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found on http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/law/index.cfm for your agency’s initial and
annual reports. Each of these reports must be published on your agency’s plain writing
webpage, with a means for stakeholders and the public to comment on it.
(4) By October 13, 2011, agencies shall use plain writing when issuing “covered
documents.” Under the Act, starting October 13, 2011, agencies must use plain writing
when issuing new or substantially revised documents. This requirement applies to “covered
documents,” which the Act defines as those documents that:
are necessary for obtaining any Federal Government benefit or service, or filing taxes
(e.g., tax forms or benefit applications);
provide information about any Federal Government benefit or service (e.g.,
handbooks for Medicare or Social Security recipients); or
explain to the public how to comply with a requirement that the Federal Government
administers or enforces (e.g., guidance on how to prepare required reports or comply
with safety requirements).
The Act also requires agencies to use plain writing in every paper or electronic letter,
publication, form, notice, or instruction. When an agency prepares a specialized or technical
publication, the agency should take into account the subject expertise of the intended
audience. For purposes of the Act, the “public” means anticipated readers or recipients,
including any external stakeholders affected by your agency’s mission or with whom your
agency is seeking to communicate.
It is important to emphasize that agencies should communicate with the public in a way that
is clear, simple, meaningful, and jargon-free.
A lack of clarity may prevent people from
becoming sufficiently aware of programs or services, and the prospect of confusing or
complex forms may discourage people from applying for benefits and services for which
they are eligible. Similarly, a lack of clarity may make it difficult for people to understand
whether particular requirements apply to them, and if so, what they are supposed to do.
While the Act exempts regulations from covered documents, rulemaking preambles are not
exempted, and long-standing policies currently in effect require regulations to be written in a
manner that is “simple and easy to understand.”
(5) By April 13, 2012, submit the first annual compliance report. By April 13, 2012,
and annually thereafter, each agency must publish on its website a report that describes the
agency’s continuing compliance with the Act. Prior to publication, agencies are encouraged
See the Memorandum from the OIRA Administrator of June 18, 2010, on Disclosure and Simplification as
Regulatory Tools, at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/inforeg/disclosure_principles.pdf.
Executive Order 12866, “Regulatory Planning and Review.” Section 1(b)(12) (“Each agency shall draft its
regulations to be simple and easy to understand, with the goal of minimizing the potential for uncertainty
and litigation arising from such uncertainty”), at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-
orders/pdf/12866.pdf . More recently, Executive Order 13563, “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review,”
states that regulations must be “accessible, consistent, written in plain language, and easy to understand,” at
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-01-21/pdf/2011-1385.pdf.