I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 629

To amend title 44, United States Code, to promote improved public

dissemination of Government information.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 26, 1993

Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee

on Government Operations

A BILL

To amend title 44, United States Code, to promote improved

public dissemination of Government information.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improvement of Infor5 mation Access Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) A well-informed citizenry is essential for the

9 well-being of a democratic society.
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1 (2) Access to Government information is essen2 tial for citizens who seek to make the Federal Gov3 ernment accountable for its actions.

4 (3) The public should have timely, complete, eq5 uitable, and affordable access to Government infor6 mation.

7 (4) Federal agencies should use modern infor8 mation technology for the benefit of citizens of the

9 United States.

10 (5) Government information is a national re11 source that should be treated as a public good.

12 (6) Government information is a valuable eco13 nomic asset that belongs to the public.

14 (7) Taxpayers pay for the creation, collection,

15 and organization of Government information and

16 should not be required to pay excessive fees to re17 ceive and use that information.

18 (8) It is unnecessarily difficult for citizens to

19 provide Federal agencies with comments and sugges20 tions on Federal information policies. As a result,

21 many Federal agencies do not take into account the

22 public interest in the information resources they

23 manage.

24 (9) Federal agencies have been slow in develop25 ing standards for record and file formats, software
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1 query command structures, and other important top2 ics that will make Government information easier to

3 obtain and use.

4 (10) Many Federal agencies do not provide

5 timely access to Government information products

6 and services at reasonable costs.

7 SEC. 3. IMPROVED PUBLIC ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT IN8 FORMATION.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 44, United States Code, is

10 amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

11 ‘‘CHAPTER 41—INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

12 POLICIES AND PRACTICES

‘‘Sec.

‘‘4101. Ensuring public access to Government information products and services.

13 ‘‘§ 4101. Ensuring public access to Government infor14 mation products and services

15 ‘‘(a) Each executive department, military depart16 ment, and independent establishment shall prepare by not

17 later than February 1 of each year, and make freely avail18 able to the public upon request and at no charge, a report

19 which describes the information dissemination policies and

20 practices of the department or establishment, including—

21 ‘‘(1) plans of the department or establishment

22 to introduce new information products and services

23 or discontinue old ones;
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1 ‘‘(2) efforts of the department or establishment

2 to develop or implement standards for file and

3 record formats, software query command structures,

4 user interfaces, and other matters that make infor5 mation easier to obtain and use;

6 ‘‘(3) progress of the department or establish7 ment in creating and disseminating comprehensive

8 indexes and bibliographies of information products

9 and services, including coordinated efforts conducted

10 with other agencies;

11 ‘‘(4) the methods to be used by the public for

12 accessing information, including the modes and out13 lets available to the public;

14 ‘‘(5) provisions for protecting access to records

15 stored with technologies that are superseded or obso16 lete;

17 ‘‘(6) methods used to make the public aware of

18 information resources, services, and products; and

19 ‘‘(7) a summary of the comments received from

20 the public under subsection (b) in the year preceding

21 the report, and the response of the department or

22 establishment to those comments.

23 ‘‘(b)(1) Not later than February 1 of each year, each

24 executive department, military department, and independ25 ent establishment shall publish in the Federal Register,
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1 and provide in such other manner as will notify users of

2 information of the department or establishment, a notice

3 of—

4 ‘‘(A) the availability of the report prepared

5 under subsection (a); and

6 ‘‘(B) a period of not less than 90 days for sub7 mission by the public of comments regarding the in8 formation dissemination policies and practices of the

9 department or establishment, including comments

10 regarding—

11 ‘‘(i) the types of information the depart12 ment or establishment collects and dissemi13 nates;

14 ‘‘(ii) the methods and outlets the depart15 ment or establishment uses to store and dis16 seminate information;

17 ‘‘(iii) the prices charged by the department

18 or establishment, or such outlets, for the infor19 mation; and

20 ‘‘(iv) the validity, reliability, timeliness,

21 and usefulness to the public of the information.

22 ‘‘(2) Comments received under this subsection by a

23 department or independent establishment shall be avail24 able for inspection to the public. Each year the depart25 ment or establishment shall provide a reasonable oppor-
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1 tunity for dialogue between responsible agency officials

2 and interested members of the public, including through

3 hearings and informal forums, regarding both proposed

4 and existing policies, procedures, and mechanisms for dis5 seminating information under this section and for other6 wise implementing this section.

7 ‘‘(c) Before discontinuing an information product or

8 service, an agency shall—

9 ‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register, or provide

10 by other means adequate to inform users of informa11 tion of the agency, a notice of a period of not less

12 than 120 days for submission by the public of com13 ments regarding that discontinuation;

14 ‘‘(2) include in that notice an explanation of the

15 reasons for the discontinuation; and

16 ‘‘(3) consider comments received pursuant to

17 the notice.

18 ‘‘(d) Each agency shall—

19 ‘‘(1) disseminate information in diverse modes

20 and through appropriate outlets that will reinforce

21 statutory requirements for depository distribution,

22 as well as offering other channels of distribution,

23 with adequate documentation software, indexes, or

24 other resources that will permit and broaden public

25 access to Government information;
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1 ‘‘(2) disseminate information in a manner that

2 ensures the timeliness, usefulness, and reliability of

3 the information for the public;

4 ‘‘(3) store and disseminate information prod5 ucts and services in standardized record formats;

6 and

7 ‘‘(4) use depository libraries, national computer

8 networks, and other distribution channels that im9 prove and assure free or low-cost public access to

10 Government information.

11 ‘‘(e)(1) Except as specifically authorized by statute,

12 an agency may not—

13 ‘‘(A) charge to depository libraries the costs of

14 distributing information products and services;

15 ‘‘(B) charge more than the incremental cost of

16 distributing an information product or service re17 gardless of channels utilized by the agency; or

18 ‘‘(C) charge any royalty or other fee for any use

19 or redissemination of Government information.

20 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the incremental

21 cost of distributing an information product or service does

22 not include any portion of the cost of collecting, organiz23 ing, or processing information disseminated through the

24 product or service.
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1 ‘‘(f)(1) The Archivist of the United States and the

2 Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech3 nology shall jointly issue and periodically revise model per4 formance standards under which agencies shall be encour5 aged to provide access to public records.

6 ‘‘(2) Standards issued under this subsection shall in7 clude the establishment of a period within which an agen8 cy, upon request, shall provide by mail a copy of any deci9 sion, rule, notice, docket filing, press release, or other pub10 lic document of the agency.’’.

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters

12 at the beginning of title 44, United States Code, is amend13 ed by adding at the end the following:

‘‘41. Government Information Products and Services ........ 4101’’.

14 SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS.

15 The Archivist of the United States and the Director

16 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

17 shall jointly issue model performance standards for provid18 ing access to agency records under section 4101(f) of title

19 44, United States Code (as added by section 3), by not

20 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this

21 Act.

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