Freedom of Information Improvements Act of 1981

Freedom of Information Improvements Act of 1981 - Amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with respect to request procedures, time limits, fees, and exemptions.

Requires an agency to make available for public inspection only those final opinions or orders which are relied on as precedent by the agency.

Prohibits a requester from seeking records relating to an ongoing civil or criminal, judicial or administrative proceeding in which he or she is a party.

Permits agencies to limit the right of making requests to "United States persons."

Permits an agency to inform a requester of only the nature of public source materials, without specifically identifying items which are publicly available.

Exempts from coverage of the Act informant records maintained by a law enforcement agency when access is sought by a third party according to the informant's name.

Permits an agency's fee schedule to provide for all costs reasonably attributable to responding to requests (currently, an agency may charge for only the direct costs of search and duplication).

Permits the charging of fair value fees or royalties, in addition to processing fees, for records containing commercially valuable technological information acquired by the Government at substantial public cost.

Establishes procedures under which a submitter of information which may be subject to the commercial information exemption is to be notified of a request for disclosure and permitted to provide written objections. Permits disclosure of such information which the agency determines to be exempt only if the failure to disclose would injure an overriding public interest.

Establishes a statute of limitations for requester suits following an agency denial of disclosure.

Vests the Federal district court with jurisdiction to enjoin an agency from disclosing commercial information which was objected to by a submitter.

Modifies the standard for judicial review of an agency's decision not to disclose information under the national security exemption. Authorizes the court to order disclosure of such information only if the agency decision was arbitrary or capricious.

Continues the existing ten-day limit for meeting FOIA requests with respect to records which are sufficiently identified and limited to no more than eight working hours of search time. Allows an agency up to 30 working days to determine whether to comply with requests requiring more than eight hours work or which seek commercial information. Directs agencies to set forth regulations for giving priority to requesters who demonstrate a compelling need for expedited access to records.

Extends the current exemption given to trade secrets and commercial information to include other commercially valuable information obtained from any person, the release of which may impair the competitive, financial, or business interests of any person or the Government's ability to obtain future information.

Broadens the current exemption given to matters in personnel and medical files to include information which would generally constitute an unwarranted invasion of privacy. Includes mailing lists for solicitation purposes within this exemption.

Extends the current exemption given to law enforcement records to include records which: (1) tend to disclose the identity of confidential sources; (2) would endanger the physical safety of any natural person (currently, only law enforcement personnel); and (3) relate to investigations of terrorism, organized crime, or foreign counterintelligence.

Adds as new exemptions: (1) records generated in connection with the settlement of a legal action in which the United States is a party; and (2) technical data that cannot be exported outside the United States without Government approval.