U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

39–010 

" ! SENATE 113TH CONGRESS

2d Session 

REPORT

2014

113–232 

Calendar No. 505 

GOVERMENTAL REPORTS ELIMINATION ACT 

OF 2014 

R E P O R T 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

TO ACCOMPANY

H.R. 4194 

TO PROVIDE FOR THE ELIMINATION OR MODIFICATION OF 

FEDERAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 

JULY 31, 2014.—Ordered to be printed 


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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

MARK BEGICH, Alaska 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin 

ROB PORTMAN, Ohio 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

GABRIELLE A. BATKIN, Staff Director 

JOHN P. KILVINGTON, Deputy Staff Director 

MARY BETH SCHULTZ, Chief Counsel 

KRISTINE V. LAM, Professional Staff Member 

KEITH B. ASHDOWN, Minority Staff Director 

CHRISTOPHER J. BARKLEY, Minority Deputy Staff Director 

ANDREW C. DOCKHAM, Minority Chief Counsel 

PATRICK J. BAILEY, Minority Counsel 

LAURA W. KILBRIDE, Chief Clerk 


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Calendar No. 505 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 113–232 

GOVERNMENT REPORTS ELIMINATION ACT OF 2014 

JULY 31, 2014.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. CARPER, from the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 4194] 

The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 

to which was referred the bill (H.R. 4194), to provide for the elimination or modification of Federal reporting requirements, reports 

favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the 

bill, as amended, do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

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

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

III. Legislative History ......................................................................................... 3 

IV. Section-by-Section Analysis .......................................................................... 3 

V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact .................................................................. 6 

VI. Congressional Budget Office Estimate ......................................................... 7 

VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported ........................... 7 

I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

The Government Reports Elimination Act will save taxpayer 

money by relieving federal agencies of requirements to produce reports that are outdated or unneeded. Specifically, the bill eliminates requirements for federal agencies to submit 61 quarterly, 

semiannual, and annual reports to Congress and reduces reporting 

requirements for an additional five reports that are required under 

law. 

II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

When passing laws, Congress frequently includes requirements 

for federal agencies to submit reports to Congress or its committees. Members of Congress often use reporting requirements to help 


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inform their study of policy issues and conduct oversight of agencies and programs. Congress may require federal agencies to submit reports only once or periodically according to a fixed schedule. 

Over time, some reporting requirements become outdated or no 

longer necessary, or are duplicative of other reporting requirements. On several occasions, Congress, agencies, and the President 

have reexamined reporting requirements to ascertain whether the 

requirements should continue, change, or be eliminated. In 1995, 

Congress passed the Federal Reports Elimination and Sunset Act 

of 1995 (P.L. 104–66). The law eliminated and modified nearly 200 

reporting requirements and established a date on which all annual 

or routine Congressionally mandated reporting requirements that 

were in place on the date of enactment of the Act would be terminated unless specifically exempted by law. Additionally, the law required the President to identify, in the next proposed budget additional, Congressionally mandated reporting requirements that 

could be eliminated. As a result of that provision, the President, in 

the Fiscal Year 1997 Budget, provided Congress with a list recommending that an additional 400 reports be eliminated or modified. 

That list became the basis for the Federal Reports Elimination Act 

of 1998 (P.L. 105–362), which eliminated nearly 200 additional reports. 

Congress revisited reporting requirements in the Government 

Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 (GPRA Modernization) (P.L. 111–352), which was enacted in January 2011. 

Under GPRA Modernization, each agency’s chief operating officer is 

required, on an annual basis, to compile a list of all plans and reports the agency produces for Congress and to identify those plans 

and reports that are outdated or duplicative of other required plans 

and reports. Each agency’s chief operating officer then provides this 

information to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Finally, GPRA Modernization requires the President to 

include the list of duplicative or outdated plans in the President’s 

annual budget submitted to Congress. 

In January 2013, the Office of Management and Budget published an initial list of 376 congressionally mandated reports that 

agencies recommended be eliminated or modified to improve efficiency. Because the reports are mandated by law, striking the reporting requirements requires Congress to pass a law. The Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 was based on this list and 

reflects those reports in which Congress agrees with the assessment of federal agencies. Prior to introducing the bill, Representative Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight 

and Government Reform, sent a letter to the chairman of each committee of the House of Representatives soliciting input on OMB’s 

list of reports that agencies have recommended be eliminated or 

modified. The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform relied on the feedback received from the various committees of the 

House to form the list of reports to be eliminated that became the 

basis of the Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014. 

Similarly, after the legislation passed the House of Representatives and was referred to this Committee in the Senate, Chairman 

Carper and Ranking Member Coburn sent a letter to the Chairman 

and Ranking Member of each other committee in the Senate soliciting their feedback regarding eliminating the reports contained in 


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the House-passed version of the Government Reports Elimination 

Act of 2014. The legislation reported by this Committee containing 

a list of reports to be eliminated reflects the input of the Senate 

committees. 

III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 4194 was introduced on March 11, 2014 by Representative 

Darrell Issa. On April 28, 2014, H.R. 4194 was agreed to in the 

House of Representatives by voice vote. The bill was received in the 

Senate on April 29, 2014 and referred to the Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs Committee. 

The Committee considered the bill at a business meeting on June 

25, 2014. Senators Carper, Coburn, and McCaskill offered a substitute amendment to the bill that would eliminate 61 quarterly, 

semiannual, and annual reports to Congress and modify reporting 

requirements for an additional five reports that are currently required under law. The Committee adopted the Carper-CoburnMcCaskill substitute and ordered the bill, as amended, be reported 

favorably by voice vote. Senators Carper, Levin, McCaskill, Tester, 

Heitkamp, Coburn, McCain, Johnson, and Portman were present 

for the vote. 

IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title 

This section states that this bill may be cited as the ‘‘Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014.’’ 

Section 2. Table of contents 

This section provides the Table of Contents for the bill. 

TITLE I—DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Section 101 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Agriculture: 

1. Information on Administrative Expenses on Commodity Promotion Programs 

2. Unfair Trade Practices Report and the Related Meeting 

3. Farmland Protection Policy Act Annual Report 

4. Peanut Base Acres Data Collection and Publication 

5. Other Base Acres Data Collection and Publication 

6. Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Accounts Pilot Program Report 

7. Rural Broadband Access Program Report 

8. Report on Export Credit Guarantees to Emerging Markets 

9. Commodity Credit Corporation Quarterly Report 

10. Evaluation of the Rural Development, Business and Industry 

Guaranteed Loan Program Financing of Locally or Regionally Produced Food Products 

11. United States Grain Standards Act Report 

12. Notifications to Congress on Release of Names and Addresses 

of Producers Operating Under Marketing Agreements and Orders 

13. Plant Pest and Disease Management and Disaster Prevention 

Action Plans Reports 

14. Quarterly Export Assistance Reports 

15. Rural Collaborative Investment Program 


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a. Secretarial Report on Regional Rural Investment Boards 

b. Report by Regional Rural Investment Board to National 

Rural Investment Board and the Secretary 

16. Status Report for Food for Progress Program 

17. Southeastern Alaska Timber Reports 

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Section 201 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Commerce: 

1. Efforts and Progress in Becoming Designated as a Sea Grant 

College or Institute 

2. Enterprise Integration Standardization and Implementation 

3. Ensuring Equal Access to Sea Grant Fellowship Program 

4. TIP Activities 

5. TIP Advisory Board Annual Report 

6. Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Activities 

TITLE III—CORPORATION FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE

Section 301 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Corporation for Community Service: 

1. Reports by Other Federal Agencies to the Corporation 

2. Service-Learning Impact Study 

TITLE IV—DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Section 401 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Defense: 

1. Display of Annual Budget Requirements for Air Sovereignty 

Alert Mission 

2. Annual Report on Reliability of Department of Defense Financial Statement 

TITLE V—DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Section 501 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Department of Education: 

1. Impact Aid Construction Justifying Discretionary Grant 

Awards 

TITLE VI—DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Section 601 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Energy: 

1. Science and Engineering Education Pilot Program 

2. Strategic Unconventional Fuels Development Program 

3. Energy Efficiency Standards for Industrial Equipment 

TITLE VII—ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Section 701 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency: 

1. Great Lakes Management Comprehensive Report 

TITLE VIII—EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Section 801 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Executive Office of the President: 

1. Report Relating to Waiver of Certain Sanctions against North 

Korea 


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TITLE IX—GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

Section 901 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Government Accountability Office: 

1. Expenditures of Local Educational Agencies 

2. Use of Recovery Act Funds by States and Localities Report 

3. State Small Business Credit Initiative Audit and Report 

4. Help America Vote Act Funds Audit 

5. Small Business Lending Fund Program Audit and Report 

6. Housing Assistance Council Financial Statement Audit Report 

Section 902 would modify the requirements to the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Government Accountability Office: 

1. National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health 

Council, by directing only the Secretary of the Department of 

Health and Human Services to conduct periodic reviews 

2. Postcard Mandate, by allowing for online posting of this information instead of requiring print copies to be delivered to each 

Congressional office 

3. Annual Audit of the Congressional Award Foundation, by allowing for the contracting of a private auditor 

4. Annual GAO Review of Proposed HHS Recovery Threshold, by 

phasing out this requirement at the end of 2014 

TITLE X—DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Section 1001 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Homeland Security: 

1. Prohibition on Importation of Products Made With Dog or Cat 

Fur 

2. Port of Entry Infrastructure Assessment Study and National 

Land Border Security Plan 

3. Fees for Certain Customs Services 

4. Modernization of the National Distress and Response System 

TITLE XI—DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Section 1101 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Department of the Interior: 

1. Royalties In-Kind Report 

TITLE XII—DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Section 1201 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Labor: 

1. Older Americans Act 

2. Andean Trade Preference Act 

TITLE XIII—OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Section 1301 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Office of the Director of National 

Intelligence: 

1. Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe 

2. Reports on Commerce With, and Assistance to, Cuba from 

Other Foreign Countries 


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TITLE XIV—DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Section 1401 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Department of State: 

1. Report on Progress Toward Regional Non-Proliferation in 

South Asia 

TITLE XV—DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Section 1501 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of Transportation: 

1. Reports of the Air Traffic Services Committee 

2. Annual Summaries of Airport Financial Reports 

3. Annual Report on Pipeline Safety Information Grants to Communities 

4. Annual Report on Pilot Program for Innovative Financing of 

Air Traffic Control Equipment 

5. Reports on Justifications for Air Defense Identification Zones 

6. Annual Report on Standards for Aircraft and Aircraft Engines 

to Reduce Noise Levels 

Section 1502 would modify the requirements to the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Department of 

Transportation: 

1. Evaluation and Audit of the National Transportation Safety 

Board, by allowing the evaluation and audit to be conducted only 

when needed 

TITLE XVI—DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

Section 1601 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated reports submitted by the Department of the Treasury: 

1. Annual Report on the North American Development Bank 

2. Report on International Financial Institution Borrowers’ Labor 

Practices 

3. Report on New IMF Arrangements Regarding Rates and Maturities 

4. Report on Significant Modifications 

TITLE XVII—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

Section 1701 would eliminate the following congressionally mandated report submitted by the Department of Veterans Affairs: 

1. Annual Report on Procurement of Health-care Items 

V. REGULATORY IMPACT AND EVALUATION

Pursuant to the requirement of paragraph 11(b)(1) of rule XXVI 

of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has considered 

the regulatory impact of this bill and has determined that the bill 

will have no regulatory impact. CBO states that the bill contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on 

state, local, or tribal governments. 


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VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

JULY 9, 2014. 

Hon. TOM CARPER, 

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. 4194, the Government 

Reports Elimination Act of 2014. 

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

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

Sincerely, 

DOUGLAS W. ELMENDORF. Enclosure. 

H.R. 4194—Government Reports Elimination Act of 2014 

H.R. 4194 would eliminate the requirement for 17 federal entities to prepare certain reports for the Congress. Based on information from the Office of Management and Budget and some affected 

agencies, CBO estimates that implementing this legislation would 

reduce costs that are subject to appropriation by less than $1 million over the next five years. Enacting H.R. 4194 would not affect 

direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do 

not apply. 

H.R. 4194 would eliminate the requirement to prepare 66 reports 

that are produced by numerous federal agencies, including: the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, 

Homeland Security, Interior, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, and the Corporation for National and 

Community Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Executive Office of the President, the Government Accountability Office, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. By reducing the number of reports that must be prepared and printed, 

implementing H.R. 4194 would reduce the administrative costs of 

those agencies. However, about 50 of the reports are either duplicative, obsolete, or would remain available online. CBO estimates 

that eliminating the requirement to produce them would yield a 

small reduction in administrative costs. 

H.R. 4194 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local or tribal governments. 

On April 24, 2014, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for H.R. 

4194 as ordered reported by the House Committee on Oversight 

and Government Reform. The two versions of H.R. 4194 are similar, but they would affect different federal entities and eliminate a 

different number of reports. The CBO cost estimates reflect those 

differences. 

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

estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

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

Pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 

Standing Rules of the Senate, the changes in existing law made by 

certain portions of the bill have not been shown in this section of 


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the report because, in the opinion of the committee, it is necessary 

to dispense with showing such changes in order to expedite the 

business of the Senate. 

Æ 


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