US Attorney General Eric Holder recently requested that the panel of federal judges responsible for creating the rules for accessing federal court records allow grand jury proceedings to become public records after 30 years if no living witnesses or investigation targets would be impacted and 75 years in all cases. If accepted, AG Holder's suggestion would create a new set of public records and eliminate the need for interested individuals to petition the courts to release historically significant (think Watergate) grand jury proceedings.
For more on the Holder request read this article in The New York Times.
To learn more about the process of Federal Court rule making review the material contained here.