GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT A "(iii) all written responses, and memoranda stating the substance of all oral responses, to the materials described in clauses (i) and (ii) of this subparagraph; "(D) upon receipt of a communication knowingly made or knowingly caused to be made by a party in violation of this subsection, the agency, administrative law judge, or other employee presiding at the hearing may, to the extent consistent with the interests of justice and the policy of the underlying statutes, require the party to show cause why his claim or interest in the proceeding should not be dismissed, denied, disregarded, or otherwise adversely affected on account of such violation; and "(E) the prohibitions of this subsection shall apply beginning Applicability. at such time as the agency may designate, but in no case shall they begin to apply later than the time at which a proceeding is noticed for hearing unless the person responsible for the communication has knowledge that it will be noticed, in which case the prohibitions shall apply beginning at the time of his acquisition of such knowledge. "(2) This subsection does not constitute authority to withhold information from Congress.". (b) Section 551 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— (1) by striking out "and" at the end of paragraph (12); (2) by striking out the "act." at the end of paragraph (13) and inserting in lieu thereof "act; and"; and (3) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: "(14) 'ex parte communication' means an oral or written com- "Ex parte munication not on the public record with respect to which reason- communicaable prior notice to all parties is not given, but it shall not include tion." requests for status reports on any matter or proceeding covered by this subchapter.". (c) Section 556(d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting between the third and fourth sentences thereof the following new sentence: "The agency may, to the extent consistent with the interests of justice and the policy of the underlying statutes administered by the agency, consider a violation of section 557 (d) of this title suffi- 5 USC 557. cient grounds for a decision adverse to a party who has knowingly committed such violation or knowingly caused such violation to occur.". CONFORMING AMENDMENTS SEC. 5. (a) Section 410(b) (1) of title 39, United States Code, is amended by inserting after "Section 552 (public information)," the words "section 552a (records about individuals), section 552b (open meetings).". (b) Section 552 (b) (3) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "(3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), provided that such statute (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;". (c) Subsection (d) of section 10 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act is amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in lieu 5 USC app. I. thereof the following: "Subsections (a) (1) and (a) (3) of this section shall not apply to any portion of an advisory committee meeting where 90 STAT. 1247 A GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT 5 USC 552b note. the President, or the head of the agency to which the advisory com- EFFECTIVE DATE SEC. 6. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of this Act shall take effect 180 days after the date of its enactment. (b) Subsection (g) of section 552b of title 5, United States Code, as added by section 3 (a) of this Act, shall take effect upon enactment. Approved September 13, 1976. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: HOUSE REPORTS: No. 94- 880, Pt. I and No. 94-880, Pt. 2, accompanying SENATE REPORTS: No. 94-354 (Comm. on Government Operations), No. 94- CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: 6, considered and passed Senate. Aug. 31, House and Senate agreed to conference report. Vol. 12, No. 38 (1976): Sept. 13, Presidential statement. Government in the Sunshine Act: A. Proposed Regulation 1. Board for International Broadcasting 42 F.R. 9388 (Feb. 16, 1977) 2. Civil Aeronautics Board 3. Commodity Credit Corporation (Board of Directors) 4. Commodity Futures Trading Commission 42 F.R. 2995 (Jan. 14, 1977) 42 F.R. 7963 (Feb. 8, 1977) 42 F.R. 6558 (Feb. 2, 1977) 5. Consumer Product Safety Commission 42 F.R. 5079 (Jan. 27, 1977) 6. Council on Environmental Quality 7. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 8. Export-Import Bank of the United States (Board of Directors) 9. Federal Communications Commission 10. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Board of Directors) 11. Federal Election Commission 42 F.R. 8673 (Feb. 11, 1977) 42 F.R. 7162 (Feb. 7, 1977) 42 F.R. 5364 (Jan. 28, 1977) 41 F.R. 56675 (Dec. 29, 1976) 42 F.R. 8146 (Feb. 9, 1977) 42 F.R. 3810 (Jan. 19, 1977) 12. Federal Farm Credit Board within the 42 F.R. 55 (Jan. 3, 1977) Farm Credit Administration 13. Federal Home Loan Bank Board 14. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. 15. Federal Maritime Commission 18. Federal Trade Commission 19. Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation (Board of Trustees) 20. Indian Claims Commission 42 F.R. 2503 (Jan. 12, 1977) 42 F.R. 5125 (Jan. 27, 1977) 41 F.R. 55207 (Dec. 17, 1976) 41 F.R. 52303 (Nov. 29, 1976) 42 F.R. 5699 (Jan. 31, 1977) 41 F.R. 55885 (Dec. 23, 1976) 42 F.R. 5986 (Feb. 1, 1977) 42 F.R. 3864 (Jan. 21, 1977) 41 F.R. 56828 (Dec. 30, 1976) 41 F.R. 56340 (Dec. 28, 1976) 42 F.R. 2572 (Jan. 12, 1977) 1Under the Department of Energy Organization Act, P.L. No. 95-91, the existence of the Federal Power Commission was terminated and most of its functions were transferred to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. By Commission Order No. 1, issued October 6, 1977, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission made all FPC regulations then in effect, including open meeting regulations, applicable to the FERC. B GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT B. Final Regulation 1 C.F.R. §§460.1 et seq., 14 C.F.R. §§310b.1 et seq., 7 C.F.R. §§1409.1 et seq., 17 C.F.R. §§147.1 et seq., 16 C.F.R. §§1012.1 et seq., 40 C.F.R. §§1517.1 et seq., 29 C.F.R. §§1612.1 et seq., 12 C.F.R. §§407.1 et seq., 47 C.F.R. §§0.601 et seq., 12 C.F.R. §§311.1 et seq., 11 C.F.R. §§2.1 et seq., 12 C.F.R. §§505b.1 et seq., 1 C.F.R. §§460.1 et seq., 46 C.F.R. §§503.70 et seq., 42 F.R. 15405 (Mar. 22, 1977) 42 F.R. 14679 (Mar. 16, 1977) 42 F.R. 14673 (Mar. 16, 1977) 42 F.R. 13700 (Mar. 11, 1977) 42 F.R. 14683 (Mar. 16, 1977) 42 F.R. 20818 (Apr. 22, 1977) 42 F.R. 13830 (Mar. 14, 1977) 42 F.R. 12417 (Mar. 4, 1977) 42 F.R. 12864 (Mar. 7, 1977) 42 F.R. 14675 (Mar. 16, 1977) 42 F.R. 13202 (Mar. 9, 1977) 42 F.R. 12161 (Mar. 3, 1977) 42 F.R. 13107 (Mar. 9, 1977) 42 F.R. 14857 (Mar. 17, 1977) 42 F.R. 12049 (Mar. 2, 1977) 18 C.F.R. §§1.1,1.2,1.3a et seq., 42 F.R. 14697 (Mar. 16, 1977) 12 C.F.R. §§261b.1 et seq., 16 C.F.R. §§2.14, 3.52, 3.61, 25 C.F.R. §§504.1 et seq., 22 C.F.R. §§1004.1 et seq., 49 C.F.R. §§1012.1 et seq., 33 C.F.R. §209.50 42 F.R. 13297 (Mar. 10, 1977) 42 F.R. 13538 (Mar. 11, 1977) 42 F.R. 14722 (Mar. 16, 1977) 42 F.R. 13823 (Mar. 14, 1977) 42 F.R. 20460 (Apr. 20, 1977) 42 F.R. 13796 (Mar. 11, 1977) 42 F.R. 13286 (Mar. 10, 1977) GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT B A. Proposed Regulation 24. National Center for Productivity and 42 F.R. 14736 (Mar. 16, 1977) the Quality of Working Life2 25. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science 26. National Council on Educational Research 42 F.R. 3667 (Jan. 19, 1977) 42 F.R. 9399 (Feb. 16, 1977) 27. National Labor Relations Board 28. National Mediation Board 29. National Railroad Passenger Corp. 30. National Science Board of the National Science Foundation 31. National Transportation Safety Board 42 F.R. 5105 (Jan. 27, 1977) 42 F.R. 8155 (Feb. 9, 1977) 42 F.R. 9456 (Feb. 16, 1977) 41 F.R. 54956 (Dec. 16, 1976) 42 F.R. 5111 (Jan. 27, 1977) 41 F.R. 55880 (Dec. 23, 1976) 42 F.R. 8680 (Feb. 11, 1977) 34. Overseas Private Investment Corpo- 42 F.R. 5086 (Jan. 27, 1977) ration (Board of Directors) 35. Postal Rate Commission 36. Railroad Retirement Board 37. Renegotiation Board 41 F.R. 54950 (Dec. 16, 1976) 42 F.R. 9034 (Feb. 14, 1977) 42 F.R. 3322 (Jan. 18, 1977) 38. Securities and Exchange Commission 42 F.R. 6827 (Feb. 4, 1977) 39. Tennessee Valley Authority (Board of Directors) 42 F.R. 4859 (Jan. 26, 1977) 40. Uniformed Services University of the 41 F.R. 55724 (Dec. 22, 1976) Health Sciences (Board of Regents) 41. U.S. Civil Service Commission 42. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 43. U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission 44. U.S. International Trade Commission 45. U.S. Parole Commission 46. U.S. Postal Service (Board of 47. U.S. Railway Association 49. Legal Services Corporation1 50. National Museum Services Boards 41 F.R. 55537 (Dec. 21, 1976) 42 F.R. 5705 (Jan. 31, 1977) 42 F.R. 3872 (Jan. 21, 1977) 41 F.R. 53039 (Dec. 3, 1976) 42 F.R. 6610 (Feb. 3, 1977) 42 F.R. 2699 (Jan. 13, 1977) 42 F.R. 6614 (Feb. 3, 1977) 43 F.R. 1807 (Jan. 12, 1978) 2The Center has delayed promulgating final regulations pending Presidential appointment of a Board of Directors. 3See note 1, p. 1, supra. 4ld. 5ld. |