U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–010 

" ! SENATE 116TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2019

116–57 

Calendar No. 149 

FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION ACT 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

H.R. 1654 

TO AMEND TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE, TO MODERNIZE THE 

FEDERAL REGISTER, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 

JULY 15, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTSE:\Seals\Congress.#13
(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin, Chairman 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma 

MITT ROMNEY, Utah 

RICK SCOTT, Florida 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire 

KAMALA D. HARRIS, California 

KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona 

JACKY ROSEN, Nevada 

GABRIELLE D’ADAMO SINGER, Staff Director 

JOSEPH C. FOLIO, III, Chief Counsel 

DANIEL J. SPINO, Professional Staff Member 

DAVID M. WEINBERG, Minority Staff Director 

ZACHARY I. SCHRAM, Minority Chief Counsel 

YOGIN J. KOTHARI, Minority Professional Staff Member 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
89–010 

Calendar No. 149 

116TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 116–57 

FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION ACT 

JULY 15, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. JOHNSON, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

øTo accompany H.R. 1654¿ 

øIncluding cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office¿ 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 1654) to amend title 44, United 

States Code, to modernize Federal Register, and for other purposes, 

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Purpose and Summary .................................................................................. 1 

II. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................... 1 

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 2 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 2 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 3 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ................................................ 3 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Act, as Reported ........................... 4 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 1654, the Federal Register Modernization Act, provides 

technical edits and updates to the Federal Register publication 

process. The Act updates the statute governing the Federal Register to be applicable in the 21st century by replacing words like 

‘‘printing,’’ ‘‘binding,’’ and ‘‘distribution,’’ with words like ‘‘publishing,’’ ‘‘website,’’ and ‘‘Internet.’’ 

II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Federal Register is printed and distributed to Federal Government and congressional offices daily to provide information on 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
2 

1Off. of the Fed. Register, A Brief History Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Publication of the First Issue of the Federal Register March 14, 1936, National Archives and Records 

Administration, 2, available at https://www.archives.gov/files/federal-register/the-federal-register/ 

history.pdf. 2 Id. 

3Off. of the Fed. Register, About This Site, https://www.federalregister.gov/reader-aids/government-policy-and-ofr-procedures/about-this-site (last visited May 21, 2019). 4Fourth Continuing Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2018, Federal Register Printing Savings, 

Healthy Kids, Health-Related Taxes, and Budgetary Effects, Pub. L. No. 115–120, Div. A, 2, 132 

Stat. 28, 28–29 (2018). 

Federal Government agency rules, proposed rules, public notices 

and other Executive Branch actions.1 Since June 8, 1994, the Federal Register has been available to the public online.2 The online 

version of the Federal Register is updated daily and has navigational features that make it more user-friendly than a paper copy.3

In 2018, Congress enacted legislation that stopped unnecessary 

printing and distribution of hard copies of the Federal Register to 

Federal Government and congressional offices.4 However, this law 

did not comprehensively halt automatic publication and distribution of Federal Registers throughout Federal regulations. 

H.R. 1654 provides the technical edits and comprehensive updates to Chapter 15 to reflect the shift from a printed Federal Register to an electronically-published and updated Federal Register. 

H.R. 1654 replaces language like ‘‘printing, reprinting, wrapping, 

binding, and distributing’’ with ‘‘publishing.’’ H.R. 1654 also cuts 

wasteful printing by updating submission practices to no longer require two copies of a document in addition to the original document 

for inclusion in the Federal Register. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Representative Mark Meadows (R–NC–11) introduced H.R. 1654, 

the Federal Register Modernization Act, on March 8, 2019. The Act 

was approved by the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the 

House of Representatives passed H.R. 1674 on March 12, 2019. 

The Committee considered H.R. 1654 at a business meeting on 

May 15, 2019. The Act was reported favorably en bloc by voice vote 

with Senators Johnson, Paul, Lankford, Scott, Peters, Carper, Hassan, and Rosen present. For the record only, Senators Portman, 

Romney, Hawley, and Sinema later asked to be recorded as a ‘‘yes’’’ 

by unanimous consent. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE ACT, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

This section establishes the Act’s short title as the ‘‘Federal Register Modernization Act.’’ 

Section 2. Federal Register modernization 

This section substitutes references to the terms ‘‘printing’’, 

‘‘printing and distribution’’, and ‘‘printed and bound in permanent 

form’’ with the term ‘‘publishing’’ in Chapter 15 of title 44 U.S. 

Code. It also replaces the term ‘‘comments’’’ with ‘‘news commentary.’’ 

This section also eliminates the requirement for filing a document with the Office of the Federal Register that two duplicate 

copies must be provided. It also authorizes the Administrative 

Committee of the Federal Register to regulate the manner in which 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
3 

the Federal Register receives information and comments from the 

public and to issue special editions of the Federal Register. 

Section 3. Determination of budgetary effects 

To comply with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, this 

section states that the budgetary effects of the Act shall be determined by the latest statement from the ‘‘Budgetary Effects of 

PAYGO Legislation.’’ 

V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of 

the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this Act and determined that the Act will 

have no regulatory impact within the meaning of the rules. The 

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the Act contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 

mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 

(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

U.S. CONGRESS, 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE, 

Washington, DC, June 10, 2019. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1654, the Federal Register Modernization Act. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew Pickford. 

Sincerely, 

PHILLIP L. SWAGEL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTSInsert offset folio 8 here SR57.001
4 

Under the Federal Register Act, the Office of the Federal Register (OFR) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) produces the Federal Register. That publication compiles and organizes thousands of rules, regulations, executive orders, presidential documents, and notices generated by federal departments and agencies. Currently, the Federal Register is updated 

daily and is printed and published Monday through Friday, except 

for federal holidays. The OFR, working with the Government Publishing Office (GPO), has made the Federal Register available online since 1994. In addition, the OFR produces the Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR), which contains all agency rules that first appeared in the Federal Register. Under H.R. 1654, OFR would no longer be required to print the 

Federal Register or the CFR, but would be required to continue 

making it available online. CBO expects that under H.R. 1654 

fewer copies of the Federal Register and CFR would be printed; 

however, we estimate that any decreased costs over the next five 

years would be insignificant because most of the costs associated 

with the submission of those documents involve their preparation, 

not their duplication. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew Pickford. The 

estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill, as 

reported, are shown as follows: (existing law proposed to be omitted 

is enclosed in brackets, new matter is printed in italic, and existing 

law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman: 

UNITED STATES CODE 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE 44—PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 15—FEDERAL REGISTER AND CODE OF 

FEDERAL REGULATIONS 

Sec. 

1501. Definitions. 

1502. Custody and øprinting¿ publishing of Federal documents; appointment of 

Director. 

1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of time, public inspection; transmission for øprinting¿ publishing. 

1504. ‘‘Federal Register’’; øprinting¿ publishing; contents; distribution; price. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 1501. DEFINITIONS 

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires— 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
5 

‘‘document’’ means a Presidential proclamation or Executive 

order and an order, regulation, rule, certificate, code of fair 

competition, license, notice, or similar instrument, issued, prescribed, or promulgated by a Federal agency; 

‘‘Federal agency’’ or ‘‘agency’’ means the President of the 

United States, or an executive department, independent board, 

establishment, bureau, agency, institution, commission, or separate office of the administrative branch of the Government of 

the United States but not the legislative or judicial branches 

of the Government; 

‘‘person’’ means an individual, partnership, association, or 

corporation ø; and¿; ‘‘publish’’ means to circulate for sale or distribution to the 

public; and 

‘‘National Archives of the United States’’ has the same meaning as in section 2901 (11) of this title. 

SEC. 1502. CUSTODY AND øPRINTING¿ PUBLISHING OF FEDERAL DOCUMENTS; APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR 

The Archivist of the United States, acting through the Office of 

the Federal Register, is charged with the custody and, together 

with the Director of the Government Publishing Office, with the 

prompt and uniform øprinting and distribution¿ publishing of the 

documents required or authorized to be published by section 1505 

of this title. There shall be at the head of the Office a director, appointed by, and who shall act under the general direction of, the 

Archivist of the United States in carrying out this chapter and the 

regulations prescribed under it. 

SEC. 1503. FILING DOCUMENTS WITH OFFICE; NOTATION OF TIME; 

PUBLIC INSPECTION; TRANSMISSION FOR PUBLISHING 

The original øand two duplicate originals or certified copies of a¿ 

document required or authorized to be published by section 1505 

øof this title¿ shall be filed with the Office of the Federal Register 

ø, which shall be open for that purpose during all hours of the 

working days when the National Archives Building is open for official business¿ for publication at times established by the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register by regulation. The Archivist of the United States shall cause to be noted on the original 

øand duplicate originals or certified copies¿ of each document the 

day and hour of filing. øWhen the original is issued, prescribed, or 

promulgated outside the District of Columbia, and certified copies 

are filed before the filing of the original, the notation shall be of 

the day and hour of filing of the certified copies.¿ Upon filing, øat 

least one copy¿ the document shall be immediately available for 

public inspection in the Office. The original shall be retained by the 

National Archives and Records Administration and shall be available for inspection under regulations prescribed by the Archivist, 

unless such original is disposed of in accordance with disposal 

schedules submitted by the Administrative Committee øof the Federal Register¿ and authorized by the Archivist pursuant to regulations issued under chapter 33 øof this title¿; however, originals of 

proclamations of the President and Executive orders shall be permanently retained by the Administration as part of the National 

Archives of the United States. The Office shall transmit øimmediately¿ to the Government Publishing Office øfor printing¿, as 

provided by this chapter, øone duplicate original or certified copy 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
6 

of¿ each document required or authorized to be published by section 1505 øof this title¿. Every Federal agency shall cause to be 

transmitted for filing the original øand the duplicate originals or 

certified copies¿ of all such documents issued, prescribed, or promulgated by the agency. 

SEC. 1504. ‘FEDERAL REGISTER’; PUBLISHING; CONTENTS; DISTRIBUTION; PRICE 

Documents required or authorized to be published by section 

1505 øof this title¿ shall be øprinted and distributed¿ published 

immediately by the Government Publishing Office in a serial publication designated the ‘‘Federal Register.’’ The Director of the Government Publishing Office shall make available the facilities of the 

Government Publishing Office for the prompt øprinting and distribution¿ publication of the Federal Register in the manner and 

at the times required by this chapter and the regulations prescribed under it. The contents of the daily issues shall be indexed 

and shall comprise all documents, required or authorized to be published, filed with the Office of the Federal Register up to the time 

of the day immediately preceding the day of ødistribution¿ publication fixed by regulations under this chapter. There shall be øprinted¿ published with each document a copy of the notation, required 

to be made by section 1503 øof this title¿, of the day and hour 

when, upon filing with the Office, the document was made available for public inspection. Distribution shall be made øby delivery 

or by deposit at a post office¿ at a time in the morning of the day 

of distribution fixed by regulations prescribed under this chapter. 

The prices to be charged for the Federal Register may be fixed by 

the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register established 

by section 1506 øof this title¿ without reference to the restrictions 

placed upon and fixed for the sale of Government publications by 

sections 1705 and 1708 øof this title¿. 

SEC. 1505. DOCUMENTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN FEDERAL REGISTER 

(a) * * * 

(b) DOCUMENTS AUTHORIZED TO BE PUBLISHED BY REGULATIONS; 

øComments¿ NEWS COMMENTARY AND NEWS ITEMS EXCLUDED.—In 

addition to the foregoing there shall also be published in the Federal Register other documents or classes of documents authorized 

to be published by regulations prescribed under this chapter with 

the approval of the President, but øcomments¿ news commentary 

or news items of any character may not be published in the Federal 

Register. 

(c) ALTERNATIVE PUBLICATION.—In a continuity of operations 

event in which the Government Publishing Office does not fulfill the 

publication requirements of this chapter, the Office of the Federal 

Register may establish a website to publish the Federal Register 

until such time that the Government Publishing Office resumes publication. 

ø(c)¿ (d) SUSPENSION OF REQUIREMENTS FOR FILING OF DOCUMENTS; ALTERNATE SYSTEMS FOR PROMULGATING, FILING, OR PUBLISHING DOCUMENTS; PRESERVATION OF ORIGINALS.—In the event 

of an attack or threatened attack upon the continental United 

States and a determination by the President that as a result of an 

attack or threatened attack— 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
7 

(1) publication of the Federal Register or filing of documents 

with the Office of the Federal Register is impracticable, or 

(2) under existing conditions publication in the Federal Register would not serve to give appropriate notice to the public 

of the contents of documents, the President may, without regard to any other provision of law, suspend all or part of the 

requirements of law or regulation for filing with the Office or 

publication in the Federal Register of documents or classes of 

documents. 

The suspensions shall remain in effect until revoked by the 

President, or by concurrent resolution of the Congress. The President shall establish alternate systems for promulgating, filing, or 

publishing documents or classes of documents affected by such suspensions, including requirements relating to their effectiveness or 

validity, that may be considered under the then existing circumstances practicable to provide public notice of the issuance and 

of the contents of the documents. The alternate systems may, without limitation, provide for the use of regional or specialized publications or depositories for documents, or of the press, the radio, telecommunications, the Internet, or similar mediums of general communication. Compliance with alternate systems of filing or publication shall have the same effect as filing with the Office or publication in the Federal Register under this chapter or other law or regulation. With respect to documents promulgated under alternate 

systems, each agency shall preserve the original øand two duplicate 

originals or two certified copies¿ documents for filing with the Office when the President determines that it is practicable. 

SEC. 1506. ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL REGISTER; ESTABLISHMENT AND COMPOSITION; POWERS 

AND DUTIES 

(a) COMPOSITION; DUTIES.—The Administrative Committee of the 

Federal Register shall consist of the Archivist of the United States 

or Acting Archivist, who shall øbe chairman¿ chair the committee, 

an officer of the Department of Justice designated by the Attorney 

General, and the Director of the Government Publishing Office or 

Acting Director of the Government Publishing Office. The Director 

of the Federal Register shall act as secretary of the committee. The 

committee shall prescribe, with the approval of the President, regulations for carrying out this chapter. The regulations shall provide, 

among other things— 

ø(1) the manner of certification of copies required to be certified under section 1503 of this title, which certification may 

be permitted to be based upon confirmed communications from 

outside the District of Columbia; 

ø(2) the documents which shall be authorized under section 

1505(b) of this title to be published in the Federal Register; 

ø(3) the manner and form in which the Federal Register 

shall be printed, reprinted, and compiled, indexed, bound, and 

distributed; 

ø(4) subject to subsection (b), the number of copies of the 

Federal Register, which shall be printed, reprinted, and compiled, the number which shall be distributed without charge to 

Members of Congress, officers and employees of the United 

States, or Federal agency, for official use, and the number 

which shall be available for distribution to the public; and 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
8 

ø(5) the prices to be charged for individual copies of, and 

subscriptions to, the Federal Register and reprints and bound 

volumes of it.¿ 

(1) the documents which shall be authorized under section 

1505(b) to be published in the Federal Register; 

(2) the manner and form in which the Federal Register shall 

be published; 

(3) the manner and form in which agencies submit documents 

for publication in the Federal Register and special editions of 

the Federal Register; 

(4) subject to subsection (b), the manner of distribution to 

Members of Congress, officers and employees of the United 

States, or Federal agency, for official use, and the number 

which shall be available for distribution to the public; 

(5) the prices to be charged for individual copies of, and subscriptions to, the Federal Register and any reprints and bound 

volumes of it; 

(6) the manner and form by which the Federal Register may 

receive information and comments from the public, if practicable and efficient; and 

(7) special editions of the Federal Register. 

SEC. 1507. FILING DOCUMENT AS CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE; PUBLICATION IN FEDERAL REGISTER AS PRESUMPTION OF VALIDITY; JUDICIAL NOTICE; CITATION 

A document required by section 1505(a) of this title to be published in the Federal Register is not valid as against a person who 

has not had actual knowledge of it until øthe duplicate originals or 

certified copies of the document have¿ the document has been filed 

with the Office of the Federal Register and a copy made available 

for public inspection as provided by section 1503 of this title. Unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, filing of a document, 

required or authorized to be published by section 1505 of this title, 

except in cases where notice by publication is insufficient in law, 

is sufficient to give notice of the contents of the document to a person subject to or affected by it. The publication in the Federal Register of a document creates a rebuttable presumption— 

(1) that it was duly issued, prescribed, or promulgated; 

(2) that it was filed with the Office of the Federal Register 

and made available for public inspection at the day and hour 

stated in the øprinted¿ published notation; 

(3) * * * 

(4) * * * 

SEC. 1508. * * * 

SEC. 1509. COSTS OF PUBLICATION, ETC. 

(a) The cost of øprinting, reprinting, wrapping, binding, and distributing¿ publishing the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 

Regulations, and, except as provided in subsection (b), other expenses incurred by the Government Publishing Office in carrying 

out the duties placed upon it by this chapter shall be charged to 

the revolving fund provided in section 309. Reimbursements for 

such costs and expenses shall be made by the Federal agencies and 

credited, together with all receipts, as provided in section 309(b). 

(b) The cost of øprinting, reprinting, wrapping, binding, and distributing¿ publishing all other publications of the Federal Register 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
9 

program, and other expenses incurred by the Government Publishing Office in connection with such publications, shall be borne 

by the appropriations to the Government Publishing Office and the 

appropriations are made available, and are authorized to be increased by additional sums necessary for the purposes, the increases to be based upon estimates submitted by the Director of the 

Government Publishing Office. 

SEC. 1510. CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS 

(a) SPECIAL EDITION FOR CODIFICATION OF AGENCY DOCUMENTS.—The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, 

with the approval of the President, may require, from time to time 

as it considers necessary, the preparation and publication in a special øor supplemental¿ editionøs¿ of the Federal Register øof¿ a 

complete codificationøs¿ of the documents of each agency of the 

Government having general applicability and legal effect, issued or 

promulgated by the agency by publication in the Federal Register 

or by filing with the Administrative Committee, and which are relied upon by the agency as authority for, or are invoked or used by 

it in the discharge of, its activities or functions, and are in effect 

as to facts arising on or after dates specified by the Administrative 

Committee. 

(b) CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.—A codification published 

under subsection (a) of this section shall be øprinted and bound in 

permanent form¿ published and shall be designated as the ‘‘Code 

of Federal Regulations’’. The Administrative Committee shall regulate the øbinding of the printed codifications into separate books 

with a view to practical usefulness and economical manufacture. 

Each book shall contain an explanation of its coverage and other 

aids to users that the Administrative Committee may require. A 

general index to the entire Code of Federal Regulations shall be 

separately printed and bound.¿ manner and forms of publishing 

this codification. 

(c) SUPPLEMENTATION, COLLATION, AND REPUBLICATION.—The 

Administrative Committee shall regulate the supplementation and 

the collation and republication of the øprinted¿ codificationøs¿ with 

a view to keeping the Code of Federal Regulations as current as 

practicable. Each øbook¿ unit of codification shall be øeither¿ supplemented øor collated¿ and republished at least once each calendar year. The Office of the Federal Register may create updates 

of each unit of codification from time to time and make the same 

available electronically or may provide public access using an electronic edition that allows a user to select a specific date and retrieve 

the version of the codification in effect as of that date. 

(d) PREPARATION AND PUBLICATION BY THE FEDERAL REGISTER.— 

The Office of the Federal Register shall prepare and publish the 

codifications, supplements, collations, øand indexes¿ indices, and 

user aids authorized by this section. 

(e) PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.—The codified documents of the several agencies published in the øsupplemental edition of the Federal 

Register¿ Code of Federal Regulations under this section, as 

amended by documents subsequently filed with the Office and published in the daily issues of the Federal Register shall be prima 

facie evidence of the text of the documents and of the fact that they 

are in effect on and after the date of publication. 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS
10 

(f) REGULATIONS.—The Administrative Committee øshall prescribe¿, with the approval of the President, shall issue regulations 

for carrying out this section. 

(g) EXCEPTION.—This section does not require codification of the 

text of Presidential documents published and periodically compiled 

in supplements to Title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations. 

* * * * * * * 

Æ 


lotter on DSKBCFDHB2PROD with REPORTS