II 

Calendar No. 43 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 380 

[Report No. 116–12] 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 7, 2019 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Ms. ERNST, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. 

CRUZ, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

MARCH 25, 2019 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

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 ‘‘Guidance Out Of 

5 Darkness Act’’ or the ‘‘GOOD Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

4 meaning given that term in section 551 of title 5, 

5 United States Code. 

6 (2) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guid7 ance document’’— 

8 (A) means an agency statement of general 

9 applicability (other than a rule that has the 

10 force and effect of law promulgated in accord11 ance with the notice and comment procedures 

12 under section 553 of title 5, United States 

13 Code) that— 

14 (i) does not have the force and effect 

15 of law; and 

16 (ii) sets forth— 

17 (I) an agency decision or a policy 

18 on a statutory, regulatory, or tech19 nical issue; or 

20 (II) an interpretation of a statu21 tory or regulatory issue; and 

22 (B) may include— 

23 (i) a memorandum; 

24 (ii) a notice; 

25 (iii) a bulletin; 

26 (iv) a directive; 


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1 (v) a news release; 

2 (vi) a letter; 

3 (vii) a blog post; 

4 (viii) a no-action letter; 

5 (ix) a speech by an agency official; 

6 (x) an advisory; 

7 (xi) a manual; 

8 (xii) a circular; 

9 (xiii) a frequently asked questions 

10 sheet; or 

11 (xiv) any combination of the items de12 scribed in clauses (i) through (xiii). 

13 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

14 INTERNET. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—On the date on which an agency 

16 issues a guidance document, the agency shall publish the 

17 guidance document in accordance with the requirements 

18 under subsection (c). 

19 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

20 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

21 this Act, each agency shall publish, in accordance with the 

22 requirements under subsection (c), any guidance docu23 ment issued by that agency that is in effect on that date. 

24 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—All guidance documents pub2 lished under subsections (a) and (b) by an agency 

3 shall be published in a single location on an internet 

4 website designated by the Director under paragraph 

5 (4). 

6 (2) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—Each agen7 cy shall, for guidance documents published by the 

8 agency under subsections (a) and (b), publish a 

9 hyperlink on the internet website of the agency that 

10 provides access to the guidance documents at the lo11 cation described in paragraph (1). 

12 (3) ORGANIZATION.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The guidance docu14 ments described in paragraph (1) shall be— 

15 (i) categorized as guidance docu16 ments; and 

17 (ii) further divided into subcategories 

18 as appropriate. 

19 (B) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—The 

20 hyperlinks described in paragraph (2) shall be 

21 prominently displayed on the internet website of 

22 the agency. 

23 (4) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 90 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

25 shall designate an internet website on which guidVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S380.RS S380

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1 ance documents shall be published under subsections 

2 (a) and (b). 

3 (d) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—On the 

4 date on which a guidance document issued by an agency 

5 is rescinded, or, in the case of a guidance document that 

6 is rescinded pursuant to a court order, not later than the 

7 date on which the order is entered, the agency shall, at 

8 the location described in subsection (c)(1)— 

9 (1) maintain the rescinded guidance document; 

10 and 

11 (2) indicate— 

12 (A) that the guidance document is re13 scinded; 

14 (B) if the guidance document was re15 scinded pursuant to a court order, the case 

16 number of the case in which the order was en17 tered; and 

18 (C) the date on which the guidance docu19 ment was rescinded. 

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guidance Out Of Dark22 ness Act’’ or the ‘‘GOOD Act’’. 

23 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 


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1 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the mean2 ing given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the 

5 Director of the Office of Management and Budget. 

6 (3) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.— 

7 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘guidance doc8 ument’’— 

9 (i) means an agency statement of gen10 eral applicability (other than a rule that 

11 has the force and effect of law promulgated 

12 in accordance with the notice and comment 

13 procedures under section 553 of title 5, 

14 United States Code) that— 

15 (I) does not have the force and ef16 fect of law; and 

17 (II) is designated by an agency 

18 official as setting forth— 

19 (aa) a policy on a statutory, 

20 regulatory, or technical issue; or 

21 (bb) an interpretation of a 

22 statutory or regulatory issue; and 

23 (ii) may include— 

24 (I) a memorandum; 

25 (II) a notice; 


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1 (III) a bulletin; 

2 (IV) a directive; 

3 (V) a news release; 

4 (VI) a letter; 

5 (VII) a blog post; 

6 (VIII) a no-action letter; 

7 (IX) a speech by an agency offi8 cial; and 

9 (X) any combination of the items 

10 described in subclauses (I) through 

11 (IX). 

12 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term 

13 ‘‘guidance document’’— 

14 (i) shall be construed broadly to effec15 tuate the purpose and intent of this Act; 

16 and 

17 (ii) shall not be limited to the items 

18 described in subparagraph (A)(ii). 

19 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

20 INTERNET. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (d), on the 

22 date on which an agency issues a guidance document, the 

23 agency shall publish the guidance document in accordance 

24 with the requirements under subsection (c). 


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1 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

2 Subject to subsection (d), not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall publish, 

4 in accordance with the requirements under subsection (c), 

5 any guidance document issued by that agency that is in 

6 effect on that date. 

7 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—All guidance documents pub9 lished under subsections (a) and (b) by an agency 

10 shall be published in a single location on an internet 

11 website designated by the Director under paragraph 

12 (4). 

13 (2) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—Each agency 

14 shall, for guidance documents published by the agency 

15 under subsections (a) and (b), publish a hyperlink on 

16 the internet website of the agency that provides access 

17 to the guidance documents at the location described in 

18 paragraph (1). 

19 (3) ORGANIZATION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The guidance documents 

21 described in paragraph (1) shall be— 

22 (i) categorized as guidance documents; 

23 and 

24 (ii) further divided into subcategories 

25 as appropriate. 


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1 (B) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—The 

2 hyperlinks described in paragraph (2) shall be 

3 prominently displayed on the internet website of 

4 the agency. 

5 (4) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

7 designate an internet website on which guidance doc8 uments shall be published under subsections (a) and 

9 (b). 

10 (d) DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM

11 DISCLOSURE UNDER FOIA.—If a guidance document 

12 issued by an agency is a document that is exempt from dis13 closure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code 

14 (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), 

15 or contains information that is exempt from disclosure 

16 under that section, that document or information, as the 

17 case may be, shall not be subject to the requirements under 

18 this Act. 

19 (e) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—On the date 

20 on which a guidance document issued by an agency is re21 scinded, or, in the case of a guidance document that is re22 scinded pursuant to a court order, not later than the date 

23 on which the order is entered, the agency shall, at the loca24 tion described in subsection (c)(1)— 


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1 (1) maintain the rescinded guidance document; 

2 and 

3 (2) indicate— 

4 (A) that the guidance document is re5 scinded; 

6 (B) if the guidance document was rescinded 

7 pursuant to a court order, the case number of the 

8 case in which the order was entered; and 

9 (C) the date on which the guidance docu10 ment was rescinded. 


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Calendar No. 43 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 380 

[Report No. 116–12] 

A BILL 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

MARCH 25, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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