IB 
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 Ten-
nessee, 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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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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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Regulatory Integrity 
Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION RELATING TO 
PENDING REGULATORY ACTIONS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Chapter 3 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 306 the 
following new section: 
‘‘§ 307. Information regarding pending agency regu-
latory action 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY REGULATORY ACTION.—The term 
‘agency regulatory action’ means guidance, policy 
statement, directive, rule making, or adjudication 
issued by an Executive agency. 
‘‘(2) AGGRANDIZEMENT.—The term ‘aggran-
dizement’ means— 
‘‘(A) any communication emphasizing the 
importance of the Executive agency or agency 
regulatory action that does not have the clear 
purpose of informing the public of the sub-
stance or status of the Executive agency or 
agency regulatory action; or 
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‘‘(B) any communication that is puffery. 
‘‘(3) 
PUBLIC
COMMUNICATION.—The 
term 
‘public communication’— 
‘‘(A) means any method (including written, 
oral, or electronic) of disseminating information 
to the public, including an agency statement 
(written or verbal), blog, video, audio recording, 
or other social media message; and 
‘‘(B) does not include a notice published in 
the Federal Register pursuant to section 553 or 
any requirement to publish pursuant to this 
section. 
‘‘(4) RULE MAKING.—The term ‘rule making’ 
has the meaning given that term under section 551. 
‘‘(b) INFORMATION TO BE POSTED ONLINE.— 
‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.—The head of each Execu-
tive agency shall make publicly available in a search-
able format in a prominent location either on the 
website of the Executive agency or in the rule mak-
ing docket on Regulations.gov the following informa-
tion: 
‘‘(A) PENDING AGENCY REGULATORY AC-
TION.—A list of each pending agency regulatory 
action and with regard to each such action— 
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‘‘(i) the date on which the Executive 
agency first began to develop or consider 
the agency regulatory action; 
‘‘(ii) the status of the agency regu-
latory action; 
‘‘(iii) an estimate of the date of upon 
which the agency regulatory action will be 
final and in effect; and 
‘‘(iv) a brief description of the agency 
regulatory action. 
‘‘(B) PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.—For each 
pending agency regulatory action, a list of each 
public communication about the pending agency 
regulatory action issued by the Executive agen-
cy and with regard to each such communica-
tion— 
‘‘(i) the date of the communication; 
‘‘(ii) the intended audience of the 
communication; 
‘‘(iii) the method of communication; 
and 
‘‘(iv) a copy of the original commu-
nication. 
‘‘(2) PERIOD.—The head of each Executive 
agency shall publish the information required under 
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paragraph (1)(A) not later than 24 hours after a 
public communication relating to a pending agency 
regulatory action is issued and shall maintain the 
public availability of such information not less than 
5 years after the date on which the pending agency 
regulatory action is finalized. 
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
PUBLIC
COMMUNICA-
TIONS.—Any public communication issued by an Execu-
tive agency that refers to a pending agency regulatory ac-
tion— 
‘‘(1) shall specify whether the Executive agency 
is considering alternatives, including alternatives 
that may conflict with the intent, objective, or meth-
odology of such agency regulatory action; 
‘‘(2) shall specify whether the Executive agency 
is accepting or will be accepting comments; 
‘‘(3) shall expressly disclose that the Executive 
agency is the source of the information to the in-
tended recipients; and 
‘‘(4) may not— 
‘‘(A) solicit support for or promote the 
pending agency regulatory action; or 
‘‘(B) include statements of aggrandizement 
for the Executive agency, any Federal em-
ployee, or the pending agency regulatory action. 
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‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than January 15 
of each year, the head of an Executive agency that 
communicated about a pending agency regulatory 
action during the previous fiscal year shall submit to 
each committee of Congress with jurisdiction over 
the activities of the Executive agency a report indi-
cating— 
‘‘(A) the number pending agency regu-
latory actions the Executive agency issued pub-
lic communications about during that fiscal 
year; 
‘‘(B) the average number of public commu-
nications issued by the Executive agency for 
each pending agency regulatory action during 
that fiscal year; 
‘‘(C) the 5 pending agency regulatory ac-
tions with the highest number of public commu-
nications issued by the Executive agency in that 
fiscal year; and 
‘‘(D) a copy of each public communication 
for the pending agency regulatory actions iden-
tified in subparagraph (C). 
‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY OF REPORTS.—The head of 
an Executive agency that is required to submit a re-
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port under paragraph (1) shall make the report pub-
licly available in a searchable format in a prominent 
location on the website of the Executive agency.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 
The table of sections for chapter 3 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to sec-
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, 
to require the publication of information relating 
to pending agency regulatory actions, and for 
other purposes. 
SEPTEMBER 8, 2016 
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
21:52 Sep 08, 2016
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PO 00000
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