Title: Federal Register Modernization Act
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Federal Register Modernization Act
This bill revises provisions regarding the Federal Register or the Code of Federal Regulations, including to replace requirements that the documents be printed with requirements that the documents be published.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1654 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1654

    To amend title 44, United States Code, to modernize the Federal 
                   Register, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 8, 2019

 Mr. Meadows introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 
the Budget, 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 amend title 44, United States Code, to modernize the Federal 
                   Register, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Register Modernization 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FEDERAL REGISTER MODERNIZATION.

    (a) References to Printing.--Chapter 15 of title 44, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in section 1502--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``printing'' and 
                inserting ``publishing''; and
                    (B) by striking ``printing and distribution'' and 
                inserting ``publishing'';
            (2) in section 1507 is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``the duplicate originals or 
                certified copies of the document have'' and inserting 
                ``the document has''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``printed'' and 
                inserting ``published''; and
            (3) in section 1509, in subsections (a) and (b) of, by 
        striking ``printing, reprinting, wrapping, binding, and 
        distributing'' and inserting ``publishing'', each place it 
        appears.
    (b) Publish Defined.--Section 1501 of title 44, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``; and'' at the end of the definition for 
        ``person'' and inserting a semicolon; and
            (2) by inserting after the definition for ``person'' the 
        following:
            ```publish' means to circulate for sale or distribution to 
        the public; and''.
    (c) Filing Documents With Office Amendment.--Section 1503 of title 
44, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of time; public 
              inspection; transmission for publishing
    ``The original document required or authorized to be published by 
section 1505 of this title shall be filed with the Office of the 
Federal Register for publication at times established by the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register by regulation. The 
Archivist of the United States shall cause to be noted on the original 
of each document the day and hour of filing. Upon filing, the document 
shall be immediately available for public inspection in the Office. The 
original shall be retained by the National Archives and Records 
Administration and shall be available for inspection under regulations 
prescribed by the Archivist, unless such original is disposed of in 
accordance with disposal schedules submitted by the Administrative 
Committee and authorized by the Archivist pursuant to regulations 
issued under chapter 33 of this title; however, originals of 
proclamations of the President and Executive orders shall be 
permanently retained by the Administration as part of the National 
Archives of the United States. The Office shall transmit to the 
Government Publishing Office, as provided by this chapter, each 
document required or authorized to be published by section 1505 of this 
title. Every Federal agency shall cause to be transmitted for filing 
the original of all such documents issued, prescribed, or promulgated 
by the agency.''.
    (d) Federal Register Amendment.--Section 1504 of title 44, United 
States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1504. `Federal Register'; publishing; contents; distribution; 
              price
    ``Documents required or authorized to be published by section 1505 
of this title shall be published immediately by the Government 
Publishing Office in a serial publication designated the `Federal 
Register'. The Director of the Government Publishing Office shall make 
available the facilities of the Government Publishing Office for the 
prompt publication of the Federal Register in the manner and at the 
times required by this chapter and the regulations prescribed under it. 
The contents of the daily issues shall constitute all documents, 
required or authorized to be published, filed with the Office of the 
Federal Register up to the time of the day immediately preceding the 
day of publication fixed by regulations under this chapter. There shall 
be published with each document a copy of the notation, required to be 
made by section 1503 of this title, of the day and hour when, upon 
filing with the Office, the document was made available for public 
inspection. Distribution shall be made at a time in the morning of the 
day of distribution fixed by regulations prescribed under this chapter. 
The prices to be charged for the Federal Register may be fixed by the 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register established by section 
1506 of this title without reference to the restrictions placed upon 
and fixed for the sale of Government publications by sections 1705 and 
1708 of this title.''.
    (e) Documents To Be Published in Federal Register.--Section 1505 of 
title 44, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``Comments'' and 
                inserting ``News Commentary''; and
                    (B) by striking ``comments'' and inserting ``news 
                commentary''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), in the matter following paragraph 
        (2)--
                    (A) by inserting ``telecommunications, the 
                Internet,'' after ``the press, the radio,''; and
                    (B) by striking ``and two duplicate originals or 
                two certified copies'' and inserting ``document''.
    (f) Administrative Committee of the Federal Register Amendment.--
Section 1506 of title 44, United States Code, is amended to read as 
follows:
``Sec. 1506. Administrative Committee of the Federal Register; 
              establishment and composition; powers and duties
    ``The Administrative Committee of the Federal Register shall 
consist of the Archivist of the United States or Acting Archivist, who 
shall chair the committee, an officer of the Department of Justice 
designated by the Attorney General, and the Director of the Government 
Publishing Office or Acting Director of the Government Publishing 
Office. The Director of the Federal Register shall act as secretary of 
the committee. The committee shall prescribe, with the approval of the 
President, regulations for carrying out this chapter. The regulations 
shall provide for, among other things--
            ``(1) the documents which shall be authorized under section 
        1505(b) of this title to be published in the Federal Register;
            ``(2) the manner and form in which the Federal Register 
        shall be published;
            ``(3) the manner of distribution to Members of Congress, 
        officers and employees of the United States, or Federal agency, 
        for official use, and the number which shall be available for 
        distribution to the public;
            ``(4) the prices to be charged for individual copies of, 
        and subscriptions to, the Federal Register and any reprints and 
        bound volumes of it;
            ``(5) the manner and form by which the Federal Register may 
        receive information and comments from the public, if 
        practicable and efficient; and
            ``(6) special editions of the Federal Register.''.
    (g) Code of Federal Regulations Amendment.--Section 1510 of title 
44, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
``Sec. 1510. Code of Federal Regulations
    ``(a) Special Edition for Codification of Agency Documents.--The 
Administrative Committee of the Federal Register, with the approval of 
the President, may require, from time to time as it considers 
necessary, the preparation and publication in a special edition of the 
Federal Register a complete codification of the documents of each 
agency of the Government having general applicability and legal effect, 
issued or promulgated by the agency by publication in the Federal 
Register or by filing with the Administrative Committee, and which are 
relied upon by the agency as authority for, or are invoked or used by 
it in the discharge of, its activities or functions, and are in effect 
as to facts arising on or after dates specified by the Administrative 
Committee.
    ``(b) Code of Federal Regulations.--A codification prepared under 
subsection (a) of this section shall be published and shall be 
designated as the `Code of Federal Regulations'. The Administrative 
Committee shall regulate the manner and forms of publishing this 
codification.
    ``(c) Supplementation, Collation, and Republication.--The 
Administrative Committee shall regulate the supplementation and the 
collation and republication of the codification with a view to keeping 
the Code of Federal Regulations as current as practicable. Each unit of 
codification shall be supplemented and republished at least once each 
calendar year. The Office of the Federal Register may create updates of 
each unit of codification from time to time and make the same available 
electronically or may provide public access using an electronic edition 
that allows a user to select a specific date and retrieve the version 
of the codification in effect as of that date.
    ``(d) Preparation and Publication by the Federal Register.--The 
Office of the Federal Register shall prepare and publish the 
codifications, supplements, collations, and user aids authorized by 
this section.
    ``(e) Prima Facie Evidence.--The codified documents of the several 
agencies published in the Code of Federal Regulations under this 
section, as amended by documents subsequently filed with the Office and 
published in the daily issues of the Federal Register, shall be prima 
facie evidence of the text of the documents and of the fact that they 
are in effect on and after the date of publication.
    ``(f) Regulations.--The Administrative Committee, with approval of 
the President, shall issue regulations for carrying out this section.
    ``(g) Exception.--This section does not require codification of the 
text of Presidential documents published and periodically compiled in 
supplements to title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations.''.
    (h) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The table of sections for 
chapter 15 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by striking the 
items related to sections 1502, 1503, and 1504 and inserting the 
following:

``1502. Custody and publishing of Federal documents; appointment of 
                            Director.
``1503. Filing documents with Office; notation of time; public 
                            inspection; transmission for publishing.
``1504. `Federal Register'; publishing; contents; distribution; 
                            price.''.

SEC. 3. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
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