S. 4577 — what changed

In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall rescind outdated guidance and issue new guidance for the creation, maintenance, and use of covered content at agencies.

Requirements— The guidance required under subsection (a) shall—

establish procedures under which an agency shall review any content in use on the date of enactment of this Act to determine if it is covered content;

establish policies for an agency to ensure that any content of the agency that is covered content, including any content created or updated after the date of enactment of this Act that is determined to be covered content, is drafted in plain writing;

establish qualitative and quantitative metrics by which an agency shall be measured for compliance with the requirements to identify covered content, draft covered content in plain writing, and solicit and incorporate public feedback and data to improve public engagement and interaction with the agency;

prescribe processes by which agencies shall submit agency reports required by the Director, in an appropriate manner and form, to support the governmentwide reports required under subsection (c); and

require an agency to solicit public feedback, collect data, and routinely test the creation or modification of covered content of the agency.

In general— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives a report on implementation of this Act by agencies, including the progress of agencies towards the metrics established under subsection (b)(3) and any other information or data determined by the Director to inform Congress and the public on implementation of plain writing in covered content by agencies.

In general— The Director may make the reports submitted under paragraph (1) available on a public website determined by the Director.

Form— If the Director makes reports available under subparagraph (A), the reports shall be maintained as open Government data assets.

Agency performance plans— Section 1115(b) of title 31, United States Code, is amended—

in paragraph (9)(C), by striking “and” at the end;

in paragraph (10), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

by adding at the end the following:

Requirement To use plain language in covered content— Except as provided in the amendments made by section 5(1), on and after the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall use plain writing in all covered content made available by the agency, consistent with the guidance issued by the Director under section 3(a).

Requirement for feedback from customers— The head of each agency shall ensure that there are opportunities and mechanisms in place (whether in paper or electronic form) that incorporate plain writing instructions for feedback from individuals or entities obtaining services from or engaging in transactions with the agency.