IIB 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 27 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 6, 2021 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, to require 

the publication of settlement agreements, 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, 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
2 

HR 27 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Settlement Agreement 

3 Information Database Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INFORMATION REGARDING SETTLEMENT AGREE5 MENTS ENTERED INTO BY FEDERAL AGEN6 CIES. 

7 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR SETTLEMENT AGREE8 MENTS.—Chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 307. Information regarding settlement agreements 

11 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘local 

13 government’ has the meaning given that term in sec14 tion 6501 of title 31. 

15 ‘‘(2) ORDER TYPE.—The term ‘order type’ 

16 means the type of action or instrument used to set17 tle a civil or criminal judicial action. 

18 ‘‘(3) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.—The term 

19 ‘settlement agreement’ means a settlement agree20 ment (including a consent decree) that— 

21 ‘‘(A) is entered into by an Executive agen22 cy; and 

23 ‘‘(B) relates to an alleged violation of Fed24 eral civil or criminal law. 

25 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means each of 

26 the several States, the District of Columbia, each 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
3 

HR 27 RFS

1 territory or possession of the United States, and 

2 each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 

3 ‘‘(b) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT INFORMATION

4 DATABASE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY REQUIREMENT.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graph (B), the head of each Executive agency 

8 shall, in accordance with guidance issued pursu9 ant to paragraph (2), submit the following in10 formation to the database established under 

11 paragraph (3): 

12 ‘‘(i) A list of each settlement agree13 ment, in a categorized and searchable for14 mat, entered into by the Executive agency, 

15 as a party to a lawsuit, which shall in16 clude, for each settlement agreement— 

17 ‘‘(I) the order type of the settle18 ment agreement; 

19 ‘‘(II) the date on which the par20 ties entered into the settlement agree21 ment; 

22 ‘‘(III) a list of specific violations 

23 that specify the basis for the action 

24 taken, with a description of the claims 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
4 

HR 27 RFS

1 each party settled under the settle2 ment agreement; 

3 ‘‘(IV) the amount of attorneys’ 

4 fees and other litigation costs award5 ed, if any, including a description of 

6 the statutory basis for such an award; 

7 ‘‘(V) the amount each party set8 tling a claim under the settlement 

9 agreement is obligated to pay under 

10 the settlement agreement; 

11 ‘‘(VI) the total amount the set12 tling parties are obligated to pay 

13 under the settlement agreement; 

14 ‘‘(VII) the amount, if any, the 

15 settling party is obligated to pay that 

16 is expressly specified under the settle17 ment agreement as a civil or criminal 

18 penalty or fine; 

19 ‘‘(VIII) any payment made under 

20 the settlement agreement, including a 

21 description of any payment made to 

22 the Federal Government; 

23 ‘‘(IX) the projected duration of 

24 the settlement agreement, if available; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
5 

HR 27 RFS

1 ‘‘(X) a list of State or local gov2 ernments that may be directly af3 fected by the terms of the settlement 

4 agreement; 

5 ‘‘(XI) a brief description of any 

6 economic data and methodology used 

7 to justify the terms of the settlement 

8 agreement; 

9 ‘‘(XII) any modifications to the 

10 settlement agreement, when applica11 ble; 

12 ‘‘(XIII) notice and comments, 

13 when applicable; and 

14 ‘‘(XIV) whether the settlement 

15 agreement is still under judicial en16 forcement and any period of time by 

17 which the parties agreed to have cer18 tain conditions met. 

19 ‘‘(ii) A copy of each— 

20 ‘‘(I) settlement agreement en21 tered into by the Executive agency; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(II) statement issued under 

24 paragraph (4). 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
6 

HR 27 RFS

1 ‘‘(B) NONDISCLOSURE.—The requirement 

2 to submit information or a copy of a settlement 

3 agreement under subparagraph (A) shall not 

4 apply to the extent the information or copy (or 

5 portion thereof)— 

6 ‘‘(i) is subject to a confidentiality pro7 vision that prohibits disclosure of the infor8 mation or copy (or portion thereof); and 

9 ‘‘(ii) would not be disclosed under sec10 tion 552, if the Executive agency provides 

11 a citation to the applicable exemption. 

12 ‘‘(C) CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBLE

13 AGENCY.—In a case in which an Executive 

14 agency is acting at the request or on behalf of 

15 another Executive agency (referred to as the 

16 originating agency), the originating agency is 

17 responsible for submitting information under 

18 subparagraph (A). 

19 ‘‘(2) GUIDANCE.—The Director of the Office of 

20 Management and Budget shall issue guidance for 

21 Executive agencies to implement paragraph (1). 

22 Such guidance shall include the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) Specific dates by which submissions 

24 must be made, not less than twice a year. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
7 

HR 27 RFS

1 ‘‘(B) Data standards, including common 

2 data elements and a common, nonproprietary, 

3 searchable, machine-readable, platform inde4 pendent format. 

5 ‘‘(C) A requirement that the information 

6 and documents required under paragraph (1) 

7 are publicly available for a period starting on 

8 the date of the settlement through not less than 

9 5 years after the termination of the settlement 

10 agreement. 

11 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.—The Di12 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, or 

13 the head of an Executive agency designated by the 

14 Director, shall establish and maintain a public, 

15 searchable, downloadable database for Executive 

16 agencies to directly upload and submit the informa17 tion and documents required under paragraph (1) 

18 for immediate publication online. 

19 ‘‘(4) STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY.—If 

20 the head of an Executive agency determines that a 

21 confidentiality provision in a settlement agreement, 

22 or the sealing of a settlement agreement, is required 

23 to protect the public interest of the United States, 

24 the head of the Executive agency may except the 

25 settlement agreement from the requirement in paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.RFS H27

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
8 

HR 27 RFS

1 graph (1) and shall issue a written public statement 

2 stating why such action is required to protect the 

3 public interest of the United States, which shall ex4 plain— 

5 ‘‘(A) what interests confidentiality pro6 tects; and 

7 ‘‘(B) why the interests protected by con8 fidentiality outweigh the public’s interest in 

9 knowing about the conduct of the Federal Gov10 ernment and the expenditure of Federal re11 sources.’’. 

12 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

13 The table of sections for chapter 3 of title 5, United States 

14 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

15 item: 

‘‘307. Information regarding settlement agreements.’’. 

16 (c) DEADLINE TO ESTABLISH DATABASE.—Not later 

17 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

18 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

19 shall issue guidance required by section 307(b)(2) of title 

20 5, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), and 

21 establish the settlement agreement information database 

22 required by section 307(b)(3) of title 5, United States 

23 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

24 (d) DEADLINE FOR FIRST SUBMISSION.—Not later 

25 than 90 days after the Director issues guidance under secVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.RFS H27

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
9 

HR 27 RFS

1 tion 307(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, as added 

2 by subsection (a), the head of each Executive agency (as 

3 defined in section 105 of title 5, United States Code) shall 

4 begin submitting information to the database established 

5 under such section 307. 

6 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

7 ACT. 

8 Section 552(a)(2) of title 5, United States Code, is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

11 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), re12 spectively; and 

13 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol14 lowing new subparagraph: 

15 ‘‘(B) each settlement agreement (as defined in 

16 section 307) entered into by an Executive agency, 

17 with redactions for information that the agency may 

18 withhold under paragraph (8) and subsections (b) 

19 and (c) of this section;’’. 

20 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

21 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

22 Act, shall be construed to require the disclosure of infor23 mation or records that any agency may properly withhold 

24 from public disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
10 

HR 27 RFS

1 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Infor2 mation Act’’). 

3 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 

4 This Act shall be effective 180 days after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act and shall apply— 

6 (1) with respect to any settlement agreement 

7 (as such term is defined in section 307 of title 5, 

8 United States Code, as added by section 2), entered 

9 into on or after the date of the enactment of this 

10 Act; and 

11 (2) to the extent practicable, any such settle12 ment agreement (as such term is defined in section 

13 307 of title 5, United States Code, as added by sec14 tion 2) that remains in effect on or after the date 

15 of the enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

17 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

18 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

19 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

20 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

21 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

22 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, proVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Jan 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.RFS H27

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
11 

HR 27 RFS

1 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

2 vote on passage. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 5, 

2021. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS