S 712119th CongressIn Committee

Regulation Decimation Act

Introduced: Feb 25, 2025

Standard Summary

Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

The Regulation Decimation Act would require federal agencies to repeal a set number of existing regulations before they may issue any new rule. Specifically, for ordinary rules, an agency must repeal at least 10 existing rules that are related to the proposed rule (to the extent practicable). For major rules, the agency must also repeal at least 10 related rules and ensure that the cost of the new major rule is less than or equal to the cost of the repealed rules; in addition, the Office of Management and Budget's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OMB/OIRA) must certify the cost relationship. Repealed rules must be published in the Federal Register. The bill defines relevant terms (agency, rule, major rule, state) and sets exclusions (e.g., internal agency policies, procurement, or revisions that reduce burdens). It also requires a quick initial agency review of rules within 90 days of enactment and a President’s report within 5 years on the status of rule reductions. In short, the bill would impose a broad, cost-conscious repeal-for-new-rule constraint on federal rulemaking, aiming to aggressively shrink the regulatory universe by forcing the cancellation of existing rules before new ones can be created.

Key Points

1Core requirement: No new rule may be issued unless the agency repeals at least 10 existing rules related to the new rule (to the extent practicable).
2Major rules: For major rules, the agency must repeal 10 related rules and the new major rule’s cost must be less than or equal to the cost of the repealed rules; OMB/OIRA must certify this cost equivalence.
3Publication of repeals: Any rule repealed under these provisions must be published in the Federal Register.
4Scope and exemptions: Applies to rules that impose costs on nongovernmental persons or state/local governments; does not apply to internal agency policies or procurement, and does not apply to revisions that reduce burdens.
5Reporting and transparency: Agencies must conduct an initial review of their rules within 90 days of enactment and report findings to Congress and OMB; the President must report within 5 years on the total number of rules in effect and progress on rule reduction.

Impact Areas

Primary group/area affected: Private sector entities and state/local governments subject to federal regulations would experience a markedly increased hurdle to obtain new rules, since each new rule would require the repeal of multiple existing rules.Secondary group/area affected: Federal agencies and their rulemaking processes, including OMB/OIRA oversight, compliance staff, and regulatory analysts, who would need to identify, justify, and publish repealed rules and manage cost calculations.Additional impacts:- Potential slowing or constraining of new regulatory protections, with uncertainty about which rules may be targeted for repeal.- Administrative and methodological challenges in determining which rules are “related” to a new rule and in calculating and certifying relative costs.- Increased emphasis on regulatory inventory and cost accounting, plus a required public reporting cadence that could influence legislative and executive budgeting and priorities over time.

Generated by gpt-5-nano on Nov 19, 2025