I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1605 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2021 

Mr. COMER (for himself, Mr. GOOD of Virginia, Mr. HICE of Georgia, and 

Mr. LUETKEMEYER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Oversight and Reform 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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

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

10 United States Code. 


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

2 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg3 et. 

4 (3) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.— 

5 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘guidance 

6 document’’— 

7 (i) means an agency statement of gen8 eral applicability (other than a rule that 

9 has the force and effect of law promul10 gated in accordance with the notice and 

11 comment procedures under section 553 of 

12 title 5, United States Code) that— 

13 (I) does not have the force and 

14 effect of law; and 

15 (II) is designated by an agency 

16 official as setting forth— 

17 (aa) a policy on a statutory, 

18 regulatory, or technical issue; or 

19 (bb) an interpretation of a 

20 statutory or regulatory issue; and 

21 (ii) may include— 

22 (I) a memorandum; 

23 (II) a notice; 

24 (III) a bulletin; 

25 (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 offi6 cial; and 

7 (X) any combination of the items 

8 described in subclauses (I) through 

9 (IX). 

10 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term 

11 ‘‘guidance document’’— 

12 (i) shall be construed broadly to effec13 tuate the purpose and intent of this Act; 

14 and 

15 (ii) shall not be limited to the items 

16 described in subparagraph (A)(ii). 

17 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

18 INTERNET. 

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

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

21 agency shall publish the guidance document in accordance 

22 with the requirements under subsection (c). 

23 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

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

25 the date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1605.IH H1605

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1 lish, in accordance with the requirements under subsection 

2 (c), any guidance document issued by that agency that is 

3 in effect on that date. 

4 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—All guidance documents pub6 lished under subsections (a) and (b) by an agency 

7 shall be published in a single location on an internet 

8 website designated by the Director under paragraph 

9 (4). 

10 (2) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—Each agen11 cy shall, for guidance documents published by the 

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

13 hyperlink on the internet website of the agency that 

14 provides access to the guidance documents at the lo15 cation described in paragraph (1). 

16 (3) ORGANIZATION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The guidance docu18 ments described in paragraph (1) shall be— 

19 (i) categorized as guidance docu20 ments; and 

21 (ii) further divided into subcategories 

22 as appropriate. 

23 (B) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—The 

24 hyperlinks described in paragraph (2) shall be 


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1 prominently displayed on the internet website of 

2 the agency. 

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

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

5 shall designate an internet website on which guid6 ance documents shall be published under subsections 

7 (a) and (b). 

8 (d) DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION EXEMPT FROM

9 DISCLOSURE UNDER FOIA.—If a guidance document 

10 issued by an agency is a document that is exempt from 

11 disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United States 

12 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information 

13 Act’’), or contains information that is exempt from disclo14 sure under that section, that document or information, as 

15 the case may be, shall not be subject to the requirements 

16 under this Act. 

17 (e) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—On the 

18 date on which a guidance document issued by an agency 

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

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

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

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

23 (1) maintain the rescinded guidance document; 

24 and 

25 (2) indicate— 


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1 (A) that the guidance document is re2 scinded; 

3 (B) if the guidance document was re4 scinded pursuant to a court order, the case 

5 number of the case in which the order was en6 tered; and 

7 (C) the date on which the guidance docu8 ment was rescinded. 

Æ 


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