PUBLIC LAW 94-409—SEPT. 13, 1976
90 STAT. 1247
"(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- communication. able prior notice to all parties is not given, but it shall not include 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 groimds 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
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