This bill aims to modernize the review of federal regulations by requiring agencies to use technology to identify outdated, ineffective, or burdensome rules, and to make regulations available in a machine-readable format. It also mandates agencies to develop and implement plans for the retrospective review of their existing regulations.
Andy Biggs
Representative
AZ-5
The "Modernizing Retrospective Regulatory Review Act" aims to improve the efficiency and accuracy of federal regulation reviews through technology. It mandates a report on making regulations machine-readable, directs guidance on using technology for retrospective reviews, and requires agencies to submit and implement plans for reviewing their regulations using these technologies. This act seeks to identify and eliminate obsolete, ineffective, or excessively burdensome regulations.
Feds to Overhaul Regulatory Reviews with Tech: New Law Mandates Machine-Readable Rules and Smarter Scrutiny
The "Modernizing Retrospective Regulatory Review Act" pushes federal agencies to use technology to clean up their rulebooks. It's all about making regulations easier to find, understand, and update—potentially cutting red tape for businesses and making government a bit more efficient.
Digital Rulebooks on the Horizon
The law kicks off with a 180-day deadline for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other key agencies to report on making all federal regulations available in a machine-readable format. Think of it as moving from paper stacks to searchable databases. This could be a big deal for anyone who deals with regulations, from small business owners to legal teams, making it easier to find and understand the rules that apply.
Smarter Reviews with Tech
Within 18 months, the OMB has to issue guidance on how agencies can use technology to spot outdated, useless, or overly burdensome rules (SEC. 2). This isn't just about finding typos; it's about using tech to identify regulations that are actually causing problems or no longer make sense. The law specifically mentions identifying regulations that are "obsolete, ineffective, excessively burdensome, or contain errors" (SEC. 2). For example, a farmer dealing with outdated agricultural guidelines or a construction company navigating conflicting safety rules could see real benefits if this works as intended.
Agency Plans and Action
Within two years, every agency head needs to submit a plan for using this tech to review their regulations (SEC. 2). And it's not just planning—within 180 days of submitting the plan, they have to start doing it (SEC. 2). This is where the rubber meets the road. While the potential for improvement is there, the real test will be whether agencies actually prioritize these reviews and do them thoroughly. There is a possibility, for example, that an agency could do superficial reviews and not make significant changes.
The Bottom Line
This law has the potential to make a real difference in how regulations are managed. By pushing for machine-readable formats and tech-driven reviews, it could lead to a more streamlined and sensible regulatory system. But, like any new system, success hinges on how well it's implemented. If agencies don't fully commit or if the technology isn't up to par, this could end up being more about appearances than actual change.