S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
735--A
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
(PREFILED)
January 5, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. KELLNER, CAHILL, MILLMAN, GALEF, MAISEL, GABRYS-
ZAK -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. AMEDORE, CROUCH, LUPARDO,
MURRAY, REILLY, THIELE -- read once and referred to the Committee on
Governmental Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on Govern-
mental Operations in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to requiring public
disclosure of certain state agency materials; and to amend the state
technology law, in relation to authorizing the office for technology
to publish a technical standards manual for the publishing of records
on the internet by state agencies
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. This act shall be known as and may be cited as the "open
New York act".
S 2. Section 86 of the public officers law is amended by adding two
new subdivisions 6 and 7 to read as follows:
6. "DATA" MEANS FINAL VERSIONS OF STATISTICAL OR FACTUAL INFORMATION
(A) IN ALPHANUMERIC FORM REFLECTED IN A LIST, TABLE, GRAPH, CHART OR
OTHER NON-NARRATIVE FORM, THAT CAN BE DIGITALLY TRANSMITTED OR PROC-
ESSED; AND (B) REGULARLY CREATED OR MAINTAINED BY OR ON BEHALF OF AND
OWNED BY AN AGENCY THAT RECORDS A MEASUREMENT, TRANSACTION, OR DETERMI-
NATION RELATED TO THE MISSION OF AN AGENCY. SUCH TERM SHALL NOT INCLUDE
INFORMATION PROVIDED TO AN AGENCY BY OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES, NOR
SHALL IT INCLUDE IMAGE FILES, SUCH AS DESIGNS, DRAWINGS, MAPS, PHOTOS,
OR SCANNED COPIES OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, PROVIDED THAT IT SHALL INCLUDE
STATISTICAL OR FACTUAL INFORMATION ABOUT SUCH IMAGE FILES AND SHALL
INCLUDE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM DATA. NOTHING IN THIS ARTICLE
SHALL BE DEEMED TO PROHIBIT AN AGENCY FROM VOLUNTARILY DISCLOSING INFOR-
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00114-08-2
A. 735--A 2
MATION NOT OTHERWISE DEFINED AS "DATA" IN THIS SUBDIVISION, NOR SHALL IT
BE DEEMED TO PROHIBIT AN AGENCY FROM MAKING SUCH VOLUNTARILY DISCLOSED
INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THE SINGLE WEB PORTAL ESTABLISHED PURSU-
ANT TO SUBDIVISION FIVE-A OF SECTION ONE HUNDRED THREE OF THE STATE
TECHNOLOGY LAW.
7. "MACHINE-READABLE" MEANS DATA IN A FORM THAT A COMPUTER CAN ACCEPT
WHICH IS COMPATIBLE WITH WIDELY USED COMPUTER PROGRAMS THAT PROCESS,
STORE AND CAUSE TO BE PRINTED INFORMATION SIMILAR TO THAT WHICH IS
REQUIRED BY THIS SECTION. MACHINE-READABLE SHALL ALSO MEAN DATA IN A
FORM THAT A DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OR PROGRAM CAN ORGANIZE, STORE
AND RETRIEVE FROM A COMPUTER-MAINTAINED DATABASE OR DATA BANK.
S 3. The opening paragraph of paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of
section 87 of the public officers law, as added by chapter 223 of the
laws of 2008, is amended and a new subdivision 2-a is added to read as
follows:
In determining the actual cost of reproducing a PHYSICAL COPY OF A
record, an agency may include only:
2-A. ALL DATA AVAILABLE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION
SHALL BE AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORM PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION EIGHTY-SEVEN-A
OF THIS ARTICLE.
S 4. The public officers law is amended by adding a new section 87-a
to read as follows:
S 87-A. STATE INTERNET DATA POLICY. 1. (A) THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN
GOVERNMENT SHALL PROMULGATE RULES ESTABLISHING AN INTERNET DATA POLICY
FOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK CONSISTENT WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE
NO LATER THAN JANUARY THIRD, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN, FOR THE PURPOSES OF
MAKING AGENCY DATA AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET AND ENSURING AGENCY COMPLI-
ANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE. SUCH POLICY SHALL INCLUDE, BUT
NOT BE LIMITED TO, GUIDELINES TO ASSIST AGENCIES IN CLASSIFYING THEIR
DATA EITHER AS IMMEDIATE, PRIORITY, LEGACY OR EXEMPT PURSUANT TO THE
AGENCY COMPLIANCE PLAN DESCRIBED IN SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION.
(B) THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT SHALL CONSULT WITH THE OFFICE FOR
TECHNOLOGY REGARDING THE PREPARATION, PUBLICATION AND PERIODIC UPDATING
OF A TECHNICAL STANDARDS MANUAL FOR THE PUBLISHING OF DATA ON THE INTER-
NET BY STATE AGENCIES AS PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION TWELVE-C OF SECTION ONE
HUNDRED THREE OF THE STATE TECHNOLOGY LAW.
(C) EACH STATE AGENCY, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY
AND THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT, SHALL REVIEW ALL DATA ACQUIRED OR
CREATED BY SUCH AGENCY ON OR AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION
UNDER ITS CONTROL AND SHALL CLASSIFY IT AS IMMEDIATE, PRIORITY, LEGACY
OR EXEMPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS
SECTION.
(D) EACH STATE AGENCY, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY,
THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE ARCHIVIST, SHALL REVIEW
ALL DATA WHICH WAS IN THE POSSESSION OF SUCH AGENCY PRIOR TO THE EFFEC-
TIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION TO DETERMINE, OF SUCH DATA, WHAT CAN AND
SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION BY THE PUBLIC ON THE INTERNET.
SUCH DETERMINATIONS SHALL CONSIDER AND ASSIGN PRIORITY TO DATA THAT CAN
BE USED TO: INCREASE AGENCY ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIVENESS; IMPROVE
PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE AGENCY AND ITS OPERATIONS; FURTHER THE CORE
MISSION OF THE AGENCY; CREATE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY; OR RESPOND TO NEED
AND DEMAND AS IDENTIFIED THROUGH PUBLIC CONSULTATION.
(E) EACH STATE AGENCY, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY
AND THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT, SHALL SUBMIT AN AGENCY COMPLIANCE
PLAN TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE LEGISLATURE NO LATER THAN JANUARY THIRD,
A. 735--A 3
TWO THOUSAND FOURTEEN. SUCH PLAN SHALL DESCRIBE HOW SUCH AGENCY INTENDS
TO ACHIEVE FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION BY JULY
SEVENTH, TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN, AND SHALL INCLUDE AN ACCOUNTING OF ALL
DATA UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE AGENCY AND HOW SUCH DATA HAS BEEN CLASSI-
FIED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION TWO OF THIS SECTION.
(F) EACH STATE AGENCY, IN CONSULTATION WITH THE OFFICE FOR TECHNOLOGY,
THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE ARCHIVIST, SHALL PERIOD-
ICALLY REVIEW DATA PREVIOUSLY DESIGNATED AS EXEMPT TO DETERMINE WHETHER
THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION EIGHTY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTI-
CLE REMAIN APPLICABLE AND, THEREFORE, WHETHER THE DATA MAY BE DISCLOSED.
2. (A) EACH STATE AGENCY SHALL MAKE ITS DATA AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION
BY THE PUBLIC ON THE INTERNET THROUGH THE SINGLE CENTRALIZED WEB PORTAL,
ESTABLISHED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION FIVE-A OF SECTION ONE HUNDRED THREE
OF THE STATE TECHNOLOGY LAW, PURSUANT TO THE TIMETABLE ESTABLISHED BY
THE AGENCY IN ITS AGENCY COMPLIANCE PLAN.
(B) ALL DATA SHALL BE AVAILABLE ON A PERMANENT BASIS, IN MACHINE-READ-
ABLE AND UNPROCESSED ELECTRONIC FORMAT AND IN ITS COMPLETE FORM, EXCEPT
FOR DATA OR PORTIONS OF DATA CLASSIFIED AS EXEMPT OR LEGACY PURSUANT TO
SUBDIVISION THREE OF THIS SECTION.
(C) ALL DATA SHALL BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC WITHOUT ANY REGISTRATION
REQUIREMENT, LICENSE REQUIREMENT, FEES, OR RESTRICTIONS ON ITS USE
UNLESS OTHERWISE PROVIDED BY LAW.
3. STATE AGENCY DATA ACQUIRED OR CREATED BY AN AGENCY ON OR AFTER THE
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE CLASSIFIED AS FOLLOWS:
(A) IMMEDIATE: ANY DATA THAT CAN BE MADE AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET
PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION EIGHTY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE WITH-
IN THIRTY DAYS OF THE AGENCY ACQUIRING OR CREATING SUCH DATA SHALL BE
CLASSIFIED AS IMMEDIATE. AGENCIES SHOULD MAKE BEST EFFORTS TO CLASSIFY
AS MUCH DATA AS IMMEDIATE AS IS POSSIBLE. ANY DATA ACQUIRED OR CREATED
AFTER JANUARY THIRD, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN, SHALL BE CLASSIFIED AS IMME-
DIATE, AND SHALL BE MADE AVAILABLE PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION
EIGHTY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE IN AS CLOSE TO REAL-TIME AS POSSIBLE;
(B) LEGACY: ANY DATA THAT, DUE TO ITS SIZE OR COMPLEXITY, OR DUE TO
TECHNOLOGY CONSTRAINTS, CANNOT BE MADE AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET. AGEN-
CIES SHALL MAKE BEST EFFORTS TO AVOID PLACING DATA INTO THE LEGACY CLAS-
SIFICATION;
(C) PRIORITY: ANY DATA THAT IS NOT CLASSIFIED AS IMMEDIATE, LEGACY OR
EXEMPT SHALL BE CLASSIFIED AS PRIORITY; OR
(D) EXEMPT: ANY DATA OR PORTION OF DATA WHICH IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE
DISCLOSED PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF SUBDIVISION TWO OF SECTION
EIGHTY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE CLASSIFIED AS EXEMPT.
4. STATE AGENCY DATA SHALL BE MADE AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET ACCORDING
TO THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE:
(A) DATA CLASSIFIED AS IMMEDIATE SHALL BE AVAILABLE NO LATER THAN JULY
FOURTH, TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN;
(B) DATA CLASSIFIED AS PRIORITY SHALL BE AVAILABLE NO LATER THAN JULY
SECOND, TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN;
(C) DATA CLASSIFIED AS LEGACY SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE PROVISIONS OF
THIS SECTION;
(D) DATA OR PORTIONS OF DATA SPECIFIED AS EXEMPT SHALL BE EXEMPT FROM
THE PROVISIONS OF THIS SECTION.
5. NOTWITHSTANDING THE PROVISIONS OF PARAGRAPH (C) OF SUBDIVISION ONE
OF SECTION EIGHTY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE, NO FEES MAY BE CHARGED FOR
PHYSICAL COPIES OF DATA:
A. 735--A 4
(A) WHICH IS CLASSIFIED AS IMMEDIATE ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONS OF
THIS SECTION AND WHICH IS NOT AVAILABLE PURSUANT TO PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION ON OR AFTER JULY FOURTH, TWO THOUSAND SIXTEEN; OR
(B) WHICH IS CLASSIFIED AS PRIORITY ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONS OF
THIS SECTION AND WHICH IS NOT AVAILABLE PURSUANT TO PROVISIONS OF THIS
SECTION ON OR AFTER JULY SECOND, TWO THOUSAND SEVENTEEN.
S 5. Section 101 of the state technology law is amended by adding four
new subdivisions 6, 7, 8 and 9 to read as follows:
6. "CONSENSUS" MEANS GENERAL AGREEMENT, BUT NOT NECESSARILY UNANIMITY,
AND INCLUDES A PROCESS FOR ATTEMPTING TO RESOLVE OBJECTIONS BY INTER-
ESTED PARTIES, AS LONG AS ALL COMMENTS HAVE BEEN FAIRLY CONSIDERED.
7. "TECHNICAL STANDARD" MEANS (A) THE COMMON AND REPEATED USE OF
RULES, CONDITIONS, GUIDELINES OR CHARACTERISTICS FOR PRODUCTS OR RELATED
PROCESSES AND PRODUCTION METHODS, AND RELATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS PRAC-
TICES AND (B) THE DEFINITION OF TERMS; CLASSIFICATION OF COMPONENTS,
DELINEATION OF PROCEDURES; SPECIFICATIONS OF DIMENSIONS, MATERIALS,
PERFORMANCE, DESIGNS OR OPERATIONS; MEASUREMENT OF QUALITY AND QUANTITY
IN DESCRIBING MATERIALS, PROCESSES, PRODUCTS, SYSTEMS, SERVICES OR PRAC-
TICES; TEST METHODS AND SAMPLING PROCEDURES; OR DESCRIPTIONS OF FIT AND
MEASUREMENTS OF SIZE OR STRENGTH.
8. "VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS" MEANS STANDARDS DEVELOPED OR
ADOPTED BY VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS BODIES, BOTH DOMESTIC AND
INTERNATIONAL. THESE STANDARDS INCLUDE PROVISIONS REQUIRING THAT OWNERS
OF RELEVANT INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AGREE TO MAKE SUCH INTELLECTUAL PROP-
ERTY AVAILABLE ON A NON-DISCRIMINATORY, ROYALTY-FREE OR REASONABLE
ROYALTY BASIS TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES.
9. "VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS BODIES" MEANS DOMESTIC OR INTERNA-
TIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WHICH PLAN, DEVELOP, ESTABLISH, OR COORDINATE
VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS USING AGREED-UPON PROCEDURES.
S 6. Section 103 of the state technology law is amended by adding two
new subdivisions 5-a and 12-c to read as follows:
5-A. TO ESTABLISH, OVERSEE, MANAGE, COORDINATE AND FACILITATE THE
PLANNING, DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A SINGLE CENTRALIZED WEB PORTAL
FOR USE BY STATE AGENCIES IN MAKING DATA AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AS
PROVIDED IN SECTION EIGHTY-SEVEN-A OF THE PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW;
12-C. IN CONSULTATION WITH THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT, TO
PREPARE AND PUBLISH A TECHNICAL STANDARDS MANUAL FOR THE PUBLISHING OF
DATA ON THE INTERNET BY STATE AGENCIES AS PROVIDED IN ARTICLE SIX OF THE
PUBLIC OFFICERS LAW NO LATER THAN JANUARY THIRD, TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN,
AND SHALL BASE SUCH MANUAL ON TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR WEB PUBLISHING AND
E-GOVERNMENT THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED OR ADOPTED BY VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS
STANDARDS BODIES. SUCH MANUAL SHALL BE UPDATED BY THE OFFICE, IN
CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMMITTEE ON OPEN GOVERNMENT, AS NECESSARY. THE
OFFICE SHALL CONSULT WITH VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS BODIES AND
SHALL, WHEN SUCH PARTICIPATION IS FEASIBLE, IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND
IS COMPATIBLE WITH AGENCY AND DEPARTMENTAL MISSIONS, AUTHORITIES, PRIOR-
ITIES, AND BUDGET RESOURCES, PARTICIPATE WITH SUCH BODIES IN THE DEVEL-
OPMENT OF TECHNICAL STANDARDS. THE OFFICE SHALL PROMULGATE AND ADOPT
ALL NECESSARY RULES AND REGULATIONS TO ENSURE THAT STATE AGENCIES
PUBLISH THEIR DATA ON THE INTERNET IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUCH TECHNICAL
STANDARDS MANUAL;
S 7. To the extent possible, implementation of the provisions of this
act shall be accomplished utilizing existing resources and employees of
the state and its agencies.
S 8. This act shall take effect immediately.