IIB 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 890 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 23, 2024 

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

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guidance Out Of 

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

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

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

7 meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, 

8 United States Code. 

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

10 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg11 et. 

12 (3) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘guidance 

14 document’’— 

15 (i) means an agency statement of gen16 eral applicability (other than a rule that 

17 has the force and effect of law promul18 gated in accordance with the notice and 

19 comment procedures under section 553 of 

20 title 5, United States Code) that— 

21 (I) does not have the force and 

22 effect of law; and 

23 (II) is designated by an agency 

24 official as setting forth— 

25 (aa) a policy on a statutory, 

26 regulatory, or technical issue; or 


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1 (bb) an interpretation of a 

2 statutory or regulatory issue; and 

3 (ii) may include— 

4 (I) a memorandum; 

5 (II) a notice; 

6 (III) a bulletin; 

7 (IV) a directive; 

8 (V) a news release; 

9 (VI) a letter; 

10 (VII) a blog post; 

11 (VIII) a no-action letter; 

12 (IX) a speech by an agency offi13 cial; and 

14 (X) any combination of the items 

15 described in subclauses (I) through 

16 (IX). 

17 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term 

18 ‘‘guidance document’’— 

19 (i) shall be construed broadly to effec20 tuate the purpose and intent of this Act; 

21 and 

22 (ii) shall not be limited to the items 

23 described in subparagraph (A)(ii). 


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1 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

2 INTERNET. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5, on the date 

4 on which an agency issues a guidance document, the agen5 cy shall publish the guidance document in accordance with 

6 the requirements under section 4. 

7 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

8 Subject to section 5, not later than 180 days after the 

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

10 in accordance with the requirements under section 4, any 

11 guidance document issued by that agency that is in effect 

12 on that date. 

13 SEC. 4. SINGLE LOCATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—All guidance documents published 

15 under section 3 by an agency shall be published in a single 

16 location on an internet website designated by the Director 

17 under subsection (d). 

18 (b) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—Each agency 

19 shall, for guidance documents published by the agency 

20 under section 3, publish a hyperlink on the internet 

21 website of the agency that provides access to the guidance 

22 documents at the location described in subsection (a). 

23 (c) ORGANIZATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The guidance documents de25 scribed in subsection (a) shall be— 


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1 (A) categorized as guidance documents; 

2 and 

3 (B) further divided into subcategories as 

4 appropriate. 

5 (2) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—The 

6 hyperlinks described in subsection (b) shall be 

7 prominently displayed on the internet website of the 

8 agency. 

9 (d) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall designate 

11 an internet website on which guidance documents shall be 

12 published under section 3. 

13 SEC. 5. DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM 

14 DISCLOSURE UNDER FOIA. 

15 If a guidance document issued by an agency is a doc16 ument that is exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) 

17 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the 

18 ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), or contains information 

19 that is exempt from disclosure under that section, that 

20 document or information, as the case may be, shall not 

21 be subject to the requirements under this Act. 

22 SEC. 6. RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS. 

23 On the date on which a guidance document issued 

24 by an agency is rescinded, or, in the case of a guidance 

25 document that is rescinded pursuant to a court order, not 


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1 later than the date on which the order is entered, the 

2 agency shall, at the location described in section 4(a)— 

3 (1) maintain the rescinded guidance document; 

4 and 

5 (2) indicate— 

6 (A) that the guidance document is re7 scinded; 

8 (B) if the guidance document was re9 scinded pursuant to a court order, the case 

10 number of the case in which the order was en11 tered; and 

12 (C) the date on which the guidance docu13 ment was rescinded. 

14 SEC. 7. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 (a) VALIDITY OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—Nothing 

16 in this Act shall be construed to mean that noncompliance 

17 with any provision of this Act affects or otherwise impacts 

18 the validity of any guidance document. 

19 (b) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF GUIDANCE DOCU20 MENTS.—Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect 

21 or otherwise impact whether a guidance document is sub22 ject to congressional review under chapter 8 of title 5, 

23 United States Code. 


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1 SEC. 8. REPORT ON AGENCY COMPLIANCE. 

2 Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

3 of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the 

4 Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House 

5 of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Secu6 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate a report on 

7 agency compliance with this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2024. 

Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, 

Clerk. 


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