Data Access

CRE Analysis

14. What type of enforcement mechanism is warranted in the event a grantee is unwilling to provide to the agency the data necessary to fill a FOIA request?

Comment by U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering

CRE Response:

In order to carry out its obligation to the public to assure that data will be made available in response to a future FOIA request, OMB should include in the revisions to Circular A-110 a mechanism sufficient to enforce the government's and the public's right to access the research data. Existing enforcement mechanisms in Circular A-110 may be insufficient for this purpose. As the Department of Defense comments indicate, OMB should give special attention in this regard to situations in which the grantee is no longer receiving federal funds and the federal awarding agency lacks a specific monetary "carrot" or "stick" to encourage the former grantee to cooperate in responding to a FOIA request.

Accordingly, OMB should amend Circular A-110 to provide specifically that the federal awarding agency may, in cases where the awardee or former awardee refuses to cooperate in responding to a FOIA request for data, to seek judicial intervention in the form of an injunction for specific performance to provide the data to the agency. CRE offers to following amendment to section ___.36 to effect this recommendation:

The Federal awarding agency may take such action as it deems necessary to enforce its rights to obtain data produced under an award, including but not limited to actions described in Sections ___.14 and ___.62 of this Circular.