privacy, (D) disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) in the case of a record compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, disclose confidential information furnished only by the confidential source, (F) disclose investigative techniques and procedures, or (G) endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel;

(6) disclose trade secrets, or financial or commercial information obtained from any person, where such trade secrets or other information could not be obtained by the agency without a pledge of confidentiality, or where such information must be withheld from the public in order to prevent substantial injury to the competitive position of the person to whom such information relates; (7) disclose information which must be withheld from the public in order to avoid premature disclosure of an action or a proposed action by

(A) an agency which regulates currencies, securities, commodities, or financial institutions where such disclosure would (i) lead to serious financial speculation in currencies, securities, or commodities, or (ii) seriously endanger the stability of any financial institution;

(B) any agency where such disclosure would seriously frustrate implementation of the proposed agency action, or private action contingent thereon; or

(C) any agency relating to the purchase by such agency of real property.

This paragraph shall not apply in any instance where the agency has already disclosed to the public the content or nature of its proposed action, or where the agency is required by law to make such disclosure on its own initiative prior to taking final agency action on such proposal;

(8) disclose information contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions;

(9) specifically concern the agency's participation in a civil action in Federal or State court, or the initiation, conduct, or disposition by the agency of a particular case of formal agency adjudication pursuant to the procedures in section 554 of title 5, United States Code, or otherwise involving a determination on the record after opportunity for a hearing; or

(10) disclose information required to be withheld from the public by any other statute establishing particular criteria or referring to particular types of information.

(c) (1) Action under subsection (b) shall be taken only when a majority of the entire membership of the agency, or of the subdivision thereof authorized to conduct the meeting on behalf of the agency, votes to take such action. A separate vote of the agency members, or the members of a subdivision thereof, shall be taken with respect to each agency meeting a portion or portions of which are proposed to be closed to the public pursuant to subsection (b), or with respect to any information which is proposed to be withheld under subsection

(b). A single vote may be taken with respect to a series of meetings, a portion or portions of which are proposed to be closed to the public, or with respect to any information concerning such series of meetings, so long as each meeting in such series involves the same particular matters, and is scheduled to be held no more than thirty days after the initial meeting in such series. The vote of each agency member participating in such vote shall be recorded and no proxies shall be allowed. Whenever any person whose interests may be directly affected by a meeting requests that the agency close a portion or portions of the meeting to the public for any of the reasons referred to in paragraphs (3), (4), or (5) of subsection (b), the agency shall vote whether to close such meeting, upon request of any one of its members. Within one day of any vote taken pursuant to this paragraph the agency shall make publicly available a written copy of such vote.

(2) If a meeting or portion thereof is closed to the public, the agency shall, within one day of the vote taken pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, make publicly available a full written explanation of its action closing the meeting, or portion thereof, together with a list of all persons expected to attend the meeting, and their affiliation. (3) Any agency, a majority of whose meetings will properly be closed to the public, in whole or in part, pursuant to paragraphs (6). (7) (A), (8), or (9) of subsection (b), or any combination thereof, may provide by regulation for the closing of such meetings, or portions of such meetings, so long as a majority of the members of the agency, or of the subdivision thereof conducting the meeting, votes at the beginning of such meeting, or portion thereof. to close the meeting, and a copy of such vote is made available to the public. The provisions of this subsection, and subsection (d), shall not apply to any meeting to which such regulations apply: Provided, That the agency shall, except to the extent that the provision of subsection (b) may apply, provide the public with public announcement of the date, place, and subject matter of the meeting at the earliest practicable opportunity.

(d) In the case of each meeting, the agency shall make public announcement, at least one week before the meeting, of the date, place. and subject matter of the meeting, whether open or closed to the public, and the name and phone number of the official designated by the agency to respond to requests for information about the meeting. Such announcement shall be made unless a majority of the members of the agency, or of the members of the subdivision thereof conducting the meeting, determines by a vote that agency business requires that such meetings be called at an earlier date, in which case, the agency shall make public announcement of the date, place, and subject matter of such meeting, and whether open or closed to the public, at the earliest practicable opportunity. The subject matter of a meeting, or the determination of the agency to open or close a meeting, or portion of a meeting, to the public, may be changed following the public announcement required by this paragraph if. (1) a majority of the entire membership of the agency, or of the subdivision thereof conducting the meeting, determines by a vote that agency business so requires, and that no carlier announcement of the change was possible, and (2) the agency publicly announces such change at the earliest practicable opportunity. Immediately following the public announcement required by this par

agraph, notice of such announcement shall also be submitted for publication in the Federal Register.

(e) A complete transcript or electronic recording adequate to fully record the proceedings shall be made of each meeting, or portion of a meeting, closed to the public, except for a meeting, or portion of a meeting, closed to the public pursuant to paragraph (9) of subsection (b). The agency shall make promptly available to the public, in a place easily accessible to the public, the complete transcript or electronic recording of the discussion at such meeting of any item on the agenda, or of the testimony of any witness received at such meeting, where no significant portion of such discussion or testimony contains any information specified in paragraphs (1) through (10) of subsection (b). Copies of such transcript, or a transcription of such electronic recording disclosing the identity of each speaker, shall be furnished to any person at the actual cost of duplication or transcription. The agency shall maintain a complete verbatim copy of the transcript, or a complete electronic recording of each meeting, or portion of a meeting, closed to the public, for a period of at least two years after such meeting, or until one year after the conclusion of any agency proceeding with respect to which the meeting, or a portion thereof, was held, whichever occurs later.

(f) Each agency subject to the requirements of this section shall, within one hundred and eighty days after the enactment of this Act, following consultation with the Office of the Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States and published notice in the Federal Register of at least thirty days and opportunity for written comment by any persons, promulgate regulations to implement the requirements of subsections (a) through (e) of this section. Any person may bring a proceeding in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to require an agency to promulgate such regulations if such agency has not promulgated such regulations within the time period specified herein. Any person may bring a proceeding in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to set aside agency regulations issued pursuant to this subsection that are not in accord with the requirements of subsections (a) through (e) of this section, and to require the promulgation of regulations that are in accord with such subsections.

(g) The district courts of the United States have jurisdiction to enforce the requirement of subsections (a) through (e) of this section by declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, or other relief as may be appropriate. Such actions may be brought by any person against an agency or its members prior to, or within sixty days after, the meeting out of which the violation of this section arises, except that if public announcement of such meeting is not initially provided by the agency in accordance with the requirements of this section, such action may be instituted pursuant to this section at any time prior to sixty days after any public announcement of such meeting. Before bringing such action, the plaintiff shall first notify the agency of his intent to do so, and allow the agency a reasonable period of time, not to exceed ten days, to correct any violation of this section, except that such reasonable period of time shall not be held to exceed two working days where notification of such violation is made prior to a meeting which the agency

has voted to close. Such actions may be brought in the district wherein the plaintiff resides, or has his principal place of business, or where the agency in question has its headquarters. In such actions a defendant shall serve his answer within twenty days after the service of the complaint. The burden is on the defendant to sustain his action. In deciding such cases the court may examine in camera any portion of a transcript or electronic recording of a meeting closed to the public, and may take such additional evidence as it deems necessary. The court, having due regard for orderly administration and the public interest, as well as the interests of the party, may grant such equitable relief as it deems appropriate, including granting an injunction against future violations of this section, or ordering the agency to make available to the public the transcript or electronic recording of any portion of a meeting improperly closed to the public. Except to the extent provided in subsection (h) of this section, nothing in this section confers jurisdiction on any district court to set aside or invalidate any agency action taken or discussed at an agency meeting out of which the violation of this section arose.

(h) Any Federal court otherwise authorized by law to review agency action may, at the application of any person properly participating in the proceeding pursuant to other applicable law, inquire into violations by the agency of the requirements of this section, and afford any such relief as it deems appropriate.

(i) The court may assess against any party reasonable attorney fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred by any other party who substantially prevails in any action brought in accordance with the provisions of subsection (f), (g), or (h) of this section. Costs may be assessed against an individual member of an agency only in the case where the court finds such agency member has intentially and repeatedly violated this section, or against the plaintiff where the court finds that the suit was initiated by the plaintiff for frivolous or dilatory purposes. In the case of apportionment of costs against an agency, the costs may be assessed by the court against the United States.

(j) The agencies subject to the requirements of this section shall annually report to Congress regarding their compliance with such requirements, including a tabulation of the total number of agency meetings open to the public, the total number of meetings closed to the public, the reasons for closing such meetings, and a description of any litigation brought against the agency under this section.

SEC. 202. (a) Section 557 of title 5. United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

"(d) In any agency proceeding which is subject to subsection (a) of this section, except to the extent required for the disposition of ex parte matters as authorized by law

"(1) no interested person outside the agency shall make or knowingly cause to be made to any member of the body comprising the agency, administrative law judge, or other employee who is or may reasonably be expected to be involved in the decisional process of the proceeding, an ex parte communication relevant to the merits of the proceeding:

"(2) no member of the body comprising the agency, administrative law judge, or other employee who is or may reasonably

be expected to be involved in the decisional process of the proceeding, shall make or knowingly cause to be made to an interested person outside the agency an ex parte communication relevant to the merits of the proceeding;

"(3) a member of the body comprising the agency, administrative law judge, or other employee who is or may reasonably be expected to be involved in the decisional process of such proceeding who receives, or who makes, a communication in violation of this subsection, shall place on the public record of the proceeding: "(A) written communications transmitted in violation of this subsection;

"(B) memorandums stating the substance of all oral communications occurring in violation of this subsection; and "(C) responses to the materials described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this subsection;

"(4) upon receipt of a communication knowingly made by a party, or which was 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 person or party to show cause why his claim or interest in the proceeding should not be dismissed, denied, disregarded, or otherwise adversely affected by virtue of such violation;

"(5) the prohibitions of this subsection shall apply at such time as the agency may designate, but in no case shall they 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 at the time of his acquisition of such knowledge.".

(b) The second sentence of section 554 (d) of title 5, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: "Such employee may not be responsible to or subject to the supervision or direction of an employee or agent engaged in the performance of investigative or prosecuting functions for an agency.".

(c) 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"

(3) by adding at the end thereof the following new paragraph: "(14) 'ex parte communication' means an oral or written communication not on the public record with respect to which reasonable prior notice to all parties is not given.".

(d) 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 sufficient grounds for a decision adverse to a party who has knowingly committed such violation or knowingly caused such violation to occur.".

SEC. 203. (a) Except as specifically provided by section 201, nothing in section 201 confers any additional rights on any person, or limits