FOIA News: Federal Reserve banks adopt records disclosure policy

Fed’s 12 regional banks adopt records transparency policy

The policy, released by the New York Fed, will be effective Jan. 1 and “seeks to simplify and standardize the Federal Reserve Banks’ public information request process,” the central bank said.

By Rajashree Chakravarty, Banking Dive, Dec. 22, 2023

The 12 regional Federal Reserve banks announced Thursday the adoption of a new common policy promoting transparency and accountability for media and public records requests, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Unlike the Fed’s Board of Governors, which falls under the U.S. government’s purview, the Fed’s regional banks have not previously been subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The policy released by the New York Federal Reserve noted that, unless otherwise exempt, records created on or after Jan. 1, 2024, “will be published or provided upon request.”

Read more here.

FOIA News: OMB to amend FOIA and Privacy Act regulations

The Office of Management and Budget will amend both its Privacy Act and FOIA regulations, “notably with regard to identity verification,” according to a proposed rule published in the Federal Register on December 20, 2023. Comments will be accepted through January 19, 2023.

FOIA News: OGIS wish list diplomatically omits "a bigger budget"

OGIS 2023 Holiday Wish List

By Office of Gov’t Info. Serv., FOIA Ombudsman, Dec. 20, 2023

Last year we shared our OGIS Holiday Wish List here on The FOIA Ombudsman. The jolly man from the North Pole did not bring us our wishes, so we are revising it to reflect upon what OGIS has encountered over the past year. As we look to 2024 these wishes would go a long way toward improving the FOIA processes for both requesters and agencies. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: Nominate the worst agency of 2023

There’s still time to nominate an agency for the “Foilies,” to shine light on those who are involved in all sorts of transparency-thwarting.

FOIA News: D.B. Cooper's Clip On Tie Not an Agency Record

D.B. Cooper's Clip On Tie

By Legal Profession Prof, Legal Profession Blog, Dec. 14, 2023

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (Judge Cobb) denied a FOIA request, holding that D.B. Cooper's removed tie is not an "agency record."

Holding

For this case, however, it suffices to say that to call a clip-on necktie an “agency record” is not reasonable.

Read more here.

Read the decision here.

FOIA News: Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting Showcases the Use of Advanced Technologies in FOIA

Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting Showcases the Use of Advanced Technologies in FOIA

Office of Information Policy, Dec. 14, 2023

The Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council met virtually on November 9, 2023.  Associate Attorney General of the United States Vanita Gupta welcomed attendees, thanked agencies for their work on FOIA reporting, and highlighted the new Search Tool on FOIA.gov that will improve the public’s ability to search for previously released FOIA records and to identify appropriate agencies for new FOIA requests.  In previewing the agenda, the Associate Attorney General highlighted the use of technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) to increase automation in record processing as an emerging and promising area, but emphasized the importance of ensuring that there is sufficient human monitoring and that appropriate safeguards are established so that the government is operating consistent with our obligations under FOIA.  Deputy Archivist Debra Steidel Wall from the National Archives and Records Administration also welcomed attendees and emphasized the importance of FOIA as a crucial part of ensuring transparency and accountability.

Read more here.

FOIA News: High on Exemption 5

HHS Releases Highly Redacted Rescheduling Letter to DEA: An Analysis of Exemption 5 to FOIA

By Agustin Rodriquez et. al., Troutman Pepper, Dec. 12, 2023

* * *

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently drew the ire of transparency advocates when it heavily redacted a recommendation letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) concerning the rescheduling of cannabis,[3] citing Exemption 5 as justification.[4] This decision has prompted questions about the appropriate use of redactions in FOIA requests, as redactions have become a battleground for debates over the balance between necessary secrecy and the public’s right to government information. In this blog post, we will discuss Exemption 5 of FOIA and evaluate its applicability to HHS’s redaction of the bulk of the rescheduling recommendation letter.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Artificial intelligence takes on FOIA exemptions

On December 10, 2023, the journal Artificial Intelligence and Law published a paper describing “a novel deliberative-language detection model . . . , the FOIA Assistant, that ingests documents responsive to an open-records requests, suggests passages likely to be subject to deliberative language, privacy, or other exemptions, and assists analysts in rapidly redacting suggested passages.”

See more here.

FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee meeting

The Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee met for seventh time during the 2022-2024 term on December 7, 2023. Meeting materials are available here. A video of the remote meeting, which ran for three hours, is available here.

FOIA News: DoD Finalizes Amendments to FOIA Regulations

The Department of Defense published a rule in the Federal Register amending its FOIA regulations. The rule goes into effect on January 4, 2024 and DoD “determined that public comment is unnecessary before finalizing these amendments as they are administrative and are internal to DoD and the management of DoD's FOIA Program.”