FOIA News: OIP Publishes Summary of Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Reports

SUMMARY OF FISCAL YEAR 2021 ANNUAL FOIA REPORTS PUBLISHED

By DOJ/OIP. FOIA Post, July 21, 2022

The Office of Information Policy (OIP) has released its Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021.  This summary provides a synopsis of FOIA activities across the government during the previous fiscal year, looks at key statistics in FOIA administration, and identifies trends in FOIA processing.  Each summary serves as a resource for both agencies and the public to gain an understanding of overall FOIA administration.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Exemption 4 webinar

The law firm of PilieroMazza will be hosting an Exemption 4 webinar on September 15, 2022. See details here.

FOIA News: Meet the OIP Director

An updated profile of the Director of the Office of Information Policy was posted on July 13, 2022.

FOIA News: More quarterly backlog data

By popular demand, here is a rundown of how additional cabinet agencies have been managing their request backlogs since the end of fiscal year 2021.

• Agriculture: 2081 requests (FY21) to 2334 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), a 12.1 percent increase

• Commerce: 773 requests (FY21) to 925 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), a 19.6 percent increase

• Energy: 808 requests (FY21) to 773 (FY22, 1st qtr.), a 4.3 percent decrease

• Health & Human Serv.: 9955 requests (FY21) to 11293 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), a 13.4 percent increase

• Housing & Urban Development: 808 requests (FY21) to 808 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), no change

• Interior: 4484 requests (FY21) to 4540 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), a 1.2 percent increase

• Labor: 1216 requests (FY21) to 1287 (FY22, 1st qtr.), a 5.8 percent increase

• Transportation: 4811 requests (FY21) to 5294 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), a 10 percent increase.

• Treasury: 2280 requests (FY21) to 2618 (FY22, 2nd qtr.), a 14.8 percent increase

FOIA News: ICYMI, OIP updates the FOIA Guide

On June 3, 2022, the Office of Information Policy posted an updated version of the Exclusions section of the Guide to the Freedom of Information Act.

When reached for comment, a DOJ spokesperson stated that OIP had conducted a search and found no evidence of any changes.

FOIA News: Export-Import Bank amends FOIA regulations

The Export-Import Bank of the United States issued a final rule in the Federal Register that amends its FOIA regulations. A proposed rule was published in March of this year. The effective date of the final rule is August 10, 2022.

FOIA News: OIP seeks experienced FOIA attorney

The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy is hiring an experienced attorney to handle FOIA lawsuits filed against DOJ. The application deadline is August 8, 2022. See more details here.

FOIA News: If you give a hoot . . .

A panel discussion on using FOIA to help animals will be held on July 13, 2022. See details here.

FOIA News: Discussion of estimated completion dates

Five ways to improve FOIA estimated completion dates

By Abigail Russ, Fed. News Network, July 5, 2022

As backlogs for Freedom of Information Act requests grew during the pandemic, some agencies found success limiting processing times. Now, those agencies are offering best practices to improve the public information request process and make it easier for records custodians to calculate estimated dates of completion (EDCs). 

FOIA, which celebrated its 56th anniversary on July 4, mandates agencies provide EDCs on all public information requests, although many agencies do not provide them, Alina Semo, director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), said.

The agency’s annual meeting on June 29 comes after OGIS issued their annual Report for Fiscal Year 2021. OGIS is the congressionally mandated agency in charge of reviewing FOIA policies, procedures, compliance and improvement.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Happy FOIA Anniversary

CELEBRATING THE 56TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOIA

By DOJ/OIP. FOIA Post, June 30, 2022

This Fourth of July marks the fifty-sixth anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Amending the disclosure section of the Administrative Procedure Act, the FOIA transformed what had widely been considered a withholding statute to a disclosure statute that would provide the greatest possible access to federal agency records. 

The significance of this new law was emphasized at the very beginning with Attorney General Clark’s June 1967 memorandum on the implementation of the FOIA.  Issued to executive departments and agencies one month before the law took effect, the Attorney General declared:  “If the government is to be truly of, by, and for the people, the people must know in detail the activities of government.  Nothing so diminishes democracy as secrecy.  Self-government, the maximum participation of the citizenry in affairs of state, is meaningful only with an informed public.”

Read more here.