H.R. 6622

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6622 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6622

To impose certain limitations on consent decrees and settlement 
agreements by agencies that require the agencies to take regulatory 
action in accordance with the terms thereof, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 11, 2025

Mr. Cline (for himself and Mr. Tiffany) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To impose certain limitations on consent decrees and settlement 
agreements by agencies that require the agencies to take regulatory 
action in accordance with the terms thereof, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Sunshine for Regulatory Decrees and 
Settlements Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act--
(1) the terms ``agency'' and ``agency action'' have the 
meanings given those terms under section 551 of title 5, United 
States Code;
(2) the term ``covered civil action'' means a civil 
action--
(A) seeking to compel agency action;
(B) alleging that an agency is unlawfully 
withholding or unreasonably delaying an agency action 
relating to a regulatory action that would affect the 
rights of--
(i) private persons other than the person 
bringing the action; or
(ii) a State, local, or tribal government; 
and
(C) brought under--
(i) chapter 7 of title 5, United States 
Code; or
(ii) any other statute authorizing such an 
action;
(3) the term ``covered consent decree'' means--
(A) a consent decree entered into in a covered 
civil action; and
(B) any other consent decree that requires agency 
action relating to a regulatory action that affects the 
rights of--
(i) private persons other than the person 
bringing the action; or
(ii) a State, local, or tribal government;
(4) the term ``covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement'' means a covered consent decree and a covered 
settlement agreement; and
(5) the term ``covered settlement agreement'' means--
(A) a settlement agreement entered into in a 
covered civil action; and
(B) any other settlement agreement that requires 
agency action relating to a regulatory action that 
affects the rights of--
(i) private persons other than the person 
bringing the action; or
(ii) a State, local, or tribal government.

SEC. 3. CONSENT DECREE AND SETTLEMENT REFORM.

(a) Pleadings and Preliminary Matters.--
(1) In general.--In any covered civil action, the agency 
against which the covered civil action is brought shall publish 
the notice of intent to sue and the complaint in a readily 
accessible manner, including by making the notice of intent to 
sue and the complaint available online not later than 15 days 
after receiving service of the notice of intent to sue or 
complaint, respectively.
(2) Entry of a covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement.--A party may not make a motion for entry of a 
covered consent decree or to dismiss a civil action pursuant to 
a covered settlement agreement until after the end of 
proceedings in accordance with paragraph (1) and subparagraphs 
(A) and (B) of paragraph (2) of subsection (d) or subsection 
(d)(3)(A), whichever is later.
(b) Intervention.--
(1) Rebuttable presumption.--In considering a motion to 
intervene in a covered civil action or a civil action in which 
a covered consent decree or settlement agreement has been 
proposed that is filed by a person who alleges that the agency 
action in dispute would affect the person, the court shall 
presume, subject to rebuttal, that the interests of the person 
would not be represented adequately by the existing parties to 
the action.
(2) State, local, and tribal governments.--In considering a 
motion to intervene in a covered civil action or a civil action 
in which a covered consent decree or settlement agreement has 
been proposed that is filed by a State, local, or tribal 
government, the court shall take due account of whether the 
movant--
(A) administers jointly with an agency that is a 
defendant in the action the statutory provisions that 
give rise to the regulatory action to which the action 
relates; or
(B) administers an authority under State, local, or 
tribal law that would be preempted by the regulatory 
action to which the action relates.
(c) Settlement Negotiations.--Efforts to settle a covered civil 
action or otherwise reach an agreement on a covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement shall--
(1) be conducted pursuant to the mediation or alternative 
dispute resolution program of the court or by a district judge 
other than the presiding judge, magistrate judge, or special 
master, as determined appropriate by the presiding judge; and
(2) include any party that intervenes in the action.
(d) Publication of and Comment on Covered Consent Decrees or 
Settlement Agreements.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 60 days before the date on 
which a covered consent decree or settlement agreement is filed 
with a court, the agency seeking to enter the covered consent 
decree or settlement agreement shall publish in the Federal 
Register and online--
(A) the proposed covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement; and
(B) a statement providing--
(i) the statutory basis for the covered 
consent decree or settlement agreement; and
(ii) a description of the terms of the 
covered consent decree or settlement agreement, 
including whether it provides for the award of 
attorneys' fees or costs and, if so, the basis 
for including the award.
(2) Public comment.--
(A) In general.--An agency seeking to enter a 
covered consent decree or settlement agreement shall 
accept public comment during the period described in 
paragraph (1) on any issue relating to the matters 
alleged in the complaint in the applicable civil action 
or addressed or affected by the proposed covered 
consent decree or settlement agreement.
(B) Response to comments.--An agency shall respond 
to any comment received under subparagraph (A).
(C) Submissions to court.--When moving that the 
court enter a proposed covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement or for dismissal pursuant to a 
proposed covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement, an agency shall--
(i) inform the court of the statutory basis 
for the proposed covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement and its terms;
(ii) submit to the court a summary of the 
comments received under subparagraph (A) and 
the response of the agency to the comments;
(iii) submit to the court a certified index 
of the administrative record of the notice and 
comment proceeding; and
(iv) make the administrative record 
described in clause (iii) fully accessible to 
the court.
(D) Inclusion in record.--The court shall include 
in the court record for a civil action the certified 
index of the administrative record submitted by an 
agency under subparagraph (C)(iii) and any documents 
listed in the index which any party or amicus curiae 
appearing before the court in the action submits to the 
court.
(3) Public hearings permitted.--
(A) In general.--After providing notice in the 
Federal Register and online, an agency may hold a 
public hearing regarding whether to enter into a 
proposed covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement.
(B) Record.--If an agency holds a public hearing 
under subparagraph (A)--
(i) the agency shall--
(I) submit to the court a summary 
of the proceedings;
(II) submit to the court a 
certified index of the hearing record; 
and
(III) provide access to the hearing 
record to the court; and
(ii) the full hearing record shall be 
included in the court record.
(4) Mandatory deadlines.--If a proposed covered consent 
decree or settlement agreement requires an agency action by a 
date certain, the agency shall, when moving for entry of the 
covered consent decree or settlement agreement or dismissal 
based on the covered consent decree or settlement agreement, 
inform the court of--
(A) any required regulatory action the agency has 
not taken that the covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement does not address;
(B) how the covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement, if approved, would affect the discharge of 
the duties described in subparagraph (A); and
(C) why the effects of the covered consent decree 
or settlement agreement on the manner in which the 
agency discharges its duties is in the public interest.
(e) Submission by the Government.--
(1) In general.--For any proposed covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement that contains a term described in 
paragraph (2), the Attorney General or, if the matter is being 
litigated independently by an agency, the head of the agency 
shall submit to the court a certification that the Attorney 
General or head of the agency approves the proposed covered 
consent decree or settlement agreement. The Attorney General or 
head of the agency shall personally sign any certification 
submitted under this paragraph.
(2) Terms.--A term described in this paragraph is--
(A) in the case of a covered consent decree, a term 
that--
(i) converts into a nondiscretionary duty a 
discretionary authority of an agency to 
propose, promulgate, revise, or amend 
regulations;
(ii) commits an agency to expend funds that 
have not been appropriated and that have not 
been budgeted for the regulatory action in 
question;
(iii) commits an agency to seek a 
particular appropriation or budget 
authorization;
(iv) divests an agency of discretion 
committed to the agency by statute or the 
Constitution of the United States, without 
regard to whether the discretion was granted to 
respond to changing circumstances, to make 
policy or managerial choices, or to protect the 
rights of third parties; or
(v) otherwise affords relief that the court 
could not enter under its own authority upon a 
final judgment in the civil action; or
(B) in the case of a covered settlement agreement, 
a term--
(i) that provides a remedy for a failure by 
the agency to comply with the terms of the 
covered settlement agreement other than the 
revival of the civil action resolved by the 
covered settlement agreement; and
(ii) that--
(I) interferes with the authority 
of an agency to revise, amend, or issue 
rules under the procedures set forth in 
chapter 5 of title 5, United States 
Code, or any other statute or Executive 
order prescribing rulemaking procedures 
for a rulemaking that is the subject of 
the covered settlement agreement;
(II) commits the agency to expend 
funds that have not been appropriated 
and that have not been budgeted for the 
regulatory action in question; or
(III) for such a covered settlement 
agreement that commits the agency to 
exercise in a particular way discretion 
which was committed to the agency by 
statute or the Constitution of the 
United States to respond to changing 
circumstances, to make policy or 
managerial choices, or to protect the 
rights of third parties.
(f) Review by Court.--
(1) Amicus.--A court considering a proposed covered consent 
decree or settlement agreement shall presume, subject to 
rebuttal, that it is proper to allow amicus participation 
relating to the covered consent decree or settlement agreement 
by any person who filed public comments or participated in a 
public hearing on the covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement under paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (d).
(2) Review of deadlines.--
(A) Proposed covered consent decrees.--For a 
proposed covered consent decree, a court shall not 
approve the covered consent decree unless the proposed 
covered consent decree allows sufficient time and 
incorporates adequate procedures for the agency to 
comply with chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, 
and other applicable statutes that govern rulemaking 
and, unless contrary to the public interest, the 
provisions of any Executive order that governs 
rulemaking.
(B) Proposed covered settlement agreements.--For a 
proposed covered settlement agreement, a court shall 
ensure that the covered settlement agreement allows 
sufficient time and incorporates adequate procedures 
for the agency to comply with chapter 5 of title 5, 
United States Code, and other applicable statutes that 
govern rulemaking and, unless contrary to the public 
interest, the provisions of any Executive order that 
governs rulemaking.
(g) Annual Reports.--Each agency shall submit to Congress an annual 
report that, for the year covered by the report, includes--
(1) the number, identity, and content of covered civil 
actions brought against and covered consent decrees or 
settlement agreements entered against or into by the agency; 
and
(2) a description of the statutory basis for--
(A) each covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement entered against or into by the agency; and
(B) any award of attorneys fees or costs in a civil 
action resolved by a covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement entered against or into by the 
agency.

SEC. 4. MOTIONS TO MODIFY CONSENT DECREES.

If an agency moves a court to modify a covered consent decree or 
settlement agreement and the basis of the motion is that the terms of 
the covered consent decree or settlement agreement are no longer fully 
in the public interest due to the obligations of the agency to fulfill 
other duties or due to changed facts and circumstances, the court shall 
review the motion and the covered consent decree or settlement 
agreement de novo.

SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act shall apply to--
(1) any covered civil action filed on or after the date of 
enactment of this Act; and
(2) any covered consent decree or settlement agreement 
proposed to a court on or after the date of enactment of this 
Act.
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