[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1078 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1078
To amend title 44, United States Code, to modernize the Federal
Register, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 9, 2019
Mr. Perdue (for himself and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
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--
(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), 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 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; 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. 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
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 be indexed and 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 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 without reference to the restrictions placed upon and fixed for
the sale of Government publications by sections 1705 and 1708.''.
(e) Documents To Be Published in the 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'';
(2) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d);
(3) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
subsection:
``(c) Alternative Publication.--In a continuity of operations event
in which the Government Publishing Office does not fulfill the
publication requirements of this chapter, the Office of the Federal
Register may establish a website to publish the Federal Register until
such time that the Government Publishing Office resumes publication.'';
and
(4) in subsection (d), as so redesignated, 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.--
Subsection (a) of section 1506 of title 44, United States Code, is
amended to read as follows:
``(a) Composition; 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) to be published in the Federal Register;
``(2) the manner and form in which the Federal Register
shall be published;
``(3) the manner and form in which agencies submit
documents for publication in the Federal Register and special
editions of the Federal Register;
``(4) subject to subsection (b), 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;
``(5) the prices to be charged for individual copies of,
and subscriptions to, the Federal Register and any reprints and
bound volumes of it;
``(6) the manner and form by which the Federal Register may
receive information and comments from the public, if
practicable and efficient; and
``(7) 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, indices, 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 Senate Budget Committee, provided that
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.
<all>