I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3279 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. COLLINS of Georgia (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. LUMMIS, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. GOSAR, and Mr. PETERSON) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Access to Justice Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 

2 PROVISIONS. 

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

4 United States Code, is amended— 

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

6 States Code’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub8 section (i); and 

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

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(e)(1) The Chairman of the Administrative Con12 ference of the United States, after consultation with the 

13 Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Admin14 istration, shall report to the Congress, not later than 

15 March 31 of each year, on the amount of fees and other 

16 expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year pursu17 ant to this section. The report shall describe the number, 

18 nature, and amount of the awards, the claims involved in 

19 the controversy, and any other relevant information that 

20 may aid the Congress in evaluating the scope and impact 

21 of such awards. The report shall be made available to the 

22 public online. 

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

24 account for all payments of fees and other expenses 

25 awarded under this section that are made pursuant to a 

26 settlement agreement, regardless of whether the settleVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 03, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3279.IH H3279

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1 ment agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to non2 disclosure provisions. 

3 ‘‘(B) The disclosure of fees and other expenses re4 quired under subparagraph (A) does not affect any other 

5 information that is subject to nondisclosure provisions in 

6 the settlement agreement. 

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

8 shall create and maintain online a searchable database 

9 containing the following information with respect to each 

10 award of fees and other expenses under this section: 

11 ‘‘(1) The case name and number of the adver12 sary adjudication, if available. 

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

14 adversary adjudication. 

15 ‘‘(3) A description of the claims in the adver16 sary adjudication. 

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

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

19 order or other agency document making the award. 

20 ‘‘(5) The amount of the award. 

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

22 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi23 fied. 


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1 ‘‘(g) The online searchable database described in sub2 section (f) may not reveal any information the disclosure 

3 of which is prohibited by law or court order. 

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

5 Chairman of the Administrative Conference in a timely 

6 manner all information requested by the Chairman to 

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

8 (g).’’. 

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

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

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(5)(A) The Chairman of the Administrative Con13 ference of the United States shall submit to the Congress, 

14 not later than March 31 of each year, a report on the 

15 amount of fees and other expenses awarded during the 

16 preceding fiscal year pursuant to this subsection. The re17 port shall describe the number, nature, and amount of the 

18 awards, the claims involved in each controversy, and any 

19 other relevant information that may aid the Congress in 

20 evaluating the scope and impact of such awards. The re21 port shall be made available to the public online. 

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

23 shall account for all payments of fees and other expenses 

24 awarded under this subsection that are made pursuant to 

25 a settlement agreement, regardless of whether the settleVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Aug 03, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3279.IH H3279

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1 ment agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to non2 disclosure provisions. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The disclosure of fees and other expenses re4 quired under clause (i) does not affect any other informa5 tion that is subject to nondisclosure provisions in the set6 tlement agreement. 

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

8 shall include and clearly identify in the annual report 

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

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

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

12 title 31 for a judgment in the case; 

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

14 expenses; and 

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

16 suit. 

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

18 shall create and maintain online a searchable database 

19 containing the following information with respect to each 

20 award of fees and other expenses under this subsection: 

21 ‘‘(A) The case name and number. 

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

23 case. 


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

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

3 order or other court document making the award. 

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

5 ‘‘(E) The amount of the award. 

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

7 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi8 fied. 

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

10 paragraph (6) may not reveal any information the disclo11 sure of which is prohibited by law or court order. 

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

13 General of the United States) shall provide to the Chair14 man of the Administrative Conference of the United 

15 States in a timely manner all information requested by 

16 the Chairman to comply with the requirements of para17 graphs (5), (6), and (7).’’. 

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

19 28, United States Code, is amended— 

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

21 States Code,’’; and 

22 (2) in subsection (e)— 

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

24 28, United States Code,’’ and inserting ‘‘of this 

25 section’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘of such title’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘of this title’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

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

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

6 to awards of fees and other expenses that are made 

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

8 (2) INITIAL REPORTS.—The first reports re9 quired by section 504(e) of title 5, United States 

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

11 States Code, shall be submitted not later than 

12 March 31 of the calendar year following the first 

13 calendar year in which a fiscal year begins after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act. 

15 (3) ONLINE DATABASES.—The online databases 

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

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

18 States Code, shall be established as soon as prac19 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

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

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

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

23 States Code, are required to be submitted under 

24 paragraph (2) of this subsection. 

Æ 


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