S. 337 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen 

An Act 

To improve the Freedom of Information Act. 

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 ‘‘FOIA Improvement Act of 2016’’. 

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FOIA. 

Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

(1) in subsection (a)— 

(A) in paragraph (2)— 

(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 

striking ‘‘for public inspection and copying’’ and 

inserting ‘‘for public inspection in an electronic format’’; 

(ii) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

the following: 

‘‘(D) copies of all records, regardless of form or format— 

‘‘(i) that have been released to any person under paragraph (3); and 

‘‘(ii)(I) that because of the nature of their subject 

matter, the agency determines have become or are likely 

to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records; or 

‘‘(II) that have been requested 3 or more times; and’’; 

and 

(iii) in the undesignated matter following subparagraph (E), by striking ‘‘public inspection and copying 

current’’ and inserting ‘‘public inspection in an electronic format current’’; 

(B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking clause (viii) and 

inserting the following: 

‘‘(viii)(I) Except as provided in subclause (II), an agency 

shall not assess any search fees (or in the case of a 

requester described under clause (ii)(II) of this subparagraph, duplication fees) under this subparagraph if the 

agency has failed to comply with any time limit under 

paragraph (6). 

‘‘(II)(aa) If an agency has determined that unusual 

circumstances apply (as the term is defined in paragraph 

(6)(B)) and the agency provided a timely written notice 

to the requester in accordance with paragraph (6)(B), a 

failure described in subclause (I) is excused for an additional 10 days. If the agency fails to comply with the 

extended time limit, the agency may not assess any search 
S. 337—2 

fees (or in the case of a requester described under clause 

(ii)(II) of this subparagraph, duplication fees). 

‘‘(bb) If an agency has determined that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary 

to respond to the request, an agency may charge search 

fees (or in the case of a requester described under clause 

(ii)(II) of this subparagraph, duplication fees) if the agency 

has provided a timely written notice to the requester in 

accordance with paragraph (6)(B) and the agency has discussed with the requester via written mail, electronic mail, 

or telephone (or made not less than 3 good-faith attempts 

to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the 

scope of the request in accordance with paragraph (6)(B)(ii). 

‘‘(cc) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist (as that term is defined in paragraph 

(6)(C)), a failure described in subclause (I) shall be excused 

for the length of time provided by the court order.’’; 

(C) in paragraph (6)— 

(i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking ‘‘making such 

request’’ and all that follows through ‘‘determination; 

and’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘making such request 

of— 

‘‘(I) such determination and the reasons therefor; 

‘‘(II) the right of such person to seek assistance 

from the FOIA Public Liaison of the agency; and 

‘‘(III) in the case of an adverse determination— 

‘‘(aa) the right of such person to appeal to 

the head of the agency, within a period determined 

by the head of the agency that is not less than 

90 days after the date of such adverse determination; and 

‘‘(bb) the right of such person to seek dispute 

resolution services from the FOIA Public Liaison 

of the agency or the Office of Government Information Services; and’’; and 

(ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘the 

agency.’’ and inserting ‘‘the agency, and notify the 

requester of the right of the requester to seek dispute 

resolution services from the Office of Government 

Information Services.’’; and 

(D) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(8)(A) An agency shall— 

‘‘(i) withhold information under this section only if— 

‘‘(I) the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure 

would harm an interest protected by an exemption 

described in subsection (b); or 

‘‘(II) disclosure is prohibited by law; and 

‘‘(ii)(I) consider whether partial disclosure of information 

is possible whenever the agency determines that a full disclosure of a requested record is not possible; and 

‘‘(II) take reasonable steps necessary to segregate and 

release nonexempt information; and 

‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph requires disclosure of information that is otherwise prohibited from disclosure by law, or otherwise exempted from disclosure under subsection (b)(3).’’; 

(2) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph (5) to read 

as follows: 
S. 337—3 

‘‘(5) inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters 

that would not be available by law to a party other than 

an agency in litigation with the agency, provided that the 

deliberative process privilege shall not apply to records created 

25 years or more before the date on which the records were 

requested;’’; and 

(3) in subsection (e)— 

(A) in paragraph (1)— 

(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 

inserting ‘‘and to the Director of the Office of Government Information Services’’ after ‘‘United States’’; 

(ii) in subparagraph (N), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

end; 

(iii) in subparagraph (O), by striking the period 

at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

(iv) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(P) the number of times the agency denied a request 

for records under subsection (c); and 

‘‘(Q) the number of records that were made available for 

public inspection in an electronic format under subsection 

(a)(2).’’; 

(B) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(3) Each agency shall make each such report available for 

public inspection in an electronic format. In addition, each agency 

shall make the raw statistical data used in each report available 

in a timely manner for public inspection in an electronic format, 

which shall be made available— 

‘‘(A) without charge, license, or registration requirement; 

‘‘(B) in an aggregated, searchable format; and 

‘‘(C) in a format that may be downloaded in bulk.’’; 

(C) in paragraph (4)— 

(i) by striking ‘‘Government Reform and Oversight’’ 

and inserting ‘‘Oversight and Government Reform’’; 

(ii) by inserting ‘‘Homeland Security and’’ before 

‘‘Governmental Affairs’’; and 

(iii) by striking ‘‘April’’ and inserting ‘‘March’’; and 

(D) by striking paragraph (6) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(6)(A) The Attorney General of the United States shall submit 

to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

Senate, and the President a report on or before March 1 of each 

calendar year, which shall include for the prior calendar year— 

‘‘(i) a listing of the number of cases arising under this 

section; 

‘‘(ii) a listing of— 

‘‘(I) each subsection, and any exemption, if applicable, 

involved in each case arising under this section; 

‘‘(II) the disposition of each case arising under this 

section; and 

‘‘(III) the cost, fees, and penalties assessed under subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of subsection (a)(4); and 

‘‘(iii) a description of the efforts undertaken by the Department of Justice to encourage agency compliance with this section. 

‘‘(B) The Attorney General of the United States shall make— 
S. 337—4 

‘‘(i) each report submitted under subparagraph (A) available 

for public inspection in an electronic format; and 

‘‘(ii) the raw statistical data used in each report submitted 

under subparagraph (A) available for public inspection in an 

electronic format, which shall be made available— 

‘‘(I) without charge, license, or registration requirement; 

‘‘(II) in an aggregated, searchable format; and 

‘‘(III) in a format that may be downloaded in bulk.’’; 

(4) in subsection (g), in the matter preceding paragraph 

(1), by striking ‘‘publicly available upon request’’ and inserting 

‘‘available for public inspection in an electronic format’’; 

(5) in subsection (h)— 

(A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘The head of the Office shall be the Director of the Office 

of Government Information Services.’’; 

(B) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraph (C) 

and inserting the following: 

‘‘(C) identify procedures and methods for improving compliance under this section.’’; 

(C) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(3) The Office of Government Information Services shall offer 

mediation services to resolve disputes between persons making 

requests under this section and administrative agencies as a nonexclusive alternative to litigation and may issue advisory opinions 

at the discretion of the Office or upon request of any party to 

a dispute.’’; and 

(D) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(4)(A) Not less frequently than annually, the Director of the 

Office of Government Information Services shall submit to the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate, 

and the President— 

‘‘(i) a report on the findings of the information reviewed 

and identified under paragraph (2); 

‘‘(ii) a summary of the activities of the Office of Government 

Information Services under paragraph (3), including— 

‘‘(I) any advisory opinions issued; and 

‘‘(II) the number of times each agency engaged in dispute resolution with the assistance of the Office of Government Information Services or the FOIA Public Liaison; 

and 

‘‘(iii) legislative and regulatory recommendations, if any, 

to improve the administration of this section. 

‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Government Information 

Services shall make each report submitted under subparagraph 

(A) available for public inspection in an electronic format. 

‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Government Information 

Services shall not be required to obtain the prior approval, comment, 

or review of any officer or agency of the United States, including 

the Department of Justice, the Archivist of the United States, 

or the Office of Management and Budget before submitting to 

Congress, or any committee or subcommittee thereof, any reports, 

recommendations, testimony, or comments, if such submissions 

include a statement indicating that the views expressed therein 
S. 337—5 

are those of the Director and do not necessarily represent the 

views of the President. 

‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Government Information Services may directly submit additional information to Congress and 

the President as the Director determines to be appropriate. 

‘‘(6) Not less frequently than annually, the Office of Government 

Information Services shall conduct a meeting that is open to the 

public on the review and reports by the Office and shall allow 

interested persons to appear and present oral or written statements 

at the meeting.’’; 

(6) by striking subsections (j) and (k), and inserting the 

following: 

‘‘(j)(1) Each agency shall designate a Chief FOIA Officer who 

shall be a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant Secretary 

or equivalent level). 

‘‘(2) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, subject to 

the authority of the head of the agency— 

‘‘(A) have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and appropriate compliance with this section; 

‘‘(B) monitor implementation of this section throughout the 

agency and keep the head of the agency, the chief legal officer 

of the agency, and the Attorney General appropriately informed 

of the agency’s performance in implementing this section; 

‘‘(C) recommend to the head of the agency such adjustments 

to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding as may 

be necessary to improve its implementation of this section; 

‘‘(D) review and report to the Attorney General, through 

the head of the agency, at such times and in such formats 

as the Attorney General may direct, on the agency’s performance in implementing this section; 

‘‘(E) facilitate public understanding of the purposes of the 

statutory exemptions of this section by including concise 

descriptions of the exemptions in both the agency’s handbook 

issued under subsection (g), and the agency’s annual report 

on this section, and by providing an overview, where appropriate, of certain general categories of agency records to which 

those exemptions apply; 

‘‘(F) offer training to agency staff regarding their responsibilities under this section; 

‘‘(G) serve as the primary agency liaison with the Office 

of Government Information Services and the Office of Information Policy; and 

‘‘(H) designate 1 or more FOIA Public Liaisons. 

‘‘(3) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall review, not 

less frequently than annually, all aspects of the administration 

of this section by the agency to ensure compliance with the requirements of this section, including— 

‘‘(A) agency regulations; 

‘‘(B) disclosure of records required under paragraphs (2) 

and (8) of subsection (a); 

‘‘(C) assessment of fees and determination of eligibility 

for fee waivers; 

‘‘(D) the timely processing of requests for information under 

this section; 

‘‘(E) the use of exemptions under subsection (b); and 
S. 337—6 

‘‘(F) dispute resolution services with the assistance of the 

Office of Government Information Services or the FOIA Public 

Liaison. 

‘‘(k)(1) There is established in the executive branch the Chief 

FOIA Officers Council (referred to in this subsection as the 

‘Council’). 

‘‘(2) The Council shall be comprised of the following members: 

‘‘(A) The Deputy Director for Management of the Office 

of Management and Budget. 

‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Information Policy at 

the Department of Justice. 

‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Government Information 

Services. 

‘‘(D) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency. 

‘‘(E) Any other officer or employee of the United States 

as designated by the Co-Chairs. 

‘‘(3) The Director of the Office of Information Policy at the 

Department of Justice and the Director of the Office of Government 

Information Services shall be the Co-Chairs of the Council. 

‘‘(4) The Administrator of General Services shall provide 

administrative and other support for the Council. 

‘‘(5)(A) The duties of the Council shall include the following: 

‘‘(i) Develop recommendations for increasing compliance 

and efficiency under this section. 

‘‘(ii) Disseminate information about agency experiences, 

ideas, best practices, and innovative approaches related to this 

section. 

‘‘(iii) Identify, develop, and coordinate initiatives to increase 

transparency and compliance with this section. 

‘‘(iv) Promote the development and use of common performance measures for agency compliance with this section. 

‘‘(B) In performing the duties described in subparagraph (A), 

the Council shall consult on a regular basis with members of the 

public who make requests under this section. 

‘‘(6)(A) The Council shall meet regularly and such meetings 

shall be open to the public unless the Council determines to close 

the meeting for reasons of national security or to discuss information exempt under subsection (b). 

‘‘(B) Not less frequently than annually, the Council shall hold 

a meeting that shall be open to the public and permit interested 

persons to appear and present oral and written statements to 

the Council. 

‘‘(C) Not later than 10 business days before a meeting of the 

Council, notice of such meeting shall be published in the Federal 

Register. 

‘‘(D) Except as provided in subsection (b), the records, reports, 

transcripts, minutes, appendices, working papers, drafts, studies, 

agenda, or other documents that were made available to or prepared 

for or by the Council shall be made publicly available. 

‘‘(E) Detailed minutes of each meeting of the Council shall 

be kept and shall contain a record of the persons present, a complete 

and accurate description of matters discussed and conclusions 

reached, and copies of all reports received, issued, or approved 

by the Council. The minutes shall be redacted as necessary and 

made publicly available.’’; and 

(7) by adding at the end the following: 
S. 337—7 

‘‘(m)(1) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

in consultation with the Attorney General, shall ensure the operation of a consolidated online request portal that allows a member 

of the public to submit a request for records under subsection 

(a) to any agency from a single website. The portal may include 

any additional tools the Director of the Office of Management and 

Budget finds will improve the implementation of this section. 

‘‘(2) This subsection shall not be construed to alter the power 

of any other agency to create or maintain an independent online 

portal for the submission of a request for records under this section. 

The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish 

standards for interoperability between the portal required under 

paragraph (1) and other request processing software used by agencies subject to this section.’’. 

SEC. 3. REVIEW AND ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date of 

enactment of this Act, the head of each agency (as defined in 

section 551 of title 5, United States Code) shall review the regulations of such agency and shall issue regulations on procedures 

for the disclosure of records under section 552 of title 5, United 

States Code, in accordance with the amendments made by section 

2. 

(b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations of each agency shall 

include procedures for engaging in dispute resolution through the 

FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Government Information 

Services. 

SEC. 4. PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE THROUGH RECORDS MANAGEMENT. 

Section 3102 of title 44, United States Code, is amended— 

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 

(3) and (4); and 

(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: 

‘‘(2) procedures for identifying records of general interest 

or use to the public that are appropriate for public disclosure, 

and for posting such records in a publicly accessible electronic 

format;’’. 

SEC. 5. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

No additional funds are authorized to carry out the requirements of this Act or the amendments made by this Act. The requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

be carried out using amounts otherwise authorized or appropriated. 

SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 

This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take 

effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to 
S. 337—8 

any request for records under section 552 of title 5, United States 

Code, made after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.