I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4312 

To establish an advisory committee to issue nonbinding governmentwide guidelines on making public information available on the Internet, to require 

publicly available Government information held by the executive branch 

to be made available on the Internet, to express the sense of Congress 

that publicly available information held by the legislative and judicial 

branches should be available on the Internet, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2014 

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

on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To establish an advisory committee to issue nonbinding governmentwide guidelines on making public information 

available on the Internet, to require publicly available 

Government information held by the executive branch 

to be made available on the Internet, to express the 

sense of Congress that publicly available information held 

by the legislative and judicial branches should be available on the Internet, 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 ‘‘Public Online Informa3 tion Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Purposes. 

Sec. 5. Findings of Congress. 

Sec. 6. Establishment of Public Online Information Advisory Committee. 

Sec. 7. Executive branch Internet publication mandate. 

Sec. 8. Legislative and judicial information. 

Sec. 9. Government Printing Office. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means an 

9 Executive agency or an independent regulatory agen10 cy. 

11 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Executive 

12 agency’’ means any of the following: 

13 (A) An Executive department, as defined 

14 in section 101 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (B) A military department, as defined in 

16 section 102 of such title. 

17 (C) A Government corporation, as defined 

18 in section 103 of such title. 

19 (D) Any other establishment in the execu20 tive branch of the Government (including the 


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1 Executive Office of the President), other than 

2 an independent regulatory agency. 

3 (3) INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCY.—The 

4 term ‘‘independent regulatory agency’’ means an 

5 independent establishment, as defined in section 104 

6 of title 5, United States Code. 

7 (4) RECORD.—The term ‘‘record’’ has the 

8 meaning provided the term ‘‘records’’ in section 

9 3301 of title 44, United States Code. 

10 (5) PUBLIC RECORD.—The term ‘‘public 

11 record’’ means any record, regardless of form or for12 mat, that an agency discloses, publishes, dissemi13 nates, or makes available to the public. 

14 (6) E-GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATOR.—The 

15 term ‘‘E-Government Administrator’’ means the Ad16 ministrator of the Office of Electronic Government 

17 established under section 3602 of title 44, United 

18 States Code. 

19 SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 

20 The purposes of this Act include the following: 

21 (1) To establish an advisory committee to issue 

22 nonbinding guidelines for all three branches of Gov23 ernment regarding making public information avail24 able on the Internet, with sufficient flexibility to 

25 adapt to changes in technology. 


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1 (2) To empower the E-Government Adminis2 trator to establish binding rules concerning making 

3 publicly available Government information held by 

4 Executive agencies to be made available on the 

5 Internet, and to empower independent regulatory 

6 agencies to do the same. 

7 (3) To express the sense of Congress that pub8 licly available information held by the legislative and 

9 judicial branches should be available on the Internet. 

10 (4) To encourage the Government Printing Of11 fice to make all of its publications available on the 

12 Internet in the formats most useful to the public, 

13 after having considered the formats identified by the 

14 Public Online Information Advisory Committee. 

15 SEC. 5. FINDINGS OF CONGRESS. 

16 Congress finds the following: 

17 (1) The Federal Government holds a vast re18 pository of public information. Throughout the Na19 tion’s history, the Government has attempted to 

20 make that information available to the public, 

21 whether through the United States Postal Service, 

22 the Federal Depository Library Program, the Presi23 dential Library System, Agency Reading Rooms, 

24 under the Freedom of Information Act, or by other 

25 means. Providing this information to the general 


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1 public is a public good: informed citizens are in2 formed voters. However, even with these efforts, 

3 Government information is too often hard to find, 

4 difficult to understand, expensive to obtain in useful 

5 formats, and available in only a few locations. 

6 (2) The advent of the Internet presents the op7 portunity for the Government to make information 

8 readily available to many more Americans. The 

9 Internet is ubiquitous, turning every computer into 

10 a portal to the world’s largest library. The Govern11 ment has made some efforts to take advantage of 

12 this new medium. As the public moves online, the 

13 Government must do so as well. 

14 (3) In addition to the traditional means of dis15 seminating public information, the Federal Govern16 ment should make all of its public information avail17 able on the Internet. It should do so in ways that 

18 take advantage of modern technology, that antici19 pate the public’s needs, and that provide access to 

20 the greatest number of people. The Government 

21 should strive to make its information available on 

22 the Internet in real-time and in machine processable 

23 formats. 

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1 standing of how their Government functions and 

2 what it does in their name. It will also give 

3 innovators new tools to build on this information 

4 and provide better goods and services to the Amer5 ican people. Government services will be provided 

6 more efficiently, saving the taxpayers money and al7 lowing them to be more involved in the lives of their 

8 communities. 

9 (5) Accomplishing these goals requires signifi10 cant coordination. It also requires the creation of 

11 new authorities and responsibilities within the Gov12 ernment, and the identification of appropriate tech13 nology standards. 

14 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC ONLINE INFORMATION 

15 ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established 

17 an advisory committee to be known as the ‘‘Public Online 

18 Information Advisory Committee’’ (in this Act referred to 

19 as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 

20 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Advisory Com21 mittee are— 

22 (1) to coordinate and encourage the Govern23 ment’s efforts to make Government information 

24 from all three branches of Government available on 

25 the Internet; and 


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1 (2) to issue nonbinding guidelines on how the 

2 Government should make public information avail3 able on the Internet, and update those guidelines as 

4 appropriate. 

5 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Committee 

7 shall be composed of 19 members (including the 

8 Chair), as follows: 

9 (A) Six members shall be appointed by the 

10 E-Government Administrator. 

11 (B) Six members shall be appointed by the 

12 Director of the Administrative Office of the 

13 Courts. 

14 (C) Three members shall be appointed by 

15 the Chairman, in consultation with the Ranking 

16 Member, of the Committee on Homeland Secu17 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate. 

18 (D) Three members shall be appointed by 

19 the Chair, in consultation with the Ranking 

20 Member, of the Committee on Oversight and 

21 Government Reform of the House of Represent22 atives. 

23 (E) The Chair shall be appointed by the 

24 Administrator of General Services, after confer25 ring with the E-Government Administrator, the 


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1 Director of the Administrative Office of the 

2 Courts, the Chairman of the Committee on 

3 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

4 of the Senate, and the Chair of the Committee 

5 on Oversight and Government Reform of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 (2) VICE CHAIR.—A Vice Chair shall be se8 lected from among the members of the Advisory 

9 Committee by the Chair. 

10 (3) LIMITATION ON GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE

11 MEMBERS.—Not more than six members of the Ad12 visory Committee may be Government employees. 

13 (4) TERMS OF OFFICE.—Each member of the 

14 Advisory Committee shall be appointed for a renew15 able term of five years, except that one-third of the 

16 members initially appointed shall be appointed for a 

17 three-year term, one-third of such members shall be 

18 appointed for a four-year term, and one-third of 

19 such members and the Chair shall be appointed for 

20 a five-year term. 

21 (5) INITIAL APPOINTMENTS.—The initial ap22 pointments of members of the Advisory Committee 

23 shall be made not later than 90 days after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (6) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee shall 

2 meet no fewer than six times per year. 

3 (d) POWERS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—From time to time, the Ad5 visory Committee shall examine its legislative char6 ter, structure, and funding, and shall make rec7 ommendations to Congress, the President, and the 

8 Courts regarding how it could be restructured to 

9 better accomplish its mission of making Government 

10 information available to the public on the Internet. 

11 The recommendations shall be published in print 

12 and on the Internet. 

13 (2) SPECIFIC POWERS.—In order to carry out 

14 its purposes, the Advisory Committee is authorized 

15 to do the following: 

16 (A) Hold hearings. 

17 (B) Issue recommendations to Congress. 

18 (C) Issue recommendations to agencies. 

19 (D) Issue reports, guidelines, and memo20 randa. 

21 (E) Articulate guidelines on how the Gov22 ernment should make public records available 

23 on the Internet, update those guidelines as ap24 propriate, and inquire into Government compli25 ance with those guidelines. 


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1 (F) Hold or host conferences and 

2 symposia. 

3 (G) Enter into cooperative agreements 

4 with outside experts to obtain relevant advice or 

5 expertise, and oversee staff. 

6 (H) Establish subcommittees. 

7 (I) Establish rules of procedure. 

8 (3) RELATIONSHIP TO FACA.—The Advisory 

9 Committee shall not be subject to the control of any 

10 advisory committee management officer designated 

11 under section 8(b)(1) of the Federal Advisory Com12 mittee Act. 

13 (e) OPERATIONS.— 

14 (1) OPEN GOVERNMENT PROCEDURES.—In ad15 dition to the rules in the Federal Advisory Com16 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.), in the interest of im17 proving transparency, the Advisory Committee shall 

18 adhere to the following rules that supplement and 

19 modify such Act (in accordance with section 4(a) of 

20 such Act): 

21 (A) Subcommittees shall have the same du22 ties and obligations as the full committee as de23 lineated under sections 10 through 13 of such 

24 Act. Subcommittees shall similarly be bound by 

25 the terms of this section. 


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1 (B) All information made available on the 

2 Internet shall be done so by state-of-the-art 

3 methods. 

4 (C) Information required to be made avail5 able on the Internet shall be done so in a timely 

6 fashion. 

7 (D) Notice of all meetings shall be avail8 able on the Advisory Committee’s website, with 

9 agendas available on the Internet at least 3 

10 days prior to any meeting. 

11 (E) All records available for public copying 

12 under section 10 of the Act shall also be made 

13 available on the website of the Advisory Com14 mittee. 

15 (F) The Advisory Committee shall make 

16 available on the Internet and to any person, at 

17 no cost, transcripts of Advisory Committee pro18 ceedings. 

19 (G) Videos recordings of proceedings shall 

20 be made available on the Internet. 

21 (H) Documents submitted to the Advisory 

22 Committee shall be made publicly available un23 less the Advisory Committee determines that 

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1 scribed in section 552(b) of title 5, United 

2 States Code. 

3 (I) The Advisory Committee shall make 

4 publicly available the names and brief biog5 raphies of its members. 

6 (J) All members of the Advisory Com7 mittee shall file financial disclosure forms, 

8 which shall be made available on the Advisory 

9 Committee website after redactions to remove 

10 personally identifiable information, such as so11 cial security numbers. 

12 (K) All members of the Advisory Com13 mittee shall have to state and publicly disclose 

14 conflicts of interest. These statements must be 

15 updated whenever new conflicts arise or on an 

16 annual basis, whichever is more frequent. These 

17 disclosures shall be placed on the Internet. 

18 (2) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The General Services 

19 Administration shall be responsible for providing all 

20 support services to the Advisory Committee, includ21 ing quarters and staff, and for requesting funds 

22 from Congress on behalf of the Advisory Committee. 

23 Nothing in this section shall prevent the Advisory 

24 Committee from communicating with Congress di25 rectly regarding funding or other matters. 


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1 (3) DURATION.—The Advisory Committee is a 

2 continuing body and is not subject to termination as 

3 provided in section 14 of the Federal Advisory Com4 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 

5 (4) APPLICATION OF FACA.—Except as other6 wise provided in this section, the Federal Advisory 

7 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall apply to the 

8 Advisory Committee. 

9 (f) REPORTS.—The Advisory Committee shall issue 

10 a report on its activities every two years, or as appro11 priate, whichever is more frequent. 

12 (g) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap13 propriated to the General Services Administration such 

14 sums as may be necessary for the operations of the Advi15 sory Committee. 

16 SEC. 7. EXECUTIVE BRANCH INTERNET PUBLICATION MAN17 DATE. 

18 (a) ONLINE PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 (1) FREE AVAILABILITY.— 

20 (A) Except as provided in subparagraph 

21 (B), the Government shall make public records 

22 available on the Internet at no charge (includ23 ing a charge for recovery of costs) to the public. 


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1 (B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply in 

2 the case of a charge imposed by Federal law be3 fore the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 (2) PERMANENCE.—Public records shall be per5 manently available on the Internet. 

6 (3) CURRENT TECHNOLOGY.—Current informa7 tion technology capabilities shall be applied to the 

8 means by which records are made available on the 

9 Internet, and the formats in which they are avail10 able. 

11 (4) SEARCHABLE LIST.—Each agency shall 

12 publish on the Internet a comprehensive, searchable, 

13 machine processable list of all records it makes pub14 licly available. With respect to those records, the list 

15 shall include at least the following information: 

16 (A) Where the records can be found. 

17 (B) Whether the records are available to 

18 the public at no cost or for a fee (and the 

19 amount of the fee, if applicable). 

20 (C) Brief descriptions of the records. 

21 (b) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in the grant of au23 thority in this subsection shall be construed to limit 

24 the Government’s obligation to make records pub25 licly available as required by law. 


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1 (2) EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.— 

2 (A) The Director of the Office of Manage3 ment and Budget shall delegate to the E-Gov4 ernment Administrator the authority to admin5 ister all functions under this section, except 

6 that any such delegation shall not relieve the 

7 Director of responsibility for the administration 

8 of such functions. 

9 (B) The E-Government Administrator, 

10 after consulting with the Office of Information 

11 and Regulatory Policy, shall promulgate such 

12 regulations as are necessary to ensure that all 

13 public records held by Executive agencies are 

14 available on the Internet in the formats and by 

15 the means the E-Government Administrator 

16 designates. In promulgating the regulations, the 

17 E-Government Administrator shall consider the 

18 guidelines issued by the Public Online Informa19 tion Advisory Committee. 

20 (C) In the regulations promulgated under 

21 subparagraph (B), the E-Government Adminis22 trator shall include— 

23 (i) rules on how Executive agencies 

24 shall publish records on the Internet, in25 cluding the format and timeframe; and 


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1 (ii) procedures through which Execu2 tive agencies may object to placing public 

3 records on the Internet, in accordance with 

4 the exceptions under paragraph (4), and a 

5 method by which the objections can be re6 viewed. 

7 (D) The regulations promulgated under 

8 subparagraph (B) shall not preclude Executive 

9 agencies from making additional records avail10 able on the Internet beyond those required by 

11 the regulations, or in additional formats beyond 

12 those required by the regulations, or on a more 

13 rapid timeframe than required by the regula14 tions. In addition, each Executive agency head 

15 shall designate a person within the agency re16 sponsible for Internet publication of public 

17 records. 

18 (E) The Director of the Office of Manage19 ment and Budget shall ensure that the E-Gov20 ernment Administrator has adequate staff and 

21 resources to properly fulfill all the Administra22 tor’s functions under this Act. 

23 (3) INDEPENDENT REGULATORY AGENCIES.— 

24 (A) A Chief Information Officer of an 

25 independent regulatory agency (hereafter in this 


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1 section referred to as a ‘‘CIO’’) or an official 

2 designated by the head of an independent regu3 latory agency shall promulgate such regulations 

4 as are necessary to ensure that public records 

5 are available on the Internet in the formats and 

6 by the means the CIO designates. In promul7 gating the regulations, the CIO or other official 

8 shall consider the guidelines issued by the Pub9 lic Online Information Advisory Committee, as 

10 well as regulations promulgated by the E-Gov11 ernment Administrator under paragraph (1). 

12 (B) The regulations promulgated under 

13 subparagraph (A) shall not preclude the heads 

14 of offices within an independent regulatory 

15 agency from making additional records available 

16 on the Internet beyond those required by the 

17 regulations, or in additional formats beyond 

18 those required by the regulations, or on a more 

19 rapid timeframe than required by the regula20 tions. 

21 (C) The head of the independent regu22 latory agency shall ensure that the CIO or the 

23 official designated by the head of the inde24 pendent regulatory agency has adequate staff 


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1 and resources to properly fulfill all of the CIO’s 

2 functions under this Act. 

3 (4) EXCEPTIONS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The regulations pro5 mulgated under this subsection may contain ex6 ceptions, in accordance with this paragraph, to 

7 the requirement that all public records be made 

8 available on the Internet. 

9 (B) SCOPE OF EXCEPTIONS.—The excep10 tions may be no broader than the exceptions 

11 recognized under section 552 of title 5, United 

12 States Code (popularly referred to as the 

13 ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’). 

14 (C) ADDITIONAL EXCEPTIONS BY RE15 QUEST.—In addition to the exceptions provided 

16 under subparagraph (B), the regulations shall 

17 provide for the E-Government Administrator or, 

18 in the case of an independent regulatory agen19 cy, the CIO or official designated by the head 

20 of the agency, to grant narrow case-by-case ex21 ceptions to the Internet publication requirement 

22 if an agency requests an exception and the 

23 agency demonstrates that— 


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1 (i) there is a clear and convincing rea2 son for the record to not be made available 

3 on the Internet; and 

4 (ii) on balance, the harm caused by 

5 disclosure significantly outweighs the 

6 public’s interest in having the record avail7 able on the Internet. 

8 (D) AVAILABILITY OF SEGREGABLE POR9 TIONS.—If the E-Government Administrator, 

10 CIO, or official designated by the head of an 

11 independent regulatory agency approves a re12 quest for an exception with respect to a public 

13 record under subparagraph (C), any reasonably 

14 segregable portion of the public record shall be 

15 made available on the Internet in a timely fash16 ion after deletion of the portions that are sub17 ject to the exception. The amount of informa18 tion deleted shall be indicated on the portion of 

19 the record that is made available on the Inter20 net, unless including that indication would sig21 nificantly harm the interest protected by the ex22 ception. If technically feasible, the amount of 

23 the information deleted shall be indicated at the 

24 place in the record where such deletion is made. 


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1 (E) DISCLOSURE OF WITHHELD

2 RECORDS.—The E-Government Administrator, 

3 CIO, or official designated by the head of an 

4 independent regulatory agency shall maintain a 

5 list of records not made available on the Inter6 net by reason of an exception under subpara7 graph (C) and publish such list on the Internet, 

8 excluding any records the identification of 

9 which would significantly harm the interest pro10 tected by the exception. 

11 (5) PUBLICATION.—Regulations promulgated 

12 under this subsection shall be published in the Fed13 eral Register and on the relevant agency website. 

14 (6) APPLICABILITY.—Regulations promulgated 

15 under this subsection shall apply only to public 

16 records generated, updated, or released after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (7) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Regulations promul19 gated under this subsection shall take effect no 

20 sooner than 3 years after the date of the enactment 

21 of this Act. 

22 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—At least once every 

23 four years, the E-Government Administrator and each 

24 independent regulatory agency CIO shall review the excep25 tions provided under subsection (b)(4) to making public 


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1 records available on the Internet and, if warranted, make 

2 recommendations to the President and to Congress re3 garding whether Federal law should be changed. The re4 port shall be made publicly available, including being pub5 lished on the Internet. 

6 (d) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEWS.—The Inspector 

7 General of each agency shall conduct periodic reviews re8 garding agency compliance with Internet publication re9 quirements, no less often than once every four years. The 

10 reviews shall be published on the Internet. 

11 (e) ENFORCEMENT OF PUBLIC ACCESS BY PRIVATE

12 INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANIZATIONS.— 

13 (1) REQUESTS.—Private individuals or organi14 zations may request that an Executive agency place 

15 public records on the Internet, including the com16 prehensive searchable list of publicly available 

17 records referred to in section 7(a)(4), in accordance 

18 with Federal regulations. An agency has 30 days to 

19 respond to the request in writing or to place the 

20 record on the Internet. If an agency denies the re21 quest in whole or in part, the private individual or 

22 organization may file a complaint in Federal court. 

23 (2) JURISDICTION.—(A) On complaint, the dis24 trict court of the United States in the district in 

25 which the complainant resides, or has his principal 


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1 place of business, or in which the agency records are 

2 situated, or in the District of Columbia, has jurisdic3 tion to enjoin the agency from refusing to publish 

4 agency records on the Internet, or refusing to pub5 lish it in an appropriate format, and to order the 

6 Internet online publication of any agency records im7 properly withheld. In such a case the court shall de8 termine the matter de novo, and may examine the 

9 contents of such agency records in camera to deter10 mine whether such records or any part thereof shall 

11 be withheld under any of the exceptions provided 

12 under subsection (b)(4), and the burden is on the 

13 agency to sustain its action. 

14 (B) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

15 the defendant shall serve an answer or otherwise 

16 plead to any complaint made under this subsection 

17 within 30 days after service upon the defendant of 

18 the pleading in which such complaint is made, unless 

19 the court otherwise directs for good cause shown. 

20 (3) ATTORNEY FEES.—The court may assess 

21 against the United States reasonable attorney fees 

22 and other litigation costs reasonably incurred in any 

23 case under this subsection in which the complainant 

24 has substantially prevailed. 


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1 (4) SPECIAL COUNSEL.—Whenever the court 

2 orders the production of any agency records improp3 erly withheld from the complainant and assesses 

4 against the United States reasonable attorney fees, 

5 litigation costs, and interest, and the court addition6 ally issues a written finding that the circumstances 

7 surrounding the withholding raise questions whether 

8 agency personnel acted arbitrarily or capriciously 

9 with respect to the withholding, a Special Counsel 

10 shall promptly initiate a proceeding to determine 

11 whether disciplinary action is warranted against the 

12 officer or employee who was primarily responsible 

13 for the withholding. A Special Counsel, after inves14 tigation and consideration of the evidence submitted, 

15 shall submit his findings and recommendations to 

16 the administrative authority of the agency concerned 

17 and shall send copies of the findings and rec18 ommendations to the officer or employee or his rep19 resentative. The administrative authority shall take 

20 the corrective action that the Special Counsel rec21 ommends. 

22 (5) CONTEMPT.—In the event of noncompliance 

23 with the order of the court, the district court may 

24 punish for contempt the responsible employee, and 


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1 in the case of a uniformed service, the responsible 

2 member. 

3 SEC. 8. LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL INFORMATION. 

4 It is the sense of Congress that judicial and legislative 

5 agencies (within the meaning of section 3701 of title 31, 

6 United States Code) should adopt or adapt the rec7 ommendations of the Advisory Committee for their own 

8 use. In addition, judicial and legislative agencies are en9 couraged to consider the guidelines issued by the Public 

10 Online Information Advisory Committee and the regula11 tions promulgated by the E-Government Administrator. 

12 SEC. 9. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

13 It is the sense of Congress that the Government 

14 Printing Office should make all of its publications perma15 nently available on the Internet in a multiplicity of for16 mats that best meet the needs of the public. In doing so, 

17 the Government Printing Office is strongly encouraged to 

18 consider the recommendations of the Public Online Infor19 mation Advisory Committee and the E-Government Ad20 ministrator. 

Æ 


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