OPEN Government Act creates FOIA ombudsman and tracking numbers, tightening agency accountability

President George W. Bush signs the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act (OPEN Government Act, Pub. L. 110-175) into law, enacting the first significant FOIA reform since 1996. The law creates the Office of Government Information Services within the National Archives as an independent FOIA ombudsman with authority to mediate disputes between requesters and agencies, requires agencies to assign tracking numbers to requests so citizens can monitor status, mandates fee waivers for requesters who substantially prevail in litigation, and requires agencies to report the number of requests that exceed the 20-day statutory response deadline. The 20-day response deadline itself, enacted in 1996, remains unchanged.