I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 27 

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

of settlement agreements, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. PALMER (for himself, Mr. TAYLOR, Mr. COOPER, and Mr. CONNOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Information Database Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INFORMATION REGARDING SETTLEMENT AGREE2 MENTS ENTERED INTO BY FEDERAL AGEN3 CIES. 

4 (a) REQUIREMENTS FOR SETTLEMENT AGREE5 MENTS.—Chapter 3 of title 5, United States Code, is 

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

7 ‘‘§ 307. Information regarding settlement agreements 

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

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

10 government’ has the meaning given that term in sec11 tion 6501 of title 31. 

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

13 means the type of action or instrument used to set14 tle a civil or criminal judicial action. 

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

16 ‘settlement agreement’ means a settlement agree17 ment (including a consent decree) that— 

18 ‘‘(A) is entered into by an Executive agen19 cy; and 

20 ‘‘(B) relates to an alleged violation of Fed21 eral civil or criminal law. 

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

23 the several States, the District of Columbia, each 

24 territory or possession of the United States, and 

25 each federally recognized Indian Tribe. 


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1 ‘‘(b) SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT INFORMATION

2 DATABASE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) EXECUTIVE AGENCY REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), the head of each Executive agency 

6 shall, in accordance with guidance issued pursu7 ant to paragraph (2), submit the following in8 formation to the database established under 

9 paragraph (3): 

10 ‘‘(i) A list of each settlement agree11 ment, in a categorized and searchable for12 mat, entered into by the Executive agency, 

13 as a party to a lawsuit, which shall in14 clude, for each settlement agreement— 

15 ‘‘(I) the order type of the settle16 ment agreement; 

17 ‘‘(II) the date on which the par18 ties entered into the settlement agree19 ment; 

20 ‘‘(III) a list of specific violations 

21 that specify the basis for the action 

22 taken, with a description of the claims 

23 each party settled under the settle24 ment agreement; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) the amount of attorneys’ 

2 fees and other litigation costs award3 ed, if any, including a description of 

4 the statutory basis for such an award; 

5 ‘‘(V) the amount each party set6 tling a claim under the settlement 

7 agreement is obligated to pay under 

8 the settlement agreement; 

9 ‘‘(VI) the total amount the set10 tling parties are obligated to pay 

11 under the settlement agreement; 

12 ‘‘(VII) the amount, if any, the 

13 settling party is obligated to pay that 

14 is expressly specified under the settle15 ment agreement as a civil or criminal 

16 penalty or fine; 

17 ‘‘(VIII) any payment made under 

18 the settlement agreement, including a 

19 description of any payment made to 

20 the Federal Government; 

21 ‘‘(IX) the projected duration of 

22 the settlement agreement, if available; 

23 ‘‘(X) a list of State or local gov24 ernments that may be directly afVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:01 Jan 05, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H27.IH H27

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1 fected by the terms of the settlement 

2 agreement; 

3 ‘‘(XI) a brief description of any 

4 economic data and methodology used 

5 to justify the terms of the settlement 

6 agreement; 

7 ‘‘(XII) any modifications to the 

8 settlement agreement, when applica9 ble; 

10 ‘‘(XIII) notice and comments, 

11 when applicable; and 

12 ‘‘(XIV) whether the settlement 

13 agreement is still under judicial en14 forcement and any period of time by 

15 which the parties agreed to have cer16 tain conditions met. 

17 ‘‘(ii) A copy of each— 

18 ‘‘(I) settlement agreement en19 tered into by the Executive agency; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) statement issued under 

22 paragraph (4). 

23 ‘‘(B) NONDISCLOSURE.—The requirement 

24 to submit information or a copy of a settlement 

25 agreement under subparagraph (A) shall not 


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1 apply to the extent the information or copy (or 

2 portion thereof)— 

3 ‘‘(i) is subject to a confidentiality pro4 vision that prohibits disclosure of the infor5 mation or copy (or portion thereof); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) would not be disclosed under sec7 tion 552, if the Executive agency provides 

8 a citation to the applicable exemption. 

9 ‘‘(C) CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBLE

10 AGENCY.—In a case in which an Executive 

11 agency is acting at the request or on behalf of 

12 another Executive agency (referred to as the 

13 originating agency), the originating agency is 

14 responsible for submitting information under 

15 subparagraph (A). 

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

17 Management and Budget shall issue guidance for 

18 Executive agencies to implement paragraph (1). 

19 Such guidance shall include the following: 

20 ‘‘(A) Specific dates by which submissions 

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

22 ‘‘(B) Data standards, including common 

23 data elements and a common, nonproprietary, 

24 searchable, machine-readable, platform inde25 pendent format. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A requirement that the information 

2 and documents required under paragraph (1) 

3 are publicly available for a period starting on 

4 the date of the settlement through not less than 

5 5 years after the termination of the settlement 

6 agreement. 

7 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF DATABASE.—The Di8 rector of the Office of Management and Budget, or 

9 the head of an Executive agency designated by the 

10 Director, shall establish and maintain a public, 

11 searchable, downloadable database for Executive 

12 agencies to directly upload and submit the informa13 tion and documents required under paragraph (1) 

14 for immediate publication online. 

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

16 the head of an Executive agency determines that a 

17 confidentiality provision in a settlement agreement, 

18 or the sealing of a settlement agreement, is required 

19 to protect the public interest of the United States, 

20 the head of the Executive agency may except the 

21 settlement agreement from the requirement in para22 graph (1) and shall issue a written public statement 

23 stating why such action is required to protect the 

24 public interest of the United States, which shall ex25 plain— 


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1 ‘‘(A) what interests confidentiality pro2 tects; and 

3 ‘‘(B) why the interests protected by con4 fidentiality outweigh the public’s interest in 

5 knowing about the conduct of the Federal Gov6 ernment and the expenditure of Federal re7 sources.’’. 

8 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

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

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

11 item: 

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

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

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

14 the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

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

16 5, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), and 

17 establish the settlement agreement information database 

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

19 Code, as added by subsection (a). 

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

21 than 90 days after the Director issues guidance under sec22 tion 307(b)(2) of title 5, United States Code, as added 

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

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


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1 begin submitting information to the database established 

2 under such section 307. 

3 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION 

4 ACT. 

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

6 amended— 

7 (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 

8 through (E) as subparagraphs (C) through (F), re9 spectively; and 

10 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol11 lowing new subparagraph: 

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

13 section 307) entered into by an Executive agency, 

14 with redactions for information that the agency may 

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

16 and (c) of this section;’’. 

17 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

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

19 Act, shall be construed to require the disclosure of infor20 mation or records that any agency may properly withhold 

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

22 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom of Infor23 mation Act’’). 


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1 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICABILITY. 

2 This Act shall be effective 180 days after the date 

3 of the enactment of this Act and shall apply— 

4 (1) with respect to any settlement agreement 

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

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

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

8 Act; and 

9 (2) to the extent practicable, any such settle10 ment agreement (as such term is defined in section 

11 307 of title 5, United States Code, as added by sec12 tion 2) that remains in effect on or after the date 

13 of the enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

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

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

17 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

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

19 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

20 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro21 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

22 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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