E-Gov 2002

E-Government Act of 2002
Title II - Federal Management and Promotion of Electronic Government Services
§ 207. Accessibility, usability, and preservation of government information.
(a)PURPOSE- The purpose of this section is to improve the methods by which Government
information, including information on the Internet, is organized, preserved, and made accessible
to the public.
(b) DEFINITIONS- In this section, the term-(1)"Committee" means the Interagency Committee on Government Information established
under subsection (c); and
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(c) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE(1) ESTABLISHMENT- Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this title, the
Director shall establish the Interagency Committee on Government Information.
(2) MEMBERSHIP- The Committee shall be chaired by the Director or the designee of the
Director and-(C) share effective practices for access to, dissemination of, and retention of Federal
information.
(A) shall include representatives from-(i) the National Archives and Records Administration;
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(3) FUNCTIONS- The Committee shall-(A) engage in public consultation to the maximum extent feasible, including consultation with
interested communities such as public advocacy organizations;
(B) conduct studies and submit recommendations, as provided under this section, to the
Director and Congress; and

(C) share effective practices for access to, dissemination of, and retention of Federal
information.
(4) TERMINATION- The Committee may be terminated on a date determined by the Director,
except the Committee may not terminate before the Committee submits all recommendations
required under this section.
(d) CATEGORIZING OF INFORMATION(1) COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS- Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Committee shall submit recommendations to the Director on-(A) the adoption of standards, which are open to the maximum extent feasible, to enable the
organization and categorization of Government information-(i) in a way that is searchable electronically, including by searchable identifiers; and
(ii) in ways that are interoperable across agencies;
(B) the definition of categories of Government information which should be classified under
the standards; and
(C) determining priorities and developing schedules for the initial implementation of the
standards by agencies.
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(e) PUBLIC ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC INFORMATION(1) COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS- Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Committee shall submit recommendations to the Director and the Archivist of the United
States on-(A) the adoption by agencies of policies and procedures to ensure that chapters 21, 25, 27, 29,
and 31 of title 44, United States Code, are applied effectively and comprehensively to
Government information on the Internet and to other electronic records; and
(B) the imposition of timetables for the implementation of the policies and procedures by
agencies.

(2) FUNCTIONS OF THE ARCHIVIST- Not later than 1 year after the submission of
recommendations by the Committee under paragraph (1), the Archivist of the United States shall
issue policies-(A) requiring the adoption by agencies of policies and procedures to ensure that chapters 21,
25, 27, 29, and 31 of title 44, United States Code, are applied effectively and comprehensively to
Government information on the Internet and to other electronic records; and
(B) imposing timetables for the implementation of the policies, procedures, and technologies
by agencies.
(3) MODIFICATION OF POLICIES- After the submission of agency reports under paragraph
(4), the Archivist of the United States shall modify the policies, as needed, in consultation with
the Committee and interested parties.
(4) AGENCY FUNCTIONS- Each agency shall report annually to the Director, in the report
established under section 202(g), on compliance of that agency with the policies issued under
paragraph (2)(A).
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(f) AGENCY WEBSITES(1) STANDARDS FOR AGENCY WEBSITES- Not later than 2 years after the effective date
of this title, the Director shall promulgate guidance for agency websites that includes-(A) requirements that websites include direct links to-(i) descriptions of the mission and statutory authority of the agency;
(ii) information made available to the public under subsections (a)(1) and (b) of section 552
of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the `Freedom of Information Act');
(iii) information about the organizational structure of the agency; and
(iv) the strategic plan of the agency developed under section 306 of title 5, United States
Code; and
(B) minimum agency goals to assist public users to navigate agency websites,

including-(i) speed of retrieval of search results;
(ii) the relevance of the results;
(iii) tools to aggregate and disaggregate data; and
(iv) security protocols to protect information.
(2) AGENCY REQUIREMENTS(A) Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, each agency shall-(i) consult with the Committee and solicit public comment;
(ii) establish a process for determining which Government information the agency intends to
make available and accessible to the public on the Internet and by other means;
(iii) develop priorities and schedules for making Government information available and
accessible;
(iv) make such final determinations, priorities, and schedules available for public comment;
(v) post such final determinations, priorities, and schedules on the Internet; and
(vi) submit such final determinations, priorities, and schedules to the Director, in the report
established under section 202(g).
(B) Each agency shall update determinations, priorities, and schedules of the agency, as
needed, after consulting with the Committee and soliciting public comment, if appropriate.
(3) PUBLIC DOMAIN DIRECTORY OF PUBLIC FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITES(A) ESTABLISHMENT- Not later than 2 years after the effective date of this title, the
Director and each agency shall-(i) develop and establish a public domain directory of public Federal Government websites;
and
(ii) post the directory on the Internet with a link to the integrated Internet-based system
established under section 204.

(B) DEVELOPMENT- With the assistance of each agency, the Director
shall-(i) direct the development of the directory through a collaborative effort, including input
from-(I) agency librarians;
(II) information technology managers;
(III) program managers;
(IV) records managers;
(V) Federal depository librarians; and
(VI) other interested parties; and
(ii) develop a public domain taxonomy of subjects used to review and categorize public
Federal Government websites.
(C) UPDATE- With the assistance of each agency, the Administrator of the Office of
Electronic Government shall-(i) update the directory as necessary, but not less than every 6 months; and
(ii) solicit interested persons for improvements to the directory.
(g) ACCESS TO FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT(1) DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF GOVERNMENTWIDE REPOSITORY
AND WEBSITE(A) REPOSITORY AND WEBSITE- The Director of the Office of Management and Budget
(or the Director's delegate), in consultation with the Director of the Office of Science and
Technology Policy and other relevant agencies, shall ensure the development and maintenance
of-(i) a repository that fully integrates, to the maximum extent feasible, information about
research and development funded by the Federal Government, and the repository shall--

(I) include information about research and development funded by the Federal Government,
consistent with any relevant protections for the information under section 552 of title 5, United
States Code, and performed by-(aa) institutions not a part of the Federal Government, including State, local, and foreign
governments; industrial firms; educational institutions; not-for-profit organizations; federally
funded research and development centers; and private individuals; and
(bb) entities of the Federal Government, including research and development laboratories,
centers, and offices; and
(II) integrate information about each separate research and development task or award, including(aa) the dates upon which the task or award is expected to start and end;
(bb) a brief summary describing the objective and the scientific and technical focus of the task
or award;
(cc) the entity or institution performing the task or award and its contact information;
(dd) the total amount of Federal funds expected to be provided to the task or award over its
lifetime and the amount of funds expected to be provided in each fiscal year in which the work of
the task or award is ongoing;
(ee) any restrictions attached to the task or award that would prevent the sharing with the general
public of any or all of the information required by this subsection, and the reasons for such
restrictions; and
(ff) such other information as may be determined to be appropriate; and
(ii) 1 or more websites upon which all or part of the repository of Federal research and
development shall be made available to and searchable by Federal agencies and non-Federal
entities, including the general public, to facilitate-(I) the coordination of Federal research and development activities;
(II) collaboration among those conducting Federal research and development;

(III) the transfer of technology among Federal agencies and between Federal agencies and nonFederal entities; and
(IV) access by policymakers and the public to information concerning Federal research and
development activities.
(B) OVERSIGHT- The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall issue any
guidance determined necessary to ensure that agencies provide all information requested under
this subsection.
(2) AGENCY FUNCTIONS- Any agency that funds Federal research and development under
this subsection shall provide the information required to populate the repository in the manner
prescribed by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(3) COMMITTEE FUNCTIONS- Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this
Act, working with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and after
consultation with interested parties, the Committee shall submit recommendations to the Director
on-(A) policies to improve agency reporting of information for the repository established under
this subsection; and
(B) policies to improve dissemination of the results of research performed by Federal
agencies and federally funded research and development centers.
(4) FUNCTIONS OF THE DIRECTOR- After submission of recommendations by the
Committee under paragraph

(3), the Director shall report on the recommendations of the

Committee and Director to Congress, in the E-Government report under section 3606 of title 44
(as added by this Act).
(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS- There are authorized to be appropriated for
the development, maintenance, and operation of the Governmentwide repository and website
under this subsection-(A) $2,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 2003 through 2005; and
(B) such sums as are necessary in each of the fiscal years 2006 and 2007.