[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2770 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2770

To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require annual reports 
to Congress on, and the maintenance of databases on, awards of fees and 
    other expenses to prevailing parties in certain administrative 
proceedings and court cases to which the United States is a party, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 31, 2014

   Mr. Walsh introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require annual reports 
to Congress on, and the maintenance of databases on, awards of fees and 
    other expenses to prevailing parties in certain administrative 
proceedings and court cases to which the United States is a party, 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 ``Open Book on Equal Access to Justice 
Act''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE PROVISIONS.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--Section 504 of title 5, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ``, United States 
        Code'';
            (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection (i); and
            (3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e)(1) Not later than March 31 of the first calendar year 
beginning after the date of enactment of the Open Book on Equal Access 
to Justice Act, and every year thereafter, the Chairman of the 
Administrative Conference of the United States, after consultation with 
the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration, 
shall submit to Congress and make publicly available on an Internet Web 
site a report on the amount of fees and other expenses awarded during 
the preceding fiscal year under this section.
    ``(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall describe the number, 
nature, and amount of the awards, the claims involved in the 
controversy, and any other relevant information that may aid Congress 
in evaluating the scope and impact of such awards.
    ``(3)(A) Each report under paragraph (1) shall account for all 
payments of fees and other expenses awarded under this section that are 
made pursuant to a settlement agreement, regardless of whether the 
settlement agreement is sealed or otherwise subject to nondisclosure 
provisions.
    ``(B) The disclosure of fees and other expenses required under 
subparagraph (A) shall not affect any other information that is subject 
to a nondisclosure provision in a settlement agreement.
    ``(f) As soon as practicable, and in any event not later than the 
date on which the first report under subsection (e)(1) is required to 
be submitted, the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 
United States shall create and maintain a searchable database on an 
Internet Web site containing the following information with respect to 
each award of fees and other expenses under this section made on or 
after the date of enactment of the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice 
Act:
            ``(1) The case name and number of the adversary 
        adjudication, if available, hyperlinked to the case (if 
        available) in any case in which the party other than the agency 
        is not an individual.
            ``(2) The name of the agency involved in the adversary 
        adjudication.
            ``(3) A description of the claims in the adversary 
        adjudication.
            ``(4) For an award made to an individual, a statement 
        indicating that the award was made to an individual that shall 
        not include any personally identifiable information.
            ``(5) For an award made to a party other than an 
        individual, the name of the party.
            ``(6) The amount of the award.
            ``(7) The basis for the finding that the position of the 
        agency concerned was not substantially justified.
    ``(g) The searchable database described in subsection (f) may not 
reveal any information the disclosure of which is prohibited by law or 
a court order.
    ``(h) The head of each agency shall provide to the Chairman of the 
Administrative Conference of the United States in a timely manner all 
information requested by the Chairman to comply with the requirements 
of subsections (e), (f), and (g).''.
    (b) Court Cases.--Section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5)(A) Not later than March 31 of the first calendar year 
        beginning after the date of enactment of the Open Book on Equal 
        Access to Justice Act, and every year thereafter, the Chairman 
        of the Administrative Conference of the United States, after 
        consultation with the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
        Business Administration, shall submit to Congress and make 
        publicly available on an Internet Web site a report on the 
        amount of fees and other expenses awarded during the preceding 
        fiscal year pursuant to this subsection.
            ``(B) Each report under subparagraph (A) shall describe the 
        number, nature, and amount of the awards, the claims involved 
        in the controversy, and any other relevant information that may 
        aid Congress in evaluating the scope and impact of such awards.
            ``(C)(i) Each report under subparagraph (A) shall account 
        for all payments of fees and other expenses awarded under this 
        subsection that are made pursuant to a settlement agreement, 
        regardless of whether the settlement agreement is sealed or 
        otherwise subject to nondisclosure provisions.
            ``(ii) The disclosure of fees and other expenses required 
        under clause (i) shall not affect any other information that is 
        subject to a nondisclosure provisions in a settlement 
        agreement.
            ``(D) As soon as practicable, and in any event not later 
        than the date on which the first report under subsection (e)(1) 
        is required to be submitted, the Chairman of the Administrative 
        Conference of the United States shall include and clearly 
        identify in each annual report under subparagraph (A), for each 
        case in which an award of fees and other expenses is included 
        in the report--
                    ``(i) any amounts paid under section 1304 of title 
                31 for a judgment in the case;
                    ``(ii) the amount of the award of fees and other 
                expenses; and
                    ``(iii) the statute under which the plaintiff filed 
                suit.
            ``(6) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 
        United States shall create and maintain a searchable database 
        on an Internet Web site containing the following information 
        with respect to each award of fees and other expenses under 
        this subsection:
                    ``(A) The case name and number, hyperlinked to the 
                case (if available) in any case in which the party 
                other than the agency is not an individual.
                    ``(B) The name of the agency involved in the case.
                    ``(C) For an award made to an individual, a 
                statement indicating that the award was made to an 
                individual that shall not include any personally 
                identifiable information.
                    ``(D) For an award made to a party other than an 
                individual, the name of the party.
                    ``(E) The amount of the award.
                    ``(F) The basis for the finding that the position 
                of the agency concerned was not substantially 
                justified.
            ``(7) The searchable database described in paragraph (6) 
        may not reveal any information the disclosure of which is 
        prohibited by law or a court order.
    ``(8) The head of each agency, including the Attorney General and 
the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, 
shall provide to the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the 
United States in a timely manner all information requested by the 
Chairman to comply with the requirements of paragraphs (5), (6), and 
(7).''.
    (c) Technical Amendments.--Section 2412 of title 28, United States 
Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ``United States 
        Code,''; and
            (2) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) by striking ``of section 2412 of title 28, 
                United States Code,'' and inserting ``of this 
                section''; and
                    (B) by striking ``of such title''.
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