I
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7900
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 9, 2024
Mr. Finstad (for himself, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Bacon, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. Van Orden, Mr. Newhouse, Mrs. Fischbach, Mr. Austin Scott of Georgia, Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr. Flood, and Mr. Moore of Alabama) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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
A BILL
To establish a regulatory review process for rules that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency plans to propose, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the EPA Accountability to Farm Country Act
.
Regulatory review by the Secretary of Agriculture
Review of regulatory actions
The Secretary shall review each covered publication not later than 30 days after the date on which such publication is issued to determine whether the covered publication may have a major economic impact on production or prices of agricultural commodities, retail food prices, or otherwise on the agricultural economy.
Information gathering
If the Secretary determines a covered publication may have a major economic impact on production or prices of agricultural commodities, retail food prices, and otherwise on the agricultural economy, within 30 days of such determination, the Secretary shall—
convene a review panel for analysis of the regulatory action that is the subject of the covered publication that includes—
the Secretary;
an employee of the Department of Agriculture;
an employee of the Environmental Protection Agency that is designated by the Administrator;
an employee from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the Office of Management and Budget that is designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and
four active producers from different geographic areas of the United States, and that represent a cross-section of agricultural commodities grown in the United States;
notify the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate—
that such a review panel is being convened; and
which covered publication is to be considered by such review panel;
solicit from the Administrator any information the Secretary determines necessary to facilitate a review of the covered publication; and
issue an economic impact statement for the publication item that contains a detailed estimate of potential costs to the agriculture sector of the United States.
Duties of the Administrator
The Administrator shall provide any information solicited by the Secretary under subsection (b)(3) for purposes of facilitating a review of the covered publication involved.
Duties and report of the review panel
Duties
A review panel convened under subsection (b) with respect to a covered publication shall—
review any information or material obtained by the Secretary and prepared in connection with the covered publication, including any draft proposed guidance, policy, memorandum, regulation, assessment, decision, or statement of general applicability and future effect;
collect advice and recommendations from agricultural entity representatives with respect to such publication; and
compile and analyze such advice and recommendations.
Report
Not later than 60 days after the date a review panel is convened under subsection (b) with respect to a covered publication, the review panel shall submit to the Secretary, the Administrator, the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report, which shall be made publicly available by the Secretary, describing—
the economic impact statement for the covered publication issued under subsection (b)(4);
the findings of the review panel; and
any recommendations of the Administrator to limit the scope of the covered publication to ensure the regulatory action that is the subject of such publication does not have a major economic impact on production and prices of agricultural commodities, retail food prices, and otherwise on the agricultural economy.
Economic impact of regulatory agenda
Any regulatory action that is the subject of a covered publication that has been reviewed by a review panel under subsection (b) that has been determined to have a major economic impact or affects a substantial number of agricultural entities shall not be finalized until the Administrator implements the recommendations made by the review panel, as described in subsection (d).
Definitions
In this section:
Administrator
The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Covered publication defined
The term covered publication means a publication that gives notice that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is preparing, or plans to prepare, any guidance, policy, memorandum, regulation, assessment, decision, or statement of general applicability and future effect, including—
any regulatory agenda of the Environmental Protection Agency published pursuant to section 602 of title 5, United States Code;
any regulatory plan or agenda published by the Environmental Protection Agency or the Office of Management and Budget pursuant to an Executive order, including Executive Order 12866; and
any other publication issued by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Director of the Office of Management and Budget that may reasonably be foreseen to contain such a notice.
Major economic impact
The term major economic impact means, with respect to a regulatory action that is the subject of a covered publication, that the action would—
have an annual effect on the economy of the United States of $50,000,000 or more;
cause a major increase in costs or prices for agricultural entities, consumers, individual industries, Federal, State, or local government agencies, or geographic regions; or
cause significant adverse effects on employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or the ability of United States-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises in domestic and export markets.
Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture.