Zero Based Regulations Act
The Zero Based Regulations Act would fundamentally restructure how federal rules are created, reviewed, and retained. It establishes an aggressive, time-bound program to reevaluate every CFR part promulgated by a federal agency, repealing each part before it is reviewed and requiring a retrospective analysis to assess whether the rule still serves its statutory purpose, whether costs are justified, and whether less restrictive options exist. If a rule is reinstated, it must go through APA rulemaking, include at least two public hearings, publish the retrospective analysis, and limit the new rule’s burden to 70% of the original. The Act also imposes a sweeping constraint on new or amended rules for the initial period after enactment: rulemaking would be allowed only if it narrowly targets burden reduction or removal of obsolete regulations, requires the repeal or significant simplification of an existing rule, includes at least one public hearing, and completes a standardized cost-benefit analysis. A designated administrative rules coordinator would run the process, and schedules, review dates, and public postings would be required for transparency. Overall, the bill aims to dramatically shrink and revalidate the regulatory code by forcing repeal and reanalysis, elevating public input, and prioritizing burden reduction.
Key Points
- 1Ongoing, agency-by-agency review of every CFR part with a schedule set by the OIRA Administrator, targeting about 20% of an agency’s regulations per year and published annually.
- 2Before reviewing a CFR part, the agency must repeal that part; if reinstated later, it must undergo APA rulemaking with retrospective analysis and at least two public hearings, and the new rule cannot exceed 70% of the original cost.
- 3Mandatory retrospective analysis of each reviewed rule to assess statutory intent, costs, and less restrictive alternatives; a standardized analysis process must be published by OIRA.
- 4A new “Administrative Rules Coordinator” in each agency to oversee implementation and coordination.
- 5A restrictive process for new or amended rules during the enactment period: rules must narrowly target burden reduction, repeal or simplify an existing rule, include at least one public hearing, and be accompanied by a standardized cost-benefit analysis; publication of the analysis is required.
- 6All proposed amendments to an existing CFR title must be in a single rulemaking docket; any new CFR part triggers a five-year retrospective review, and review dates must be published on cover sheets and ecfr.gov.
- 7Provisions to restrict amendments to align with reinstatement (to the extent practicable) and require regulatory burden considerations in the new rulemaking.