Sponsors
The bill trades clearer, more targeted regulatory scope and periodic rule pruning (reducing burdens on some businesses and encouraging agency review) against heightened risk of lapsed protections, regulatory uncertainty, increased administrative costs, and reduced private enforcement and judicial oversight.
Utilities, energy companies, state officials, and courts get clearer definitions of which agencies and statutes govern energy and land rules, enabling faster, more targeted review of individual rule provisions and potentially reducing compliance burdens for regulated firms.
Small businesses and taxpayers face lower long-term compliance costs because rules automatically expire unless affirmatively justified, which can eliminate outdated or unnecessary regulatory burdens.
The public gains more opportunities to comment and agencies are incentivized to periodically review and modernize regulations, which can improve regulatory quality and force reassessment of costly or obsolete rules.
Consumers, rural communities, and the public could lose or face gaps in environmental and public-health protections if agencies fail to extend or are constrained from updating rules in time.
State and local governments, small businesses, and other regulated entities face substantial regulatory uncertainty because important rules could expire or change on short timelines, complicating planning and compliance.
Federal agencies will incur significant administrative burdens and costs to review, solicit comment on, and reissue many rules within tight deadlines, which could divert staff and resources away from enforcement and substantive policy work.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires listed federal energy agencies to put most covered regulations on automatic sunsets (1 year for amended existing rules; 5 years for new rules) unless timely extended or certified deregulatory.
Introduced July 24, 2025 by James Risch · Last progress July 24, 2025
Requires key federal energy agencies to put most existing and future energy regulations on automatic, time-limited sunsets unless the agency timely renews them. Agencies must amend existing covered rules within 90 days so they expire one year after that amendment, and new covered rules automatically expire within five years unless the agency certifies they are net-deregulatory. Extensions are possible in up to five-year increments but generally require public notice and comment focused on costs and benefits; if an expiration is not extended, the rule ceases to have effect and must be removed from the Code of Federal Regulations. Also defines which agencies and statutory authorities are covered, preserves executive-branch authority, disclaims creation of private rights, and includes a severability clause so the rest of the law remains if a provision is held invalid.