This Act may be cited as the Clearer Liability Expenditure and Access to Reporting Act of 2026 or the CLEAR Act.

Section 1304 of title 31, United States Code, is amended— (1) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows: (d) (1) Beginning not later than the date that is 60 days after the date of enactment of the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, and unless the disclosure of such information is otherwise prohibited by law or a court order, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make available to the public on a website, as soon as practicable, but not later than 30 days after the date on which a payment under this section is tendered, the following information with regard to that payment: (A) The name of the specific agency or entity whose actions gave rise to the claim or judgment. (B) The name of the plaintiff or claimant. (C) The name of counsel for the plaintiff or claimant. (D) The amount paid representing principal liability, and any amounts paid representing any ancillary liability, including attorney fees, costs, and interest. (E) A brief description of the facts that gave rise to the claim. (F) The name of the agency that submitted the claim. (2) In addition to the information described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that the website tabulates the total number of payments per month, including how many payments were settlements, which shall be searchable by the following categories: (A) Each specific agency or entity whose actions resulted in a payment. (B) Each plaintiff or claimant. (C) Each counsel, including identifying the counsel’s firm or office, for each plaintiff or claimant. (3) Each category described in subsection (d)(2) shall be disaggregated by the total amount paid each month, further disaggregated by the total amount for each of the following categories: (A) Payments, including settlements. (B) Attorney’s fees. (C) Court costs. (D) Interest.; and (2) by adding at the end the following: (e) (1) The Comptroller General of the United States shall review each settlement subject to payments under this chapter and submit to Congress an annual report identifying and analyzing the use of sue-and-settle tactics, including— (A) the Federal agencies that most frequently engage in sue-and-settle tactics; (B) average settlement amounts associated with such tactics; (C) common characteristics and trends among such settlements; and (D) such other information as the Comptroller General determines appropriate. (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the term sue-and-settle tactics means any circumstance under which a Federal entity, in the course of litigation or threatened litigation, settles, enters into a consent decree, or otherwise agrees to withdraw, rescind, retract, or otherwise abandon a policy, regulation, rule, or contract, not to enforce a statute or regulation, or to perform any other Federal action adopted by a Federal entity. (f) The identity of any individual who discloses information with respect to a payment made under this section may not be disclosed..