IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9592 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 13, 2024 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend title 44, United States Code, to modernize the 

Federal Register, 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, 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 9592 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Register Mod3 ernization Act of 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION. 

5 (a) REFERENCES TO PRINTING.—Chapter 15 of title 

6 44, United States Code, is amended— 

7 (1) in section 1502— 

8 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘print9 ing’’ and inserting ‘‘publishing’’; and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘printing and distribution’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘publishing’’; 

12 (2) in section 1507— 

13 (A) by striking ‘‘the duplicate originals or 

14 certified copies of the document have’’ and in15 serting ‘‘the document has’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘print17 ed’’ and inserting ‘‘published’’; and 

18 (3) in section 1509, by striking ‘‘printing, re19 printing, wrapping, binding, and distributing’’ each 

20 place it appears and inserting ‘‘publishing’’. 

21 (b) PUBLISH DEFINED.—Section 1501 of title 44, 

22 United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of the defini24 tion for ‘‘person’’ and inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (2) by inserting after the definition for ‘‘per26 son’’ the following: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 9592 RFS

1 ‘‘ ‘publish’ means to circulate for sale or dis2 tribution to the public, as determined by the Admin3 istrative Committee of the Federal Register; and’’. 

4 (c) FILING DOCUMENTS WITH OFFICE AMEND5 MENT.—Section 1503 of title 44, United States Code, is 

6 amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘§ 1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of 

8 time; public inspection; transmission for 

9 publishing 

10 ‘‘The original document required or authorized to be 

11 published by section 1505 shall be filed with the Office 

12 of the Federal Register for publication at times estab13 lished by the Administrative Committee of the Federal 

14 Register by regulation. The Archivist of the United States 

15 shall cause to be noted on the original of each document 

16 the day and hour of filing. Upon filing, the document shall 

17 be immediately available for public inspection. The origi18 nal shall be retained by the National Archives and Records 

19 Administration and shall be available for inspection under 

20 regulations prescribed by the Archivist, unless such origi21 nal is disposed of in accordance with disposal schedules 

22 submitted by the Administrative Committee and author23 ized by the Archivist pursuant to regulations issued under 

24 chapter 33; however, originals of proclamations of the 

25 President and Executive orders shall be permanently reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:27 Nov 14, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9592.RFS H9592

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 9592 RFS

1 tained by the Administration as part of the National Ar2 chives of the United States. The Office shall transmit to 

3 the Government Publishing Office, as provided by this 

4 chapter, each document required or authorized to be pub5 lished by section 1505. Every Federal agency shall cause 

6 to be transmitted for filing the original of all such docu7 ments issued, prescribed, or promulgated by the agency.’’. 

8 (d) FEDERAL REGISTER AMENDMENT.—Section 

9 1504 of title 44, United States Code, is amended to read 

10 as follows: 

11 ‘‘§ 1504. ‘Federal Register’; publishing; contents; dis12 tribution; price; physical copies 

13 ‘‘Documents required or authorized to be published 

14 by section 1505 shall be published immediately by the 

15 Government Publishing Office in a serial publication des16 ignated the ‘Federal Register’. The Director of the Gov17 ernment Publishing Office shall make available the facili18 ties of the Government Publishing Office for the prompt 

19 publication of the Federal Register in the manner and at 

20 the times required by this chapter and the regulations pre21 scribed under it. The contents of the daily issues shall con22 stitute all documents, required or authorized to be pub23 lished, filed with the Office of the Federal Register up to 

24 the time of the day immediately preceding the day of pub25 lication fixed by regulations under this chapter. There 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 9592 RFS

1 shall be published with each document a copy of the nota2 tion, required to be made by section 1503, of the day and 

3 hour when, upon filing with the Office, the document was 

4 made available for public inspection. Distribution shall be 

5 made at a time in the morning of the day of distribution 

6 fixed by regulations prescribed under this chapter. The 

7 prices to be charged for the Federal Register may be fixed 

8 by the Administrative Committee of the Federal Register 

9 established by section 1506 without reference to the re10 strictions placed upon and fixed for the sale of Govern11 ment publications by sections 1705 and 1708. The Gov12 ernment Publishing Office shall print at least two physical 

13 copies of each published Federal Register issue. Of those, 

14 not less than two copies shall be stored, each in a separate 

15 facility, to ensure the preservation of the Federal Register 

16 for the purposes of continuity of government.’’. 

17 (e) DOCUMENTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN FEDERAL

18 REGISTER.—Section 1505 of title 44, United States Code, 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in subsection (b)— 

21 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘COM22 MENTS’’ and inserting ‘‘NEWS COMMENTARY’’; 

23 and 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘comments’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘news commentary’’; 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 9592 RFS

1 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub2 section (d); 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol4 lowing new subsection: 

5 ‘‘(c) ALTERNATIVE PUBLICATION.—In a continuity 

6 of operations event in which the Government Publishing 

7 Office does not fulfill the publication requirements of this 

8 chapter, the Office of the Federal Register may establish 

9 an alternative method to publish the Federal Register 

10 until such time that the Government Publishing Office re11 sumes publication.’’; and 

12 (4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, in the 

13 matter following paragraph (2)— 

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘telecommunications, the 

15 Internet,’’ after ‘‘the press, the radio,’’; and 

16 (B) by striking ‘‘and two duplicate origi17 nals or two certified copies’’ and inserting ‘‘doc18 ument’’. 

19 (f) ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE OF THE FEDERAL

20 REGISTER AMENDMENT.—Subsection (a) of section 1506 

21 of title 44, United States Code, is amended to read as 

22 follows: 

23 ‘‘(a) COMPOSITION; DUTIES.—The Administrative 

24 Committee of the Federal Register shall consist of the Ar25 chivist of the United States or Acting Archivist, who shall 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 9592 RFS

1 chair the committee, an officer of the Department of Jus2 tice designated by the Attorney General, and the Director 

3 of the Government Publishing Office or Acting Director 

4 of the Government Publishing Office. The Director of the 

5 Federal Register shall act as secretary of the committee. 

6 The committee shall prescribe, with the approval of the 

7 President or their designee, regulations for carrying out 

8 this chapter. The regulations shall provide for, among 

9 other things, the following: 

10 ‘‘(1) The documents which shall be authorized 

11 under section 1505(b) to be published in the Federal 

12 Register. 

13 ‘‘(2) The manner and form in which the Fed14 eral Register shall be published. 

15 ‘‘(3) The manner and form in which agencies 

16 submit documents for publication in the Federal 

17 Register and special editions of the Federal Reg18 ister. 

19 ‘‘(4) Subject to subsection (b), the manner of 

20 distribution to Members of Congress, officers and 

21 employees of the United States, or Federal agency, 

22 for official use, and the number which shall be avail23 able for distribution to the public. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 9592 RFS

1 ‘‘(5) The prices to be charged for individual 

2 copies of, and subscriptions to, the Federal Register 

3 and any reprints and bound volumes of it. 

4 ‘‘(6) The manner and form by which the Fed5 eral Register may receive information and comments 

6 from the public, if practicable and efficient. 

7 ‘‘(7) Special editions of the Federal Register.’’. 

8 (g) CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS AMEND9 MENT.—Section 1510 of title 44, United States Code, is 

10 amended to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘§ 1510. Code of Federal Regulations 

12 ‘‘(a) SPECIAL EDITION FOR CODIFICATION OF AGEN13 CY DOCUMENTS.—The Administrative Committee of the 

14 Federal Register, with the approval of the President or 

15 their designee, may require, from time to time as it con16 siders necessary, the preparation and publication in a spe17 cial edition of the Federal Register a complete codification 

18 of the documents of each agency of the Government hav19 ing general applicability and legal effect, issued or promul20 gated by the agency by publication in the Federal Register 

21 or by filing with the Administrative Committee, and which 

22 are relied upon by the agency as authority for, or are in23 voked or used by it in the discharge of, its activities or 

24 functions, and are in effect as to facts arising on or after 

25 dates specified by the Administrative Committee. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

HR 9592 RFS

1 ‘‘(b) CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.—A codifica2 tion prepared under subsection (a) of this section shall be 

3 published and shall be designated as the ‘Code of Federal 

4 Regulations’. The Administrative Committee shall regu5 late the manner and forms of publishing this codification. 

6 ‘‘(c) SUPPLEMENTATION, COLLATION, AND REPUBLI7 CATION.—The Administrative Committee shall regulate 

8 the supplementation and the collation and republication 

9 of the codification with a view to keeping the Code of Fed10 eral Regulations as current as practicable. Each unit of 

11 codification shall be supplemented and republished at least 

12 once each calendar year. The Office of the Federal Reg13 ister may create updates of each unit of codification from 

14 time to time and make the same available electronically 

15 or may provide public access using an electronic edition 

16 that allows a user to select a specific date and retrieve 

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

18 ‘‘(d) PREPARATION AND PUBLICATION BY THE FED19 ERAL REGISTER.—The Office of the Federal Register 

20 shall prepare and publish the codifications, supplements, 

21 collations, indices, and user aids authorized by this sec22 tion. 

23 ‘‘(e) PRIMA FACIE EVIDENCE.—The codified docu24 ments of the several agencies published in the Code of 

25 Federal Regulations under this section, as amended by 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

HR 9592 RFS

1 documents subsequently filed with the Office and pub2 lished in the daily issues of the Federal Register, shall 

3 be prima facie evidence of the text of the documents and 

4 of the fact that they are in effect on and after the date 

5 of publication. 

6 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Administrative Committee, 

7 with approval of the President or their designee, shall 

8 issue regulations for carrying out this section. 

9 ‘‘(g) EXCEPTION.—This section does not require 

10 codification of the text of Presidential documents pub11 lished and periodically compiled in supplements to title 3 

12 of the Code of Federal Regulations.’’. 

13 (h) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

14 The table of sections for chapter 15 of title 44, United 

15 States Code, is amended by striking the items related to 

16 sections 1502, 1503, and 1504 and inserting the following: 

‘‘1502. Custody and publishing of Federal documents; appointment of Director. 

‘‘1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of time; public inspection; transmission for publishing. 

‘‘1504. ‘Federal Register’; publishing; contents; distribution; price; physical copies.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 12, 

2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS