I
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 629
To amend title 44, United States Code, to promote improved public
dissemination of Government information.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 26, 1993
Mr. OWENS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Government Operations
A BILL
To amend title 44, United States Code, to promote improved
public dissemination of Government information.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improvement of Infor-
mation Access Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) A well-informed citizenry is essential for the
well-being of a democratic society.
(2) Access to Government information is essen-
tial for citizens who seek to make the Federal Gov-
ernment accountable for its actions.
(3) The public should have timely, complete, eq-
uitable, and affordable access to Government infor-
mation.
(4) Federal agencies should use modern infor-
mation technology for the benefit of citizens of the
United States.
(5) Government information is a national re-
source that should be treated as a public good.
(6) Government information is a valuable eco-
nomic asset that belongs to the public.
(7) Taxpayers pay for the creation, collection,
and organization of Government information and
should not be required to pay excessive fees to re-
ceive and use that information.
(8) It is unnecessarily difficult for citizens to
provide Federal agencies with comments and sugges-
tions on Federal information policies. As a result,
many Federal agencies do not take into account the
public interest in the information resources they
manage.
(9) Federal agencies have been slow in develop-
ing standards for record and file formats, software
query command structures, and other important top-
ics that will make Government information easier to
obtain and use.
(10) Many Federal agencies do not provide
timely access to Government information products
and services at reasonable costs.
SEC. 3. IMPROVED PUBLIC ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT IN-
FORMATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 44, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:
‘‘CHAPTER 41—INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
POLICIES AND PRACTICES
‘‘Sec.
‘‘4101. Ensuring public access to Government information products and serv-
ices.
‘‘§ 4101. Ensuring public access to Government infor-
mation products and services
‘‘(a) Each executive department, military depart-
ment, and independent establishment shall prepare by not
later than February 1 of each year, and make freely avail-
able to the public upon request and at no charge, a report
which describes the information dissemination policies and
practices of the department or establishment, including—
‘‘(1) plans of the department or establishment
to introduce new information products and services
or discontinue old ones;
and provide in such other manner as will notify users of
information of the department or establishment, a notice
of—
‘‘(A) the availability of the report prepared
under subsection (a); and
‘‘(B) a period of not less than 90 days for sub-
mission by the public of comments regarding the in-
formation dissemination policies and practices of the
department or establishment, including comments
regarding—
‘‘(i) the types of information the depart-
ment or establishment collects and dissemi-
nates;
‘‘(ii) the methods and outlets the depart-
ment or establishment uses to store and dis-
seminate information;
‘‘(iii) the prices charged by the department
or establishment, or such outlets, for the infor-
mation; and
‘‘(iv) the validity, reliability, timeliness,
and usefulness to the public of the information.
‘‘(2) Comments received under this subsection by a
department or independent establishment shall be avail-
able for inspection to the public. Each year the depart-
ment or establishment shall provide a reasonable oppor-
tunity for dialogue between responsible agency officials
and interested members of the public, including through
hearings and informal forums, regarding both proposed
and existing policies, procedures, and mechanisms for dis-
seminating information under this section and for other-
wise implementing this section.
‘‘(c) Before discontinuing an information product or
service, an agency shall—
‘‘(1) publish in the Federal Register, or provide
by other means adequate to inform users of informa-
tion of the agency, a notice of a period of not less
than 120 days for submission by the public of com-
ments regarding that discontinuation;
‘‘(2) include in that notice an explanation of the
reasons for the discontinuation; and
‘‘(3) consider comments received pursuant to
the notice.
‘‘(d) Each agency shall—
‘‘(1) disseminate information in diverse modes
and through appropriate outlets that will reinforce
statutory requirements for depository distribution,
as well as offering other channels of distribution,
with adequate documentation software, indexes, or
other resources that will permit and broaden public
access to Government information;
‘‘(2) disseminate information in a manner that
ensures the timeliness, usefulness, and reliability of
the information for the public;
‘‘(3) store and disseminate information prod-
ucts and services in standardized record formats;
and
‘‘(4) use depository libraries, national computer
networks, and other distribution channels that im-
prove and assure free or low-cost public access to
Government information.
‘‘(e)(1) Except as specifically authorized by statute,
an agency may not—
‘‘(A) charge to depository libraries the costs of
distributing information products and services;
‘‘(B) charge more than the incremental cost of
distributing an information product or service re-
gardless of channels utilized by the agency; or
‘‘(C) charge any royalty or other fee for any use
or redissemination of Government information.
‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, the incremental
cost of distributing an information product or service does
not include any portion of the cost of collecting, organiz-
ing, or processing information disseminated through the
product or service.
‘‘(f)(1) The Archivist of the United States and the
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology shall jointly issue and periodically revise model per-
formance standards under which agencies shall be encour-
aged to provide access to public records.
‘‘(2) Standards issued under this subsection shall in-
clude the establishment of a period within which an agen-
cy, upon request, shall provide by mail a copy of any deci-
sion, rule, notice, docket filing, press release, or other pub-
lic document of the agency.’’.
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters
at the beginning of title 44, United States Code, is amend-
ed by adding at the end the following:
‘‘41. Government Information Products and Services ........ 4101’’.
SEC. 4. STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS.
The Archivist of the United States and the Director
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
shall jointly issue model performance standards for provid-
ing access to agency records under section 4101(f) of title
44, United States Code (as added by section 3), by not
later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
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