[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1770 Introduced in House (IH)]
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115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1770
To expand the Government's use and administration of data to facilitate
transparency, effective governance, and innovation, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 29, 2017
Mr. Kilmer (for himself and Mr. Farenthold) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To expand the Government's use and administration of data to facilitate
transparency, effective governance, and innovation, 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, Public, Electronic, and
Necessary Government Data Act'' or the ``OPEN Government Data Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Federal Government data is a valuable national
resource. Managing Federal Government data to make it open,
available, discoverable, and usable to the general public,
businesses, journalists, academics, and advocates promotes
efficiency and effectiveness in Government, creates economic
opportunities, promotes scientific discovery, and most
importantly, strengthens our democracy.
(2) Maximizing the usefulness of Federal Government data
that is appropriate for release rests upon making it readily
available, discoverable, and usable--in a word: open.
Information presumptively should be available to the general
public unless the Federal Government reasonably foresees that
disclosure could harm a specific, articulable interest
protected by law or the Federal Government is otherwise
expressly prohibited from releasing such data due to statutory
requirements.
(3) The Federal Government has the responsibility to be
transparent and accountable to its citizens.
(4) Data controlled, collected, or created by the Federal
Government should be originated, transmitted, and published in
modern, open, and electronic format, to be as readily
accessible as possible, consistent with data standards under
this Act or otherwise permitted by law.
(5) The effort to inventory Government data will have
additional benefits, including identifying opportunities within
agencies to reduce waste, increase efficiencies, and save
taxpayer dollars. As such, this effort should involve many
types of data, including data generated by applications,
devices, networks, and equipment, which can be harnessed to
improve operations, lower energy consumption, reduce costs, and
strengthen security.
(6) Communication, commerce, and data transcend national
borders. Global access to Government information is often
essential to promoting innovation, scientific discovery,
entrepreneurship, education, and the general welfare.
SEC. 3. DEFINITION.
In this Act, the term ``agency'' has the meaning given the term in
section 3561 of title 44, United States Code, as added by section 4.
SEC. 4. OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA.
(a) In General.--Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Subchapter III--Open Government Data
``Sec. 3561. Definitions
``As used in this subchapter--
``(1) the term `agency'--
``(A) has the meaning given the term in section
3502; and
``(B) includes the Federal Election Commission;
``(2) the term `data' means recorded information,
regardless of form or the media on which the data is recorded;
``(3) the term `data asset' means a collection of data
elements or data sets that may be grouped together;
``(4) the term `Director' means the Director of the Office
of Management and Budget;
``(5) the term `Enterprise Data Inventory' means the data
inventory developed and maintained pursuant to section 3563;
``(6) the terms `information resources management',
`information system', and `information technology' have the
meanings given those terms in section 3502;
``(7) the term `machine-readable' means a format in which
information or data can be easily processed by a computer
without human intervention while ensuring no semantic meaning
is lost;
``(8) the term `metadata' means structural or descriptive
information about data such as content, format, source, rights,
accuracy, provenance, frequency, periodicity, granularity,
publisher or responsible party, contact information, method of
collection, and other descriptions;
``(9) the term `nonpublic data asset'--
``(A) means a data asset that may not be made
available to the public for privacy, security,
confidentiality, regulation, or other reasons as
determined by law; and
``(B) includes data provided by contractors that is
protected by contract, license, patent, trademark,
copyright, confidentiality, regulation, or other
restriction;
``(10) the term `open Government data asset' means a data
asset maintained by the Federal Government that is--
``(A) machine-readable;
``(B) available in an open format;
``(C) not encumbered by restrictions that would
impede use or reuse; and
``(D) based on an underlying open standard that is
maintained by a standards organization;
``(11) the term `open license' means a legal guarantee
applied to a public data asset that the data asset is made
available--
``(A) at no cost to the public; and
``(B) with no restrictions on copying, publishing,
distributing, transmitting, citing, or adapting; and
``(12) the term `public data asset' means a data asset
maintained by the Federal Government that--
``(A) may be released to the public;
``(B) has been released to the public in an open
format and is discoverable through a search of Data.gov
or any successor to Data.gov; or
``(C) is part of the worldwide public domain or, if
necessary, published with an open license.
``Sec. 3562. Requirements for Government data
``(a) Machine-Readable Data Required.--Open Government data assets
made available by an agency shall be published as machine-readable
data.
``(b) Open by Default.--When not otherwise prohibited by law, and
to the extent practicable, public data assets and nonpublic data assets
maintained by the Federal Government shall--
``(1) be available in an open format; and
``(2) be available under open licenses.
``(c) Open License or Worldwide Public Domain Dedication
Required.--When not otherwise prohibited by law, and to the extent
practicable, open Government data assets published by or for an agency
shall be made available under an open license or, if not made available
under an open license and appropriately released, shall be considered
to be published as part of the worldwide public domain.
``(d) Innovation.--Each agency may engage with nongovernmental
organizations, citizens, nonprofit organizations, colleges and
universities, private and public companies, and other agencies to
explore opportunities to leverage the public data assets of the agency
in a manner that may provide new opportunities for innovation in the
public and private sectors in accordance with law and regulation.
``Sec. 3563. Enterprise data inventory
``(a) Agency Data Inventory Required.--
``(1) In general.--In order to develop a clear and
comprehensive understanding of the data assets in the
possession of an agency, the head of each agency, in
consultation with the Director, shall develop and maintain an
enterprise data inventory (in this section referred to as the
`Enterprise Data Inventory') that accounts for any data asset
created, collected, under the control or direction of, or
maintained by the agency after the effective date of this
section, with the goal of including all data assets, to the
extent practicable.
``(2) Contents.--The Enterprise Data Inventory shall
include each of the following:
``(A) Data assets used in agency information
systems (including program administration, statistics,
and financial activity) generated by applications,
devices, networks, facilities, and equipment,
categorized by source type.
``(B) Data assets shared or maintained across
agency programs and bureaus.
``(C) Data assets that are shared among agencies or
created by more than 1 agency.
``(D) A clear indication of all data assets that
can be made publicly available under section 552 of
title 5 (commonly known as the `Freedom of Information
Act').
``(E) A description of whether the agency has
determined that an individual data asset may be made
publicly available and whether the data asset is
available to the public.
``(F) Nonpublic data assets.
``(G) Open Government data assets.
``(b) Public Availability.--The Chief Information Officer of each
agency shall use the standards provided by the Director issued pursuant
to subsection (c) to make public data assets included in the Enterprise
Data Inventory publicly available in an open format and under an open
license.
``(c) Standards for Enterprise Data Inventory.--The Director shall
issue standards for the Enterprise Data Inventory, including--
``(1) a requirement that the Enterprise Data Inventory
include a compilation of metadata about agency data assets; and
``(2) criteria that the head of each agency shall use in
determining whether to make a particular data asset publicly
available in a manner that takes into account--
``(A) the expectation of confidentiality associated
with an individual data asset;
``(B) security considerations, including the risk
that information in an individual data asset in
isolation does not pose a security risk but when
combined with other available information may pose such
a risk;
``(C) the cost and benefits to the public of
converting the data into a manner that could be
understood and used by the public;
``(D) the expectation that all data assets that
would otherwise be made available under section 552 of
title 5 (commonly known as the `Freedom of Information
Act') be disclosed; and
``(E) any other considerations that the Director
determines to be relevant.
``(d) Nonpublic Data Assets.--Nonpublic data assets included in the
Enterprise Data Inventory may be maintained in a nonpublic section of
the inventory.
``(e) Availability of Enterprise Data Inventory.--The Chief
Information Officer of each agency--
``(1) shall make the Enterprise Data Inventory available to
the public on Data.gov;
``(2) shall ensure that access to the Enterprise Data
Inventory and the data contained therein is consistent with
applicable law and regulation; and
``(3) may implement paragraph (1) in a manner that
maintains a nonpublic portion of the Enterprise Data Inventory.
``(f) Regular Updates Required.--The Chief Information Officer of
each agency shall--
``(1) to the extent practicable, complete the Enterprise
Data Inventory for the agency not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this section; and
``(2) add additional data assets to the Enterprise Data
Inventory for the agency not later than 90 days after the date
on which the data asset is created or identified.
``(g) Use of Existing Resources.--When practicable, the Chief
Information Officer of each agency shall use existing procedures and
systems to compile and publish the Enterprise Data Inventory for the
agency.
``Sec. 3564. Federal agency responsibilities
``(a) Information Resources Management.--With respect to general
information resources management, each agency shall--
``(1) improve the integrity, quality, and utility of
information to all users within and outside the agency by--
``(A) using open format for any new open Government
data asset created or obtained on the date that is 1
year after the date of enactment of this section; and
``(B) to the extent practicable, encouraging the
adoption of open format for all open Government data
assets created or obtained before the date of enactment
of this section; and
``(2) in consultation with the Director, develop an open
data plan that, at a minimum and to the extent practicable--
``(A) requires the agency to develop processes and
procedures that--
``(i) require each new data collection
mechanism to use an open format; and
``(ii) allow the agency to collaborate with
non-Government entities, researchers,
businesses, and private citizens for the
purpose of understanding how data users value
and use open Government data assets;
``(B) identifies and implements methods for
collecting and analyzing digital information on data
asset usage by users within and outside of the agency,
including designating a point of contact within the
agency to assist the public and to respond to quality
issues, usability, recommendations for improvements,
and complaints about adherence to open data
requirements;
``(C) develops and implements a process to evaluate
and improve the timeliness, completeness, accuracy,
usefulness, and availability of open Government data
assets;
``(D) requires the agency to update the plan at an
interval determined by the Director;
``(E) includes requirements for meeting the goals
of the agency open data plan including technology,
training for employees, and implementing procurement
standards, in accordance with existing law, that allow
for the acquisition of innovative solutions from the
public and private sectors; and
``(F) prohibits the dissemination and accidental
disclosure of nonpublic data assets.
``(b) Information Dissemination.--With respect to information
dissemination, each agency--
``(1) shall provide access to open Government data assets
online;
``(2) shall take the necessary precautions to ensure that
the agency maintains the production and publication of data
assets which are directly related to activities that protect
the safety of human life or property, as identified by the open
data plan of the agency required under subsection (a)(2); and
``(3) may engage the public in using open Government data
assets and encourage collaboration by--
``(A) publishing information on open Government
data assets usage in regular, timely intervals, but not
less than annually;
``(B) receiving public input regarding priorities
for the analysis and disclosure of data assets to be
published;
``(C) assisting civil society groups and members of
the public working to expand the use of open Government
data assets; and
``(D) hosting challenges, competitions, events, or
other initiatives designed to create additional value
from open Government data assets.
``Sec. 3565. Additional Chief Information Officer responsibilities
``The Chief Information Officer of each agency, or other
appropriate official designated by the head of an agency, is
responsible for--
``(1) data asset management, format standardization,
sharing of data assets, and publication of data assets for the
agency;
``(2) the compilation and publication of the Enterprise
Data Inventory for the agency required under section 3563;
``(3) ensuring that agency data conforms with open data
best practices;
``(4) engaging agency employees, the public, and
contractors in using open Government data assets and encourage
collaborative approaches to improving data use;
``(5) supporting the agency Performance Improvement Officer
in generating data to support the function of the Performance
Improvement Officer described in section 1124(a)(2) of title
31;
``(6) reviewing the information technology infrastructure
of the agency and the impact of the infrastructure on making
data assets accessible to reduce barriers that inhibit data
asset accessibility;
``(7) ensuring that, to the extent practicable, the agency
is maximizing its own use of data, including data assets used
in agency information systems (including program
administration, statistics, and financial activity) generated
by applications, devices, networks, facilities, and equipment,
categorized by source type and such use is not otherwise
prohibited, to reduce costs, improve operations, and strengthen
security and privacy protections; and
``(8) identifying points of contact for roles and
responsibilities related to open data use and implementation as
required by the Director.
``Sec. 3566. Technology portal
``(a) Data.gov Required.--The Administrator of General Services
shall maintain a single public interface online as a point of entry
dedicated to sharing open Government data assets with the public.
``(b) Coordination With Agencies.--The Director shall determine,
after consultation with the head of each agency and the Administrator
of General Services, the method to access any open Government data
assets published through the interface described in subsection (a).''.
(b) Special Provisions.--
(1) Effective date.--Notwithstanding section 8, section
3562 of title 44, United States Code, as added by subsection
(a), shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to
any contract entered into by an agency on or after such
effective date.
(2) Use of open data assets.--Not later than 1 year after
the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each agency
shall ensure that any activities by the agency or any new
contract entered into by the agency meet the requirements of
section 3562 of title 44, United States Code, as added by
subsection (a).
(3) Deadline for technology portal.--Not later than 180
days after the effective date of this Act, the Administrator of
General Services shall meet the requirements of section 3566 of
title 44, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
(c) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``subchapter iii--open government data
``3561. Definitions.
``3562. Requirements for Government data.
``3563. Enterprise data inventory.
``3564. Federal agency responsibilities.
``3565. Additional Chief Information Officer responsibilities.
``3566. Technology portal.''.
SEC. 5. EVALUATION OF AGENCY ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES.
(a) Agency Review of Evaluation and Analysis Capabilities;
Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Chief Operating Officer of each agency shall submit to the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate,
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of
Representatives, and the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget a report on the review described in subsection (b).
(b) Requirements of Agency Review.--The report required under
subsection (a) shall assess the coverage, quality, methods,
effectiveness, and independence of the evaluation, research, and
analysis efforts of an agency, including each of the following:
(1) A list of the activities and operations of the agency
that are being evaluated and analyzed and the activities and
operations that have been evaluated and analyzed during the
previous 5 years.
(2) The extent to which the evaluations, research, and
analysis efforts and related activities of the agency support
the needs of various divisions within the agency.
(3) The extent to which the evaluation research and
analysis efforts and related activities of the agency address
an appropriate balance between needs related to organizational
learning, ongoing program management, performance management,
strategic management, interagency and private sector
coordination, internal and external oversight, and
accountability.
(4) The extent to which the agency uses methods and
combinations of methods that are appropriate to agency
divisions and the corresponding research questions being
addressed, including an appropriate combination of formative
and summative evaluation research and analysis approaches.
(5) The extent to which evaluation and research capacity is
present within the agency to include personnel, agency process
for planning and implementing evaluation activities,
disseminating best practices and findings, and incorporating
employee views and feedback.
(6) The extent to which the agency has the capacity to
assist front-line staff and program offices to develop the
capacity to use evaluation research and analysis approaches and
data in the day-to-day operations.
(c) GAO Review of Agency Reports.--Not later than 4 years after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to Congress a report that summarizes agency
findings and highlights trends from the reports submitted pursuant to
subsection (a) and, if appropriate, recommends actions to further
improve agency capacity to use evaluation techniques and data to
support evaluation efforts.
SEC. 6. ONLINE REPOSITORY AND ADDITIONAL REPORTS.
(a) Repository.--The Director of the Office of Management and
Budget shall collaborate with the Office of Government Information
Services and the Administrator of General Services to develop and
maintain an online repository of tools, best practices, and schema
standards to facilitate the adoption of open data practices, which
shall--
(1) include definitions, regulation and policy, checklists,
and case studies related to open data, this Act, and the
amendments made by this Act; and
(2) facilitate collaboration and the adoption of best
practices across the Federal Government relating to the
adoption of open data practices.
(b) GAO Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit
to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the
Senate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the
House of Representatives a report that identifies--
(1) the value of information made available to the public
as a result of this Act and the amendments made by this Act;
(2) whether it is valuable to expand the publicly available
information to any other data assets; and
(3) the completeness of the Enterprise Data Inventory at
each agency required under section 3563 of title 44, United
States Code, as added by section 4.
(c) Biennial OMB Report.--Not later than 1 year after the effective
date of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget shall electronically publish a report
on agency performance and compliance with this Act and the amendments
made by this Act.
(d) Agency CIO Report.--Not later than 1 year after the effective
date of this Act and every year thereafter, the Chief Information
Officer of each agency shall submit to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Homeland Security of the House of Representatives a report on
compliance with the requirements of this Act and the amendments made by
this Act, including information on the requirements that the agency
could not meet and what the agency needs to comply with those
requirements.
SEC. 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be
construed to require the disclosure of information or records that are
exempt from public disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United
States Code (commonly known as the ``Freedom of Information Act'').
SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect on
the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
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