Preserving Data in Government Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4500 To amend title 44, United States Code, to preserve and protect open Government data assets. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES AUGUST 6, 2020 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Mr. GARDNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To amend title 44, United States Code, to preserve and protect open Government data assets. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preserving Data in 4 Government Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. PRESERVING OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA ASSETS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 35 of title 7 44, United States Code, is amended— 8 (1) in section 3502— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4500.IS S4500 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4500 IS (A) in paragraph (22), by striking ‘‘and’’ 1 at the end; 2 (B) in paragraph (23), by striking the pe- 3 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4 (C) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(24) the term ‘open format’ means a technical 6 format that is not encumbered by restrictions that 7 would impede use or reuse.’’; and 8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘§ 3522. Requirement to preserve open Government 10 data assets 11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under sub- 12 section (c), any open Government data asset that is made 13 available to the public for a period of not less than 90 14 consecutive days shall— 15 ‘‘(1) remain machine-readable, available in an 16 open format, and part of the worldwide public do- 17 main or, if necessary, published with an open li- 18 cense; and 19 ‘‘(2) not be altered in such a way as to decrease 20 the machine-readable nature of the open Govern- 21 ment data asset. 22 ‘‘(b) ALTERATION OF DIGITAL LOCATION, FORMAT, 23 OR CONTENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4500.IS S4500 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4500 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall not be a violation 1 of subsection (a) to alter— 2 ‘‘(A) the digital location or format of any 3 open Government data asset for the purpose of 4 routine asset maintenance or long-term 5 archiving if the alteration does not decrease the 6 open public accessibility or the machine-read- 7 able nature of the open Government data asset; 8 or 9 ‘‘(B) the contents of any open Government 10 data asset for purposes of updating the open 11 Government data asset or correcting an error in 12 the open Government data asset. 13 ‘‘(2) PERMANENCE OF DATA AFTER UP- 14 DATES.—For purposes of subsection (a), any alter- 15 ation of the digital location, format, or contents of 16 an open Government data asset under paragraph (1) 17 shall not constitute a renewal of the period for which 18 the open Government data asset has been made 19 available to the public. 20 ‘‘(3) RECORD OF DATA CHANGES AFTER UP- 21 DATES.—Any substantial alteration of the contents 22 of an open Government data asset under paragraph 23 (1) shall be recorded in a log that is made available 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4500.IS S4500 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4500 IS to the public in an open format along with the open 1 Government data asset. 2 ‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.— 3 ‘‘(1) CONSERVATION OF AGENCY RESOURCES.— 4 An agency may remove an open Government data 5 asset from public availability if— 6 ‘‘(A) the open Government data asset is 7 available for download on the worldwide public 8 domain for a period of not less than 90 days 9 before the date on which the agency removes 10 the open Government data asset from public 11 availability; 12 ‘‘(B) the head of the agency determines 13 that the open Government data asset— 14 ‘‘(i) is too costly to maintain; or 15 ‘‘(ii) does not provide sufficient value 16 to the public; and 17 ‘‘(C) not less than 6 months before the 18 date on which the agency removes the open 19 Government data asset from public availability, 20 the agency publishes a notice of the removal in 21 the Federal Register, including— 22 ‘‘(i) a clear identification of the open 23 Government data asset; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4500.IS S4500 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4500 IS ‘‘(ii) if applicable, the digital object 1 identifier of the open Government data 2 asset; 3 ‘‘(iii) a detailed description of the rea- 4 sons for the removal; and 5 ‘‘(iv) a detailed description of efforts 6 to make the open Government data asset 7 permanently publicly available. 8 ‘‘(2) OTHER PROVISIONS OF LAW.—Subsection 9 (a) shall not apply in the case of an open Govern- 10 ment data asset that is required to be removed from 11 public availability or altered under another provision 12 of law.’’. 13 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 14 The table of sections for subchapter I of chapter 35 of 15 title 44, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 16 the item relating to section 3521 the following: 17 ‘‘3522. Requirement to preserve open Government data assets.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:05 Aug 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4500.IS S4500 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS