{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr469-115/featured_congressional-article-i-powers-strengthening-act-1509098558.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr469-115/featured_large_congressional-article-i-powers-strengthening-act-1509098558.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr469-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-01-12","title_override":"Sunshine Act: Making it Harder For Agencies to Adopt Regulations Through “Sue-and-Settle” Arrangements","summary_override":"

This bill — known as the Sunshine Act — would restrict the ability of federal agencies to participate in so-called “sue and settle arrangements” by changing the process for developing consent decrees and settlement agreements that require agencies to take specific regulatory actions. Consent decrees allow agencies to take regulatory action without public notice or comment periods. They’re reached after an advocacy group files suit against a company or municipality for violating a law or an agency for missing a rulemaking deadline, causing regulators to pursue a settlement that dismisses the suit in exchange for regulatory action.

The bill would require that proposed consent decrees and settlement arrangements be published in the Federal Register for public comment 60 days before a court filing is made, and the federal agency would have to respond to all public comments. The head of a federal agency or the Attorney General (if the Dept. of Justice is involved) would be required to certify approval of certain types of settlement agreements and consent decrees. The same-day filing of complaints and pre-negotiated consent decrees and settlement agreements in cases looking to compel agency action would be prohibited.

A court would be prohibited from approving a consent decree or settlement agreement unless it incorporates adequate time and procedures for agencies to comply with statutes governing rulemaking. Courts would be required to closely scrutinize consent decrees and settlement agreements when agencies try to modify them, but modifications would be allowed if circumstances have changed.

The bill’s full title is the Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2017.

","official_title":"To impose certain limitations on consent decrees and settlement agreements by agencies that require the agencies to take regulatory action in accordance with the terms thereof, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Congressional Article I Powers Strengthening Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Sunshine for Regulations and Regulatory Decrees and Settlements Act of 2017\n\nThis bill establishes public notice and comment procedures and motion to intervene standards for civil actions seeking to compel agency action and alleging that an agency is unlawfully withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action, and for consent decrees or settlement agreements that require agency action, relating to a regulatory action that would affect the rights of: (1) private persons other than the person bringing the action; or (2) a state, local, or tribal government.\n\nThe bill sets forth requirements for:\n\n agencies against which such an action is brought to publish online, within 15 days after receipt, the notice of intent to sue and the complaint; courts to consider motions to intervene and allow amicus participation; and any settlement proceedings to include intervening parties and to be conducted pursuant to the mediation or alternative dispute resolution program of the court or by a distr...","summarized":true,"cost":9000000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that enacting this bill would cost $9 million over the 2018-2022 period.","impact":"Groups that would engage in sue and settle tactics; federal agencies; and the courts.","argument_for":"This bill would put a stop to “sue and settle” tactics that allow federal bureaucrats to implement regulations while sidestepping the transparency afforded in the normal rulemaking process through public comment periods.","argument_against":"This bill is a solution in search of a problem that imposes burdensome requirements on agencies and courts that delays litigation aimed at requiring federal agencies to fulfill their regulatory obligations.","bill_type":"hr","published":true,"type":"FederalBill","id":"hr469-115","bill_id":"hr469-115","formal_id":"H.R. 469","chamber":"house","congress":115,"last_action_at":"2017-10-26T00:00:00.000Z","active":true,"enacted":false,"enacted_at":null,"vetoed":false,"last_vote_at":"2017-10-25T22:28:07.000Z","debated_on":null,"congress_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/469","plain_text_url":"https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-115hr469rfs/html/BILLS-115hr469rfs.htm","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr469-115.png","congress_full_text_url":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th/house-bill/469/text","is_current_congress":false,"last_version_on":"2017-10-26","related_bill_ids":["hr1096-115","hr4070-115","hres577-115","s119-115"],"progress":"Passed House","house_passage_result":true,"senate_passage_result":false,"position_count":250,"committees":[{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU","subcommittee":false},{"name":"Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law","chamber":"house","committee_id":"HSJU05","subcommittee":true},{"name":"Committee on the Judiciary","chamber":"senate","committee_id":"SSJU","subcommittee":false}],"links":{"rollCalls":"/api/roll_calls?bill_id=hr469-115","details":"/api/bills/hr469-115/details","sharingMessage":"/api/sharing_messages/hr469-115","positionsFor":"/api/bills/hr469-115/positions/for","positionsAgainst":"/api/bills/hr469-115/positions/against"},"upcoming":false,"cosponsors_count":21,"slug":"hr469-115-congressional-article-i-powers-strengthening-act","latest_chamber_votes_id":"hr469-115","official_url":null,"target_video":true,"following":false,"vote_count":2669,"yea_vote_count":1036,"nay_vote_count":1623,"passed_house":true,"passed_senate":false,"vote_id":null,"my_position_id":null,"topic_ids":["economy","government","legal-affairs"],"issue_ids":["economy","government","legal-affairs"],"sponsor_id":148}],"votes":[],"issues":[{"id":"economy","name":"Economy","slug":"economy","description":"The US Economy is heavily impacted by Federal legislation. 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Sunshine Act: Making it Harder For Agencies to Adopt Regulations Through “Sue-and-Settle” Arrangements