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[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1782 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1782

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for public access to 
     information in an electronic format, to amend the Freedom of 
                Information Act, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 22, 1993

 Mr. Leahy (for himself and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide for public access to 
     information in an electronic format, to amend 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 ``Electronic Freedom of Information 
Improvement Act of 1993''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
            (1) since the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act 
        in 1966, and the amendments enacted in 1974 and 1986, the 
        Freedom of Information Act has been a valuable means through 
        which any person can learn how the Federal Government operates;
            (2) the Freedom of Information Act ensures access to 
        information held by the Government, which is a valuable 
        national resource;
            (3) the Freedom of Information Act has led to the 
        disclosure of waste, fraud, abuse, and wrongdoing in the 
        Federal Government;
            (4) the Freedom of Information Act has led to the 
        identification of unsafe consumer products, harmful drugs, and 
        serious health hazards;
            (5) Government agencies increasingly use computers to 
        conduct agency business and to store publicly valuable 
        information; and
            (6) Government agencies should use new technology to 
        enhance public access to information.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) foster democracy by ensuring access to public 
        information;
            (2) improve public access to agency records and 
        information;
            (3) ensure agency compliance with statutory time limits; 
        and
            (4) maximize the usefulness of agency records and 
        information collected, maintained, used, retained, and 
        disseminated by the Federal Government.

SEC. 3. PUBLIC INFORMATION AVAILABILITY.

    Section 552(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in the first sentence by inserting ``electronically by 
        computer telecommunications, and by other means,'' after 
        ``Federal Register'';
            (2) by striking out ``and'' at the end of subparagraph (D);
            (3) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (H); 
        and
            (4) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new 
        subparagraphs:
            ``(E) an index of all information retrievable or stored in 
        an electronic form by the agency;
            ``(F) a description of any new database or database system 
        with a statement of how such database or system shall enhance 
        agency operations under this section;
            ``(G) a complete list of all statutes that the agency head 
        or general counsel relies upon to authorize the agency to 
        withhold information under subsection (b)(3) of this section, 
        together with a specific description of the scope of the 
        information covered; and''.

SEC. 4. HONORING FORMAT REQUESTS.

    Section 552(a)(3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by--
            (1) inserting ``(A)'' after ``(3)'';
            (2) striking out ``(A) reasonably'' and inserting in lieu 
        thereof ``(i) reasonably'';
            (3) striking out ``(B)'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
        ``(ii)''; and
            (4) adding the following new subparagraphs at the end 
        thereof:
    ``(B) An agency shall provide records in any form in which such 
records are maintained by that agency as requested by any person.
    ``(C) An agency shall make reasonable efforts to provide records in 
an electronic form requested by any person, even where such records are 
not usually maintained in such form.''.

SEC. 5. DELAYS.

    (a) Fees.--Section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end thereof the following new clause:
    ``(viii) If at an agency's request, the Comptroller General 
determines that the agency annually has either provided responsive 
documents or denied requests in substantial compliance with the 
requirements of paragraph (6)(A), one-half of the fees collected under 
this section shall be credited to the collecting agency and expended to 
offset the costs of complying with this section through staff 
development and acquisition of additional request processing resources. 
The remaining fees collected under this section shall be remitted to 
the Treasury as general funds or miscellaneous receipts.''.
    (b) Payment of Requester's Expenses.--Section 552(a)(4)(E) of title 
5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the 
following new sentence: ``The court may assess against the United 
States all out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the requester, and 
reasonable attorney fees incurred in the administrative process, in any 
case in which the agency has failed to comply with the time limit 
provisions of paragraph (6) of this subsection.''.
    (c) Civil Penalty for Delay.--Section 552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, 
United States Code, is further amended--
            (1) by inserting ``(i)'' after ``(E)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end thereof the following new clause:
    ``(ii) Any agency not in compliance with the time limits set forth 
in this subsection shall demonstrate to a court that the delay is 
warranted under the circumstances. It shall be within the discretion of 
the court to award the requester an amount not to exceed $75 for each 
day that the agency's response to his request exceeded the time limits 
set forth in paragraph (6) of this section.''.
    (d) Agency Backlogs.--Section 552(a)(6)(B) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended in the fourth sentence by inserting ``shall not 
include routine agency backlogs and'' after `` `unusual circumstances' 
''.
    (e) Notification of Denial.--The fourth sentence of section 
552(a)(6)(C) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read: ``Any 
notification of any full or partial denial of any request for records 
under this subsection shall set forth the names and titles or positions 
of each person responsible for the denial of such request and the total 
number of denied records and pages considered by the agency to have 
been responsive to the request.''.
    (f) Expedited Access.--Section 552(a)(6) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new 
subparagraph:
    ``(D)(i) Each agency shall promulgate regulations, pursuant to 
notice and receipt of public comment, providing that upon receipt of a 
request for expedited access to records and a demonstration by the 
requester of a compelling need for expedited access to records, the 
agency shall determine within five days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, 
and legal public holidays) after the receipt of such a request, whether 
to comply with such request. No more than one day after making such 
determination the agency shall notify the requester of such 
determination, the reasons therefor, and of the right to appeal to the 
head of the agency.
    ``(ii) A requester whose request for expedited access has not been 
decided within five days of its receipt by the agency or has been 
denied shall not be required to exhaust administrative remedies. An 
agency failing to comply with this time limitation shall be subject to 
the provisions of paragraph (4)(E)(ii).''.

SEC. 6. COMPUTER REDACTION.

    Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
inserting before the period in the sentence following paragraph (9): 
``, and such deletion shall be indicated on the released portion of the 
record at the place where such deletion was made''.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read 
as follows:
    ``(f) For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `agency' as defined in section 551(1) of 
        this title includes any executive department, military 
        department, Government corporation, Government controlled 
        corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of 
        the Government (including the Executive Office of the 
        President), or any independent regulatory agency;
            ``(2) the term `record' includes all books, papers, maps, 
        photographs, data, computer programs, machine readable 
        materials, and computerized, digitized, and electronic 
        information, regardless of the medium by which it is stored, or 
        other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or 
        characteristics; and
            ``(3) the term `search' includes a manual or automated 
        examination to locate records.''.

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