OPEN Government Act of 2007
PL 110-175 (S.2488), enacted 12/31/2007

121 STAT. 2524 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
Public Law 110–175 
110th Congress 
An Act 
To promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strength-
ening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the 
Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Openness Promotes Effectiveness 
in our National Government Act of 2007’’ or the ‘‘OPEN Government 
Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the Freedom of Information Act was signed into law 
on July 4, 1966, because the American people believe that— 
(A) our constitutional democracy, our system of self- 
government, and our commitment to popular sovereignty 
depends upon the consent of the governed; 
(B) such consent is not meaningful unless it is informed 
consent; and 
(C) as Justice Black noted in his concurring opinion 
in Barr v. Matteo (360 U.S. 564 (1959)), ‘‘The effective 
functioning of a free government like ours depends largely 
on the force of an informed public opinion. This calls for 
the widest possible understanding of the quality of govern-
ment service rendered by all elective or appointed public 
officials or employees.’’; 
(2) the American people firmly believe that our system 
of government must itself be governed by a presumption of 
openness; 
(3) the Freedom of Information Act establishes a ‘‘strong 
presumption in favor of disclosure’’ as noted by the United 
States Supreme Court in United States Department of State 
v. Ray (502 U.S. 164 (1991)), a presumption that applies to 
all agencies governed by that Act; 
(4) ‘‘disclosure, not secrecy, is the dominant objective of 
the Act,’’ as noted by the United States Supreme Court in 
Department of Air Force v. Rose (425 U.S. 352 (1976)); 
(5) in practice, the Freedom of Information Act has not 
always lived up to the ideals of that Act; and 
(6) Congress should regularly review section 552 of title 
5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom 
of Information Act), in order to determine whether further 
changes and improvements are necessary to ensure that the 
5 USC 552 note. 
5 USC 101 note. 
Openness 
Promotes 
Effectiveness in 
our National 
Government Act 
of 2007. 
Dec. 31, 2007 
[S. 2488] 
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121 STAT. 2525 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
Government remains open and accessible to the American 
people and is always based not upon the ‘‘need to know’’ but 
upon the fundamental ‘‘right to know’’. 
SEC. 3. PROTECTION OF FEE STATUS FOR NEWS MEDIA. 
Section 552(a)(4)(A)(ii) of title 5, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘In this clause, the term ‘a representative of the news media’ 
means any person or entity that gathers information of potential 
interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to 
turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that 
work to an audience. In this clause, the term ‘news’ means informa-
tion that is about current events or that would be of current 
interest to the public. Examples of news-media entities are tele-
vision or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large and 
publishers of periodicals (but only if such entities qualify as dissemi-
nators of ‘news’) who make their products available for purchase 
by or subscription by or free distribution to the general public. 
These examples are not all-inclusive. Moreover, as methods of news 
delivery evolve (for example, the adoption of the electronic dissemi-
nation of newspapers through telecommunications services), such 
alternative media shall be considered to be news-media entities. 
A freelance journalist shall be regarded as working for a news- 
media entity if the journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for 
expecting publication through that entity, whether or not the jour-
nalist is actually employed by the entity. A publication contract 
would present a solid basis for such an expectation; the Government 
may also consider the past publication record of the requester 
in making such a determination.’’. 
SEC. 4. RECOVERY OF ATTORNEY FEES AND LITIGATION COSTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(E)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a 
complainant 
has 
substantially 
prevailed 
if 
the 
complainant has obtained relief through either— 
‘‘(I) a judicial order, or an enforceable written agree-
ment or consent decree; or 
‘‘(II) a voluntary or unilateral change in position by 
the agency, if the complainant’s claim is not insubstantial.’’. 
(b) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding section 1304 of title 31, 
United States Code, no amounts may be obligated or expended 
from the Claims and Judgment Fund of the United States Treasury 
to pay the costs resulting from fees assessed under section 
552(a)(4)(E) of title 5, United States Code. Any such amounts shall 
be paid only from funds annually appropriated for any authorized 
purpose for the Federal agency against which a claim or judgment 
has been rendered. 
SEC. 5. DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS FOR ARBITRARY AND CAPRICIOUS 
REJECTIONS OF REQUESTS. 
Section 552(a)(4)(F) of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(i)’’ after ‘‘(F)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(ii) The Attorney General shall— 
Reports. 
5 USC 552 note. 
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121 STAT. 2526 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
‘‘(I) notify the Special Counsel of each civil action described 
under the first sentence of clause (i); and 
‘‘(II) annually submit a report to Congress on the number 
of such civil actions in the preceding year. 
‘‘(iii) The Special Counsel shall annually submit a report to 
Congress on the actions taken by the Special Counsel under clause 
(i).’’. 
SEC. 6. TIME LIMITS FOR AGENCIES TO ACT ON REQUESTS. 
(a) TIME LIMITS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 552(a)(6)(A) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after clause (ii) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘The 20-day period under clause (i) shall commence on 
the date on which the request is first received by the appro-
priate component of the agency, but in any event not later 
than ten days after the request is first received by any compo-
nent of the agency that is designated in the agency’s regulations 
under this section to receive requests under this section. The 
20-day period shall not be tolled by the agency except— 
‘‘(I) that the agency may make one request to 
the requester for information and toll the 20-day period 
while it is awaiting such information that it has reason-
ably requested from the requester under this section; 
or 
‘‘(II) if necessary to clarify with the requester 
issues regarding fee assessment. In either case, the 
agency’s receipt of the requester’s response to the 
agency’s request for information or clarification ends 
the tolling period.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by this sub-
section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act. 
(b) COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.— 
(A) SEARCH
FEES.—Section 552(a)(4)(A) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(viii) An agency shall not assess search fees (or 
in the case of a requester described under clause (ii)(II), 
duplication fees) under this subparagraph if the agency 
fails to comply with any time limit under paragraph 
(6), if no unusual or exceptional circumstances (as those 
terms are defined for purposes of paragraphs (6)(B) 
and (C), respectively) apply to the processing of the 
request.’’. 
(B) PUBLIC LIAISON.—Section 552(a)(6)(B)(ii) of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 
first sentence the following: ‘‘To aid the requester, each 
agency shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison, who 
shall assist in the resolution of any disputes between the 
requester and the agency.’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.—The amendment 
made by this subsection shall take effect 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this Act and apply to requests for informa-
tion under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, filed 
on or after that effective date. 
5 USC 552 note. 
5 USC 552 note. 
Notification. 
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121 STAT. 2527 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
SEC. 7. INDIVIDUALIZED TRACKING NUMBERS FOR REQUESTS AND 
STATUS INFORMATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(a) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) Each agency shall— 
‘‘(A) establish a system to assign an individualized tracking 
number for each request received that will take longer than 
ten days to process and provide to each person making a 
request the tracking number assigned to the request; and 
‘‘(B) establish a telephone line or Internet service that 
provides information about the status of a request to the person 
making the request using the assigned tracking number, 
including— 
‘‘(i) the date on which the agency originally received 
the request; and 
‘‘(ii) an estimated date on which the agency will com-
plete action on the request.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION.—The amendment made 
by this section shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act and apply to requests for information under section 
552 of title 5, United States Code, filed on or after that effective 
date. 
SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552(e)(1) of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by inserting after the first 
comma ‘‘the number of occasions on which each statute was 
relied upon,’’; 
(2) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and average’’ after 
‘‘median’’; 
(3) in subparagraph (E), by inserting before the semicolon 
‘‘, based on the date on which the requests were received 
by the agency’’; 
(4) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as subpara-
graphs (N) and (O), respectively; and 
(5) by inserting after subparagraph (E) the following: 
‘‘(F) the average number of days for the agency to 
respond to a request beginning on the date on which the 
request was received by the agency, the median number 
of days for the agency to respond to such requests, and 
the range in number of days for the agency to respond 
to such requests; 
‘‘(G) based on the number of business days that have 
elapsed since each request was originally received by the 
agency— 
‘‘(i) the number of requests for records to which 
the agency has responded with a determination within 
a period up to and including 20 days, and in 20- 
day increments up to and including 200 days; 
‘‘(ii) the number of requests for records to which 
the agency has responded with a determination within 
a period greater than 200 days and less than 301 
days; 
‘‘(iii) the number of requests for records to which 
the agency has responded with a determination within 
5 USC 552 note. 
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121 STAT. 2528 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
a period greater than 300 days and less than 401 
days; and 
‘‘(iv) the number of requests for records to which 
the agency has responded with a determination within 
a period greater than 400 days; 
‘‘(H) the average number of days for the agency to 
provide the granted information beginning on the date 
on which the request was originally filed, the median 
number of days for the agency to provide the granted 
information, and the range in number of days for the 
agency to provide the granted information; 
‘‘(I) the median and average number of days for the 
agency to respond to administrative appeals based on the 
date on which the appeals originally were received by the 
agency, the highest number of business days taken by 
the agency to respond to an administrative appeal, and 
the lowest number of business days taken by the agency 
to respond to an administrative appeal; 
‘‘(J) data on the 10 active requests with the earliest 
filing dates pending at each agency, including the amount 
of time that has elapsed since each request was originally 
received by the agency; 
‘‘(K) data on the 10 active administrative appeals with 
the earliest filing dates pending before the agency as of 
September 30 of the preceding year, including the number 
of business days that have elapsed since the requests were 
originally received by the agency; 
‘‘(L) the number of expedited review requests that are 
granted and denied, the average and median number of 
days for adjudicating expedited review requests, and the 
number adjudicated within the required 10 days; 
‘‘(M) the number of fee waiver requests that are 
granted and denied, and the average and median number 
of days for adjudicating fee waiver determinations;’’. 
(b) APPLICABILITY TO AGENCY AND EACH PRINCIPAL COMPONENT 
OF THE AGENCY.—Section 552(e) of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as para-
graphs (3) through (6), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: 
‘‘(2) Information in each report submitted under paragraph 
(1) shall be expressed in terms of each principal component 
of the agency and for the agency overall.’’. 
(c) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—Section 552(e)(3) of title 
5, United States Code, (as redesignated by subsection (b) of this 
section) is amended by adding at the end ‘‘In addition, each agency 
shall make the raw statistical data used in its reports available 
electronically to the public upon request.’’. 
SEC. 9. OPENNESS OF AGENCY RECORDS MAINTAINED BY A PRIVATE 
ENTITY. 
Section 552(f) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(2) ‘record’ and any other term used in this section in 
reference to information includes— 
‘‘(A) any information that would be an agency record 
subject to the requirements of this section when maintained 
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121 STAT. 2529 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
by an agency in any format, including an electronic format; 
and 
‘‘(B) any information described under subparagraph 
(A) that is maintained for an agency by an entity under 
Government contract, for the purposes of records manage-
ment.’’. 
SEC. 10. OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h)(1) There is established the Office of Government Informa-
tion Services within the National Archives and Records Administra-
tion. 
‘‘(2) The Office of Government Information Services shall— 
‘‘(A) review policies and procedures of administrative agen-
cies under this section; 
‘‘(B) review compliance with this section by administrative 
agencies; and 
‘‘(C) recommend policy changes to Congress and the Presi-
dent to improve the administration of this section. 
‘‘(3) The Office of Government Information Services shall offer 
mediation services to resolve disputes between persons making 
requests under this section and administrative agencies as a non- 
exclusive alternative to litigation and, at the discretion of the Office, 
may issue advisory opinions if mediation has not resolved the 
dispute. 
‘‘(i) The Government Accountability Office shall conduct audits 
of administrative agencies on the implementation of this section 
and issue reports detailing the results of such audits. 
‘‘(j) Each agency shall designate a Chief FOIA Officer who 
shall be a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant Secretary 
or equivalent level). 
‘‘(k) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, subject to 
the authority of the head of the agency— 
‘‘(1) have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and appro-
priate compliance with this section; 
‘‘(2) monitor implementation of this section throughout the 
agency and keep the head of the agency, the chief legal officer 
of the agency, and the Attorney General appropriately informed 
of the agency’s performance in implementing this section; 
‘‘(3) recommend to the head of the agency such adjustments 
to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding as may 
be necessary to improve its implementation of this section; 
‘‘(4) review and report to the Attorney General, through 
the head of the agency, at such times and in such formats 
as the Attorney General may direct, on the agency’s perform-
ance in implementing this section; 
‘‘(5) facilitate public understanding of the purposes of the 
statutory exemptions of this section by including concise 
descriptions of the exemptions in both the agency’s handbook 
issued under subsection (g), and the agency’s annual report 
on this section, and by providing an overview, where appro-
priate, of certain general categories of agency records to which 
those exemptions apply; and 
‘‘(6) designate one or more FOIA Public Liaisons. 
‘‘(l) FOIA Public Liaisons shall report to the agency Chief 
FOIA Officer and shall serve as supervisory officials to whom a 
Designation. 
Audits. 
Reports. 
Establishment. 
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121 STAT. 2530 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
requester under this section can raise concerns about the service 
the requester has received from the FOIA Requester Center, fol-
lowing an initial response from the FOIA Requester Center Staff. 
FOIA Public Liaisons shall be responsible for assisting in reducing 
delays, increasing transparency and understanding of the status 
of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section 
shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 11. REPORT ON PERSONNEL POLICIES RELATED TO FOIA. 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Office of Personnel Management shall submit to Congress 
a report that examines— 
(1) whether changes to executive branch personnel policies 
could be made that would— 
(A) provide greater encouragement to all Federal 
employees to fulfill their duties under section 552 of title 
5, United States Code; and 
(B) enhance the stature of officials administering that 
section within the executive branch; 
(2) whether performance of compliance with section 552 
of title 5, United States Code, should be included as a factor 
in personnel performance evaluations for any or all categories 
of Federal employees and officers; 
(3) whether an employment classification series specific 
to compliance with sections 552 and 552a of title 5, United 
States Code, should be established; 
(4) whether the highest level officials in particular agencies 
administering such sections should be paid at a rate of pay 
equal to or greater than a particular minimum rate; and 
(5) whether other changes to personnel policies can be 
made to ensure that there is a clear career advancement track 
for individuals interested in devoting themselves to a career 
in compliance with such sections; and 
(6) whether the executive branch should require any or 
all categories of Federal employees to undertake awareness 
training of such sections. 
SEC. 12. REQUIREMENT TO DESCRIBE EXEMPTIONS AUTHORIZING 
DELETIONS OF MATERIAL PROVIDED UNDER FOIA. 
Section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended in 
the matter after paragraph (9)— 
(1) in the second sentence, by inserting after ‘‘amount of 
information deleted’’ the following: ‘‘, and the exemption under 
which the deletion is made,’’; and 
5 USC 552 note. 
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121 STAT. 2531 
PUBLIC LAW 110–175—DEC. 31, 2007 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2488: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 153 (2007): 
Dec. 14, considered and passed Senate. 
Dec. 18, considered and passed House. 
(2) in the third sentence, by inserting after ‘‘amount of 
the information deleted’’ the following: ‘‘, and the exemption 
under which the deletion is made,’’. 
Approved December 31, 2007. 
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