II 

Calendar No. 448 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2296 

[Report No. 115–271] 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 11, 2018 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. LANKFORD, Mrs. ERNST, and Mr. BLUNT) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

JUNE 7, 2018 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with an amendment 

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

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: 


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

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

3 United States Code. 

4 (2) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guid5 ance document’’— 

6 (A) means the whole or a part of an agen7 cy statement of general or particular applica8 bility and future effect that— 

9 (i) is designed to implement, inter10 pret, or prescribe law or policy or describ11 ing the organization, procedure, or practice 

12 requirements of an agency and includes the 

13 approval or prescription for the future of 

14 rates, wages, corporate or financial struc15 tures or reorganizations thereof, prices, fa16 cilities, appliances, services or allowances 

17 therefor or of valuations, costs, or account18 ing, or practices bearing on any of the 

19 foregoing; and 

20 (ii) has not been issued through the 

21 notice and comment process under section 

22 553 of title 5, United States Code; 

23 (B) includes— 

24 (i) a memorandum; 

25 (ii) a notice; 


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1 (iii) a bulletin; 

2 (iv) a directive; 

3 (v) a news release; 

4 (vi) a letter; and 

5 (vii) a blog post; and 

6 (C) does not include a rule, as that term 

7 is defined in section 551 of title 5, United 

8 States Code. 

9 SEC. 3. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 

10 INTERNET. 

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

12 issues a guidance document, the agency shall publish the 

13 guidance document on the Internet website of the agency. 

14 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

15 Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this 

16 Act, each agency shall publish on the Internet website of 

17 that agency any guidance document issued by that agency 

18 during the 10-year period ending on the date of enactment 

19 of this Act. 

20 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.—All guidance documents 

21 published under subsections (a) and (b) by an agency shall 

22 be published in a single location on the Internet website 

23 of the agency. 


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1 (d) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—On the 

2 date on which a guidance document issued by an agency 

3 is rescinded, the agency shall— 

4 (1) maintain the rescinded guidance document 

5 at the location described in subsection (c); and 

6 (2) at the location described in subsection (c), 

7 indicate— 

8 (A) that the guidance document is re9 scinded; and 

10 (B) the date on which the guidance docu11 ment was rescinded. 

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guidance Out Of Dark14 ness Act’’ or the ‘‘GOOD Act’’. 

15 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the mean18 ing given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 

19 States Code. 

20 (2) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.— 

21 (A) DEFINITION.—The term ‘‘guidance doc22 ument’’— 

23 (i) means an agency statement of gen24 eral applicability, other than a rule, that— 


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1 (I) does not have the force and ef2 fect of law; and 

3 (II) is designated by an agency 

4 official as setting forth— 

5 (aa) a policy on a statutory, 

6 regulatory, or technical issue; or 

7 (bb) an interpretation of a 

8 statutory or regulatory issue; and 

9 (ii) may include— 

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 offi19 cial; and 

20 (X) any combination of the items 

21 described in subclauses (I) through 

22 (IX). 

23 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The term 

24 ‘‘guidance document’’— 


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1 (i) shall be construed broadly to effec2 tuate the purpose and intent of this Act; 

3 and 

4 (ii) shall not be limited to the items 

5 described in subparagraph (A)(ii). 

6 SEC. 3. 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 agency shall publish the 

10 guidance document in accordance with the requirements 

11 under subsection (c). 

12 (b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

13 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

14 Act, each agency shall publish, in accordance with the re15 quirements under subsection (c), any guidance document 

16 issued by that agency that is in effect on that date. 

17 (c) SINGLE LOCATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—All guidance documents pub19 lished under subsections (a) and (b) by an agency 

20 shall be published in a single location on the Internet 

21 website under section 206(d) of the E-Government Act 

22 of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) (commonly known as 

23 regulations.gov). 

24 (2) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—Each agency 

25 shall, for guidance documents published by the agency 


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1 under subsections (a) and (b), publish a hyperlink on 

2 the Internet website of the agency that provides access 

3 to the guidance documents at the location described in 

4 paragraph (1). 

5 (3) ORGANIZATION.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The guidance documents 

7 described in paragraph (1) shall be— 

8 (i) categorized as guidance documents; 

9 and 

10 (ii) further divided into subcategories 

11 as appropriate. 

12 (B) AGENCY INTERNET WEBSITES.—The 

13 hyperlinks described in paragraph (2) shall be 

14 prominently displayed on the Internet website of 

15 the agency. 

16 (d) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—On the date 

17 on which a guidance document issued by an agency is re18 scinded, the agency shall, at the location described in sub19 section (c)(1)— 

20 (1) maintain the rescinded guidance document; 

21 and 

22 (2) indicate— 

23 (A) that the guidance document is re24 scinded; and 


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1 (B) the date on which the guidance docu2 ment was rescinded. 


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Calendar No. 448 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2296 

[Report No. 115–271] 

A BILL 

To increase access to agency guidance documents. 

JUNE 7, 2018 

Reported with an amendment 


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