II 

Calendar No. 502 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4577 

[Report No. 117–159] 

To improve plain writing and public experience, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2022 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To improve plain writing and public experience, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clear and Concise Con5 tent Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means an 

4 executive agency and a military department, as such 

5 terms are defined in sections 105 and 102 of title 

6 5, United States Code, respectively. 

7 (2) COVERED CONTENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

8 content’’— 

9 (A) means any content that— 

10 (i) is necessary for obtaining any ben11 efit or service from the Federal Govern12 ment or for filing taxes; or 

13 (ii) provides information about— 

14 (I) any benefit or service from 

15 the Federal Government; 

16 (II) any operations, policies, or 

17 guidance of an agency that are of ma18 terial importance to the agency and 

19 are posted publicly by the agency, in20 cluding any explanation of how to 

21 comply with a requirement the Fed22 eral Government administers or en23 forces; 

24 (III) how to interact with or pro25 vide feedback to an agency regarding 


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1 the operations, policies, or guidance of 

2 the agency; or 

3 (IV) how to navigate or interact 

4 with any agency website, digital serv5 ice, or office; 

6 (B) includes— 

7 (i) (whether in paper or electronic 

8 form) a letter, publication, form, notice, 

9 guidance, policy, instruction, or official 

10 correspondence of an agency; 

11 (ii) all content necessary for public 

12 understanding, interaction, and use of an 

13 agency digital service or website; and 

14 (iii) instructions on how to submit 

15 comments, feedback, or information in re16 sponse to a regulation during any portion 

17 of the rulemaking or implementation proc18 ess for a regulation; and 

19 (C) subject to subparagraph (B)(iii), does 

20 not include a regulation. 

21 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

22 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg23 et. 

24 (4) OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA ASSET.—The 

25 term ‘‘open Government data asset’’ has the meanVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4577.RS S4577

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1 ing given that term in section 3502 of title 44, 

2 United States Code. 

3 (5) PLAIN WRITING.—The term ‘‘plain writing’’ 

4 means writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, 

5 and follows other best practices appropriate to the 

6 subject or field and intended audience, including an 

7 audience who may be disabled, may not be proficient 

8 in English, or may otherwise be disadvantaged or 

9 traditionally underserved. 

10 SEC. 3. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTOR. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall rescind 

13 outdated guidance and issue new guidance for the cre14 ation, maintenance, and use of covered content at agen15 cies. 

16 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The guidance required under 

17 subsection (a) shall— 

18 (1) establish procedures under which an agency 

19 shall review any content in use on the date of enact20 ment of this Act to determine if it is covered con21 tent; 

22 (2) establish policies for an agency to ensure 

23 that any content of the agency that is covered con24 tent, including any content created or updated after 


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1 the date of enactment of this Act that is determined 

2 to be covered content, is drafted in plain writing; 

3 (3) establish qualitative and quantitative 

4 metrics by which an agency shall be measured for 

5 compliance with the requirements to identify covered 

6 content, draft covered content in plain writing, and 

7 solicit and incorporate public feedback and data to 

8 improve public engagement and interaction with the 

9 agency; 

10 (4) prescribe processes by which agencies shall 

11 submit agency reports required by the Director, in 

12 an appropriate manner and form, to support the 

13 governmentwide reports required under subsection 

14 (c); and 

15 (5) require an agency to solicit public feedback, 

16 collect data, and routinely test the creation or modi17 fication of covered content of the agency. 

18 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

21 thereafter, the Director shall submit to the Com22 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af23 fairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight 

24 and Reform of the House of Representatives a re25 port on implementation of this Act by agencies, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:26 Sep 22, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4577.RS S4577

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1 cluding the progress of agencies towards the metrics 

2 established under subsection (b)(3) and any other 

3 information or data determined by the Director to 

4 inform Congress and the public on implementation 

5 of plain writing in covered content by agencies. 

6 (2) PUBLIC WEBSITE.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director may 

8 make the reports submitted under paragraph 

9 (1) available on a public website determined by 

10 the Director. 

11 (B) FORM.—If the Director makes reports 

12 available under subparagraph (A), the reports 

13 shall be maintained as open Government data 

14 assets. 

15 (3) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PER16 FORMANCE PLANS.— 

17 (A) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—The Direc18 tor shall ensure that the information regarding 

19 the Federal Government performance plan and 

20 agency performance plans required to be made 

21 available under subsection (b) or (c) of section 

22 1122 subsection (a) or (b) of section 1115 of title 

23 31, United States Code, is treated as covered 

24 content and published (whether in paper or 

25 electronic form) using plain writing. 


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1 (B) AGENCY PERFORMANCE PLANS.—Sec2 tion 1115(b) of title 31, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (i) in paragraph (9)(C), by striking 

5 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

6 (ii) in paragraph (10), by striking the 

7 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

8 and 

9 (iii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(11) incorporate the metrics established under 

12 section 3(b)(3) of the Clear and Concise Content Act 

13 of 2022.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each agency shall en16 sure compliance with this Act, including through the des17 ignation of a senior officer at the agency (not lower than 

18 the an Assistant Secretary or equivalent) to oversee imple19 mentation by the agency, including all bureaus, offices, or 

20 other subordinate components of the agency. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENT TO USE PLAIN LANGUAGE IN

22 COVERED CONTENT.—Except as provided in the amend23 ments made by section 5(1), on and after the date that 

24 is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

25 agency shall use plain writing in all covered content made 


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1 available by the agency, consistent with the guidance 

2 issued by the Director under section 3(a). 

3 (c) REQUIREMENT FOR FEEDBACK FROM CUS4 TOMERS.—The head of each agency shall ensure that 

5 there are opportunities and mechanisms in place (whether 

6 in paper or electronic form) that incorporate plain writing 

7 instructions for feedback from individuals or entities ob8 taining services from or engaging in transactions with the 

9 agency. 

10 (d) PUBLIC FEEDBACK.—The head of each agency 

11 shall maintain an accessible form, survey tool, or other 

12 portion of a website of the agency to solicit feedback from 

13 the public on compliance with this Act by the agency and 

14 to collect the feedback and data required under section 

15 3(b) (4) (5). 

16 SEC. 5. AMENDMENTS TO THE 21ST CENTURY IDEA ACT. 

17 Section 3 of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Ex18 perience Act (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) is amended— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

21 by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

22 as provided in paragraph (9), not later’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


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1 (C) in paragraph (8), by striking the pe2 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(9) is drafted using plain writing (as defined 

5 in section 2 of the Clear and Concise Content Act 

6 of 2022), as is required under section 4 of such Act 

7 for covered content (as defined in section 2 of such 

8 Act), by not later than 180 days after the date of 

9 enactment of such Act.’’; and 

10 (2) in subsection (b)— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

12 by striking ‘‘Not later’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 

13 as provided in paragraph (2), not later’’; and 

14 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert15 ing the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) by not later than 1 year after the date of 

17 enactment of the Clear and Concise Content Act of 

18 2022, comply with the requirements under sub19 section (a).’’. 

20 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL ENFORCEABILITY. 

21 (a) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—No court shall have jurisdic22 tion over any claim related to any act or omission arising 

23 out of any provision of this Act. 

24 (b) ENFORCEABILITY.—No provision of this Act shall 

25 be construed to create any right or benefit, substantive 


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1 or procedural, enforceable by any administrative or judi2 cial action. 

3 SEC. 7. REPEAL. 

4 Effective on the date that is 1 year after the date 

5 of enactment of this Act, the Plain Writing Act of 2010 

6 (5 U.S.C. 301 note) is repealed. 


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Calendar No. 502 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4577 

[Report No. 117–159] 

A BILL 

To improve plain writing and public experience, and 

S

for other purposes. 

EPTEMBER 22, 2022 

Reported with amendments 


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