PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 

OPENNESS PROMOTES EFFECTIVENESS IN 

OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT ACT OF 2007 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
121 STAT. 2524 PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 

Public Law 110–175 

110th Congress 

An Act 

To promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 

Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Openness Promotes Effectiveness 

in our National Government Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘OPEN Government 

Act of 2007’’. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds that— 

(1) the Freedom of Information Act was signed into law 

on July 4, 1966, because the American people believe that— 

(A) our constitutional democracy, our system of selfgovernment, and our commitment to popular sovereignty 

depends upon the consent of the governed; 

(B) such consent is not meaningful unless it is informed 

consent; and 

(C) as Justice Black noted in his concurring opinion 

in Barr v. Matteo (360 U.S. 564 (1959)), ‘‘The effective 

functioning of a free government like ours depends largely 

on the force of an informed public opinion. This calls for 

the widest possible understanding of the quality of government service rendered by all elective or appointed public 

officials or employees.’’; 

(2) the American people firmly believe that our system 

of government must itself be governed by a presumption of 

openness; 

(3) the Freedom of Information Act establishes a ‘‘strong 

presumption in favor of disclosure’’ as noted by the United 

States Supreme Court in United States Department of State 

v. Ray (502 U.S. 164 (1991)), a presumption that applies to 

all agencies governed by that Act; 

(4) ‘‘disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of 

the Act,’’ as noted by the United States Supreme Court in 

Department of Air Force v. Rose (425 U.S. 352 (1976)); 

(5) in practice, the Freedom of Information Act has not 

always lived up to the ideals of that Act; and 

(6) Congress should regularly review section 552 of title 

5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom 

of Information Act), in order to determine whether further 

changes and improvements are necessary to ensure that the 

5 USC 552 note. 

5 USC 101 note. 

Openness 

Promotes 

Effectiveness in 

our National 

Government Act 

of 2007. 

Dec. 31, 2007 

[S. 2488] 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 121 STAT. 2525 

Government remains open and accessible to the American 

people and is always based not upon the ‘‘need to know’’ but 

upon the fundamental ‘‘right to know’’. 

SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF FEE STATUS FOR NEWS MEDIA. 

Section 552(a)(4)(A)(ii) of title 5, United States Code, is 

amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘In this clause, the term ‘a representative of the news media’ 

means any person or entity that gathers information of potential 

interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to 

turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that 

work to an audience. In this clause, the term ‘news’ means information that is about current events or that would be of current 

interest to the public. Examples of news-media entities are television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large and 

publishers of periodicals (but only if such entities qualify as disseminators of ‘news’) who make their products available for purchase 

by or subscription by or free distribution to the general public. 

These examples are not all-inclusive. Moreover, as methods of news 

delivery evolve (for example, the adoption of the electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications services), such 

alternative media shall be considered to be news-media entities. 

A freelance journalist shall be regarded as working for a newsmedia entity if the journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for 

expecting publication through that entity, whether or not the journalist is actually employed by the entity. A publication contract 

would present a solid basis for such an expectation; the Government 

may also consider the past publication record of the requester 

in making such a determination.’’. 

SEC. 4. RECOVERY OF ATTORNEY FEES AND LITIGATION COSTS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, United States 

Code, is amended— 

(1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(E)’’; and 

(2) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a 

complainant has substantially prevailed if the 

complainant has obtained relief through either— 

‘‘(I) a judicial order, or an enforceable written agreement or consent decree; or 

‘‘(II) a voluntary or unilateral change in position by 

the agency, if the complainant’s claim is not insubstantial.’’. 

(b) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31, 

United States Code, no amounts may be obligated or expended 

from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the United States Treasury 

to pay the costs resulting from fees assessed under section 

552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, United States Code. Any such amounts shall 

be paid only from funds annually appropriated for any authorized 

purpose for the Federal agency against which a claim or judgment 

has been rendered. 

SEC. 5. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS 

REJECTIONS OF REQUESTS. 

Section 552(a)(4)(F) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

(1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(F)’’; and 

(2) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(ii) The Attorney General shall— 

Reports. 

5 USC 552 note. 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
121 STAT. 2526 PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 

‘‘(I) notify the Special Counsel of each civil action described 

under the first sentence of clause (i); and 

‘‘(II) annually submit a report to Congress on the number 

of such civil actions in the preceding year. 

‘‘(iii) The Special Counsel shall annually submit a report to 

Congress on the actions taken by the Special Counsel under clause 

(i).’’. 

SEC. 6. TIME LIMITS FOR AGENCIES TO ACT ON REQUESTS. 

(a) TIME LIMITS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(a)(6)(A) of title 5, United 

States Code, is amended by inserting after clause (ii) the following: 

‘‘The 20-day period under clause (i) shall commence on 

the date on which the request is first received by the appropriate component of the agency, but in any event not later 

than ten days after the request is first received by any component of the agency that is designated in the agency’s regulations 

under this section to receive requests under this section. The 

20-day period shall not be tolled by the agency except— 

‘‘(I) that the agency may make one request to 

the requester for information and toll the 20-day period 

while it is awaiting such information that it has reasonably requested from the requester under this section; 

or 

‘‘(II) if necessary to clarify with the requester 

issues regarding fee assessment. In either case, the 

agency’s receipt of the requester’s response to the 

agency’s request for information or clarification ends 

the tolling period.’’. 

(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by this subsection shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment 

of this Act. 

(b) COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.— (A) SEARCH FEES.—Section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5, 

United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

the following: 

‘‘(viii) An agency shall not assess search fees (or 

in the case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II), 

duplication fees) under this subparagraph if the agency 

fails to comply with any time limit under paragraph 

(6), if no unusual or exceptional circumstances (as those 

terms are defined for purposes of paragraphs (6)(B) 

and (C), respectively) apply to the processing of the 

request.’’. 

(B) PUBLIC LIAISON.—Section 552(a)(6)(B)(ii) of title 5, 

United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 

first sentence the following: ‘‘To aid the requester, each 

agency shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison, who 

shall assist in the resolution of any disputes between the 

requester and the agency.’’. 

(2) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.—The amendment 

made by this subsection shall take effect 1 year after the 

date of enactment of this Act and apply to requests for information under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, filed 

on or after that effective date. 

5 USC 552 note. 

5 USC 552 note. 

Notification. 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 121 STAT. 2527 

SEC. 7. INDIVIDUALIZED TRACKING NUMBERS FOR REQUESTS AND 

STATUS INFORMATION. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(a) of title 5, United States Code, 

is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(7) Each agency shall— 

‘‘(A) establish a system to assign an individualized tracking 

number for each request received that will take longer than 

ten days to process and provide to each person making a 

request the tracking number assigned to the request; and 

‘‘(B) establish a telephone line or Internet service that 

provides information about the status of a request to the person 

making the request using the assigned tracking number, 

including— 

‘‘(i) the date on which the agency originally received 

the request; and 

‘‘(ii) an estimated date on which the agency will complete action on the request.’’. 

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.—The amendment made 

by this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment 

of this Act and apply to requests for information under section 

552 of title 5, United States Code, filed on or after that effective 

date. 

SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(e)(1) of title 5, United States 

Code, is amended— 

(1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting after the first 

comma ‘‘the number of occasions on which each statute was 

relied upon,’’; 

(2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and average’’ after 

‘‘median’’; 

(3) in subparagraph (E), by inserting before the semicolon 

‘‘, based on the date on which the requests were received 

by the agency’’; 

(4) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as subparagraphs (N) and (O), respectively; and 

(5) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following: 

‘‘(F) the average number of days for the agency to 

respond to a request beginning on the date on which the 

request was received by the agency, the median number 

of days for the agency to respond to such requests, and 

the range in number of days for the agency to respond 

to such requests; 

‘‘(G) based on the number of business days that have 

elapsed since each request was originally received by the 

agency— 

‘‘(i) the number of requests for records to which 

the agency has responded with a determination within 

a period up to and including 20 days, and in 20- 

day increments up to and including 200 days; 

‘‘(ii) the number of requests for records to which 

the agency has responded with a determination within 

a period greater than 200 days and less than 301 

days; 

‘‘(iii) the number of requests for records to which 

the agency has responded with a determination within 

5 USC 552 note. 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
121 STAT. 2528 PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 

a period greater than 300 days and less than 401 

days; and 

‘‘(iv) the number of requests for records to which 

the agency has responded with a determination within 

a period greater than 400 days; 

‘‘(H) the average number of days for the agency to 

provide the granted information beginning on the date 

on which the request was originally filed, the median 

number of days for the agency to provide the granted 

information, and the range in number of days for the 

agency to provide the granted information; 

‘‘(I) the median and average number of days for the 

agency to respond to administrative appeals based on the 

date on which the appeals originally were received by the 

agency, the highest number of business days taken by 

the agency to respond to an administrative appeal, and 

the lowest number of business days taken by the agency 

to respond to an administrative appeal; 

‘‘(J) data on the 10 active requests with the earliest 

filing dates pending at each agency, including the amount 

of time that has elapsed since each request was originally 

received by the agency; 

‘‘(K) data on the 10 active administrative appeals with 

the earliest filing dates pending before the agency as of 

September 30 of the preceding year, including the number 

of business days that have elapsed since the requests were 

originally received by the agency; 

‘‘(L) the number of expedited review requests that are 

granted and denied, the average and median number of 

days for adjudicating expedited review requests, and the 

number adjudicated within the required 10 days; 

‘‘(M) the number of fee waiver requests that are 

granted and denied, and the average and median number 

of days for adjudicating fee waiver determinations;’’. 

(b) APPLICABILITY TO AGENCY AND EACH PRINCIPAL COMPONENT

OF THE AGENCY.—Section 552(e) of title 5, United States Code, 

is amended— 

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), respectively; and 

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

‘‘(2) Information in each report submitted under paragraph 

(1) shall be expressed in terms of each principal component 

of the agency and for the agency overall.’’. 

(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Section 552(e)(3) of title 

5, United States Code, (as redesignated by subsection (b) of this 

section) is amended by adding at the end ‘‘In addition, each agency 

shall make the raw statistical data used in its reports available 

electronically to the public upon request.’’. 

SEC. 9. OPENNESS OF AGENCY RECORDS MAINTAINED BY A PRIVATE 

ENTITY. 

Section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 

‘‘(2) ‘record’ and any other term used in this section in 

reference to information includes— 

‘‘(A) any information that would be an agency record 

subject to the requirements of this section when maintained 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 121 STAT. 2529 

by an agency in any format, including an electronic format; 

and 

‘‘(B) any information described under subparagraph 

(A) that is maintained for an agency by an entity under 

Government contract, for the purposes of records management.’’. 

SEC. 10. OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 

is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(h)(1) There is established the Office of Government Information Services within the National Archives and Records Administration. 

‘‘(2) The Office of Government Information Services shall— 

‘‘(A) review policies and procedures of administrative agencies under this section; 

‘‘(B) review compliance with this section by administrative 

agencies; and 

‘‘(C) recommend policy changes to Congress and the President to improve the administration of this section. 

‘‘(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, at the discretion of the Office, 

may issue advisory opinions if mediation has not resolved the 

dispute. 

‘‘(i) The Government Accountability Office shall conduct audits 

of administrative agencies on the implementation of this section 

and issue reports detailing the results of such audits. 

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

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

or equivalent level). 

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

the authority of the head of the agency— 

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

‘‘(2) 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; 

‘‘(3) 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; 

‘‘(4) 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; 

‘‘(5) 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; and 

‘‘(6) designate one or more FOIA Public Liaisons. 

‘‘(l) FOIA Public Liaisons shall report to the agency Chief 

FOIA Officer and shall serve as supervisory officials to whom a 

Designation. 

Audits. 

Reports. 

Establishment. 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
121 STAT. 2530 PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 

requester under this section can raise concerns about the service 

the requester has received from the FOIA Requester Center, following an initial response from the FOIA Requester Center Staff. 

FOIA Public Liaisons shall be responsible for assisting in reducing 

delays, increasing transparency and understanding of the status 

of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes.’’. 

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section 

shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 

SEC. 11. REPORT ON PERSONNEL POLICIES RELATED TO FOIA. 

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

Act, the Office of Personnel Management shall submit to Congress 

a report that examines— 

(1) whether changes to executive branch personnel policies 

could be made that would— 

(A) provide greater encouragement to all Federal 

employees to fulfill their duties under section 552 of title 

5, United States Code; and 

(B) enhance the stature of officials administering that 

section within the executive branch; 

(2) whether performance of compliance with section 552 

of title 5, United States Code, should be included as a factor 

in personnel performance evaluations for any or all categories 

of Federal employees and officers; 

(3) whether an employment classification series specific 

to compliance with sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United 

States Code, should be established; 

(4) whether the highest level officials in particular agencies 

administering such sections should be paid at a rate of pay 

equal to or greater than a particular minimum rate; and 

(5) whether other changes to personnel policies can be 

made to ensure that there is a clear career advancement track 

for individuals interested in devoting themselves to a career 

in compliance with such sections; and 

(6) whether the executive branch should require any or 

all categories of Federal employees to undertake awareness 

training of such sections. 

SEC. 12. REQUIREMENT TO DESCRIBE EXEMPTIONS AUTHORIZING 

DELETIONS OF MATERIAL PROVIDED UNDER FOIA. 

Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended in 

the matter after paragraph (9)— 

(1) in the second sentence, by inserting after ‘‘amount of 

information deleted’’ the following: ‘‘, and the exemption under 

which the deletion is made,’’; and 

5 USC 552 note. 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 121 STAT. 2531 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2488: 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 153 (2007): 

Dec. 14, considered and passed Senate. 

Dec. 18, considered and passed House. 

Æ 

(2) in the third sentence, by inserting after ‘‘amount of 

the information deleted’’ the following: ‘‘, and the exemption 

under which the deletion is made,’’. 

Approved December 31, 2007. 


jbridges on POFP91QD1 with PUBLIC LAWS