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Union Calendar No. 565 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5226 

[Report No. 114–729] 

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 

MAY 13, 2016 

Mr. WALBERG (for himself and Mr. NEWHOUSE) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 

Additional sponsors: Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee, Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. BUCK, Mr. 

JODY B. HICE of Georgia, Mr. BLUM, Mr. WALKER, Mr. CARTER of 

Georgia, Mr. TURNER, Mr. GOSAR, and Mr. SESSIONS

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 

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

and ordered to be printed 

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•HR 5226 RH

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. 

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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 2016’’. 

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) AGGRANDIZEMENT.—The term ‘aggran19 dizement’ means— 

20 ‘‘(A) any communication emphasizing the 

21 importance of the Executive agency or agency 

22 regulatory action that does not have the clear 

23 purpose of informing the public of the sub24 stance or status of the Executive agency or 

25 agency regulatory action; or 

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1 ‘‘(B) any communication that is puffery. 

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

3 ‘public communication’— 

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

5 oral, or electronic) of disseminating information 

6 to the public, including an agency statement 

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

8 or other social media message; and 

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

10 the Federal Register pursuant to section 553 or 

11 any requirement to publish pursuant to this 

12 section. 

13 ‘‘(4) RULE MAKING.—The term ‘rule making’ 

14 has the meaning given that term under section 551. 

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

16 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each Execu17 tive agency shall make publicly available in a search18 able format in a prominent location either on the 

19 website of the Executive agency or in the rule mak20 ing docket on Regulations.gov the following informa21 tion: 

22 ‘‘(A) PENDING AGENCY REGULATORY AC23 TION.—A list of each pending agency regulatory 

24 action and with regard to each such action— 

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

2 agency first began to develop or consider 

3 the agency regulatory action; 

4 ‘‘(ii) the status of the agency regu5 latory action; 

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

7 which the agency regulatory action will be 

8 final and in effect; and 

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

10 regulatory action. 

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

12 pending agency regulatory action, a list of each 

13 public communication about the pending agency 

14 regulatory action issued by the Executive agen15 cy and with regard to each such communica16 tion— 

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

18 ‘‘(ii) the intended audience of the 

19 communication; 

20 ‘‘(iii) the method of communication; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(iv) a copy of the original commu23 nication. 

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

25 agency shall publish the information required under 

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

2 public communication relating to a pending agency 

3 regulatory action is issued and shall maintain the 

4 public availability of such information not less than 

5 5 years after the date on which the pending agency 

6 regulatory action is finalized. 

7 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICA8 TIONS.—Any public communication issued by an Execu9 tive agency that refers to a pending agency regulatory ac10 tion— 

11 ‘‘(1) shall specify whether the Executive agency 

12 is considering alternatives, including alternatives 

13 that may conflict with the intent, objective, or meth14 odology of such agency regulatory action; 

15 ‘‘(2) shall specify whether the Executive agency 

16 is accepting or will be accepting comments; 

17 ‘‘(3) shall expressly disclose that the Executive 

18 agency is the source of the information to the in19 tended recipients; and 

20 ‘‘(4) may not— 

21 ‘‘(A) solicit support for or promote the 

22 pending agency regulatory action; or 

23 ‘‘(B) include statements of aggrandizement 

24 for the Executive agency, any Federal em25 ployee, or the pending agency regulatory action. 

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1 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 

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

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

4 communicated about a pending agency regulatory 

5 action during the previous fiscal year shall submit to 

6 each committee of Congress with jurisdiction over 

7 the activities of the Executive agency a report indi8 cating— 

9 ‘‘(A) the number pending agency regu10 latory actions the Executive agency issued pub11 lic communications about during that fiscal 

12 year; 

13 ‘‘(B) the average number of public commu14 nications issued by the Executive agency for 

15 each pending agency regulatory action during 

16 that fiscal year; 

17 ‘‘(C) the 5 pending agency regulatory ac18 tions with the highest number of public commu19 nications issued by the Executive agency in that 

20 fiscal year; and 

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

22 for the pending agency regulatory actions iden23 tified in subparagraph (C). 

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

25 an Executive agency that is required to submit a remstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 port under paragraph (1) shall make the report pub2 licly available in a searchable format in a prominent 

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

4 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

6 Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec7 tion 306 the following new item: 

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

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Union Calendar No. 565 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5226 

[Report No. 114–729] 

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 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS