IB 
Union Calendar No. 760 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4809 
[Report No. 115–972] 
To increase access to agency guidance documents. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 16, 2018 
Mr. WALKER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 
Additional sponsors: Mr. GAETZ, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. JONES, and Mr. ROKITA 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 16, 2018] 
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A BILL 
To increase access to agency guidance documents. 
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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 ‘‘Guidance Out Of Dark-
ness Act’’ or the ‘‘GOOD Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLICATION OF GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS ON THE 
INTERNET. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—On the date on which an agency 
issues a guidance document, the head of the agency shall 
publish the guidance document in accordance with sub-
section (c). 
(b) PREVIOUSLY ISSUED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.— 
With respect to any guidance document issued by an agency 
before the effective date of this Act that is in effect on the 
effective date of this Act, the head of each agency shall meet 
the requirements of subsection (c). 
(c) SINGLE LOCATION.—The head of each agency shall: 
(1) Publish any guidance document issued by the 
agency in a single location on the publicly accessible 
Federal Government website (commonly known as 
regulations.gov) described under section 206(d) of the 
E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-347; 44 
U.S.C. 3501 note). 
(2) With respect to a guidance document issued 
by an agency, include a hyperlink on the online por-
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tal of the agency that provides access to the guidance 
document published pursuant to paragraph (1). 
(3) Ensure that any guidance document pub-
lished pursuant to paragraph (1) is— 
(A) clearly identified as a guidance docu-
ment; 
(B) sorted into subcategories, as appro-
priate; 
(C) published in a machine-readable and 
open format; and 
(D) searchable. 
(4) Ensure that any hyperlink described in 
paragraph (2) be prominently displayed on the online 
portal of the agency. 
(d) RESCINDED GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS.—Not later 
than the date on which a guidance document issued by an 
agency is rescinded, the head of the agency shall on the Fed-
eral Government website described in subsection (c)(1)— 
(1) maintain a copy of the rescinded guidance 
document; and 
(2) indicate— 
(A) that the guidance document is re-
scinded; and 
(B) the date on which the guidance docu-
ment was rescinded. 
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SEC. 3. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘guidance document’’ shall be 
construed broadly. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(2) GUIDANCE DOCUMENT.—The term ‘‘guidance 
document’’— 
(A) means an agency statement of general 
applicability (other than a rule that has the 
force and effect of law promulgated in accord-
ance with the notice and public procedure under 
section 553 of title 5, United States Code) that— 
(i) does not have the force and effect of 
law; and 
(ii) sets forth— 
(I) an agency decision or a policy 
on a statutory, regulatory, or technical 
issue; or 
(II) an interpretation of a statu-
tory or regulatory issue; and 
(B) may include any of the following: 
(i) A memorandum. 
(ii) A notice. 
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(iii) A bulletin. 
(iv) A directive. 
(v) A news release. 
(vi) A letter. 
(vii) A blog post. 
(viii) A no-action letter. 
(ix) A speech by an agency official. 
(x) An advisory. 
(xi) A manual. 
(xii) A circular. 
(xiii) Any combination of the items de-
scribed in clauses (i) through (xii). 
(3) RULE.—The term ‘‘rule’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 551 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act shall take effect on the date that is 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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Union Calendar No. 760 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4809 
[Report No. 115–972] 
A BILL 
To increase access to agency guidance documents. 
SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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