IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 752 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 11, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary AN ACT To amend titles 5 and 28, United States Code, to require the maintenance of databases on awards of fees and other expenses to prevailing parties in certain adminis- trative 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 Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H752.RFS H752 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 752 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open Book on Equal 2 Access to Justice Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE 4 PROVISIONS. 5 (a) AGENCY PROCEEDINGS.—Section 504 of title 5, 6 United States Code, is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ‘‘, United 8 States Code’’; 9 (2) by redesignating subsection (f) as sub- 10 section (h); and 11 (3) by striking subsection (e) and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(e) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference 14 of the United States shall create and maintain online a 15 searchable database containing the following information 16 with respect to each award of fees and other expenses 17 under this section: 18 ‘‘(1) The case name and number of the adver- 19 sary adjudication, if available. 20 ‘‘(2) The name of the agency involved in the 21 adversary adjudication. 22 ‘‘(3) A description of the claims in the adver- 23 sary adjudication. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H752.RFS H752 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 752 RFS ‘‘(4) The name of each party to whom the 1 award was made, as such party is identified in the 2 order or other agency document making the award. 3 ‘‘(5) The amount of the award. 4 ‘‘(6) The basis for the finding that the position 5 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi- 6 fied. 7 ‘‘(f) The online searchable database described in sub- 8 section (f) may not reveal any information the disclosure 9 of which is prohibited by law or court order. 10 ‘‘(g) The head of each agency shall provide to the 11 Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United 12 States all information requested by the Chairman to com- 13 ply with the requirements of subsections (e) and (f) not 14 later than 60 days after the date on which the request 15 is made.’’. 16 (b) COURT CASES.—Section 2412(d) of title 28, 17 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(5) The Chairman of the Administrative Conference 20 shall create and maintain online a searchable database 21 containing the following information with respect to each 22 award of fees and other expenses under this section: 23 ‘‘(A) The case name and number. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H752.RFS H752 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 752 RFS ‘‘(B) The name of the agency involved in the 1 case. 2 ‘‘(C) The name of each party to whom the 3 award was made, as such party is identified in the 4 order or other court document making the award. 5 ‘‘(D) A description of the claims in the case. 6 ‘‘(E) The amount of the award. 7 ‘‘(F) The basis for the finding that the position 8 of the agency concerned was not substantially justi- 9 fied. 10 ‘‘(6) The online searchable database described in 11 paragraph (5) may not reveal any information the disclo- 12 sure of which is prohibited by law or court order. 13 ‘‘(7) The head of each agency (including the Attorney 14 General of the United States) shall provide to the Chair- 15 man of the Administrative Conference of the United 16 States all information requested by the Chairman to com- 17 ply with the requirements of paragraphs (5) and (6) not 18 later than 60 days after the date on which the request 19 is made.’’. 20 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 2412 of title 21 28, United States Code, is amended— 22 (1) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ‘‘United 23 States Code,’’; and 24 (2) in subsection (e)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H752.RFS H752 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 752 RFS (A) by striking ‘‘of section 2412 of title 1 28, United States Code,’’ and inserting ‘‘of this 2 section’’; and 3 (B) by striking ‘‘of such title’’ and insert- 4 ing ‘‘of this title’’. 5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 7 subsections (a) and (b) shall first apply with respect 8 to awards of fees and other expenses that are made 9 on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 10 (2) ONLINE DATABASES.—The online databases 11 required by section 504(e) of title 5, United States 12 Code, and section 2412(d)(5) of title 28, United 13 States Code, shall be established as soon as prac- 14 ticable after the date of the enactment of this Act, 15 but in no case later than 1 year after the date of 16 enactment of this Act. 17 Passed the House of Representatives February 7, 2019. Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:05 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H752.RFS H752 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS