Conservatives in the US Congress have launched the most vigorous attacks on federal agencies' ability to protect the public health and welfare in many years. This page contains a summary of current legislation.

For links to a collection of resources to help you fight back against these attacks, click here.

Pending Legislation

HR 10, The REINS Act, would require congressional approval of all major regulations issued by federal agencies before those regulations could go into effect. This legislation would cripple the ability of agencies to protect the public, give even more work and responsibility to an overwhelmed Congress, radically reinterpret bedrock principles of our democracy, and allow politics to be substituted for science. Read a detailed factsheet here.

S.602 (Collins), Clearing Unnecessary Regulatory Burdens (CURB) Act: This bill would add additional layers of requirements to federal agencies in order to issue new regulations, including more requirements for analyzing indirect costs. It would also prohibit agencies from issuing guidance documents without going through an elaborate public comment period.

S.358 (Roberts), Regulatory Responsibility for our Economy Act of 2011: This bill lays out a series of vague requirements for federal agencies in the rulemaking process including:

"identify means to achieve regulatory goals that are designed to promote innovation;" and

"identify and assess available alternatives to direct regulation, including providing economic incentives to encourage the desired behavior, such as user fees or marketable permits, or providing information upon which choices can be made by the public."

The bill also includes duplicative requirements for public participation and cost-benefit analysis, both of which are already adequately addressed by current law.

S.474 (Snowe), Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act of 2011. This amendment would amend the Regulatory Flexibility Act in ways that would impose severe burdens on federal agencies, delaying rulemaking and wasting staff and resources, while assuming that by virtue of size, small businesses pose little or no threat to public health and safety. Read a detailed factsheet here. (Note that the factsheet refers to the bill in its previous form as an amendment to another bill, but the content is essentially the same.)