[Senate Report 117-25]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 79
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 117-25
_______________________________________________________________________
PROVIDING ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2021
__________
R E P O R T
of the
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
to accompany
S. 522
TO REQUIRE EACH AGENCY, IN PROVIDING NOTICE OF A
RULE MAKING, TO INCLUDE A LINK TO A 100-WORD
PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED RULE
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
June 21, 2021.--Ordered to be printed
_________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
19-010 WASHINGTON : 2021
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia RICK SCOTT, Florida
JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri
David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
Lena C. Chang, Director of Governmental Affairs and Senior Counsel
Yelena L. Tsilker, Professional Staff Member
Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
Andrew C. Dockham, Minority Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director
Amanda H. Neely, Minority Director of Governmental Affairs and General
Counsel
Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
Calendar No. 79
117th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 117-25
======================================================================
PROVIDING ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2021
_______
June 21, 2021.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 522]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 522) to require
each agency, in providing notice of a rule making, to include a
link to a 100-word plain language summary of the proposed rule,
having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
CONTENTS
Page
I. Purpose and Summary..............................................1
II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................2
III. Legislative History..............................................2
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis......................................2
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................3
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................3
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............4
I. Purpose and Summary
The Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of
2021 requires Federal agencies to include, as part of a notice
of proposed rule making (NPRM), a link to a 100-word-or-less
plain-language summary of the proposed rule. The summary itself
will be made available on the website regulations.gov.\1\
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\1\On February 13, 2019, the Committee approved S. 395, Providing
Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2019, which is substantially
similar to S. 522. Accordingly, this Committee report is in large part
a reproduction of the Committee report for S. 395, S. Rep. No. 116-14.
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II. Background and the Need for Legislation
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) forms the procedural
basis by which Federal agencies issue most regulations and
other policies.\2\ The APA, which has been called the result of
a ``fierce compromise,'' is intended to enable agencies to
engage in policymaking while promoting the interests of those
nongovernmental parties affected.\3\ Specifically, the
procedure outlined in Section 553 of the APA for so-called
``informal'' rule making ``establishes the minimum procedural
requirements'' that agencies must observe for most
regulations.\4\ Because regulations issued through such a
process are generally considered legally binding, the APA
formalizes a notice to the public of a forthcoming rule, and at
that point, establishes an early opportunity for the general
public to submit comments.
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\2\Pub. Law 79-404, 60 Stat. 237.
\3\George B. Shepherd, Fierce Compromise: The Administrative
Procedure Act Emerges from New Deal Politics, Northwestern University
Law Review, Vol. 90, No. 4 (1996).
\4\Emily S. Bremer, A Primer on the Informal Rulemaking Process,
Administrative Fix (blog), Administrative Conference of the United
States (May 10, 2013) (https://www.acus.gov/newsroom/administrative-
fix-blog/primer-informal-rulemaking-process); 5 U.S.C. Sec. 553.
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However, the public's ability to offer useful feedback
through comments is dependent upon the clarity and simplicity
of the proposal, especially for parties who may not be experts
in the particular subject of the rule. Therefore, this bill
offers a uniform and universally accessible standard for
agencies to better communicate their intended policies to the
public: a plain-language summary of 100 words or less made
available by agencies at regulations.gov.
III. Legislative History
Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced S. 522 on March 2,
2021, with Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), James E. Risch (R-
ID), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) as cosponsors. The bill was
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs. Senator Gary C. Peters (D-MI) joined as a cosponsor on
March 9, 2021.
The Committee considered S. 522 at a business meeting on
March 17, 2021. The Committee ordered S. 522 reported favorably
by voice vote en bloc. Senators Peters, Rosen, Padilla,
Portman, Johnson, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley were
present for the vote.
IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported
Section 1. Short title
This section provides the bill's short title, the
``Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2021.''
Section 2. Requirement to post a 100-word summary to regulations.gov
This section amends the list of information required for
inclusion when agencies issue a notice of proposed rule making
to add that they also include a link to a 100-word-or-less
plain-language summary of the proposed rule. The summary shall
be posted to regulations.gov.
V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact
Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs
on state, local, or tribal governments.
VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, March 29, 2021.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 522, the Providing
Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2021.
If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew
Pickford.
Sincerely,
Phillip L. Swagel,
Director.
Enclosure.
S. 522 would require agencies to post an Internet address
link for any proposed rule published in the Federal Register
that would take the reader to a concise summary of not more
than 100 words posted on regulations.gov. The Presidential
Memorandum on Plain Language issued on June 1, 1998, and
Executive Order 13563 already require agencies to use plain
language in all proposed and final rules. CBO expects that
preparing the short summary of proposed rules under S. 522
would not significantly increase agencies' administrative
costs. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing S. 522 would have
no significant cost over the 2021-2026 period.
Enacting the bill could affect direct spending by some
agencies that are allowed to use fees, receipts from the sale
of goods, and other collections to cover operating costs. CBO
estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those
agencies would be negligible because most of them can adjust
amounts collected to reflect changes in operating costs.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew
Pickford. The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss,
Deputy Director of Budget Analysis.
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by
S. 522 as reported are shown as follows (existing law proposed
to be omitted is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in
italic, and existing law in which no change is proposed is
shown in roman):
UNITED STATES CODE
* * * * * * *
TITLE 5--GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
* * * * * * *
PART I--THE AGENCIES GENERALLY
* * * * * * *
CHAPTER 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE
* * * * * * *
Subchapter II--Administrative Procedure
* * * * * * *
SEC. 553. RULE MAKING
(a) * * *
* * * * * * *
(b) * * *
(1) * * *
(2) reference to the legal authority under which the
rule is proposed; [and]
(3) either the terms or substance of the proposed
rule or a description of the subjects and issues
involved[.]; and
(4) the Internet address of a summary of not more
than 100 words in length of the proposed rule, in plain
language, that shall be posted on the Internet website
under section 206(d) of the E Government Act of 2002
(44 U.S.C. 3501 note) (commonly known as
regulations.gov).
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