Sponsors (3)
Forces agencies to repeal at least three existing notice-and-comment rules before issuing a new rule and requires cost parity for major rules certified by OMB/OIRA.
Official title: Require each agency to repeal 3 existing regulations before issuing a new regulation, and for other purposes.
Introduced January 8, 2025 by Eric Stephen Schmitt · Last progress January 8, 2025
The bill seeks to increase regulatory transparency and reduce regulatory growth by forcing agencies to repeal rules before adding new ones, but that tradeoff risks delaying or blocking needed protections, expanding federal reach into tribes and territories, and prompting administrative burden or gaming that may undermine meaningful regulatory improvement.
State governments, the District, U.S. territories, and federally recognized tribes will have clearer, uniform rules because the bill clarifies statutory terms like “agency,” “rule,” and “State,” reducing ambiguity about coverage and likely cutting legal disputes over applicability.
State and local governments and small businesses could face fewer new regulatory requirements and lower compliance costs if agencies repeal three existing rules before adding a new one, potentially reducing regulatory burden.
Federal policymakers, taxpayers, and federal staff gain greater central oversight and transparency because the bill requires OIRA cost certifications for major rules and recurring GAO reporting on rule counts and estimated costs.
Federally recognized tribes and residents of U.S. territories could see expanded federal regulatory reach because the bill’s broad definition of “State” expressly includes tribes and territories, potentially affecting tribal sovereignty and local control.
Agencies, states, localities, and the public may be left without needed safety or protective regulations because agencies cannot issue related new protections until they find and repeal three qualifying rules, delaying or blocking important safeguards.
Taxpayers and regulated entities could lose beneficial major regulations because the requirement that a major rule’s cost be no greater than the combined cost of three repealed rules discourages issuance of major rules with upfront costs but net benefits.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Requires federal agencies to repeal at least three existing rules before issuing a new one (the replacements should be related where practicable). For major rules, the new rule’s estimated cost must not exceed the combined cost of the three repealed rules, and OMB’s OIRA must certify cost parity. The bill limits the pool of qualifying repeals to rules adopted through notice-and-comment rulemaking and excludes interpretative rules, policy statements, and purely internal agency rules. It also directs GAO to report to Congress on the count and estimated total cost of rules in effect (initially within one year, then every five years).