ACUS call for information regarding Public Disclosure of Agency Legal Materials

Margaret Kwoka, Cary Coglianese, Bernard Bell, Michael Hertz and myself are part of an ACUS (Administrative Conference of the United States) committee on public disclosure of agency legal materials, including FOIA and other requirements, overlaps, inconsistencies, unclear or incomplete disclosure requirements, how limits on disclosure (trade secrecy; privacy) are defined, and how tech developments are/should be shaping disclosure.

Here is the request for public input:

ACUS is soliciting public input on key questions related to the public availability of agency legal materials such as regulations, guidance documents, and adjudicative decisions. The request for information is available on the ACUS website and will be published in the Federal Register later this week. Comments should be submitted to ACUS by July 18.

The request is part of a new ACUS project, Disclosure of Agency Legal Materials, which considers whether Congress should amend the Freedom of Information Act and other statutes governing the disclosure of agency legal materials to consolidate and harmonize overlapping requirements, account for technological developments, correct statutory ambiguities and drafting errors, and address other potential problems that may be identified.

ACUS has also engaged Professors Bernie Bell, Cary Coglianese, Michael Herz, Margaret Kwoka, and Orly Lobel to prepare a research report as part of the project.

The project will, if warranted, recommend statutory reforms to provide clear standards as to what legal materials agencies must publish and where they must publish them. The objective of any recommended amendments will be to ensure that agencies provide ready public access to important legal materials in the most efficient way possible.

Please contact Todd Rubin ([email protected]) with any questions.