IB 

Union Calendar No. 3 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1004 

[Report No. 115–15] 

To amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, to require the publication 

of information relating to pending agency regulatory actions, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2017 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. 

NEWHOUSE, Mr. GOSAR, and Mr. FARENTHOLD) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform 

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 

Additional sponsors: Mr. SESSIONS, Mr. MITCHELL, and Mr. PETERSON

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 


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A BILL 

To amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, to require 

the publication of information relating to pending agency 

regulatory actions, and for other purposes. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
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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 ‘‘Regulatory Integrity 

5 Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 

7 PENDING REGULATORY ACTIONS. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 3 of title 5, United 

9 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 306 the 

10 following new section: 

11 ‘‘§ 307. Information regarding pending agency regu12 latory action 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 ‘‘(1) AGENCY REGULATORY ACTION.—The term 

15 ‘agency regulatory action’ means guidance, policy 

16 statement, directive, rule making, or adjudication 

17 issued by an Executive agency. 

18 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.—The term 

19 ‘public communication’— 

20 ‘‘(A) means any method (including written, 

21 oral, or electronic) of disseminating information 

22 to the public, including an agency statement 

23 (written or verbal), blog, video, audio recording, 

24 or other social media message; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) does not include a notice published in 

2 the Federal Register pursuant to section 553 or 

3 any requirement to publish pursuant to this 

4 section. 

5 ‘‘(3) RULE MAKING.—The term ‘rule making’ 

6 has the meaning given that term under section 551. 

7 ‘‘(b) INFORMATION TO BE POSTED ONLINE.— 

8 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each Execu9 tive agency shall make publicly available in a search10 able format in a prominent location either on the 

11 website of the Executive agency or in the rule mak12 ing docket on Regulations.gov the following informa13 tion: 

14 ‘‘(A) PENDING AGENCY REGULATORY AC15 TION.—A list of each pending agency regulatory 

16 action and with regard to each such action— 

17 ‘‘(i) the date on which the Executive 

18 agency first began to develop or consider 

19 the agency regulatory action; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the status of the agency regu21 latory action; 

22 ‘‘(iii) an estimate of the date of upon 

23 which the agency regulatory action will be 

24 final and in effect; and 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a brief description of the agency 

2 regulatory action. 

3 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.—For each 

4 pending agency regulatory action, a list of each 

5 public communication about the pending agency 

6 regulatory action issued by the Executive agen7 cy and with regard to each such communica8 tion— 

9 ‘‘(i) the date of the communication; 

10 ‘‘(ii) the intended audience of the 

11 communication; 

12 ‘‘(iii) the method of communication; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iv) a copy of the original commu15 nication. 

16 ‘‘(2) PERIOD.—The head of each Executive 

17 agency shall publish the information required under 

18 paragraph (1)(A) not later than 24 hours after a 

19 public communication relating to a pending agency 

20 regulatory action is issued and shall maintain the 

21 public availability of such information not less than 

22 5 years after the date on which the pending agency 

23 regulatory action is finalized. 

24 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICA25 TIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any public communication 

2 issued by an Executive agency that refers to a pend3 ing agency regulatory action— 

4 ‘‘(A) shall specify whether the Executive 

5 agency is considering alternatives; 

6 ‘‘(B) shall specify whether the Executive 

7 agency is accepting or will be accepting com8 ments; and 

9 ‘‘(C) shall expressly disclose that the Exec10 utive agency is the source of the information to 

11 the intended recipients. 

12 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTION.—Any public communication 

13 issued by an Executive agency that refers to a pend14 ing agency regulatory action, other than an impar15 tial communication that requests comment on or 

16 provides information regarding the pending agency 

17 regulatory action, may not— 

18 ‘‘(A) directly advocate, in support of or 

19 against the pending agency regulatory action, 

20 for the submission of information to form part 

21 of the record of review for the pending agency 

22 regulatory action; 

23 ‘‘(B) appeal to the public, or solicit a third 

24 party, to undertake advocacy in support of or 


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1 against the pending agency regulatory action; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(C) be directly or indirectly for publicity 

4 or propaganda purposes within the United 

5 States unless otherwise authorized by law. 

6 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 15 

8 of each year, the head of an Executive agency that 

9 communicated about a pending agency regulatory 

10 action during the previous fiscal year shall submit to 

11 each committee of Congress with jurisdiction over 

12 the activities of the Executive agency a report indi13 cating— 

14 ‘‘(A) the number pending agency regu15 latory actions the Executive agency issued pub16 lic communications about during that fiscal 

17 year; 

18 ‘‘(B) the average number of public commu19 nications issued by the Executive agency for 

20 each pending agency regulatory action during 

21 that fiscal year; 

22 ‘‘(C) the 5 pending agency regulatory ac23 tions with the highest number of public commu24 nications issued by the Executive agency in that 

25 fiscal year; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) a copy of each public communication 

2 for the pending agency regulatory actions iden3 tified in subparagraph (C). 

4 ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—The head of 

5 an Executive agency that is required to submit a re6 port under paragraph (1) shall make the report pub7 licly available in a searchable format in a prominent 

8 location on the website of the Executive agency.’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 The table of sections for chapter 3 of title 5, United States 

11 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec12 tion 306 the following new item: 

‘‘307. Information regarding pending agency regulatory action.’’. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS

sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 3 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1004 

[Report No. 115–15] 

A BILL 

To amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, 

other purposes. to pending agency regulatory actions, and for to require the publication of information relating 

FEBRUARY 21, 2017 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with BILLS