Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 6103(b)(2).
(7) Section 6103(b)(3).
(8) Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of section 10105(d)(2).
(9) Section 10105(d)(3).
(b) Effective Date.--The repeals of the provisions listed in
subsection (a) shall take effect 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 5. AMENDMENT OF TRUTH IN REGULATING ACT TO MAKE PERMANENT PILOT
PROJECT FOR REPORT ON RULES.
The purpose of this section is to make permanent the authority to
request the performance of regulatory analysis to enhance Congressional
responsibility for regulatory decisions developed under the laws
enacted by Congress. The Truth in Regulating Act of 2000 (Public Law
106-312; 5 U.S.C. 801 note) is amended--
(1) in the heading for section 4, by striking ``PILOT
PROJECT FOR'',
(2) by striking section 5 and redesignating section 6 as
section 5; and
(3) in section 5 (as redesignated by paragraph (2))--
(A) in the heading, by striking ``and duration of
pilot project'';
(B) in subsection (a), by striking ``(a) Effective
Date.--''; and
(C) by striking subsections (b) and (c).
SEC. 6. IMPROVED REGULATORY ACCOUNTING.
(a) Requirement for Agencies To Submit Information on Regulations
and Paperwork to OMB.--Section 624 of the Treasury and General
Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted into law by Public Law
106-554; 114 Stat. 2763A-161), is amended
(1) by redesignating subsections (b), (c), and (d) as
subsection (c), (d), and (e), respectively, and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsection:
``(b) Agency Submissions to OMB.--To carry out subsection (a), the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall require each
agency annually to submit to the Office of Management and Budget an
estimate of the total annual costs and benefits of Federal rules and
paperwork, to the extent feasible--
``(1) for the agency in the aggregate; and
``(2) for each agency program.''.
(b) Integration of OMB Accounting Statement and Report Into
President's Budget.--Section 624 of the Treasury and General Government
Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted into law by Public Law 106-554;
114 Stat. 2763A-161) is further amended in subsection (a), by striking
``with the budget'' and inserting ``as part of the budget''.
(c) Regulatory Budgeting.--(1) Chapter 11 of title 31, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1120. Regulatory budgeting
``(a) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, after
consultation with the head of each agency, shall designate not less
than three agencies (or offices within an agency) to participate in a
study on regulatory budgeting for fiscal years 2006 and 2007. The
designated agencies shall include three regulatory agencies or offices
from among the following: the Department of Labor, the Department of
Transportation, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the
Environmental Protection Agency.
``(b) The study shall address the preparation of regulatory
budgets. Such budgets shall include the presentation of the varying
estimated levels of benefits that would be associated with the
different estimated levels of costs with respect to the regulatory
alternatives under consideration by the agency (or office within the
agency).
``(c) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall
include, in the accounting statement and associated report submitted to
Congress for calendar year 2006 under section 624 of the Treasury and
General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (as enacted into law by
Public Law 106-554; 114 Stat. 2763A-161), a presentation of the
different levels of estimated regulatory benefits and costs with
respect to the regulatory alternatives under consideration for one or
more of the major regulatory programs of each of the agencies
designated under subsection (a).
``(d) In the accounting statement and associated report submitted
to Congress for calendar year 2009 under section 624 of the Treasury
and General Government Appropriations Act, 2001 (as so enacted), the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall include a report
on the study on regulatory budgeting. The report shall--
``(1) assess the feasibility and advisability of including
a regulatory budget as part of the annual budget submitted
under section 1105;
``(2) describe any difficulties encountered by the Office
of Management and Budget and the participating agencies in
conducting the study; and
``(3) recommend, to the extent the President considers
necessary or expedient, proposed legislation regarding
regulatory budgets.''.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is
amended by adding at the end the following new item:
``1120. Regulatory budgeting.''.
Union Calendar No. 277
108th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2432
[Report No. 108-490, Part I]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Paperwork Reduction Act and titles 5 and 31, United States
Code, to reform Federal paperwork and regulatory processes.
_______________________________________________________________________
May 14, 2004
Reported from the Committee on Government Reform with an amendment
May 14, 2004
Referral to the Committee on the Budget extended for a period ending
not later than May 14, 2004
May 14, 2004
Committee on the Budget discharged; committed to the Committee of the
Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed