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[House Report 114-613]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

114th Congress   }                                      {       Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session      }                                      {      114-613

======================================================================
 
                    TRUTH IN SETTLEMENTS ACT OF 2015

                                _______
                                

  June 9, 2016.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Chaffetz, from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 1109]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to whom 
was referred the bill (S. 1109) to require adequate information 
regarding the tax treatment of payments under settlement 
agreements entered into by Federal agencies, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Committee Statement and Views....................................     1
Section-by-Section...............................................     4
Committee Consideration..........................................     5
Roll Call Votes..................................................     5
Application of Law to the Legislative Branch.....................     5
Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the 
  Committee......................................................     5
Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives............     6
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     6
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     6
Federal Advisory Committee Act...................................     6
Unfunded Mandate Statement.......................................     6
Earmark Identification...........................................     6
Committee Estimate...............................................     6
Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate...     7
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill as Reported.............     8

                     Committee Statement and Views

                          PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 1109, the Truth in Settlements Act of 2015, requires 
federal agencies to make public non-confidential information 
about settlement agreements to ensure transparency in 
settlement agreements entered into by the federal government. 
The bill also restricts agencies from communicating misleading 
information about settlement agreements regarding violations of 
federal law by nongovernment entities.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    Settlement agreements are a common tool used to manage 
alleged violations of law. The federal government uses 
settlements for allegations against both federal agencies and 
nonfederal entities. In either case, the lack of transparency 
in the process and terms of the agreement can prevent public 
understanding and oversight of these binding legal agreements.
    Executive agencies have publicly announced settlements, 
often touting large aggregate payments, without providing much 
detail as to how the amount is distributed.\1\ In many 
instances, federal agencies inflate prosecutorial success by 
claiming large settlement numbers, which suggests to the public 
that the federal government is receiving the full amount.\2\ S. 
1109 requires greater transparency into federal settlements and 
ensures that the federal government will provide an honest 
assessment about agreements actually reached.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\See e.g. U.S. Dep't. of Justice, Press Release, Bank of America 
to Pay $16.65 Billion in Historic Settlement for Financial Fraud 
Leading up to and During the Financial Crisis (Aug. 21, 2014) available 
at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bank-america-pay-1665-billion-
historic-justice-department-settlement-financial-fraud-leading.
    \2\U.S. PIRG, Subsidizing Bad Behavior (Jan. 2013), available at: 
http://www.uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/
Subsidizing%20Bad%20Behavior%20USPIRG%20EF.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    One factor in determining the amount paid to the federal 
government through federal settlements between agencies and 
private businesses is payments to third parties. Some 
settlements include payments made by the nonfederal settling 
party to parties not involved in the settlement.\3\ Payments to 
third parties through federal settlements subvert the 
Congressional budget and appropriations processes, giving broad 
discretion to executive agencies to distribute federal 
funds.\4\ With the prospect of payouts, organizations advocate 
for the inclusion of third party payments in settlements, 
creating conflicts of interest in the settlement process.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Letter from Bob Goodlatte, Chairman, Comm. on Judiciary, Jeb 
Hensarling, Chairman, Comm. on Financial Services, Tom Marino, 
Chairman, Comm. on Judiciary Subcomm. on Regulatory Reform, Commercial 
and Antitrust Law, and Sean Duffy, Chairman, Comm. on Financial 
Services Subcomm. on Oversight and Investigations to Loretta E. Lynch, 
Attorney General, U.S. Dep't. of Justice (May 14, 2015), available at: 
https://judiciary.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/051415-BG-JH-TM-
SD-Letter-to-AG-Lynch.pdf.
    \4\Id.
    \5\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Another complicating factor that might inflate the dollar 
amounts aggregated by agencies is the determination of the tax 
status of those settlement payments. If the payment is a 
penalty or fine for wrongdoing, the business is prohibited from 
claiming the settlement as a business expense.\6\ However, if 
the payment is simply a business decision to make a payment in 
exchange for avoiding litigation, the settlement could be 
considered a business expense, thus making it tax deductible. 
Tax deductible settlements mean that the net amount received by 
the federal government is much less than the headlines 
suggest.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \6\U.S. PIRG
    \7\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    One final factor which may inflate the total dollar amount 
of settlements is the inclusion of credits for conduct. An 
agency may agree to provide credits for engaging in mitigating 
or remedial behavior going forward. However, the settling 
corporation may have engaged in that conduct for business 
purposes even absent the settlement agreement (e.g., an agency 
may provide a dollar credit for each dollar of a mortgage a 
lender forgives, but if a borrower is unable to pay the lender 
may otherwise have forgiven and written down that mortgage 
dollar). S. 1109 requires agencies to include a detailed 
description of any actions a settling party may take in lieu of 
payments.
    S. 1109 enhances transparency into the actual amount 
received by the federal government by requiring non-
confidential settlements to be published online and by 
requiring federal agencies to issue a written public 
explanation when they deem all or part of a covered settlement 
agreement confidential. S. 1109 also requires agencies to 
report publicly how much of the total amount, if any, is 
expressly not tax deductible. The bill prevents agencies from 
issuing written public statements that provide an aggregate 
amount to be paid under a settlement without specifying how 
those payments are classified (e.g., as a penalty, fine, 
compensatory damages, restitution, etc.).
    In addition to concerns about inflated settlement amounts 
for allegations against nonfederal entities, S. 1109 addresses 
concerns about the use of settlements to subvert the regulatory 
process. The ordinary process for adopting or substantially 
modifying regulations is designed to allow the public to 
examine a rule, offer comments, and understand the regulating 
agency's rationale for the change. However, in recent years, a 
detour around the ordinary process has emerged: settlement 
agreements with special interest groups, or ``Sue and 
Settle.''\8\ Sue and Settle agreements are a means to enacting 
a stricter regulation in a nontransparent and uninformed 
manner.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Sue and Settle: Regulating Behind 
Closed Doors, (May 2013), available at https://www.uschamber.com/sites/
default/files/documents/files/SUEANDSETTLEREPORT-Final.pdf.
    \9\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In a typical Sue and Settle case, a special interest group 
sues a federal agency for allegedly failing to follow a legal 
requirement to issue regulations.\10\ Agencies decline to 
vigorously defend the lawsuit, instead entering into 
negotiations with the special interest group.\11\ From those 
negotiations, the agency enters into a settlement agreement 
that may set deadlines to issue regulations, or otherwise 
impose requirements about the issuance of a regulation, without 
the benefit of the regulatory notice and comment process. In 
some cases, those settlement agreements can even contain 
payments for attorney fees or expenses, funding the special 
interest group's activities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \10\Id.
    \11\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    One study found that between 2009 and 2012, the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled over 60 Sue and 
Settle cases on terms favorable to the plaintiffs. Those 
settlements required the EPA to issue 100 new regulations.\12\ 
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the ten most 
expensive of those rules will collectively cost the economy 
more than $100 billion annually.\13\ A Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) study on such EPA cases found that 
these suits ``affect the timing and order in which rules are 
issued but not which rules are issued.''\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\Id.
    \13\Id.
    \14\U.S. Government Accountability Office, Environmental 
Litigation: Impact of Deadline Suits on EPA's Rulemaking is Limited, 
(Dec. 2014) (GAO-15-34).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Given the importance of Sue and Settle cases and the effect 
of such cases on the regulatory process, the public must, at a 
minimum, know some basic facts about the settlement agreements. 
S. 1109 would require each federal agency to release a list on 
its website containing, for each settlement agreement above a 
reasonable monetary threshold, the names of the parties, a 
description of their claims, and details about money to be paid 
pursuant to the settlement.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 1109, the Truth in Settlements Act of 2015, was 
introduced on April 28, 2015 by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-
MA). Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) 
are cosponsors. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee 
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC), which 
favorably reported the bill on July 7, 2015. On September 21, 
2015, S. 1109 passed the Senate by unanimous consent with an 
amendment offered by Senator David Vitter (R-LA). The House 
received the bill on September 22, 2015 and the bill was 
referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform. The Committee reported S. 1109 by unanimous consent on 
March 1, 2016.
    On June 4, 2015, Congressman Matt Cartwright (D-PA) 
introduced identical legislation in the House, H.R. 2648, which 
was referred to both the Committee on Oversight and Government 
Reform and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services.
    In the 113th Congress, Senator Warren and Senator Tom 
Coburn (R-OK), and Congressman Cartwright and Congressman Tom 
Cole (R-OK) introduced the Truth in Settlements Act of 2014 in 
the Senate and House, S. 1898 and H.R. 4324 respectively. S. 
1898 was referred to HSGAC and favorably reported to the full 
Senate for consideration. No further action was taken on S. 
1898. H.R. 4324 was referred to the Committees on Oversight and 
Government Reform and Financial Services. No further action was 
taken in the House.

                           Section-by-Section

Section 1. Short title

    Designates the short title of the bill as the ``Truth in 
Settlements Act of 2015''.

Section 2. Information regarding settlement agreements entered into by 
        federal agencies

    Adds section 307 to title 5, United States Code. Section 
307 does the following:
    Defines covered settlement agreement as either (1) a 
settlement related to an alleged violation of federal civil or 
criminal law that requires a non-federal person to pay $1 
million or more, or (2) a settlement related to rulemaking or 
an alleged failure to engage in rulemaking and requires a 
payment of attorney fees and costs of $200,000 or more.
    Requires a list of each covered settlement agreement to be 
posted on the agency's website with the following information 
about each settlement, as long as the information is not 
confidential: the date, the names of the parties, a description 
of the claims, the amount parties are obligated to pay 
including both what is expressly a penalty or fine and what is 
expressly not tax deductible, and a description of where 
payments will be deposited, and a copy of each settlement 
agreement.
    Requires the information about settlement agreements to be 
posted on the website for at least five years and a copy of 
each settlement agreement to be available for at least a year, 
or five years if the required payment is $50 million or more.
    Requires agencies that enter into settlement agreements 
that include confidentiality agreements to issue a public 
statement explaining why such action is required.
    Establishes requirements for public statements issued by an 
agency about a settlement agreement.
    Limits disclosure requirements to information and 
settlements that are not subject to a confidentiality 
agreement.
    Requires each agency to submit an annual report to Congress 
with information about settlements entered into in the prior 
fiscal year and to make such report publicly available in a 
searchable format on agency's website.
    Requires the GAO to report to Congress information 
regarding how agencies determine whether a settlement agreement 
will be treated as confidential and offer any recommendations 
to increase transparency while continuing to protect legitimate 
interests that confidentiality provisions serve.

                        Committee Consideration

    On March 1, 2016, the Committee met in open session and 
ordered reported favorably the bill, S. 1109, by unanimous 
consent.

                            Roll Call Votes

    No roll call votes were requested or conducted during Full 
Committee consideration of S. 1109.

              Application of Law to the Legislative Branch

    Section 102(b)(3) of Public Law 104-1 requires a 
description of the application of this bill to the legislative 
branch where the bill relates to the terms and conditions of 
employment or access to public services and accommodations. 
This bill requires disclosure by federal agencies of the 
executive branch. As such this bill does not relate to 
employment or access to public services and accommodations.

  Statement of Oversight Findings and Recommendations of the Committee

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII and clause 
(2)(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee's oversight findings and 
recommendations are reflected in the descriptive portions of 
this report.

         Statement of General Performance Goals and Objectives

    In accordance with clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee's performance 
goal and objective of the bill is to require adequate 
information regarding the tax treatment of payments under 
settlement agreements entered into by Federal agencies.

                    Duplication of Federal Programs

    No provision of this bill establishes or reauthorizes a 
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of 
another Federal program, a program that was included in any 
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress 
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-139, or a program 
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of 
Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings

    The Committee estimates that enacting this bill does not 
direct the completion of any specific rule makings within the 
meaning of 5 U.S.C. 551.

                     Federal Advisory Committee Act

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not establish 
or authorize the establishment of an advisory committee within 
the definition of 5 U.S.C. App., Section 5(b).

                       Unfunded Mandate Statement

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment 
Control Act (as amended by Section 101(a)(2) of the Unfunded 
Mandate Reform Act, P.L. 104-4) requires a statement as to 
whether the provisions of the reported include unfunded 
mandates. In compliance with this requirement the Committee has 
received a letter from the Congressional Budget Office included 
herein.

                         Earmark Identification

    This bill does not include any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9 of rule XXI.

                           Committee Estimate

    Clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the 
Committee of the costs that would be incurred in carrying out 
this bill. However, clause 3(d)(2)(B) of that Rule provides 
that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has 
included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the 
bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974.

     Budget Authority and Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and with respect 
to requirements of clause (3)(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives and section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received 
the following cost estimate for this bill from the Director of 
Congressional Budget Office:

                                                    March 24, 2016.
Hon. Jason Chaffetz,
Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 1109, the Truth in 
Settlements Act of 2015.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Matthew 
Pickford.
            Sincerely,
                                                        Keith Hall.
    Enclosure.

S. 1109--Truth in Settlements Act of 2015

    S. 1109 would establish new requirements for the public 
disclosure of settlement agreements entered into by federal 
agencies. Specifically, the legislation would require that 
nonconfidential settlements be posted online if they involve 
payments from nonfederal entities that are greater than $1 
million and are related to a violation of civil or criminal 
laws. Each settlement posted online would have to include the 
names of the parties involved, a description of the claims 
settled, the amount to be paid, and whether the settlement is a 
criminal penalty, a civil penalty, or a fine. In addition, S. 
1109 would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) 
to complete a report on the confidentiality of settlement 
agreements.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1109 would have no 
significant effect on the federal budget because most of the 
information required is already collected during the settlement 
process and the cost of making it available online would not be 
significant. CBO also estimates that the cost for GAO to 
prepare the required study would be less than $500,000. Because 
enacting S. 1109 could affect direct spending by agencies not 
funded through annual appropriations, pay-as-you-go procedures 
apply. CBO estimates that any net changes in spending by those 
agencies would be negligible. Enacting the legislation would 
not affect revenues.
    CBO estimates that enacting S. 1109 would not increase 
direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four 
consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2027.
    S. 1109 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    On May 20, 2015, CBO transmitted an estimate for S. 1109, 
as ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland 
Security and Governmental Affairs on May 6, 2015. The two 
versions of the legislation are similar, and CBO's estimates of 
the budgetary effects are the same. The previous version of the 
legislation also contained a private-sector mandate that is not 
included in this version of the act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italics and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

                      TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *
PART I--THE AGENCIES GENERALLY

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                           CHAPTER 3--POWERS

Sec.
301. Departmental regulations.
     * * * * * * *
307. Information regarding settlement agreements.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

Sec. 307. Information regarding settlement agreements

  (a) Definitions.--In this section--
          (1) the term ``covered settlement agreement'' means a 
        settlement agreement (including a consent decree)--
                  (A) that is entered into by an Executive 
                agency; and
                  (B)(i) that--
                          (I) relates to an alleged violation 
                        of Federal civil or criminal law; and
                          (II) requires the payment of a total 
                        of not less than $1,000,000 by 1 or 
                        more non-Federal persons; or
                  (ii) that--
                          (I) relates to the rule making 
                        process of the Executive agency or an 
                        alleged failure by the Executive agency 
                        to engage in a rule making process; and
                          (II) requires the payment of a total 
                        of not less than $200,000 in attorney 
                        fees, costs, or expenses by the 
                        Executive agency or entity within the 
                        Federal Government to a non-Federal 
                        person;
          (2) the term ``entity within the Federal Government'' 
        includes an officer or employee of the Federal 
        Government acting in an official capacity;
          (3) the term ``non-Federal person'' means a person 
        that is not an entity within the Federal Government; 
        and
          (4) the term ``rule making'' has the meaning given 
        that term under section 551(5).
  (b) Information To Be Posted Online.--
          (1) Requirement.--
                  (A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), 
                the head of each Executive agency shall make 
                publicly available in a searchable format in a 
                prominent location on the Web site of the 
                Executive agency--
                          (i) a list of each covered settlement 
                        agreement entered into by the Executive 
                        agency, which shall include, for each 
                        covered settlement agreement--
                                  (I) the date on which the 
                                parties entered into the 
                                covered settlement agreement;
                                  (II) the names of the parties 
                                that settled claims under the 
                                covered settlement agreement;
                                  (III) a description of the 
                                claims each party settled under 
                                the covered settlement 
                                agreement;
                                  (IV) the amount each party 
                                settling a claim under the 
                                covered settlement agreement is 
                                obligated to pay under the 
                                settlement agreement;
                                  (V) the total amount the 
                                settling parties are obligated 
                                to pay under the settlement 
                                agreement;
                                  (VI) for each settling 
                                party--
                                          (aa) the amount, if 
                                        any, the settling party 
                                        is obligated to pay 
                                        that is expressly 
                                        specified under the 
                                        covered settlement 
                                        agreement as a civil or 
                                        criminal penalty or 
                                        fine; and
                                          (bb) the amount, if 
                                        any, that is expressly 
                                        specified under the 
                                        covered settlement 
                                        agreement as not 
                                        deductible for purposes 
                                        of the Internal Revenue 
                                        Code of 1986; and
                                  (VII) a description of where 
                                amounts collected under the 
                                covered settlement agreement 
                                will be deposited, including, 
                                if applicable, the deposit of 
                                such amounts in an account 
                                available for use for 1 or more 
                                programs of the Federal 
                                Government; and
                          (ii) a copy of each covered 
                        settlement agreement entered into by 
                        the Executive agency.
                  (B) Confidentiality provisions.--The 
                requirement to disclose information or a copy 
                of a covered settlement agreement under 
                subparagraph (A) shall apply to the extent that 
                the information or copy (or portion thereof) is 
                not subject to a confidentiality provision that 
                prohibits disclosure of the information or copy 
                (or portion thereof).
          (2) Period.--The head of each Executive agency shall 
        ensure that--
                  (A) information regarding a covered 
                settlement agreement is publicly available on 
                the list described in paragraph (1)(A)(i) for a 
                period of not less than 5 years, beginning on 
                the date of the covered settlement agreement; 
                and
                  (B) a copy of a covered settlement agreement 
                made available under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) is 
                publicly available--
                          (i) for a period of not less than 1 
                        year, beginning on the date of the 
                        covered settlement agreement; or
                          (ii) for a covered settlement 
                        agreement under which a non-Federal 
                        person is required to pay not less than 
                        $50,000,000, for a period of not less 
                        than 5 years, beginning on the date of 
                        the covered settlement agreement.
  (c) Public Statement.--If the head of an Executive agency 
determines that a confidentiality provision in a covered 
settlement agreement, or the sealing of a covered settlement 
agreement, is required to protect the public interest of the 
United States, the head of the Executive agency shall issue a 
public statement stating why such action is required to protect 
the public interest of the United States, which shall explain--
          (1) what interests confidentiality protects; and
          (2) why the interests protected by confidentiality 
        outweigh the public's interest in knowing about the 
        conduct of the Federal Government and the expenditure 
        of Federal resources.
  (d) Requirements for Written Public Statements.--Any written 
public statement issued by an Executive agency that refers to 
an amount to be paid by a non-Federal person under a covered 
settlement agreement shall--
          (1) specify which portion, if any, of the amount to 
        be paid under the covered settlement agreement by a 
        non-Federal person--
                  (A) is expressly specified under the covered 
                settlement agreement as a civil or criminal 
                penalty or fine to be paid for a violation of 
                Federal law; or
                  (B) is expressly specified under the covered 
                settlement agreement as not deductible for 
                purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
          (2) if no portion of the amount to be paid under the 
        covered settlement agreement by a non-Federal person is 
        expressly specified under the covered settlement 
        agreement as a civil or criminal penalty or fine, 
        include a statement specifying that is the case; and
          (3) describe in detail--
                  (A) any actions the non-Federal person shall 
                take under the covered settlement agreement in 
                lieu of payment to the Federal Government or a 
                State or local government; and
                  (B) any payments or compensation the non-
                Federal person shall make to other non-Federal 
                persons under the covered settlement agreement.
  (e) Confidentiality.--The requirement to disclose information 
under subsection (d) shall apply to the extent that the 
information to be disclosed (or portion thereof) is not subject 
to a confidentiality provision that prohibits disclosure of the 
information (or portion thereof).
  (f) Reporting.--
          (1) In general.--Not later than January 15 of each 
        year, the head of an Executive agency that entered into 
        a covered settlement agreement or that entered into a 
        settlement agreement that involves regulatory action or 
        regulatory changes during the previous fiscal year 
        shall submit to each committee of Congress with 
        jurisdiction over the activities of the Executive 
        agency a report indicating--
                  (A) how many covered settlement agreements 
                the Executive agency entered into during that 
                fiscal year;
                  (B) how many covered settlement agreements 
                the Executive agency entered into during that 
                fiscal year that had any terms or conditions 
                that are required to be kept confidential;
                  (C) how many covered settlement agreements 
                the Executive agency entered into during that 
                fiscal year for which all terms and conditions 
                are required to be kept confidential;
                  (D) the total amount of attorney fees, costs, 
                and expenses paid to non-Federal persons under 
                settlement agreements (including consent 
                decrees) of the Executive agency during that 
                fiscal year; and
                  (E) the number of settlement agreements 
                (including consent decrees) between the 
                Executive agency and non-Federal persons that 
                involve regulatory action or regulatory 
                changes, including the promulgation of new 
                rules, during that fiscal year.
          (2) Availability of reports.--The head of an 
        Executive agency that is required to submit a report 
        under paragraph (1) shall make the report publicly 
        available in a searchable format in a prominent 
        location on the Web site of the Executive agency.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                                  [all]
```