‘‘(II) expeditious consideration of administrative
appeals of such determinations of whether to provide
expedited processing.
‘‘(iii) Agency action to deny or affirm denial of a re-
quest for expedited processing pursuant to this subpara-
graph, and failure by an agency to respond timely to such
a request—
‘‘(I) may only be for cause; and
‘‘(II) shall be subject to judicial review under
paragraph (4), except that the judicial review shall
be based on the record before the agency at the time
of the determination.
‘‘(iv) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term
‘compelling need’ means—
‘‘(I) that a failure to obtain requested records
on an expedited basis under this paragraph could
reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat
to the life or physical safety of an individual; or
‘‘(II) with respect to a request made by a per-
son engaged in disseminating information, compel-
ling urgency to the public.’’.
(b) EXTENSION OF GENERAL PERIOD FOR DETER-
MINING WHETHER TO COMPLY WITH A REQUEST.—Sec-
tion 552(a)(6)(A)(i) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended by striking ‘‘ten days’’ and inserting ‘‘20 days’’.
(c) ESTIMATION
OF
MATTER
DENIED.—Section
552(a)(6) of title 5 United States Code (as amended by
section 6 of this Act and subsection (a) of this section),
is further amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
‘‘(F) In denying a request for records, in whole or
in part, an agency shall make a reasonable effort to esti-
mate the volume of any requested matter the provision of
which is denied, and provide any such estimate to the per-
son making the request.’’.
SEC. 8. COMPUTER REDACTION.
Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, is
amended in the matter following paragraph (9) by striking
the period and inserting the following: ‘‘The deletions shall
be indicated on the released portion of the record. If tech-
nically feasible, each deletion shall be indicated at the
place in the record where such deletion was made.’’.
SEC. 9. AGENCY REPORTS.
(a) CONTENTS
OF
ANNUAL
REPORTS.—Section
552(e) of title 5, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ after
the semicolon;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (7) as para-
graph (10); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the follow-
ing new paragraphs:
‘‘(7) a complete list of all statutes relied on by
the agency to authorize the agency to withhold infor-
mation, and a description of the scope of informa-
tion withholdable;
‘‘(8) the time estimated to be necessary for the
agency to complete requests for information of dif-
ferent categories of size and complexity in the fu-
ture;
‘‘(9) reference materials and guides made avail-
able by the agency under subsection (g); and’’.
(b) ELECTRONIC AVAILABILITY.—Section 552 of title
5, United States Code, is amended by redesignating sub-
section (f) as subsection (h), and by inserting after sub-
section (e) the following new subsection:
‘‘(f)(1) The head of each agency shall make informa-
tion contained in the reports of the agency under sub-
section (e) available to the public—
‘‘(A) by means of computer telecommunications;
or
‘‘(B) if computer telecommunications means
have not been established by an agency, by other
electronic means.
‘‘(2) The Administrator of the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and
Budget shall establish a single electronic access point for
all agency reports under subsection (e). The Administrator
may delegate this responsibility to the head of any other
appropriate agency.
‘‘(3) This subsection shall apply to agency reports
under subsection (e) submitted after the conclusion of the
first fiscal year beginning after the date of the enactment
of the Electronic Freedom of Information Amendments of
1996.’’.
SEC. 10. REFERENCE MATERIALS AND GUIDES.
Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, as amend-
ed by section 9(b) of this Act, is further amended by in-
serting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:
‘‘(g) The head of each agency shall make available
to the public, reference material or a guide for requesting
records or information from the agency, including—
‘‘(1) an index of all major information systems
of the agency; and
‘‘(2) a description of major information and
record locator systems maintained by the agency.’’.
SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(b), this Act shall take effect 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(b) PROVISIONS EFFECTIVE ON ENACTMENT.—Sec-
tions 6 and 7 shall take effect one year after the date
of the enactment of this Act.
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