IB 

Union Calendar No. 760 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4809 

[Report No. 115–972] 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 16, 2018 

Mr. WALKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 

Additional sponsors: Mr. GAETZ, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. JONES, and Mr. ROKITA

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 16, 2018] 


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•HR 4809 RH

A BILL 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 


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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 Dark5 ness Act’’ or the ‘‘GOOD Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

7 INTERNET. 

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

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

10 publish the guidance document in accordance with sub11 section (c). 

12 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

13 With respect to any guidance document issued by an agency 

14 before the effective date of this Act that is in effect on the 

15 effective date of this Act, the head of each agency shall meet 

16 the requirements of subsection (c). 

17 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.—The head of each agency shall: 

18 (1) Publish any guidance document issued by the 

19 agency in a single location on the publicly accessible 

20 Federal Government website (commonly known as 

21 regulations.gov) described under section 206(d) of the 

22 E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-347; 44 

23 U.S.C. 3501 note). 

24 (2) With respect to a guidance document issued 

25 by an agency, include a hyperlink on the online porVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:51 Sep 25, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4809.RH H4809

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1 tal of the agency that provides access to the guidance 

2 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 online 

14 portal of the agency. 

15 (d) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—Not later 

16 than the date on which a guidance document issued by an 

17 agency is rescinded, the head of the agency shall on the Fed18 eral Government website 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 SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘guidance document’’ shall be 

3 construed broadly. 

4 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the mean7 ing given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 (2) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guidance 

10 document’’— 

11 (A) means an agency statement of general 

12 applicability (other than a rule that has the 

13 force and effect of law promulgated in accord14 ance with the notice and public procedure under 

15 section 553 of title 5, United States Code) that— 

16 (i) does not have the force and effect of 

17 law; and 

18 (ii) sets forth— 

19 (I) an agency decision or a policy 

20 on a statutory, regulatory, or technical 

21 issue; or 

22 (II) an interpretation of a statu23 tory or regulatory issue; and 

24 (B) may include any of the following: 

25 (i) A memorandum. 

26 (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 official. 

8 (x) An advisory. 

9 (xi) A manual. 

10 (xii) A circular. 

11 (xiii) Any combination of the items de12 scribed in clauses (i) through (xii). 

13 (3) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 

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

15 States Code. 

16 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 This Act shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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Union Calendar No. 760 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4809 

[Report No. 115–972] 

A BILL 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS