The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan bill to publish details on lawsuits lost or settled by federal agencies that must pay the private legal fees of the other side.

The Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act, H.R. 2919, which passed the House on May 6 by voice vote with support of both Democrats and Republicans, creates an online public database of court cases against the U.S. government. Agencies do not keep usable data on cases brought against them according to investigations by the Government Accounting Office. H.R. 2919 would provide a common base of information available to all citizens.

“Many people have opinions on environmental litigation,” said but there must be data on what is actually happening before anyone’s opinion can help with this issue,” said Boone and Crockett Club President Emeritus Lowell Baier.   B & C’s goal is to better understand why environmental litigation is so common, the grounds on which the government loses, and the reasons for using public funds to pay private legal fees.

“Sportsmen, led the creation of federal conservation agencies and naturally we are intent on their success today. These agencies must be accountable to the public, but in a case of differing opinions, which is what many of these lawsuits are, the government should not subsidize the controversy,” said Baier. To get the balance right, we need common data to enable us to sort case details and adjust policies accordingly.”