270 
‘‘(iii) Nothing in clause (i) or (ii) shall be con-
strued to prevent or restrict the ability of an indi-
vidual to bring a suit to compel the disclosure of 
records under this section.’’; 
(2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘any Member 
of’’ before ‘‘Congress’’; 
(3) in subsection (h)(3)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ before ‘‘The Of-
fice’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) The Director of the Office of Public Integ-
rity, or a designee of the Director, may submit a 
non-binding recommendation to the Office of Gov-
ernment Information Services regarding the disclo-
sure of information under this section during a me-
diation service provided under subparagraph (A).’’; 
and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(n) Each agency shall maintain and make available 
through a single website, which may be the website de-
scribed in subsection (m) and shall be managed by the 
Office of Public Integrity, an agency record database 
that— 
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‘‘(1) contains a log of the status of each open 
request for records from the agency under this sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(2) makes each request for records under this 
section with which the agency complies available in 
a format that is searchable, sortable, machine read-
able, and downloadable not later than 60 days after 
the date on which the request is first received by the 
agency.’’. 
SEC. 622. EXEMPTIONS FROM DISCLOSURE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(b) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3)(B), by inserting ‘‘with an 
explanation for the exemption’’ after ‘‘specifically 
cites to this paragraph’’; 
(2) in paragraph (4), by inserting before the 
semicolon at the end the following: ‘‘, only if disclo-
sure of the commercial or financial information is 
likely to cause substantial harm to the competitive 
position of the person from whom the information 
was obtained’’; 
(3) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘provided that the delibera-
tive process privilege shall not apply to records 
created 25 years or more before the date on 
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which the records were requested’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘and excluding— 
‘‘(A) any opinion that is a controlling interpre-
tation of law; 
‘‘(B) any final report or memorandum created 
by an entity other than the agency, including other 
Governmental entities, at the request of the agency 
and used to make a final policy decision; 
‘‘(C) any guidance document used by the agen-
cy to respond to the public; and 
‘‘(D) any record created not less than 25 years 
before the date on which the records were re-
quested’’; 
(4) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘similar files’’ 
and inserting ‘‘personal information, such as per-
sonal contact information or personal financial infor-
mation,’’; 
(5) in paragraph (7)— 
(A) in subparagraph (E)— 
(i) by inserting a comma before ‘‘if 
such’’; and 
(ii) by inserting ‘‘and the record or in-
formation was created less than 25 years 
before the date on which the records were 
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273 
requested’’ after ‘‘circumvention of the 
law’’; and 
(B) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end; 
(6) by striking paragraph (8); 
(7) by redesignating paragraph (9) as para-
graph (8); and 
(8) in the flush text following paragraph (8), as 
so redesignated— 
(A) by inserting before ‘‘Any reasonably 
segregable portion’’ the following: ‘‘An agency 
may not withhold information under this sub-
section unless the agency reasonably foresees 
that disclosure would cause specific identifiable 
harm to an interest protected by an exemption, 
or if disclosure is prohibited by law.’’; and 
(B) by inserting before ‘‘If technically fea-
sible,’’ the following: ‘‘For each record withheld 
in whole or in part under paragraph (3), the 
agency shall identify the statute that exempts 
the record from disclosure.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) 
ENERGY
POLICY
AND
CONSERVATION 
ACT.—Section 254(a)(2)(A) of the Energy Policy 
and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6274(a)(2)(A)) is 
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amended 
by 
striking 
‘‘(b)(9)’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘(b)(8)’’. 
(2) FEDERAL
CREDIT
UNION
ACT.—Section 
216(j)(3)(A) of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 
U.S.C. 1790d(j)(3)(A)) is amended— 
(A) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and all that follows 
and inserting a period; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘excising’’ and all that fol-
lows through ‘‘any portion’’ and inserting ‘‘ex-
cising any portion’’. 
(3) SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.—Sec-
tion 24 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 
U.S.C. 78x) is amended— 
(A) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘(g)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘(f)’’; 
(B) by striking subsection (e); and 
(C) by redesignating subsections (f) and 
(g) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively. 
SEC. 623. PUBLIC INTEREST BALANCING TEST. 
Section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
known as the ‘‘Freedom of Information Act’’), as amended 
by this subtitle, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 
paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘This section’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Subject to subsection (o), this section’’; and 
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(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(o)(1) Notwithstanding the applicability of an ex-
emption from disclosure under subsection (b), an agency 
shall make available a record or any segregable portion 
of a record if the public interest in disclosure clearly out-
weighs the interest protected by the exemption. 
‘‘(2) In evaluating the public interest in disclosing a 
record or a portion of a record under paragraph (1), an 
agency and courts shall consider— 
‘‘(A) the extent to which access to the record 
will further public understanding of the operations 
or decision making of an agency or Government offi-
cial; 
‘‘(B) the extent to which the age of the record 
diminishes the rationale for withholding the record; 
‘‘(C) any reasonable suspicion of governmental 
wrongdoing; 
‘‘(D) the importance of the record to the public 
in order for the public to make informed decisions 
with respect to the electoral and democratic process; 
and 
‘‘(E) any other factors that the agency or court 
determines necessary.’’. 
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