,,ii ,calendar ,no4 #efe #aaith ,,congress #b;d ,session ,s4 #beb ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states ,january #bd1 #bjbe,mr4 ,johnson 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,cramer1 ,ms4 ,ernst1 ,mr4 ,lankford1 ,mr4 ,tillis1 ,mrs4 ,blackburn1 ,mr4 ,budd1 ,mr4 ,schmitt1 ,mr4 ,marshall1 ,mr4 ,sheehy1 ,mr4 ,lee1 ,ms4 ,lummis1 ,mr4 ,scott of ,florida1 ,mr4 ,hoeven1 ,mr4 ,risch1 and ,mr4 ,mc,cormick7 introduced the following bill2 which was read twice and referred to the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs ,september #ad1 #bjbf,reported by ,mr4 ,paul1 with an amendment,strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic ,a ,,bill ,to increase access to agency guidance documents4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,guidance ,out ,of ,darkness ,act or the ,,good ,act4 #b4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,agency ,the term agency has the meaning given the term in section #eea of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#b7 ,director ,the term ,director means the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget4 7#c7 ,guidance document 7,a7 ,definition ,the term guidance document-- 7i7 means an agency statement of general applicability 7other than a rule that has the force and effect of law promulgated in accordance with the notice and comment procedures under section #eec of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code7 that-- 7,i7 does not have the force and effect of law2 and 7,,ii7 is designated by an agency official as setting forth-- 7aa7 a policy on a statutory1 regulatory1 or technical issue2 or 7bb7 an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue2 and 7ii7 may include-- 7,i7 a memorandum2 7,,ii7 a notice2 7,,iii7 a bulletin2 7,,iv7 a directive2 7,v7 a news release2 7,,vi7 a letter2 7,,vii7 a blog post2 7,,viii7 a no-action letter2 7,,ix7 a speech by an agency official2 and 7,x7 any combination of the items described in subclauses 7,i7 through 7,,ix74 7,b7 ,rule of construction ,the term guidance document-- 7i7 shall be construed broadly to effectuate the purpose and intent of this ,act2 and 7ii7 shall not be limited to the items described in subparagraph 7,a77ii74 #c4 ,publication of guidance documents on the internet 7a7 ,in general ,subject to subsection 7d71 on the date on which an agency issues a guidance document1 the agency shall publish the guidance document in accordance with the requirements under subsection 7c74 7b7 ,previously issued guidance documents ,subject to subsection 7d71 not later than #ahj days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 each agency shall publish1 in accordance with the requirements under subsection 7c71 any guidance document issued by that agency that is in effect on that date4 7c7 ,single location 7#a7 ,in general ,all guidance documents published under subsections 7a7 and 7b7 by an agency shall be published in a single location on an internet website designated by the ,director under paragraph 7#d74 7#b7 ,agency internet websites ,each agency shall1 for guidance documents published by the agency under subsections 7a7 and 7b71 publish a hyperlink on the internet website of the agency that provides access to the guidance documents at the location described in paragraph 7#a74 7#c7 ,organization 7,a7 ,in general ,the guidance documents described in paragraph 7#a7 shall be-- 7i7 categorized as guidance documents2 and 7ii7 further divided into subcategories as appropriate4 7,b7 ,agency internet websites ,the hyperlinks described in paragraph 7#b7 shall be prominently displayed on the internet website of the agency4 7#d7 ,designation ,not later than #ij days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,director shall designate an internet website on which guidance documents shall be published under subsections 7a7 and 7b74 7d7 ,documents and information exempt from disclosure under ,,foia ,if a guidance document issued by an agency is a document that is exempt from disclosure under section #eeb7;b7 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code 7commonly known as the ,freedom of ,information ,act71 or contains information that is exempt from disclosure under that section1 that document or information1 as the case may be1 shall not be subject to the requirements under this ,act4 7e7 ,rescinded guidance documents ,on the date on which a guidance document issued by an agency is rescinded1 or1 in the case of a guidance document that is rescinded pursuant to a court order1 not later than the date on which the order is entered1 the agency shall1 at the location described in subsection 7c77#a7-- 7#a7 maintain the rescinded guidance document2 and 7#b7 indicate-- 7,a7 that the guidance document is rescinded2 7,b7 if the guidance document was rescinded pursuant to a court order1 the case number of the case in which the order was entered2 and 7,c7 the date on which the guidance document was rescinded4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,guidance ,out ,of ,darkness ,act or the ,,good ,act4 #b4 ,definitions ,in this ,act3 7#a7 ,agency ,the term agency has the meaning given the term in section #eea of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 7#b7 ,director ,the term ,director means the ,director of the ,office of ,management and ,budget4 7#c7 ,guidance document 7,a7 ,in general ,the term guidance document-- 7i7 means an agency statement of general applicability 7other than a rule that has the force and effect of law that was promulgated in accordance with the notice and comment procedures under section #eec of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code1 or a statutory exemption to such procedures7 that-- 7,i7 does not have the force and effect of law2 and 7,,ii7 is designated by an agency official as setting forth-- 7aa7 a policy on a statutory1 regulatory1 or technical issue2 or 7bb7 an interpretation of a statutory or regulatory issue2 and 7ii7 may include-- 7,i7 a memorandum2 7,,ii7 a notice2 7,,iii7 a bulletin2 7,,iv7 a directive2 7,v7 a news release2 7,,vi7 a letter2 7,,vii7 a blog post2 7,,viii7 a no-action letter2 7,,ix7 a speech by an agency official2 and 7,x7 any combination of the items described in subclauses 7,i7 through 7,,ix74 7,b7 ,rule of construction ,the term guidance document-- 7i7 shall be construed broadly to effectuate the purpose and intent of this ,act2 and 7ii7 shall not be limited to the items described in subparagraph 7,a77ii74 #c4 ,publication of guidance documents on the internet 7a7 ,in general ,subject to section #e1 on the date on which an agency issues a guidance document1 the agency shall publish the guidance document in accordance with the requirements under section #d4 7b7 ,previously issued guidance documents ,subject to section #e1 not later than #ahj days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 each agency shall publish1 in accordance with the requirements under section #d1 any guidance document issued by that agency that is in effect on that date4 #d4 ,single location 7a7 ,in general ,all guidance documents published under section #c by an agency shall be published in a single location on an internet website designated by the ,director under subsection 7d7 of this section4 7b7 ,agency internet websites ,each agency shall1 for guidance documents published by the agency under section #c1 publish a hyperlink on the principal internet website of the agency that provides access to the guidance documents at the location described in subsection 7a7 of this section4 7c7 ,organization 7#a7 ,in general ,the guidance documents described in subsection 7a7 shall be-- 7,a7 categorized as guidance documents2 and 7,b7 further divided into subcategories as appropriate4 7#b7 ,agency internet websites ,the hyperlinks described in subsection 7b7 shall be prominently displayed on the principal internet website of the agency4 7d7 ,format of guidance documents ,each guidance document published under section #c shall be made available as an open ,government data asset 7as defined in section #cejb of title #dd1 ,united ,states ,code7 and1 to the extent practicable1 optimized for search engines4 7e7 ,designation ,not later than #ij days after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,director shall designate an internet website on which guidance documents shall be published under section #c4 #e4 ,documents and information exempt from disclosure under ,,foia ,if a guidance document issued by an agency is a document that is exempt from disclosure under section #eeb7;b7 of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code 7commonly known as the ,freedom of ,information ,act71 or contains information that is exempt from disclosure under such section #eeb7;b71 that document or information1 as the case may be1 shall not be subject to the requirements under this ,act4 #f4 ,rescinded guidance documents ,on the date on which a guidance document issued by an agency is rescinded1 or1 in the case of a guidance document that is rescinded pursuant to a court order1 not later than the date on which the order is entered1 the agency shall1 at the location described in section #d7;a7-- 7#a7 maintain the rescinded guidance document2 and 7#b7 indicate-- 7,a7 that the guidance document is rescinded2 7,b7 if the guidance document was rescinded pursuant to a court order1 the case number of the case in which the order was entered2 and 7,c7 the date on which the guidance document was rescinded4 #g4 ,rules of construction 7a7 ,validity of guidance documents ,nothing in this ,act shall be construed to mean that noncompliance with any provision of this ,act affects or otherwise impacts the validity of any guidance document4 7b7 ,congressional review of guidance documents ,nothing in this ,act shall be construed to affect or otherwise impact whether a guidance document is subject to congressional review under chapter #h of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code4 #h4 ,report on agency compliance ,not later than #e years after the date of enactment of this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general shall submit to the ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform of the ,house of ,representatives and the ,committee on ,homeland ,security and ,governmental ,affairs of the ,senate a report on the compliance of agencies with this ,act4 ,september #ad1 #bjbf,reported with an amendment