I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6283 

To establish agency procedures for the issuance of significant guidance 

documents, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 

Mr. SESSIONS (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. YOHO, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, 

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

the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 

Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish agency procedures for the issuance of significant 

guidance documents, and for other purposes. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Truth in Regulations Act of 2016’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Agency Standards for Significant Guidance Documents. 


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Sec. 3. Limitations on use of interim final rules; limitation on reporting joint 

resolutions of disapproval. 

Sec. 4. ACUS study and report. 

1 SEC. 2. AGENCY STANDARDS FOR SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE 

2 DOCUMENTS. 

3 (a) APPROVAL PROCEDURES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 210 days 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the head 

6 of each agency shall develop or have written proce7 dures for the approval of significant guidance docu8 ments. The procedures shall ensure that the 

9 issuance of significant guidance documents is ap10 proved by each appropriate senior agency official. 

11 (2) EXCEPTION.—The employees of an agency 

12 may not deviate from the requirements of the proce13 dures developed pursuant to paragraph (1), unless 

14 the employee has submitted an appropriate justifica15 tion to a supervisor who is an appropriate senior 

16 agency official described paragraph (1) or the head 

17 of the agency and the supervisor or head of the 

18 agency has agreed to such deviation. 

19 (b) CONTENTS OF SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE DOCU20 MENT.— 

21 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Each significant guid22 ance document issued by an agency shall include the 

23 following: 


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1 (A) The term ‘‘guidance’’ or a functional 

2 equivalent of such term. 

3 (B) An identification of each agency and 

4 office issuing the document. 

5 (C) An identification of the activity to 

6 which and the person to whom the significant 

7 guidance document applies. 

8 (D) The date of issuance. 

9 (E) If the document is a revision to a pre10 viously issued guidance document, a notation of 

11 such and an identification of the document re12 placed. 

13 (F) The title of the document and any 

14 identification number, if applicable. 

15 (G) A citation to the statutory provision or 

16 regulation to which the document applies or in17 terprets. 

18 (2) PROHIBITED.—A significant guidance docu19 ment may not include mandatory language such as 

20 ‘‘shall’’, ‘‘must’’, ‘‘required’’, or ‘‘requirement’’, un21 less— 

22 (A) the agency is using these words to de23 scribe a statutory or regulatory requirement; 

24 (B) the language is addressed to agency 

25 employees; or 


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1 (C) the prohibition against such mandatory 

2 language prevents agency consideration of a po3 sition advanced by any affected private party. 

4 (c) PUBLIC ACCESS AND FEEDBACK FOR SIGNIFI5 CANT GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

6 (1) INTERNET ACCESS.— 

7 (A) LIST REQUIRED.—The head of each 

8 agency shall maintain on the website of such 

9 agency a list of each significant guidance docu10 ment in effect. The list shall include the fol11 lowing: 

12 (i) The name of each significant guid13 ance document. 

14 (ii) Any document identification num15 ber. 

16 (iii) The dates of issuance and revi17 sion. 

18 (iv) An identification of which docu19 ments have been added, revised, or with20 drawn during the previous year. 

21 (B) LINK TO DOCUMENT REQUIRED.—The 

22 head of the agency shall provide a link from the 

23 list described in subparagraph (A) to each such 

24 significant guidance document. 


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1 (C) UPDATES TO WEBSITE.—Not later 

2 than 30 days after the date on which a signifi3 cant guidance document is issued, the head of 

4 the agency shall update the list of significant 

5 guidance documents and links described in this 

6 paragraph accordingly. 

7 (2) PUBLIC FEEDBACK.— 

8 (A) SUBMISSION OF PUBLIC COMMENTS.— 

9 (i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

10 days after the date of the enactment of 

11 this Act, the head of each agency shall es12 tablish and prominently display on the 

13 website of such agency a means for the 

14 public— 

15 (I) to electronically submit com16 ments on any significant guidance 

17 document; and 

18 (II) to electronically submit a re19 quest for issuance, reconsideration, 

20 modification, or rescission of any sig21 nificant guidance document. 

22 (ii) NO RESPONSE REQUIRED.—Any 

23 public comment submitted under this para24 graph is for the benefit of the agency, and 


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1 a formal response to any such comment by 

2 the agency is not required. 

3 (B) COMPLAINTS BY THE PUBLIC.—The 

4 head of each agency shall designate one or more 

5 offices to receive and address complaints sub6 mitted by the public that the agency is not fol7 lowing the procedures in this section or is im8 properly treating a significant guidance docu9 ment as a binding requirement. The head of the 

10 agency shall provide, on the website of such 

11 agency, the name and contact information for 

12 any such office. 

13 (d) NOTICE AND PUBLIC COMMENT FOR ECONOMI14 CALLY SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para16 graph (2), not later than 60 days after an agency 

17 prepares a draft of an economically significant guid18 ance document, the agency shall complete the fol19 lowing requirements: 

20 (A) Publish a notice in the Federal Reg21 ister announcing that the draft document is 

22 available. 

23 (B) Post the draft document on the 

24 website of the agency and make the draft pub25 licly available in hard copy (or notify the public 


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1 how the guidance document may be reviewed if 

2 not in a format that permits electronic posting 

3 with reasonable efforts). 

4 (C) Invite public comment on the draft 

5 document. 

6 (D) Prepare and post on the website of the 

7 agency a response-to-comments document. 

8 (2) EXEMPTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

9 (1), the head of an agency, in consultation with the 

10 Administrator, may designate an economically sig11 nificant guidance document or group of such docu12 ments as exempt from the requirements of this sec13 tion for being not feasible or appropriate. 

14 (e) EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES.—In an imminent 

15 threat to public health or safety or similar exigent cir16 cumstance exists or when an agency is required by law 

17 to act more quickly than the procedures described in this 

18 section allow, the head of the agency shall certify the cir19 cumstance to the Administrator as soon as possible and, 

20 to the extent practicable, comply with this section. For any 

21 significant guidance document that is governed by a statu22 tory or court-imposed deadline, the agency shall, to the 

23 extent practicable, schedule any proceeding for such docu24 ment to permit sufficient time to comply with this section. 


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1 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING JUDICIAL

2 REVIEW.—This section may not be construed to create 

3 any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable 

4 at law, against the United States, its agencies or other 

5 entities, its officers or employees, or any other person. 

6 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Office of In9 formation and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of 

10 Management and Budget. 

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

12 meaning given that term in section 3502 of title 44, 

13 United States Code, but does not include an inde14 pendent regulatory agency (as defined in such sec15 tion 3502). 

16 (3) ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE

17 DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘economically significant 

18 guidance document’’— 

19 (A) means a significant guidance document 

20 that may reasonably be anticipated to lead to 

21 an annual effect on the economy of 

22 $100,000,000 or more or adversely affect in a 

23 material way the economy or a sector of the 

24 economy; and 


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1 (B) does not include a significant guidance 

2 document on Federal expenditures and receipts. 

3 (4) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guid4 ance document’’ means an agency statement of gen5 eral applicability and future effect, other than a reg6 ulatory action, that sets forth a policy on a statu7 tory, regulatory, or technical issue or an interpreta8 tion of a statutory or regulatory issue. 

9 (5) REGULATION.—The term ‘‘regulation’’ 

10 means an agency statement of general applicability 

11 and future effect, which the agency intends to have 

12 the force and effect of law, that is designed to imple13 ment, interpret, or prescribe law or policy or to de14 scribe the procedure or practice requirements of an 

15 agency. 

16 (6) REGULATORY ACTION.—The term ‘‘regu17 latory action’’ means any substantive action by an 

18 agency (normally published in the Federal Register) 

19 that promulgates or is expected to lead to the pro20 mulgation of a final regulation, including notices of 

21 inquiry, advance notices of inquiry and notices of 

22 proposed rulemaking. 

23 (7) SIGNIFICANT GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The 

24 term ‘‘significant guidance document’’— 


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1 (A) means a guidance document dissemi2 nated to regulated entities or the general public 

3 that may reasonably be anticipated to— 

4 (i) lead to an annual effect on the 

5 economy of $100,000,000 or more or ad6 versely affect in a material way the econ7 omy, a sector of the economy, productivity, 

8 competition, jobs, the environment, public 

9 health or safety, or State, local, or tribal 

10 governments or communities; 

11 (ii) create a serious inconsistency or 

12 otherwise interfere with an action taken or 

13 planned by another agency; 

14 (iii) materially alter the budgetary im15 pact of entitlements, grants, user fees, or 

16 loan programs or the rights and obliga17 tions of recipients thereof; or 

18 (iv) raise novel legal or policy issues 

19 arising out of legal mandates, the Presi20 dent’s priorities, or the principles set forth 

21 in Executive Order 12866 (58 Fed. Reg. 

22 190; relating to regulatory planning and 

23 review); and 

24 (B) does not include— 


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1 (i) a legal advisory opinion for inter2 nal executive branch use and not for re3 lease (such as Department of Justice Of4 fice of Legal Counsel opinions); 

5 (ii) a briefs or other position taken by 

6 an agency in an investigation, pre-litiga7 tion, litigation, or other enforcement pro8 ceeding; 

9 (iii) a speech, editorial, media inter10 view, press material, or congressional cor11 respondence; 

12 (iv) a guidance document that relates 

13 to a military or foreign affairs function of 

14 the United States (other than a guidance 

15 document on procurement or the import or 

16 export of non-defense articles and serv17 ices); 

18 (v) a grant solicitation, warning letter, 

19 or case or investigatory letter responding 

20 to a complaint involving a fact-specific de21 termination; 

22 (vi) a purely internal agency policy; 

23 (vii) a guidance document that relates 

24 to the use, operation, or control of a gov25 ernment facility; 


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1 (viii) an internal guidance document 

2 directed solely to other agencies; or 

3 (ix) any other category of significant 

4 guidance documents exempted by the head 

5 of an agency, in consultation with the Ad6 ministrator. 

7 (h) APPLICABILITY.—This section does not affect the 

8 authority of an agency to communicate the views of the 

9 agency in court or in any other enforcement proceeding. 

10 (i) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The requirements of this sec11 tion shall take effect 180 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act. 

13 SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON USE OF INTERIM FINAL RULES; 

14 LIMITATION ON REPORTING JOINT RESOLU15 TIONS OF DISAPPROVAL. 

16 (a) ENHANCED SHOWING REQUIRED FOR INTERIM

17 FINAL RULES.—Section 553(b)(B) of title 5, United 

18 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘for good cause’’ and 

19 all that follows through the period at the end and insert 

20 the following: ‘‘determines that an imminent threat to 

21 public health or safety or similar exigent circumstance ex22 ists.’’. 

23 (b) REQUIRED PUBLICATION OR SERVICE DATE.— 

24 Section 553(d)(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amend25 ed to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(3) in the case of any rule to which the excep2 tion under subsection (b)(B) applies.’’. 

3 (c) LOOKBACK PERIOD FOR INTERIM FINAL

4 RULES.—Section 553 of title 5, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(f) In the case of a rule making in which the excep7 tion under subsection (b)(B) was applied, by not later 

8 than 18 months after the rule takes effect, the agency 

9 shall provide for a period in which interested persons may 

10 submit written data, views, or arguments, in the same 

11 manner as submissions under subsection (c), shall give 

12 such submissions due consideration, and, if appropriate, 

13 repeal or amend the rule accordingly.’’. 

14 (d) RULES ON REPORTING OUT OF COMMITTEE.— 

15 Section 802(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amend16 ed by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If such a com17 mittee reports a joint resolution of disapproval for a rule, 

18 the committee may additionally report its findings and 

19 views, if the agency proposing such rule receives appro20 priations in a general appropriations Act, to the Com21 mittee on Appropriations of that House. If the committee 

22 reports a joint resolution of disapproval, the chair of that 

23 committee may submit recommendations on withholding 

24 funds contingent upon certain actions to the chair of the 

25 Committee on Appropriations of that House.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. ACUS STUDY AND REPORT. 

2 (a) STUDY AND REPORT.—Not later than 9 months 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis4 trative Conference of the United States shall complete a 

5 study and submit to Congress a report thereon that exam6 ines— 

7 (1) the extent to which persons, for projects 

8 subject to a permitting process under the environ9 mental laws of a State or under a Federal environ10 mental law, are subject to unnecessary, impractical, 

11 or inappropriately dilatory requirements to engage in 

12 mitigation of environmental harms; 

13 (2) categories of projects subject to a permit14 ting process under the environmental laws of a State 

15 or under a Federal environmental law for which it 

16 would be appropriate to establish a deadline by 

17 which a final determination on the issuance of a per18 mit should be made; 

19 (3) changes to permitting processes under Fed20 eral environmental law that would provide for in21 creased protections of the rights of parties applying 

22 for permits, including increased use of administra23 tive law judges in permitting determinations, and fi24 nalizing agency action more expeditiously; and 


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1 (4) categories of Federal rule making that 

2 would be more appropriately addressed by State ac3 tion. 

4 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

5 (1) the term ‘‘permit’’ means an agency’s statu6 torily authorized, discretionary, judicially reviewable 

7 granting of permission to do something that would 

8 otherwise be statutorily prohibited; and 

9 (2) the term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 

10 States. 

11 (c) REPORTING TO ACUS.—Any agency that makes 

12 any determination pertaining to a permit that, in the de13 termination of the Administrator of the Office of Informa14 tion and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management 

15 and Budget, would result in a cost of more than 

16 $25,000,000 shall report such determination, and submit 

17 a copy of the requested permit, to the Administrative Con18 ference of the United States by not later than 30 days 

19 after such determination. 

Æ 


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