[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9592 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.9592
One Hundred Eighteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-four
An Act
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
of 2024''.
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, by striking ``printing, reprinting,
wrapping, binding, and distributing'' each place it appears and
inserting ``publishing''.
(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, as determined by the Administrative Committee of the
Federal Register; 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. 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; physical copies
``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 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. The Government Publishing
Office shall print at least two physical copies of each published
Federal Register issue. Of those, not less than two copies shall be
stored, each in a separate facility, to ensure the preservation of the
Federal Register for the purposes of continuity of government.''.
(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'';
(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 an alternative method 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 or their designee, regulations for
carrying out this chapter. The regulations shall provide for, among
other things, the following:
``(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.
``(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 or their designee, 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 or their designee, 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;
physical copies.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.