U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

89–010 

" ! SENATE 116TH CONGRESS

1st Session 

REPORT

2019

116–14 

Calendar No. 45 

PROVIDING ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH 

TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2019 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

S. 395 

TO REQUIRE EACH AGENCY, IN PROVIDING NOTICE OF A RULE 

MAKING, TO INCLUDE A LINK TO A 100 WORD PLAIN LANGUAGE 

SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSED RULE 

MARCH 25, 2019.—Ordered to be printed 


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(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 

SATYA P. THALLAM, Chief Economist 

DAVID M. WEINBERG, Minority Staff Director 

ZACHARY I. SCHRAM, Minority Chief Counsel 

ASHLEY E. POLING, Minority Director of Governmental Affairs 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


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1On June 28, 2017, the Committee approved S. 577, Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2017. That bill is substantially similar to S. 395. Accordingly, this committee reContinued 

Calendar No. 45 

116TH CONGRESS SENATE REPORT " ! 1st Session 116–14 

PROVIDING ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH TRANSPARENCY 

ACT OF 2019 

MARCH 25, 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 

[To accompany S. 395] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (S. 395) to require each agency, in 

providing notice of a rule making, to include a link to a 100 word 

plain language summary of the proposed rule, 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 ................................................... 2 

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 Bill, as Reported ........................... 4 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2019 

requires Federal agencies to include, as part of a notice of proposed 

rulemaking (NPRM), a link to a 100-word or less, plain language 

summary of the proposed rule. The summary itself will be made 

available on the website ‘‘regulations.gov.’’ 1


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2 

port is in large part a reproduction of Chairman Johnson’s committee report for S. 577, S. Rep. 

No. 115–120. 2Pub. Law 79–404, 60 Stat. 237. 

3George B. Shepherd, ‘‘Fierce Compromise: The Administrative Procedure Act Emerges from 

New Deal Politics,’’ Northwestern University Law Review, Vol. 90, No. 4. 4 Id. 

5 Emily S. Bremer, ‘‘A Primer on the Informal Rulemaking Process,’’ Administrative Fix (blog), 

Administrative Conference of the United States, May 10, 2013, https://www.acus.gov/newsroom/ 

administrative-fix-blog/primer-informal-rulemaking-process. 6 5 U.S.C. § 553. 

II. BACKGROUND AND THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) 2 forms the procedural 

basis by which Federal agencies issue most regulations and other 

policies. The APA, which has been called the result of a ‘‘fierce 

compromise,’’ 3 is intended as a means to enable agencies to engage 

in policymaking while promoting the interests of those nongovernmental parties affected.4 Specifically, the procedure outlined in Section 553 of the APA for so-called ‘‘informal’’ rulemaking ‘‘establishes the minimum procedural requirements’’ 5 that agencies must 

observe for most regulations.6 Because regulations issued through 

such a process are generally considered legally binding, the APA 

formalizes a notice to the public of a forthcoming rule, and at that 

point establishes an early opportunity for the general public to submit comments. 

However, the public’s ability to offer useful feedback through 

comments, especially parties who may not be experts in the particular subject of the rule, is dependent upon the clarity and simplicity of the proposal. Therefore, this bill offers a uniform and universally accessible standard for agencies to better communicate 

their intended policies to the public: a 100-word plain language 

summary made available by agencies at regulations.gov. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Senator James Lankford (R–OK) introduced S. 395 on February 

7, 2019, with Senators Kyrsten Sinema (D–AZ), James E. Risch (R– 

ID), Gary C. Peters (D–MI), Pat Roberts (R–KS), and Doug Jones 

(D–AL). The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The Committee considered S. 395 

at a February 13, 2019 business meeting. 

The Committee ordered S. 395 reported favorably on February 

13, 2019, by voice vote en bloc. Senators present for the vote were 

Johnson, Portman, Paul, Lankford, Romney, Scott, Enzi, Hawley, 

Peters, Carper, Hassan, Harris, Sinema, and Rosen. 

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

Section 1. Short title 

This section provides the bill’s short title, the ‘‘Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2017.’’ 

Section 2. Requirement to post a 100 word summary to regulations.gov 

This section amends the list of information required for inclusion 

when agencies issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to add that 

they also include a link to a 100-word or less summary of the proposed rule. The summary shall be posted to regulations.gov. 


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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 bill and determined that the bill will 

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

Committee agrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s statement that the bill 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, March 1, 2019. 

Hon. RON JOHNSON, 

Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 395, the Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act of 2019. 

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

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is David Hughes. 

Sincerely, 

KEITH HALL, 

Director. 

Enclosure. 

S. 395 would require agencies to post an internet address link to 

a 100-word maximum summary of any proposed rule published in 

the Federal Register that would take the reader to the concise summary posted on regulations.gov. The June 1, 1998, Presidential 

Memorandum on Plain Language and Executive Order 13563 already require agencies to use plain language in all proposed and 

final rules. CBO expects that preparing the short summary of proposed rules under S. 395 would not significantly increase agencies’ 


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administrative costs. CBO estimates that implementing S. 395 

would have no significant cost over the next five years. 

Enacting S. 395 could affect direct spending by some agencies 

(such as the Tennessee Valley Authority) because they are authorized to use receipts from the sale of goods, fees, and other collections to cover their operating costs. Because most of those agencies 

can adjust the amounts collected as operating costs change, CBO 

estimates that any net changes in direct spending by those agencies would be negligible. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is David Hughes. This 

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 S. 395 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 5—GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION 

AND EMPLOYEES 

* * * * * * * 

PART I—THE AGENCIES GENERALLY 

* * * * * * * 

CHAPTER 5—ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE 

* * * * * * * 

Subchapter II—Administrative Procedure 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 553. RULE MAKING 

(a) * * * 

* * * * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(1) * * * 

(2) reference to the legal authority under which the rule is 

proposed; øand¿ 

(3) either the terms or substance of the proposed rule or a 

description of the subjects and issues involvedø.¿; and 

(4) the Internet address of a summary of not more than 100 

words in length of the proposed rule, in plain language, that 

shall be posted on the Internet website under section 206(d) of 


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the E-Government Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) (commonly 

known as regulations.gov). 

Æ 


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