II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2770 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2014 

Mr. WALSH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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) Not later than March 31 of the first calendar 

12 year beginning after the date of enactment of the Open 

13 Book on Equal Access to Justice Act, and every year 

14 thereafter, the Chairman of the Administrative Conference 

15 of the United States, after consultation with the Chief 

16 Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administra17 tion, shall submit to Congress and make publicly available 

18 on an Internet Web site a report on the amount of fees 

19 and other expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal 

20 year under this section. 

21 ‘‘(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall describe 

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

23 involved in the controversy, and any other relevant infor24 mation that may aid Congress in evaluating the scope and 

25 impact of such awards. 


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1 ‘‘(3)(A) Each report under paragraph (1) shall ac2 count for all payments of fees and other expenses awarded 

3 under this section that are made pursuant to a settlement 

4 agreement, regardless of whether the settlement agree5 ment is sealed or otherwise subject to nondisclosure provi6 sions. 

7 ‘‘(B) The disclosure of fees and other expenses re8 quired under subparagraph (A) shall not affect any other 

9 information that is subject to a nondisclosure provision in 

10 a settlement agreement. 

11 ‘‘(f) As soon as practicable, and in any event not later 

12 than the date on which the first report under subsection 

13 (e)(1) is required to be submitted, the Chairman of the 

14 Administrative Conference of the United States shall cre15 ate and maintain a searchable database on an Internet 

16 Web site containing the following information with respect 

17 to each award of fees and other expenses under this sec18 tion made on or after the date of enactment of the Open 

19 Book on Equal Access to Justice Act: 

20 ‘‘(1) The case name and number of the adver21 sary adjudication, if available, hyperlinked to the 

22 case (if available) in any case in which the party 

23 other than the agency is not an individual. 

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

25 adversary adjudication. 


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

3 ‘‘(4) For an award made to an individual, a 

4 statement indicating that the award was made to an 

5 individual that shall not include any personally iden6 tifiable information. 

7 ‘‘(5) For an award made to a party other than 

8 an individual, the name of the party. 

9 ‘‘(6) The amount of the award. 

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

11 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi12 fied. 

13 ‘‘(g) The searchable database described in subsection 

14 (f) may not reveal any information the disclosure of which 

15 is prohibited by law or a court order. 

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

17 Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United 

18 States in a timely manner all information requested by 

19 the Chairman to comply with the requirements of sub20 sections (e), (f), and (g).’’. 

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

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

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(5)(A) Not later than March 31 of the first 

25 calendar year beginning after the date of enactment 


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1 of the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act, 

2 and every year thereafter, the Chairman of the Ad3 ministrative Conference of the United States, after 

4 consultation with the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of 

5 the Small Business Administration, shall submit to 

6 Congress and make publicly available on an Internet 

7 Web site a report on the amount of fees and other 

8 expenses awarded during the preceding fiscal year 

9 pursuant to this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(B) Each report under subparagraph (A) shall 

11 describe the number, nature, and amount of the 

12 awards, the claims involved in the controversy, and 

13 any other relevant information that may aid Con14 gress in evaluating the scope and impact of such 

15 awards. 

16 ‘‘(C)(i) Each report under subparagraph (A) 

17 shall account for all payments of fees and other ex18 penses awarded under this subsection that are made 

19 pursuant to a settlement agreement, regardless of 

20 whether the settlement agreement is sealed or other21 wise subject to nondisclosure provisions. 

22 ‘‘(ii) The disclosure of fees and other expenses 

23 required under clause (i) shall not affect any other 

24 information that is subject to a nondisclosure provi25 sions in a settlement agreement. 


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1 ‘‘(D) As soon as practicable, and in any event 

2 not later than the date on which the first report 

3 under subsection (e)(1) is required to be submitted, 

4 the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of 

5 the United States shall include and clearly identify 

6 in each annual report under subparagraph (A), for 

7 each case in which an award of fees and other ex8 penses is included in the report— 

9 ‘‘(i) any amounts paid under section 1304 

10 of title 31 for a judgment in the case; 

11 ‘‘(ii) the amount of the award of fees and 

12 other expenses; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) the statute under which the plaintiff 

14 filed suit. 

15 ‘‘(6) The Chairman of the Administrative Con16 ference of the United States shall create and main17 tain a searchable database on an Internet Web site 

18 containing the following information with respect to 

19 each award of fees and other expenses under this 

20 subsection: 

21 ‘‘(A) The case name and number, hyper22 linked to the case (if available) in any case in 

23 which the party other than the agency is not an 

24 individual. 


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

2 the case. 

3 ‘‘(C) For an award made to an individual, 

4 a statement indicating that the award was 

5 made to an individual that shall not include any 

6 personally identifiable information. 

7 ‘‘(D) For an award made to a party other 

8 than an individual, the name of the party. 

9 ‘‘(E) The amount of the award. 

10 ‘‘(F) The basis for the finding that the po11 sition of the agency concerned was not substan12 tially justified. 

13 ‘‘(7) The searchable database described in para14 graph (6) may not reveal any information the disclo15 sure of which is prohibited by law or a court order. 

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

17 General and the Director of the Administrative Office of 

18 the United States Courts, shall provide to the Chairman 

19 of the Administrative Conference of the United States in 

20 a timely manner all information requested by the Chair21 man to comply with the requirements of paragraphs (5), 

22 (6), and (7).’’. 

23 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 2412 of title 

24 28, United States Code, is amended— 


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

2 States Code,’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (e)— 

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

5 28, United States Code,’’ and inserting ‘‘of this 

6 section’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘of such title’’. 

Æ 


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