II 

Calendar No. 17 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 337 

To improve the Freedom of Information Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2015 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. GRASSLEY, and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

FEBRUARY 9, 2015 

Reported by Mr. GRASSLEY, without amendment 

A BILL 

To improve the Freedom of Information Act. 

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 ‘‘FOIA Improvement 

5 Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FOIA. 

7 Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, is amend8 ed— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

3 (i) in the matter preceding subpara4 graph (A), by striking ‘‘for public inspec5 tion and copying’’ and inserting ‘‘for public 

6 inspection in an electronic format’’; 

7 (ii) by striking subparagraph (D) and 

8 inserting the following: 

9 ‘‘(D) copies of all records, regardless of form or 

10 format— 

11 ‘‘(i) that have been released to any person 

12 under paragraph (3); and 

13 ‘‘(ii)(I) that because of the nature of their 

14 subject matter, the agency determines have be15 come or are likely to become the subject of sub16 sequent requests for substantially the same 

17 records; or 

18 ‘‘(II) that have been requested 3 or more 

19 times; and’’; and 

20 (iii) in the undesignated matter fol21 lowing subparagraph (E), by striking 

22 ‘‘public inspection and copying current’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘public inspection in an elec24 tronic format current’’; 


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1 (B) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking clause 

2 (viii) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(viii)(I) Except as provided in subclause (II), 

4 an agency shall not assess any search fees (or in the 

5 case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II) of 

6 this subparagraph, duplication fees) under this sub7 paragraph if the agency has failed to comply with 

8 any time limit under paragraph (6). 

9 ‘‘(II)(aa) If an agency has determined that un10 usual circumstances apply (as the term is defined in 

11 paragraph (6)(B)) and the agency provided a timely 

12 written notice to the requester in accordance with 

13 paragraph (6)(B), a failure described in subclause 

14 (I) is excused for an additional 10 days. If the agen15 cy fails to comply with the extended time limit, the 

16 agency may not assess any search fees (or in the 

17 case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II) of 

18 this subparagraph, duplication fees). 

19 ‘‘(bb) If an agency has determined that unusual 

20 circumstances apply and more than 50,000 pages 

21 are necessary to respond to the request, an agency 

22 may charge search fees (or in the case of a requester 

23 described under clause (ii)(II) of this subparagraph, 

24 duplication fees) if the agency has provided a timely 

25 written notice to the requester in accordance with 


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1 paragraph (6)(B) and the agency has discussed with 

2 the requester via written mail, electronic mail, or 

3 telephone (or made not less than 3 good-faith at4 tempts to do so) how the requester could effectively 

5 limit the scope of the request in accordance with 

6 paragraph (6)(B)(ii). 

7 ‘‘(cc) If a court has determined that exceptional 

8 circumstances exist (as that term is defined in para9 graph (6)(C)), a failure described in subclause (I) 

10 shall be excused for the length of time provided by 

11 the court order.’’; 

12 (C) in paragraph (6)— 

13 (i) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 

14 ‘‘making such request’’ and all that follows 

15 through ‘‘determination; and’’ and insert16 ing the following: ‘‘making such request 

17 of— 

18 ‘‘(I) such determination and the rea19 sons therefor; 

20 ‘‘(II) the right of such person to seek 

21 assistance from the FOIA Public Liaison 

22 of the agency; and 

23 ‘‘(III) in the case of an adverse deter24 mination— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) the right of such person to 

2 appeal to the head of the agency, 

3 within a period determined by the 

4 head of the agency that is not less 

5 than 90 days after the date of such 

6 adverse determination; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) the right of such person to 

8 seek dispute resolution services from 

9 the FOIA Public Liaison of the agen10 cy or the Office of Government Infor11 mation Services; and’’; and 

12 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by strik13 ing ‘‘the agency.’’ and inserting ‘‘the agen14 cy, and notify the requester of the right of 

15 the requester to seek dispute resolution 

16 services from the Office of Government In17 formation Services.’’; and 

18 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(8)(A) An agency— 

20 ‘‘(i) shall— 

21 ‘‘(I) withhold information under this sec22 tion only if— 

23 ‘‘(aa) the agency reasonably foresees 

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1 tected by an exemption described in sub2 section (b) or other provision of law; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) disclosure is prohibited by law; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(II)(aa) consider whether partial disclo6 sure of information is possible whenever the 

7 agency determines that a full disclosure of a re8 quested record is not possible; and 

9 ‘‘(bb) take reasonable steps necessary to 

10 segregate and release nonexempt information; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) may not— 

13 ‘‘(I) withhold information requested under 

14 this section merely because the agency can dem15 onstrate, as a technical matter, that the records 

16 fall within the scope of an exemption described 

17 in subsection (b); or 

18 ‘‘(II) withhold information requested under 

19 this section merely because disclosure of the in20 formation may be embarrassing to the agency 

21 or because of speculative or abstract concerns. 

22 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph requires disclosure 

23 of information that is otherwise prohibited from disclosure 

24 by law, or otherwise exempted from disclosure under sub25 section (b)(3).’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph 

2 (5) to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(5) inter-agency or intra-agency memoran4 dums or letters that would not be available by law 

5 to a party other than an agency in litigation with 

6 the agency, if the requested record or information 

7 was created less than 25 years before the date on 

8 which the request was made;’’; 

9 (3) in subsection (e)— 

10 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

11 (i) in the matter preceding subpara12 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘and to the Direc13 tor of the Office of Government Informa14 tion Services’’ after ‘‘United States’’; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (N), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (iii) in subparagraph (O), by striking 

18 the period at the end and inserting a semi19 colon; and 

20 (iv) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(P) the number of times the agency denied a 

23 request for records under subsection (c); and 


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1 ‘‘(Q) the number of records that were made 

2 available for public inspection in an electronic for3 mat under subsection (a)(2).’’; 

4 (B) by striking paragraph (3) and insert5 ing the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) Each agency shall make each such report avail7 able for public inspection in an electronic format. In addi8 tion, each agency shall make the raw statistical data used 

9 in each report available in a timely manner for public in10 spection in an electronic format, which shall be made 

11 available— 

12 ‘‘(A) without charge, license, or registration re13 quirement; 

14 ‘‘(B) in an aggregated, searchable format; and 

15 ‘‘(C) in a format that may be downloaded in 

16 bulk.’’; 

17 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

18 (i) by striking ‘‘Government Reform 

19 and Oversight’’ and inserting ‘‘Oversight 

20 and Government Reform’’; 

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘Homeland Security 

22 and’’ before ‘‘Governmental Affairs’’; and 

23 (iii) by striking ‘‘April’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘March’’; and 


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1 (D) by striking paragraph (6) and insert2 ing the following: 

3 ‘‘(6)(A) The Attorney General of the United States 

4 shall submit to the Committee on Oversight and Govern5 ment Reform of the House of Representatives, the Com6 mittee on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the President 

7 a report on or before March 1 of each calendar year, which 

8 shall include for the prior calendar year— 

9 ‘‘(i) a listing of the number of cases arising 

10 under this section; 

11 ‘‘(ii) a listing of— 

12 ‘‘(I) each subsection, and any exemption, if 

13 applicable, involved in each case arising under 

14 this section; 

15 ‘‘(II) the disposition of each case arising 

16 under this section; and 

17 ‘‘(III) the cost, fees, and penalties assessed 

18 under subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of sub19 section (a)(4); and 

20 ‘‘(iii) a description of the efforts undertaken by 

21 the Department of Justice to encourage agency com22 pliance with this section. 

23 ‘‘(B) The Attorney General of the United States shall 

24 make— 


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1 ‘‘(i) each report submitted under subparagraph 

2 (A) available for public inspection in an electronic 

3 format; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the raw statistical data used in each report 

5 submitted under subparagraph (A) available for pub6 lic inspection in an electronic format, which shall be 

7 made available— 

8 ‘‘(I) without charge, license, or registration 

9 requirement; 

10 ‘‘(II) in an aggregated, searchable format; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(III) in a format that may be downloaded 

13 in bulk.’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (g), in the matter preceding 

15 paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘publicly available upon 

16 request’’ and inserting ‘‘available for public inspec17 tion in an electronic format’’; 

18 (5) in subsection (h)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

20 the following: ‘‘The head of the Office shall be 

21 the Director of the Office of Government Infor22 mation Services.’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking subpara24 graph (C) and inserting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(C) identify procedures and methods for im2 proving compliance under this section.’’; 

3 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) The Office of Government Information Services 

6 shall offer mediation services to resolve disputes between 

7 persons making requests under this section and adminis8 trative agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation 

9 and may issue advisory opinions at the discretion of the 

10 Office or upon request of any party to a dispute.’’; and 

11 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(4)(A) Not less frequently than annually, the Direc13 tor of the Office of Government Information Services shall 

14 submit to the Committee on Oversight and Government 

15 Reform of the House of Representatives, the Committee 

16 on the Judiciary of the Senate, and the President— 

17 ‘‘(i) a report on the findings of the information 

18 reviewed and identified under paragraph (2); 

19 ‘‘(ii) a summary of the activities of the Office 

20 of Government Information Services under para21 graph (3), including— 

22 ‘‘(I) any advisory opinions issued; and 

23 ‘‘(II) the number of times each agency en24 gaged in dispute resolution with the assistance 


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1 of the Office of Government Information Serv2 ices or the FOIA Public Liaison; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) legislative and regulatory recommenda4 tions, if any, to improve the administration of this 

5 section. 

6 ‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Government Infor7 mation Services shall make each report submitted under 

8 subparagraph (A) available for public inspection in an 

9 electronic format. 

10 ‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Government Infor11 mation Services shall not be required to obtain the prior 

12 approval, comment, or review of any officer or agency of 

13 the United States, including the Department of Justice, 

14 the Archivist of the United States, or the Office of Man15 agement and Budget before submitting to Congress, or 

16 any committee or subcommittee thereof, any reports, rec17 ommendations, testimony, or comments, if such submis18 sions include a statement indicating that the views ex19 pressed therein are those of the Director and do not nec20 essarily represent the views of the President. 

21 ‘‘(5) The Director of the Office of Government Infor22 mation Services may directly submit additional informa23 tion to Congress and the President as the Director deter24 mines to be appropriate. 


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1 ‘‘(6) Not less frequently than annually, the Office of 

2 Government Information Services shall conduct a meeting 

3 that is open to the public on the review and reports by 

4 the Office and shall allow interested persons to appear and 

5 present oral or written statements at the meeting.’’; 

6 (6) by striking subsections (i), (j), and (k), and 

7 inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(i) The Government Accountability Office shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) not later than 1 year after the date of en10 actment of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2015 and 

11 every 2 years thereafter, conduct audits of 3 or more 

12 administrative agencies on compliance with and im13 plementation of the requirements of this section and 

14 issue reports detailing the results of such audits; 

15 ‘‘(2) not later than 1 year after the date of en16 actment of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2015 and 

17 every 2 years thereafter, issue a report cataloging 

18 the number of exemptions described in paragraphs 

19 (3) and (5) of subsection (b) and the use of such ex20 emptions by each agency; 

21 ‘‘(3) not later than 1 year after the date of en22 actment of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2015, 

23 conduct a study on the methods Federal agencies 

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1 tion and issue a report on the effectiveness of those 

2 methods; and 

3 ‘‘(4) submit copies of all reports and audits de4 scribed in this subsection to the Committee on Over5 sight and Government Reform of the House of Rep6 resentatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of 

7 the Senate. 

8 ‘‘(j)(1) Each agency shall designate a Chief FOIA Of9 ficer who shall be a senior official of such agency (at the 

10 Assistant Secretary or equivalent level). 

11 ‘‘(2) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, 

12 subject to the authority of the head of the agency— 

13 ‘‘(A) have agency-wide responsibility for effi14 cient and appropriate compliance with this section; 

15 ‘‘(B) monitor implementation of this section 

16 throughout the agency and keep the head of the 

17 agency, the chief legal officer of the agency, and the 

18 Attorney General appropriately informed of the 

19 agency’s performance in implementing this section; 

20 ‘‘(C) recommend to the head of the agency such 

21 adjustments to agency practices, policies, personnel, 

22 and funding as may be necessary to improve its im23 plementation of this section; 

24 ‘‘(D) review and report to the Attorney General, 

25 through the head of the agency, at such times and 


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1 in such formats as the Attorney General may direct, 

2 on the agency’s performance in implementing this 

3 section; 

4 ‘‘(E) facilitate public understanding of the pur5 poses of the statutory exemptions of this section by 

6 including concise descriptions of the exemptions in 

7 both the agency’s handbook issued under subsection 

8 (g), and the agency’s annual report on this section, 

9 and by providing an overview, where appropriate, of 

10 certain general categories of agency records to which 

11 those exemptions apply; 

12 ‘‘(F) offer training to agency staff regarding 

13 their responsibilities under this section; 

14 ‘‘(G) serve as the primary agency liaison with 

15 the Office of Government Information Services and 

16 the Office of Information Policy; and 

17 ‘‘(H) designate 1 or more FOIA Public Liai18 sons. 

19 ‘‘(3) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall re20 view, not less frequently than annually, all aspects of the 

21 administration of this section by the agency to ensure 

22 compliance with the requirements of this section, includ23 ing— 

24 ‘‘(A) agency regulations; 


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1 ‘‘(B) disclosure of records required under para2 graphs (2) and (8) of subsection (a); 

3 ‘‘(C) assessment of fees and determination of 

4 eligibility for fee waivers; 

5 ‘‘(D) the timely processing of requests for infor6 mation under this section; 

7 ‘‘(E) the use of exemptions under subsection 

8 (b); and 

9 ‘‘(F) dispute resolution services with the assist10 ance of the Office of Government Information Serv11 ices or the FOIA Public Liaison. 

12 ‘‘(k)(1) There is established in the executive branch 

13 the Chief FOIA Officers Council (referred to in this sub14 section as the ‘Council’). 

15 ‘‘(2) The Council shall be comprised of the following 

16 members: 

17 ‘‘(A) The Deputy Director for Management of 

18 the Office of Management and Budget. 

19 ‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Information 

20 Policy at the Department of Justice. 

21 ‘‘(C) The Director of the Office of Government 

22 Information Services. 

23 ‘‘(D) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency. 

24 ‘‘(E) Any other officer or employee of the 

25 United States as designated by the Co-Chairs. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The Director of the Office of Information Policy 

2 at the Department of Justice and the Director of the Of3 fice of Government Information Services shall be the Co4 Chairs of the Council. 

5 ‘‘(4) The Administrator of General Services shall pro6 vide administrative and other support for the Council. 

7 ‘‘(5)(A) The duties of the Council shall include the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(i) Develop recommendations for increasing 

10 compliance and efficiency under this section. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Disseminate information about agency ex12 periences, ideas, best practices, and innovative ap13 proaches related to this section. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Identify, develop, and coordinate initia15 tives to increase transparency and compliance with 

16 this section. 

17 ‘‘(iv) Promote the development and use of com18 mon performance measures for agency compliance 

19 with this section. 

20 ‘‘(B) In performing the duties described in subpara21 graph (A), the Council shall consult on a regular basis 

22 with members of the public who make requests under this 

23 section. 

24 ‘‘(6)(A) The Council shall meet regularly and such 

25 meetings shall be open to the public unless the Council 


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1 determines to close the meeting for reasons of national 

2 security or to discuss information exempt under subsection 

3 (b). 

4 ‘‘(B) Not less frequently than annually, the Council 

5 shall hold a meeting that shall be open to the public and 

6 permit interested persons to appear and present oral and 

7 written statements to the Council. 

8 ‘‘(C) Not later than 10 business days before a meet9 ing of the Council, notice of such meeting shall be pub10 lished in the Federal Register. 

11 ‘‘(D) Except as provided in subsection (b), the 

12 records, reports, transcripts, minutes, appendices, working 

13 papers, drafts, studies, agenda, or other documents that 

14 were made available to or prepared for or by the Council 

15 shall be made publicly available. 

16 ‘‘(E) Detailed minutes of each meeting of the Council 

17 shall be kept and shall contain a record of the persons 

18 present, a complete and accurate description of matters 

19 discussed and conclusions reached, and copies of all re20 ports received, issued, or approved by the Council. The 

21 minutes shall be redacted as necessary and made publicly 

22 available.’’; and 

23 (7) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(m)(1) The Director of the Office of Management 

25 and Budget, in consultation with the Attorney General, 


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1 shall ensure the operation of a consolidated online request 

2 portal that allows a member of the public to submit a re3 quest for records under subsection (a) to any agency from 

4 a single website. The portal may include any additional 

5 tools the Director of the Office of Management and Budg6 et finds will improve the implementation of this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) This subsection shall not be construed to alter 

8 the power of any other agency to create or maintain an 

9 independent online portal for the submission of a request 

10 for records under this section. The Director of the Office 

11 of Management and Budget shall establish standards for 

12 interoperability between the portal required under para13 graph (1) and other request processing software used by 

14 agencies subject to this section.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. REVIEW AND ISSUANCE OF REGULATIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency 

18 (as defined in section 551 of title 5, United States Code) 

19 shall review the regulations of such agency and shall issue 

20 regulations on procedures for the disclosure of records 

21 under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, in ac22 cordance with the amendments made by section 2. 

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The regulations of each agency 

24 shall include procedures for engaging in dispute resolution 


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1 through the FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Gov2 ernment Information Services. 

3 SEC. 4. PROACTIVE DISCLOSURE THROUGH RECORDS MAN4 AGEMENT. 

5 Section 3102 of title 44, United States Code, is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 

8 paragraphs (3) and (4); and 

9 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(2) procedures for identifying records of gen12 eral interest or use to the public that are appro13 priate for public disclosure, and for posting such 

14 records in a publicly accessible electronic format;’’. 

15 SEC. 5. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED. 

16 No additional funds are authorized to carry out the 

17 requirements of this Act or the amendments made by this 

18 Act. The requirements of this Act and the amendments 

19 made by this Act shall be carried out using amounts other20 wise authorized or appropriated. 


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Calendar No. 17 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 337 

A BILL 

To improve the Freedom of Information Act. 

FEBRUARY 9, 2015 

Reported without amendment 


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