The Administrative Law, Process and Procedure Project (the Project) is a bipartisan undertaking of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress. It consists of a comprehensive study of the state of administrative law, process and procedure in the United States. A description of the Project was included in the Judiciary Committee's Oversight Plan for the 109th Congress, as approved by the Committee on January 26, 2005. The Project will culminate with the preparation of a detailed report with recommendations for legislative proposals and suggested areas for further research and analysis to be considered by the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS). House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) requested the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to assist Representative Chris Cannon (R-UT), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (CAL), in conducting the Project.
Relationship between the project and ACUS
One of the principal goals of the Project is to substantiate further the need to reactivate the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS), a nonpartisan "private-public think tank" that proposed valuable recommendations which improved administrative aspects of regulatory law and practice. Over its 28-year existence, ACUS served as an independent agency charged with studying "the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness of the administrative procedure used by administrative agencies in carrying out administrative programs." Most of its approximately 200 recommendations were implemented, and they, in turn, helped save taxpayers many millions of dollars. ACUS was considered to be "an invaluable mechanism set into place by Congress to improve federal administrative law." A commentator observed that "[a]s long as there is a need for regulatory reform, there is a need for something like the Administrative Conference." ACUS is credited with playing an important role in improving the nation's legal system by issuing recommendations designed "to eliminate excessive litigation costs and long delays." For example, Congress, in response to an ACUS recommendation, passed the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act in 1990, which established a framework for agencies to resolve administrative litigation through alternative dispute resolution. Among its "most influential government-wide recommendations" were ACUS's proposals facilitating judicial review of agency decisions and eliminating various technical impediments to such review. It also issued proposals leading to the enactment of the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, which encourages consensual resolution through a process that takes into account the needs of various affected interests. ACUS, in addition, recommended a model administrative civil penalty statute that has served as the basis for "numerous pieces of legislation."
From a systemic perspective, ACUS also helped to focus attention on the need for the federal government to be made more efficient, smaller, and more accountable. It was viewed as one of the leading federal proponents of encouraging practical ways to reduce administrative litigation. In this regard, ACUS actively promoted information-technology initiatives, such as developing methods by which the public could participate electronically in agency rulemaking proceedings to increase public access to government information and foster greater openness in government operations.
During the course of his testimony on the reauthorization of ACUS in 2004, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a former ACUS Chair, described ACUS as “a worthwhile organization” that offered “a unique combination of talents from the academic world, from within the executive branch . . . and, thirdly, from the private bar, especially lawyers particularly familiar with administrative law.” He observed, “I did not know another organization that so effectively combined the best talent from each of those areas.” In addition, he said that the Conference was “an enormous bargain.” Likewise, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cited the “huge” savings to the public as a result of ACUS’s recommendations. Noting that ACUS was “a matter of good Government,” he stated, “I very much hope you reauthorize the Administrative Conference.” Both Justices agreed that there were various matters that a reauthorized ACUS could examine. These included assessing the value of having agencies use teleconferencing facilities and the need to create a regulatory process that promotes sound science. Through Representative Cannon's leadership, ACUS was reauthorized in the 108th Congress.