H.R. 1515 — GOOD Act

This section defines, for purposes of the Act, three terms: (1) "agency" as defined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code (i.e., each authority of the U.S. government, excluding Congress, courts, territorial governments, the District of Columbia government, and certain other entities such as labor dispute agencies and military authorities); (2) "Director" as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget; and (3) "guidance document" as an agency statement of general applicability, other than a notice-and-comment rule, that lacks the force and effect of law and is designated by an agency official as setting forth a policy or interpretation on a statutory, regulatory, or technical issue (e.g., memoranda, notices, bulletins, directives, news releases, letters, blog posts, no-action letters, or agency official speeches), to be construed broadly and not limited to those examples.

This section requires each agency, subject to section 5, to publish guidance documents on the internet in accordance with section 4—(1) on the date of issuance for new guidance documents; and (2) not later than 180 days after enactment for any guidance documents issued previously that remain in effect.

This section requires all agency guidance documents issued under section 3 to be published in a single internet location on a website designated by the Director within 90 days of enactment. Agencies must provide prominent hyperlinks to this location on their websites, with the guidance documents categorized as such and further subdivided as appropriate.

This section exempts from the Act's requirements any agency guidance document—or information therein—that is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (i.e., 5 U.S.C. §552(b)).

This section requires agencies, upon rescinding a guidance document or pursuant to a court order, to maintain the rescinded document at the location specified in section 4(a) and indicate (1) that the document is rescinded, (2) the court case number if applicable, and (3) the rescission date.

This section provides rules of construction specifying that (1) noncompliance with any provision of the Act does not affect the validity of any guidance document, and (2) the Act does not impact whether a guidance document is subject to congressional review under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code (i.e., the Congressional Review Act).

This section directs the Comptroller General to submit to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, not later than five years after the date of enactment of this Act, a report on agency compliance with this Act.