HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.usfed/pllgnrd0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Administrative Conference Recommendation 2017-3
Plain Language in Regulatory Drafting
Adopted December 14, 2017
For decades, agencies have worked to make regulatory requirements more
comprehensible to regulatory stakeholders and the public at large, including by using plain
language or plain writing.' Clearly drafting and explaining regulations facilitates the core
administrative law goals of public participation, efficient compliance, judicial review, and the
protection of rights. Numerous statutory and executive requirements direct agencies to draft rules
and guidance plainly.
Plain Language Legal Requirements
The Plain Writing Act of 2010 (PWA)2 and Executive Order 13,5633 require agencies to
use plain language in various public-facing documents.4 Plain writing, as defined by the PWA, is
writing that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the
subject or field and intended audience.5 The Plain Language Action and Information Network
I These terms carry the same meaning and are used interchangeably here.
2 Pub. L. No. 111-274, 124 Stat. 2861 (2010) (codified at 5 U.S.C. § 301 note).
3 Exec. Order No. 13,563, 76 Fed. Reg. 3821 (Jan. 18, 2011).
4 Executive guidance issued prior to the PWA's enactment also directs agencies to use plain language. Executive Order
12,866 provides that [e]ach agency shall draft its regulations to be simple and easy to understand. Exec. Order No.
12,866 § 2(b), 58 Fed. Reg. 51,735, 51,737 (Oct. 4, 1993). President Clinton's 1998 Plain Language Memorandum
further requires agencies to use plain language in all new documents, other than regulations, that explain how to
obtain a benefit or service, or how to comply with a requirement [the agency] administer[s] or enforce [s], as well as
all proposed and final rulemaking documents published in the Federal Register. Memorandum on Plain Language
in Government Writing, 63 Fed. Reg. 31,885 (June 10, 1998).
5 U.S.C. § 301 note sec. 3(3).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.usfed/pllgnrd0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)