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119-s-1556119th Congress

Zero Based Regulations Act

Sponsored By: Senator Risch, James E. [R-ID]

Introduced

Summary

Zero-based, agency-wide review and rollback of federal regulations. The bill would require agencies to systematically prune and re-review their entire rulebooks, force repeals before many reviews, slow new rulemaking, and centralize oversight at OIRA.

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  • Agencies would name a rules coordinator and must review about 20 percent of their CFR parts each year. New CFR parts would get a retrospective review within five years and then every five years thereafter.
  • Most new rulemaking would be paused until the end of the fiscal year subject to narrow exceptions. Any new or reinstated rule must be offset by repealing or simplifying existing rules, be supported by standardized cost‑benefit analyses, and reinstated rules could not exceed 70 percent of the original estimated cost and require two public hearings.
  • The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs would publish the annual review schedule by January 1, create standard forms for prospective and retrospective analyses, and require posting of review dates and analyses on ecfr.gov and the Federal Register.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.

Annual reviews and reinstatement rules

If enacted, OIRA would publish a yearly schedule listing which CFR parts each agency must review. The schedule must aim to review about 20% of an agency's rules each year and be posted by January 1. Agencies would have to repeal any CFR part before its scheduled review. Agencies must use a standard retrospective analysis (OIRA to publish the process within 180 days) to check if rules meet statutory goals, justify their costs, and have less-restrictive alternatives. New CFR parts would be reviewed within 5 years and then every 5 years. To reinstate a repealed rule, agencies would follow the Administrative Procedure Act, post the retrospective analysis before at least two public hearings, and ensure the reinstated rule costs no more than 70% of the original estimated cost.

Temporary moratorium on new rules

If enacted, agencies could not begin new rulemaking from enactment until the last day of that fiscal year, except for narrow exceptions. Allowed rulemakings must be narrowly tailored (for example, to reduce burdens, remove obsolete rules, comply with a court order, or prevent a documented health or safety threat). New or amended rules must repeal or significantly simplify at least one existing rule unless OMB waives the requirement, include at least one public hearing, and use a standardized OIRA form for a prospective cost-benefit analysis. OIRA would create the standard form for agencies to use.

Agency coordinators and public dockets

If enacted, each agency head would name an officer in the general counsel's office to be the administrative rules coordinator. The coordinator would oversee the agency's work to follow this Act. Agencies would also have to put all proposed amendments to a CFR part into a single rulemaking docket and publish that docket on regulations.gov.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Risch, James E. [R-ID]

ID • R

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID]

    ID • R

    Sponsored 5/1/2025

  • Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN]

    TN • R

    Sponsored 5/6/2025

  • Sen. Schmitt, Eric [R-MO]

    MO • R

    Sponsored 5/6/2025

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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