II 

Calendar No. 687 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7219 

[Report No. 118–284] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2024 

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

Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 9, 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

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

AN ACT 

To ensure that Federal agencies rely on the best reasonably 

available scientific, technical, demographic, economic, and 

statistical information and evidence to develop, issue or 

inform the public of the nature and bases of Federal 

agency rules and guidance, and for other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Information Quality 

5 Assurance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INFORMATION QUALITY ASSURANCE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter 1 of chapter 35 of 

8 title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

10 ‘‘§ 3522. Information Quality Assurance. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

12 date of the enactment of the Information Quality Assur13 ance Act, the Director shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) with public and Federal agency involve15 ment, update the guidelines issued under subsection 

16 (a) of the Information Quality Act— 

17 ‘‘(A) to provide policy and procedural guid18 ance to the heads of Federal agencies for better 

19 ensuring and maximizing the quality, objec20 tivity, utility, and integrity of influential infor21 mation or evidence— 

22 ‘‘(i) used by the heads of Federal 

23 agencies to develop or issue rules and guid24 ance; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) disseminated to the public to in2 form the public about the nature and bases 

3 of such rules and guidance; and 

4 ‘‘(B) in a manner consistent with— 

5 ‘‘(i) this chapter; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the amendments made by the 

7 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy8 making Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 

9 435); and 

10 ‘‘(2) make the guidelines updated under para11 graph (1) available on the website of the Office of 

12 Management and Budget. 

13 ‘‘(b) CONTENT OF GUIDELINES.—In updating the 

14 guidelines under subsection (a), the Director shall require 

15 that the head of each Federal agency to which the guide16 lines apply, not later than 1 year after the Director up17 dates such guidelines— 

18 ‘‘(1) update any guidelines issued by the head 

19 of the Federal agency under the Information Quality 

20 Act to ensure that, in the case of influential infor21 mation or evidence, the best reasonably available in22 formation and evidence is relied on in developing, 

23 issuing, or informing the public about the rules and 

24 guidance of the Federal agency; 


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1 ‘‘(2) publish the guidelines updated by the head 

2 of the Federal agency under paragraph (1) on the 

3 website of the Federal agency; 

4 ‘‘(3) ensure the administrative mechanisms es5 tablished under subparagraph (B) of section (b)(2) 

6 of the Information Quality Act are available with re7 spect to seeking and obtaining the correction of any 

8 influential information or evidence that the Federal 

9 agency uses to develop or issue a rule or guideline, 

10 or disseminates to the public to inform the public of 

11 the nature and basis of any rule or guidance of the 

12 Federal agency, that does not comply with the 

13 guidelines issued under paragraph (1); and 

14 ‘‘(4) include in the report required under sub15 paragraph (C) of subsection (b)(2) of the Informa16 tion Quality Act the information described under 

17 that subparagraph with respect to any complaints 

18 received by the Federal agency related to the accu19 racy of influential information or evidence the Fed20 eral agency uses to develop, issue, or inform the 

21 public of the nature and bases of rules or guidance. 

22 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided under 

24 paragraph (2), the head of the Federal agency shall 

25 make available in the docket for the rulemaking of 


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1 any rule of the Federal agency, or in the administra2 tive record for any guidance, in a timely manner be3 fore the promulgation of the rule or issuance of the 

4 guidance document— 

5 ‘‘(A) any model, methodology, or source of 

6 scientific, technical, demographic, economic, or 

7 statistical information or evidence upon which 

8 the head of the Federal agency— 

9 ‘‘(i) relied on in developing or issuing 

10 such rule or guidance; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) proposes to rely on in developing 

12 or issuing such rule or guidance; and 

13 ‘‘(B) an identification of whether each 

14 such model, methodology, or source constitutes, 

15 or may constitute, influential information or 

16 evidence. 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The head of the Fed19 eral agency— 

20 ‘‘(i) shall implement paragraph (1) in 

21 a manner consistent with this chapter and 

22 section 552a of title 5; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) may not make available in the 

24 docket for the rulemaking of any rule of 

25 the Federal agency, or in the administraVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:32 Dec 10, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H7219.RS H7219

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1 tive record for any guidance, information 

2 that is prohibited from being disclosed to 

3 the public under any statute. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXPLANATION TO BE INCLUDED IN

5 DOCKET OR ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD.—If the 

6 head of the Federal agency does not make a 

7 model, methodology, or source available under 

8 paragraph (1)(A) pursuant to paragraph 

9 (2)(A), the head of the Federal agency shall in10 clude in the docket for the rulemaking or the 

11 administrative record for the guidance docu12 ment— 

13 ‘‘(i) an explanation as to why such in14 formation cannot be made publicly avail15 able, including a citation to the applicable 

16 law and policy; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) a description of any steps being 

18 taken to increase access to such informa19 tion, even if the information cannot be 

20 made public. 

21 ‘‘(3) FORMAT OF SOURCE.—The head of each 

22 Federal agency shall make any model, methodology, 

23 or source required to be made available under para24 graph (1)(A) available as an open Government data 

25 asset. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) EVIDENCE.—The term ‘evidence’ has the 

3 meaning given that term in section 3561. 

4 ‘‘(2) INFLUENTIAL INFORMATION OR EVI5 DENCE.—The term ‘influential information or evi6 dence’ means information or evidence (including sci7 entific, technical, demographic, economic, financial, 

8 and statistical information or evidence) that the 

9 head of the Federal agency can reasonably deter10 mine will have or does have a clear or substantial 

11 impact on— 

12 ‘‘(A) developing or issuing a proposed or 

13 final rule of the Federal agency; or 

14 ‘‘(B) informing the public of the nature 

15 and basis of any rule or guidance of the Fed16 eral agency. 

17 ‘‘(3) INFORMATION QUALITY ACT.—The term 

18 ‘Information Quality Act’ means section 515 of the 

19 Treasury and General Government Appropriations 

20 Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–554).’’. 

21 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

22 subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 

23 is amended by adding after the item relating to section 

24 3521 the following: 

‘‘3522. Information Quality Assurance.’’. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Information Quality 

3 Assurance Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INFORMATION QUALITY ASSURANCE. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 

6 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 3522. Information Quality Assurance. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of the Information Quality Assurance 

11 Act, the Director shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) update the guidelines issued under sub13 section (a) of section 515 of the Consolidated Appro14 priations Act, 2001 (commonly known as the ‘Infor15 mation Quality Act’) (Public Law 106–554; 114 Stat. 

16 2763A–153)— 

17 ‘‘(A) to provide policy and procedural guid18 ance to the heads of Federal agencies for better 

19 ensuring and maximizing the quality, objec20 tivity, utility, and integrity of influential infor21 mation or evidence— 

22 ‘‘(i) used by the heads of Federal agen23 cies to develop or issue rules and guidance 

24 made available to the public; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) disseminated to the public to in2 form the public about the nature and bases 

3 of such rules and guidance; and 

4 ‘‘(B) in a manner consistent with— 

5 ‘‘(i) this chapter; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) the amendments made by the 

7 Foundations for Evidence-Based Policy8 making Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–435; 

9 132 Stat. 5529); and 

10 ‘‘(2) make the guidelines updated under para11 graph (1) available on the website of the Office of 

12 Management and Budget. 

13 ‘‘(b) CONTENT OF GUIDELINES.—In updating the 

14 guidelines under subsection (a), the Director shall require 

15 that the head of each Federal agency to which the guidelines 

16 apply, not later than 1 year after the Director updates such 

17 guidelines— 

18 ‘‘(1) update any guidelines issued by the head of 

19 the Federal agency under the Information Quality 

20 Act to ensure that, in the case of influential informa21 tion or evidence, the best reasonably available infor22 mation and evidence that is fit-for-purpose is relied 

23 on in developing, issuing, or informing the public 

24 about the rules and guidance of the Federal agency; 


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1 ‘‘(2) publish the guidelines updated by the head 

2 of the Federal agency under paragraph (1) on the 

3 website of the Federal agency; 

4 ‘‘(3) ensure the administrative mechanisms es5 tablished under subparagraph (B) of subsection (b)(2) 

6 of the Information Quality Act are made available, as 

7 applicable, with respect to seeking and obtaining the 

8 correction of any influential information or evidence 

9 disseminated by agencies that the Federal agency uses 

10 to develop or issue a rule or guidance made available 

11 to the public, or to inform the public of the nature 

12 and basis of any rule or guidance of the Federal agen13 cy, that does not comply with the guidelines issued 

14 under paragraph (1); and 

15 ‘‘(4) include in the report required under sub16 paragraph (C) of subsection (b)(2) of the Information 

17 Quality Act the information described under that sub18 paragraph with respect to any complaints received by 

19 the Federal agency related to the accuracy of influen20 tial information or evidence the Federal agency uses 

21 to develop, issue, or inform the public of the nature 

22 and bases of rules or guidance. 

23 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.— 

24 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

2 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

3 Director shall issue guidance, which may be in4 cluded in the guidelines updated under sub5 section (a), that directs the head of the Federal 

6 agency to make available, except as provided 

7 under paragraph (2), in the docket for the rule8 making of any rule of the Federal agency, or in 

9 the public administrative record for any guid10 ance— 

11 ‘‘(i) the critical factual material upon 

12 which the head of the Federal agency relied 

13 as part of the rulemaking or guidance devel14 opment process; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) a citation to any other source 

16 used to inform the rulemaking or guidance 

17 development process. 

18 ‘‘(B) PROCESS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

20 under clause (ii), the guidance required 

21 under subparagraph (A) shall direct an 

22 agency to make available the information 

23 that must be made available under that sub24 paragraph as soon as reasonably possible 

25 before, but at a minimum at, the time that 


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1 the Federal agency promulgates a rule or 

2 issues guidance. 

3 ‘‘(ii) NOTICE AND COMMENT.—If a 

4 Federal agency engages in notice and com5 ment rulemaking under section 553 of title 

6 5 or provides for public notice and an op7 portunity to comment on proposed guid8 ance, the guidance required under subpara9 graph (A) shall direct the Federal agency to 

10 provide notice and an opportunity to com11 ment on the critical factual material upon 

12 which the head of the Federal agency relied. 

13 ‘‘(C) REVISIONS.—If the critical factual 

14 material under subparagraph (A)(i) is revised in 

15 a manner that may materially affect the rule16 making or guidance after the public is given no17 tice and an opportunity to comment pursuant to 

18 subparagraph (B)(ii), but before the rule or 

19 guidance is published, the head of the Federal 

20 agency shall make the revision available in the 

21 docket for the rulemaking or in the applicable 

22 administrative record for the guidance in a 

23 timely manner. 

24 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The guidance under 

2 paragraph (1) shall direct the head of the Fed3 eral agency— 

4 ‘‘(i) to implement paragraph (1), con5 sistent with this chapter, sections 552 and 

6 552a of title 5, and any rights under titles 

7 17 and 35; 

8 ‘‘(ii) to implement paragraph (1) to 

9 the maximum extent feasible, considering 

10 costs to the Federal Government; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) in implementing paragraph (1), 

12 to not make available in the docket for the 

13 rulemaking of any rule of the Federal agen14 cy, or in the public administrative record 

15 for any guidance, as applicable, informa16 tion that is prohibited from being disclosed 

17 to the public under any statute. 

18 ‘‘(B) EXPLANATION TO BE INCLUDED IN

19 DOCKET OR ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD.—If the 

20 head of the Federal agency does not make critical 

21 factual material available under paragraph (1), 

22 subject to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, 

23 the head of the Federal agency shall include in 

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1 ministrative record, if applicable, for the guid2 ance— 

3 ‘‘(i) an explanation as to why such in4 formation cannot be made publicly avail5 able; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) a description of any steps being 

7 taken to increase access to such information, 

8 even if the information cannot be made 

9 public. 

10 ‘‘(3) FORMAT OF CRITICAL FACTUAL MATE11 RIAL.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph 

13 (2) and subparagraph (B), the head of each Fed14 eral agency shall make available any critical fac15 tual material required to be made available 

16 under paragraph (1)(A) as an open Government 

17 data asset. 

18 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—If an exception under 

19 paragraph (2)(A) applies, the head of a Federal 

20 agency may— 

21 ‘‘(i) maximize public access to the crit22 ical factual material to the extent permitted 

23 by law; 

24 ‘‘(ii) make the critical factual material 

25 available by citation or description; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) place in the docket for the rule2 making or the administrative record for the 

3 guidance a specification of the identity of 

4 the entity that holds a legal right to pro5 hibit or limit reproduction, distribution, or 

6 public display of the information and the 

7 means by which a member of the public 

8 may request to obtain a full copy of the in9 formation from such holder. 

10 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Nothing in 

11 this section shall be construed to authorize rights to judicial 

12 review, other than to those rights in existence on the day 

13 before the date of enactment of the Information Quality As14 surance Act, or create any additional rights under chapter 

15 5 or 7 of title 5 (commonly referred to as the ‘Administra16 tive Procedure Act’). 

17 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) EVIDENCE.—The term ‘evidence’ has the 

19 meaning given that term in section 3561. 

20 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION QUALITY ACT.—The term ‘In21 formation Quality Act’ means section 515 of the 

22 Treasury and General Government Appropriations 

23 Act, 2001 (Public Law 106–554).’’. 

24 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

25 subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 


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1 is amended by adding after the item relating to section 3521 

2 the following: 

‘‘3522. Information Quality Assurance.’’. 

3 (c) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—No additional funds are 

4 authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of carrying 

5 out this Act or the amendments made by this Act. 


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Calendar No. 687 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7219 

[Report No. 118–284] 

AN ACT 

To ensure that Federal agencies rely on the best 

rules and guidance, and for other purposes. lic of the nature and bases of Federal agency and evidence to develop, issue or inform the pubgraphic, economic, and statistical information reasonably available scientific, technical, demoDECEMBER 9, 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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