1 REVIEW OF POLICIES AND ANNUAL REPORT 2 SEC. 6. (a) Each Federal agency shall 3 4 5 67 8 9 10 11 221 13 14 15 17 18 (1) utilize a systematic approach which will insure the integration of antitrust law and policy in planning, in decisionmaking, and in other activities which may have an impact on competition; (2) identify and develop, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission, methods and procedures, which will insure that antitrust laws and policies, and the promotion of competition, will be facilitated and enhanced in planning, in decisionmaking, and in other activities; and (3) make available to States, political subdivisions of States, institutions, and individuals advice, information, and assistance in restoring, maintaining, and enhancing competition in the marketplace at the local, regional, national, and international levels. (b) Each Federal agency shall review its present statu19. tory authority for the purpose of determining whether there 20 are any deficiencies or inconsistencies which may prevent 21 full compliance with the purpose of this Act. Each such 22 agency shall recommend to the President and to the Con23 gress, not later than January 1, 1979, such measures as 24 may be necessary or appropriate to maximize the carrying 25 out of the purposes, policies, and provisions of this Act. 1 (c) Each Federal agency shall review and modify 2 prospectively its rules, regulations, policies, practices, and 3 procedures so as to have them conform to the purposes, 4 policies, and provisions of this Act. 5 (d) The Federal Trade Commission shall report an 6 nually to the President and the Congress on the degree to which Federal agencies have complied with the purposes of 7 8 9 this Act by fostering substantial and effective competition in the economy. Such report may focus on the industries or 10 facets of industries, subject to regulation, that the Commis11 sion believes should be accorded priority consideration for 12 the purpose of promoting competition in the economy. 14 SEC. 7. (a) (1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to 15 authorize or make lawful anything heretofore prohibited or 16 made illegal by the antitrust laws, nor to affect the applica17 bility of the penal provisions or the civil remedies therein. 18 provided. 19 (2) The provisions of this Act are in addition to and not 20 in lieu of the provisions of the antitrust laws, and no pro21 vision of this Act shall be deemed to grant immunity, or to 22 create defenses to actions, under the antitrust laws. 223 (3) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to preclude 24 the intervention in any agency proceedings by any party, 25 including the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Com 1 mission, and nothing in this Act shall be deemed to preclude 2 the institution or maintenance of any action under the anti3 trust laws at any time. 4 (b) Effective on the date of enactment of this Act, the 5 last full paragraph of section 7 of the Act entitled "An Act 6 to supplement existing laws against unlawful restraints and 7 monopolies, and for other purposes", approved October 15, 8 1914 (15 U.S.C. 18), is repealed. SEC. 8. As used in this Act, the term— (a) "Agency" means each authority of the Government of the United States as defined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code, except the United States Patent and Trademark Office. (b) "Action" includes the whole or a part of an agency rule, order, license, sanction, relief, or the equivalent or denial thereof, or failure to act as defined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code. (c) "Independent regulatory agencies" means the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Power Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 46-505 0 - 79 - 10 2 SEC. 9. This Act shall become effective one hundred 3 and twenty days after the date of enactment, and shall apply 4 to all agency action not final at such time. CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A GENERAL APPROACH: Recommendation THE COMPETITION Congress should enact legislation to require increased consideration of competitive issues in regulatory decisionmaking. This legislation should adopt the principles contained in S. 2625 which provide that where the effect of a regulatory action may be to substantially lessen competition, to tend to create a monopoly, or to create or maintain a situation involving a significant burden on competition, the agency could not approve such action unless it found that: I. (a) such action is necessary to accomplish an (b) the anticompetitive effects of such action are (c) the objectives of the action and the overriding The Need for a Broad Attack on Regulatory A decision to impose regulatory limits on a particular industry generally does not address the question of the appropriate role of competition within the regulatory framework. In Traditional statutes often do little more than state broad public policy objectives, list the regulators' powers, and tell them to act "in the public interest." fact, the whole notion of precise standards and guidelines ran contrary to the early philosophy of administrative regulation which tended to rely on regulators' expertise. As a result, the anticompetitive and protectionist tendencies of regulation were left largely unchecked, 1/ and regulators |