S. 686

Unfunded Mandates Accountability Act of 2017

This bill revises rulemaking requirements under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 (UMRA) to: (1) require federal agencies to prepare and publish in the Federal Register an initial and final regulatory impact analysis prior to promulgating any proposed or final rule that may have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more (adjusted for inflation); (2) make consideration of the least burdensome alternative to a rule mandatory and require the selection of the least costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome alternative; (3) exempt from such requirements rules that concern monetary policy proposed or implemented by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or the Federal Open Market Committee; and (4) expand judicial review of agency rulemaking.

The bill amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to extend such Act's requirements to independent regulatory agencies.