IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3279 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 1, 2015 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require 

annual reports to Congress on, and the maintenance 

of databases on, awards of fees and other expenses to 

prevailing parties in certain administrative proceedings 

and court cases to which the United States is a party, 

and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Book on Equal 

3 Access to Justice Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 

5 PROVISIONS. 

6 (a) AGENCY PROCEEDINGS.—Section 504 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘, United 

9 States Code’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub11 section (i); and 

12 (3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(e)(1) The Chairman of the Administrative Con15 ference of the United States, after consultation with the 

16 Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Admin17 istration, shall report to the Congress, not later than 

18 March 31 of each year through the sixth calendar year 

19 beginning after the initial report under this subsection is 

20 submitted, on the amount of fees and other expenses 

21 awarded during the preceding fiscal year pursuant to this 

22 section. The report shall describe the number, nature, and 

23 amount of the awards, the claims involved in the con24 troversy, and any other relevant information that may aid 

25 the Congress in evaluating the scope and impact of such 


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1 awards. The report shall be made available to the public 

2 online. 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) The report required by paragraph (1) shall 

4 account for all payments of fees and other expenses 

5 awarded under this section that are made pursuant to a 

6 settlement agreement, regardless of whether the settle7 ment agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to non8 disclosure provisions. 

9 ‘‘(B) The disclosure of fees and other expenses re10 quired under subparagraph (A) does not affect any other 

11 information that is subject to nondisclosure provisions in 

12 the settlement agreement. 

13 ‘‘(f) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference 

14 shall create and maintain, during the period beginning on 

15 the date the initial report under subsection (e) is sub16 mitted and ending 1 year after the date on which the final 

17 report under that subsection is submitted, online a search18 able database containing the following information with 

19 respect to each award of fees and other expenses under 

20 this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) The case name and number of the adver22 sary adjudication, if available. 

23 ‘‘(2) The name of the agency involved in the 

24 adversary adjudication. 


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1 ‘‘(3) A description of the claims in the adver2 sary adjudication. 

3 ‘‘(4) The name of each party to whom the 

4 award was made, as such party is identified in the 

5 order or other agency document making the award. 

6 ‘‘(5) The amount of the award. 

7 ‘‘(6) The basis for the finding that the position 

8 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi9 fied. 

10 ‘‘(g) The online searchable database described in sub11 section (f) may not reveal any information the disclosure 

12 of which is prohibited by law or court order. 

13 ‘‘(h) The head of each agency shall provide to the 

14 Chairman of the Administrative Conference in a timely 

15 manner all information requested by the Chairman to 

16 comply with the requirements of subsections (e), (f), and 

17 (g).’’. 

18 (b) COURT CASES.—Section 2412(d) of title 28, 

19 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(5)(A) The Chairman of the Administrative Con22 ference of the United States shall submit to the Congress, 

23 not later than March 31 of each year through the sixth 

24 calendar year beginning after the initial report under this 

25 paragraph is submitted, a report on the amount of fees 


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1 and other expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal 

2 year pursuant to this subsection. The report shall describe 

3 the number, nature, and amount of the awards, the claims 

4 involved in each controversy, and any other relevant infor5 mation that may aid the Congress in evaluating the scope 

6 and impact of such awards. The report shall be made 

7 available to the public online. 

8 ‘‘(B)(i) The report required by subparagraph (A) 

9 shall account for all payments of fees and other expenses 

10 awarded under this subsection that are made pursuant to 

11 a settlement agreement, regardless of whether the settle12 ment agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to non13 disclosure provisions. 

14 ‘‘(ii) The disclosure of fees and other expenses re15 quired under clause (i) does not affect any other informa16 tion that is subject to nondisclosure provisions in the set17 tlement agreement. 

18 ‘‘(C) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference 

19 shall include and clearly identify in the annual report 

20 under subparagraph (A), for each case in which an award 

21 of fees and other expenses is included in the report— 

22 ‘‘(i) any amounts paid from section 1304 of 

23 title 31 for a judgment in the case; 

24 ‘‘(ii) the amount of the award of fees and other 

25 expenses; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the statute under which the plaintiff filed 

2 suit. 

3 ‘‘(6) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference 

4 shall create and maintain, during the period beginning on 

5 the date the initial report under paragraph (5) is sub6 mitted and ending 1 year after the date on which the final 

7 report under that paragraph is submitted, online a search8 able database containing the following information with 

9 respect to each award of fees and other expenses under 

10 this subsection: 

11 ‘‘(A) The case name and number. 

12 ‘‘(B) The name of the agency involved in the 

13 case. 

14 ‘‘(C) The name of each party to whom the 

15 award was made, as such party is identified in the 

16 order or other court document making the award. 

17 ‘‘(D) A description of the claims in the case. 

18 ‘‘(E) The amount of the award. 

19 ‘‘(F) The basis for the finding that the position 

20 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi21 fied. 

22 ‘‘(7) The online searchable database described in 

23 paragraph (6) may not reveal any information the disclo24 sure of which is prohibited by law or court order. 


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1 ‘‘(8) The head of each agency (including the Attorney 

2 General of the United States) shall provide to the Chair3 man of the Administrative Conference of the United 

4 States in a timely manner all information requested by 

5 the Chairman to comply with the requirements of para6 graphs (5), (6), and (7).’’. 

7 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 2412 of title 

8 28, United States Code, is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ‘‘United 

10 States Code,’’; and 

11 (2) in subsection (e)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘of section 2412 of title 

13 28, United States Code,’’ and inserting ‘‘of this 

14 section’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘of such title’’ and insert16 ing ‘‘of this title’’. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

19 subsections (a) and (b) shall first apply with respect 

20 to awards of fees and other expenses that are made 

21 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

22 (2) INITIAL REPORTS.—The first reports re23 quired by section 504(e) of title 5, United States 

24 Code, and section 2412(d)(5) of title 28, United 

25 States Code, shall be submitted not later than 


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1 March 31 of the calendar year following the first 

2 calendar year in which a fiscal year begins after the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (3) ONLINE DATABASES.—The online databases 

5 required by section 504(f) of title 5, United States 

6 Code, and section 2412(d)(6) of title 28, United 

7 States Code, shall be established as soon as prac8 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

9 but in no case later than the date on which the first 

10 reports under section 504(e) of title 5, United States 

11 Code, and section 2412(d)(5) of title 28, United 

12 States Code, are required to be submitted under 

13 paragraph (2) of this subsection. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 30, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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