115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4809 

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. PURPOSE. 

5 It is the purpose of this Act to increase the trans6 parency of agency guidance documents and to make guid7 ance documents more readily available to the public. 

8 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

9 INTERNET. 

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

11 issues a guidance document, the head of the agency shall 

12 publish the guidance document in accordance with sub13 section (c). 

14 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

15 With respect to any guidance document issued by an agen16 cy before the effective date of this Act that is in effect 

17 on the effective date of this Act, the head of each agency 

18 shall meet the requirements of subsection (c). 

19 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.—The head of each agency 

20 shall: 

21 (1) Publish any guidance document issued by 

22 the agency in a single location on an online portal 

23 designated by the Director of the Office of Manage24 ment and Budget. 

25 (2) With respect to a guidance document issued 

26 by an agency, include a hyperlink on the online por-
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1 tal of the agency that provides access to the guid2 ance document published pursuant to paragraph (1). 

3 (3) Ensure that any guidance document pub4 lished pursuant to paragraph (1) is— 

5 (A) clearly identified as a guidance docu6 ment; 

7 (B) sorted into subcategories, as appro8 priate; 

9 (C) published in a machine-readable and 

10 open format; and 

11 (D) searchable. 

12 (4) Ensure that any hyperlink described in 

13 paragraph (2) be prominently displayed on the on14 line portal of the agency. 

15 (d) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—Not later 

16 than the date on which a guidance document issued by 

17 an agency is rescinded, the head of the agency shall on 

18 the online portal described in subsection (c)(1)— 

19 (1) maintain a copy of the rescinded guidance 

20 document; and 

21 (2) indicate— 

22 (A) that the guidance document is re23 scinded; and 

24 (B) the date on which the guidance docu25 ment was rescinded. 
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1 (e) DEADLINE TO DESIGNATE PORTAL.—Not later 

2 than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

4 shall designate an online portal in accordance with sub5 section (c)(1). 

6 SEC. 4. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

7 (a) GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—In this Act, the term 

8 ‘‘guidance document’’ shall be construed broadly. 

9 (b) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—Nothing in this Act 

10 may be construed to affect whether a guidance document 

11 qualifies as a rule for purposes of chapter 8 of title 5, 

12 United States Code. 

13 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

14 In this Act: 

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

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

17 United States Code. 

18 (2) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guid19 ance document’’— 

20 (A) means an agency statement of general 

21 applicability (other than a rule that has the 

22 force and effect of law promulgated in accord23 ance with the notice and public procedure under 

24 section 553 of title 5, United States Code) 

25 that— 
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1 (i) does not have the force and effect 

2 of law; and 

3 (ii) sets forth— 

4 (I) an agency decision or a policy 

5 on a statutory, regulatory, or tech6 nical issue; or 

7 (II) an interpretation of a statu8 tory or regulatory issue; and 

9 (B) may include any of the following: 

10 (i) A memorandum. 

11 (ii) A notice. 

12 (iii) A bulletin. 

13 (iv) A directive. 

14 (v) A news release. 

15 (vi) A letter. 

16 (vii) A blog post. 

17 (viii) A no-action letter. 

18 (ix) A speech by an agency official. 

19 (x) An advisory. 

20 (xi) A manual. 

21 (xii) A circular. 

22 (xiii) Any combination of the items 

23 described in clauses (i) through (xii). 
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1 (3) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

2 given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 

3 States Code. 

4 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 Except as provided in section 3(e), this Act shall take 

6 effect on the date that is 180 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 26, 

2018. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4809 

AN ACT 

To increase access to agency guidance documents.