FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 19, 1995
CONTACT: Dana Hagerty (202) 225-2165
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 1995 has passed the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and is now headed to the House floor. Congressman Collin C. Peterson (DFL-7th District) is a cosponsor of the legislation.
"This bill forces federal regulators to examine the impact of the rules and regulations they create. If the bureaucrats can't justify their regulations and rules, then the regulations themselves will sunset," Peterson said. "We are wasting lots of time and money on regulations that make no sense, and this bill creates an orderly process for getting rid of the ones that have become obsolete or unnecessary.
"It would take the average person 8 years to read the more than 200 volumes of federal regulations that already exist," Peterson said. "That is ridiculous. We have to change the way the federal bureaucracy works and this bill can make that happen."
The Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 1995 will require federal agencies to review their existing regulations over a staggered seven year period. New regulations would be reviewed on a revolving calendar, depending on the nature of the rule. Furthermore, federal agencies will have to review their rules in compliance with cost benefit or risk assessment requirements in current law.
Peterson is the ranking minority member of the Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee on National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs. The subcommittee passed similar legislation earlier this year.