II 

Calendar No. 655 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4477 

[Report No. 117–264] 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to require agencies to include a 

list of outdated or duplicative reporting requirements in annual budget 

justifications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2022 

Mr. OSSOFF (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 15, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to require agencies 

to include a list of outdated or duplicative reporting 

requirements in annual budget justifications, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eliminate Useless Re3 ports Act of 2022’’. 

4 SEC. 2. SUNSETS FOR AGENCY REPORTS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1125 of title 31, United 

6 States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub8 section (d); 

9 (2) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in10 serting the following: 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) BUDGET JUSTIFICATION MATERIALS.— 

13 The term ‘budget justification materials’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 3(b)(2) of the 

15 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 

16 Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note; Public Law 109– 

17 282). 

18 ‘‘(2) RECURRING PLAN OR REPORT.—The term 

19 ‘recurring plan or report’ mean any plan or report 

20 submitted to Congress by not less than 1 agency on 

21 a recurring basis— 

22 ‘‘(A) in accordance with Federal law; or 

23 ‘‘(B) at the direction of a congressional re24 port. 

25 ‘‘(3) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COM26 MITTEE.—In this section, the term ‘relevant conVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4477.RS S4477

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1 gressional committee’ means a congressional com2 mittee to which a recurring plan or report is re3 quired to be submitted. 

4 ‘‘(b) AGENCY IDENTIFICATION OF UNNECESSARY

5 REPORTS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency 

7 shall include in the budget justification materials of 

8 the agency— 

9 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (2), a list of 

10 each recurring plan or report submitted by the 

11 agency that the head of the agency determines 

12 to be outdated or duplicative; 

13 ‘‘(B) with respect to each recurring plan or 

14 report described in subparagraph (A)— 

15 ‘‘(i) a recommendation on whether to 

16 sunset, modify, consolidate, or reduce the 

17 frequency of the submission of the recur18 ring plan or report; 

19 ‘‘(ii) a citation to each provision of 

20 law that requires or requests the submis21 sion of the recurring plan or report; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) a list of the relevant congres23 sional committees for the recurring plan or 

24 report; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) a justification explaining, with respect 

2 to each recommendation described in subpara3 graph (B)(i) relating to a recurring plan or re4 port— 

5 ‘‘(i) why the head of the agency made 

6 the recommendation, which may include an 

7 estimate of the resources expended by the 

8 agency to prepare and submit the recur9 ring plan or report; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the understanding of the head of 

11 the agency of the purpose of the recurring 

12 plan or report. 

13 ‘‘(2) AGENCY CONSULTATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In preparing the list 

15 required under paragraph (1)(A), if, in submit16 ting a recurring plan or report, an agency is re17 quired to coordinate or consult with another 

18 agency or entity, the head of the agency sub19 mitting the recurring plan or report shall con20 sult with the head of each agency or entity with 

21 whom consultation or coordination is required. 

22 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION IN LIST.—If, after a con23 sultation under subparagraph (A), the head of 

24 each agency or entity consulted under that sub25 paragraph agrees that a recurring plan or reVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4477.RS S4477

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1 port is outdated or duplicative, the head of the 

2 agency required to submit the recurring plan or 

3 report shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) include the recurring plan or re5 port in the list described in paragraph 

6 (1)(A); and 

7 ‘‘(ii) identify each agency or entity 

8 with which the head of the agency is re9 quired to coordinate or consult in submit10 ting the recurring plan or report. 

11 ‘‘(C) DISAGREEMENT.—If the head of any 

12 agency or entity consulted under subparagraph 

13 (A) does not agree that a recurring plan or re14 port is outdated or duplicative, the head of the 

15 agency required to submit the recurring plan or 

16 report shall not include the recurring plan or 

17 report in the list described in paragraph (1)(A). 

18 ‘‘(c) DISPOSITION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a rec20 ommendation on a recurring plan or report included 

21 in budget justification materials by the head of an 

22 agency under subsection (b)(1)(B)(i), the chair and 

23 ranking member of each relevant congressional com24 mittee may— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in coordination with any other rel2 evant congressional committee, as necessary, 

3 agree or disagree with the recommendation or 

4 postpone a decision on the recommendation; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) notify each agency that submits a 

7 recommendation of the disposition of the rec8 ommendation under subparagraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(2) LEGISLATIVE STEPS.—If a relevant con10 gressional committee agrees with an agency rec11 ommendation submitted under subsection 

12 (b)(1)(B)(i), the relevant congressional committee 

13 may take the necessary legislative steps to accom14 plish the recommendation, which may include con15 sulting with the agency that submits the recurring 

16 plan or report that is the subject of the rec17 ommendation to prepare appropriate legislation. 

18 ‘‘(3) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this 

19 section shall be construed to relieve the head of an 

20 agency from a requirement to submit a recurring 

21 plan or report.’’; and 

22 (3) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by 

23 striking ‘‘the budget of the United States Govern24 ment, as provided by section 1105(a)(37)’’ and inVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4477.RS S4477

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1 serting ‘‘in the budget justification materials of each 

2 agency’’. 

3 (b) BUDGET CONTENTS.—Section 1105(a) of title 

4 31, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph 

5 (39). 

6 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

7 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Eliminate Useless Re8 ports Act of 2022’’. 

9 SEC. 2. SUNSETS FOR AGENCY REPORTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1125 of title 31, United 

11 States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub13 section (d); 

14 (2) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and in15 serting the following: 

16 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) BUDGET JUSTIFICATION MATERIALS.— 

18 The term ‘budget justification materials’ has the 

19 meaning given the term in section 3(b)(2) of the 

20 Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency 

21 Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note; Public Law 109– 

22 282). 

23 ‘‘(2) RECURRING PLAN OR REPORT.—The term 

24 ‘recurring plan or report’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means any plan or report submitted 

2 to Congress by not less than 1 agency on a re3 curring basis— 

4 ‘‘(i) in accordance with Federal law; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(ii) at the direction of a congres7 sional report; and 

8 ‘‘(B) does not include any plan or report 

9 that is required to be submitted to the Com10 mittee on Armed Services of the Senate. 

11 ‘‘(3) RELEVANT CONGRESSIONAL COM12 MITTEE.—The term ‘relevant congressional com13 mittee’ means a congressional committee to which a 

14 recurring plan or report is required to be submitted. 

15 ‘‘(b) AGENCY IDENTIFICATION OF UNNECESSARY

16 REPORTS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency 

18 shall include in the budget justification materials of 

19 the agency— 

20 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (2), a list of 

21 each recurring plan or report submitted by the 

22 agency that the head of the agency determines 

23 to be outdated or duplicative; 

24 ‘‘(B) with respect to each recurring plan or 

25 report described in subparagraph (A)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a recommendation on whether to 

2 sunset, modify, consolidate, or reduce the 

3 frequency of the submission of the recur4 ring plan or report; 

5 ‘‘(ii) a citation to each provision of 

6 law that requires or requests the submis7 sion of the recurring plan or report; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) a list of the relevant congres9 sional committees for the recurring plan or 

10 report; and 

11 ‘‘(C) a justification explaining, with respect 

12 to each recommendation described in subpara13 graph (B)(i) relating to a recurring plan or re14 port— 

15 ‘‘(i) why the head of the agency made 

16 the recommendation, which may include an 

17 estimate of the resources expended by the 

18 agency to prepare and submit the recur19 ring plan or report; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) the understanding of the head of 

21 the agency of the purpose of the recurring 

22 plan or report. 

23 ‘‘(2) AGENCY CONSULTATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In preparing the list 

25 required under paragraph (1)(A), if, in submitVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:02 Dec 16, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4477.RS S4477

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1 ting a recurring plan or report, an agency is re2 quired to coordinate or consult with another 

3 agency or entity, the head of the agency sub4 mitting the recurring plan or report shall con5 sult with the head of each agency or entity with 

6 whom consultation or coordination is required. 

7 ‘‘(B) INCLUSION IN LIST.—If, after a con8 sultation under subparagraph (A), the head of 

9 each agency or entity consulted under that sub10 paragraph agrees that a recurring plan or re11 port is outdated or duplicative, the head of the 

12 agency required to submit the recurring plan or 

13 report shall— 

14 ‘‘(i) include the recurring plan or re15 port in the list described in paragraph 

16 (1)(A); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) identify each agency or entity 

18 with which the head of the agency is re19 quired to coordinate or consult in submit20 ting the recurring plan or report. 

21 ‘‘(C) DISAGREEMENT.—If the head of any 

22 agency or entity consulted under subparagraph 

23 (A) does not agree that a recurring plan or re24 port is outdated or duplicative, the head of the 

25 agency required to submit the recurring plan or 


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1 report shall not include the recurring plan or 

2 report in the list described in paragraph (1)(A). 

3 ‘‘(c) DISPOSITION OF RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—With respect to a rec5 ommendation on a recurring plan or report included 

6 in budget justification materials by the head of an 

7 agency under subsection (b)(1)(B)(i), the chair and 

8 ranking member of each relevant congressional com9 mittee may— 

10 ‘‘(A) in coordination with any other rel11 evant congressional committee, as necessary, 

12 agree or disagree with the recommendation or 

13 postpone a decision on the recommendation; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) notify each agency that submits a 

16 recommendation of the disposition of the rec17 ommendation under subparagraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(2) LEGISLATIVE STEPS.—If a relevant con19 gressional committee agrees with an agency rec20 ommendation submitted under subsection 

21 (b)(1)(B)(i), the relevant congressional committee 

22 may take the necessary legislative steps to accom23 plish the recommendation, which may include con24 sulting with the agency that submits the recurring 


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1 plan or report that is the subject of the rec2 ommendation to prepare appropriate legislation. 

3 ‘‘(3) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS.—Nothing in this 

4 section shall be construed to relieve the head of an 

5 agency from a requirement to submit a recurring 

6 plan or report.’’; and 

7 (3) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, by 

8 striking ‘‘in the budget of the United States Govern9 ment, as provided by section 1105(a)(37)’’ and in10 serting ‘‘in the budget justification materials of each 

11 agency’’. 

12 (b) BUDGET CONTENTS.—Section 1105(a) of title 

13 31, United States Code, is amended by striking paragraph 

14 (39). 


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Calendar No. 655 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4477 

[Report No. 117–264] 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to require 

tifications, and for other purposes. tive reporting requirements in annual budget jusagencies to include a list of outdated or duplicaDECEMBER 15, 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


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