public), flexibility, distributive impacts, and equity. (5) Each agency shall assess both the costs and the benefits of the intended regulation and, recognizing that some costs and benefits are difficult to quantify, propose or adopt a regulation, unless expressly prohibited by law, only upon a reasoned determination that the benefits of the intended regulation justify its costs. (6) Each agency shall base its decisions on the best reasonably obtainable scientific, technical, economic, and other information concerning the need for, and consequences of, the intended regulation. (7) Each agency shall identify and assess alternative forms of regulation and shall, to the extent feasible, specify performance objectives, rather than specifying the behavior or manner of compliance that regulated entities must adopt. (8) Each agency shall avoid regulations that are inconsistent, incompatible, or duplicative with its other regulations or those of other Federal agencies. (9) Each agency shall tailor its regulations to minimize the costs of the cumulative impact of regulations. (10) Each agency shall draft its regulations to be simple and easy to understand, with the goal of minimizing the potential for uncertainty and litigation arising from such uncertainty. (b) Regulatory action defined In this section, the term regulatory action means any substantive action by an agency (normally published in the Federal Register) that promulgates or is expected to lead to the promulgation of a final rule or regulation, including advance notices of proposed rulemaking and notices of proposed rulemaking. . 9. Expanding the scope of statements to accompany significant regulatory actions (a) In general Section 202(a) of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 ( 2 U.S.C. 1532(a) ) is amended to read as follows: (a) In general Unless otherwise expressly prohibited by law, before promulgating any general notice of proposed rulemaking or any final rule, or within 6 months after promulgating any final rule that was not preceded by a general