PRINTER'S NO. 1686
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1553
Session of
2021
INTRODUCED BY HARKINS, MADDEN, SANCHEZ, FREEMAN, McNEILL,
GUENST, NEILSON, ROZZI, PASHINSKI AND MERSKI, JUNE 7, 2021
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, JUNE 7, 2021
AN ACT
Amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), entitled
"An act providing for access to public information, for a
designated open-records officer in each Commonwealth agency,
local agency, judicial agency and legislative agency, for
procedure, for appeal of agency determination, for judicial
review and for the Office of Open Records; imposing
penalties; providing for reporting by State-related
institutions; requiring the posting of certain State contract
information on the Internet; and making related repeals," in
procedure, further providing for exceptions for public
records; and, in judicial review, further providing for fee
limitations.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 708(b) of the act of February 14, 2008
(P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, is amended by
adding paragraph to read:
Section 708. Exceptions for public records.
* * *
(b) Exceptions.--Except as provided in subsections (c) and
(d), the following are exempt from access by a requester under
this act:
* * *
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(31) Records that are reasonably burdensome in their
scope for an agency to produce.
* * *
Section 2. Section 1307(h) of the act is amended and the
section is amended by adding a subsection to read:
Section 1307. Fee limitations.
* * *
(h) Prepayment.--Prior to granting a request for access in
accordance with this act, an agency may require a requester to
prepay an estimate of the fees authorized under this section if
the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed
$100 in accordance with subsection (i).
(i) For-profit entity fees.--
(1) An agency shall be permitted to charge reasonable
fees, in addition to other fees authorized by this act, for
the processing of records requests which are intended for use
by for-profit entities or for-profit activities. Such fees
shall be payable in advance and the agency's time for
response shall commence from the date of receipt of the fee.
Agencies shall be required to notify the requester of the
required fee within five business days of receipt of the
records request. An agency may make inquiries of a requester
to determine whether the requester is a for-profit entity or
engaged in for-profit activity, including inquiries
concerning the purpose of the request.
(2) Newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets and similar
organizations shall be exempt from the fee provided in
paragraph (1).
Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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