Month: September 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

With President Obama’s signing of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, several substantive and procedural changes were made to the FOIA. Among these changes are additional restrictions on an agency’s ability to charge certain fees if the FOIA’s time limits are not met. Today, OIP has published guidance to assist agencies in understanding these additional restrictions on charging fees.

Prior to the passage of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, agencies were prohibited from charging requesters certain fees when the FOIA’s time limits were not met, unless “unusual” or “exceptional” circumstances (as defined by the FOIA statute) were met. Those exceptions were narrowed by the recent amendments and contain specific steps that agencies must take in order to fall within them. Unless one of these three exceptions is satisfied, the basic rule is that when the FOIA’s time limits are not met an agency cannot charge search fees for requesters that fall within the “commercial” or “all other” fee categories. And, for the “preferred fee category” (i.e. representatives of the news media, and educational or noncommercial scientific institutions) the agency cannot charge for duplication. 

OIP’s guidance describes the three exceptions to this prohibition on charging certain fees. To further assist agencies in implementing these new requirements, OIP has also prepared a Decision Tree for Assessing Fees that accompanies the new guidance. 

If you have any questions regarding this new guidance or any of the requirements of the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, please contact OIP’s FOIA Counselor Service at (202) 514-FOIA (3642).

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

On June 30, 2016, President Obama signed into law the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, which contains several substantive and procedural amendments to the FOIA. As a part of the amendments, new reporting requirements were added for agency Annual FOIA Reports. Today OIP has published guidance to assist agencies in meeting these new requirements. Additionally, to assist agencies with their reporting obligations for the upcoming year, OIP is also announcing the deadlines for the submission of agencies’ Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Reports, 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, and Fiscal Year 2017 Quarterly FOIA Reports.

The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 added three new requirements concerning agencies’ Annual FOIA Reports. Agencies must now:

• Proactively make available the raw data elements used in the creation of their final Annual FOIA Report,
• Include in their Annual FOIA Report the number of times an exclusion was used, and
• Include in their Annual FOIA Report the number of records that were made available for public inspection under subsection (a)(2) of the FOIA (proactive disclosures). 

OIP’s new guidance details how agencies can meet these new reporting obligations, including new instructions on how agencies should provide the additional reporting metrics to OIP during the Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report review process. Additionally, to assist agencies in posting their raw data, OIP is providing agencies with a Raw Data Template which can be used as a resource.  

While agencies are hard at work on compiling their data for the Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report, deadlines and dates for agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports and Quarterly Reports are also upcoming. All three of these reports serve a vital role in illustrating the steps taken and the progress made by  agencies in administering the FOIA.  Additionally, these reports provide valuable information about how agencies are employing tools to promote efficiency, making more information available proactively, and using technology to improve FOIA administration.

In order to satisfy their reporting obligations in the upcoming year, agencies should mark the following deadlines on their calendars:

Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report

November 21, 2016 – Agencies are required to submit their Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Reports to OIP for review.

For guidance on the requirements for completing the Annual FOIA Report, please see the Department’s Annual FOIA Report Handbook and the recently released guidance on new requirements for Annual FOIA Reports from the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

Fiscal Year 2017 Quarterly FOIA Reports

January 27, 2017 – Quarter 1 data is required to be posted.
April 28, 2017 – Quarter 2 data is required to be posted.
July 28, 2017 – Quarter 3 data is required to be posted.
October 27, 2017 – Quarter 4 data is required to be posted.

For guidance on the requirements for completing the FY 2017 Quarterly Reports, please see OIP’s guidance on quarterly reporting.

2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

January 13, 2017 – The twenty-six high-volume agencies noted in the 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines are required to submit their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports to OIP for review.

February 3, 2017 – All other agencies (small- and medium-volume) are required to submit their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports to OIP for review.

March 13, 2017 – Agencies are required to post their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports online.

For guidance on the requirements for completing the 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report, please see OIP’s 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines.

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If you have any questions regarding any of the deadlines noted above or the requirements for any of the reports, please contact OIP’s FOIA Compliance Team at (202) 514-3642.

You can also find all of these reporting deadlines on the Reports page of OIP’s website.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

The Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council held its second meeting on September 15, 2016. OIP Director and CFO Council co-chair Melanie Ann Pustay opened the meeting by providing updates about recently-issued OIP guidance and resources related to the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. She also provided an overview of the universal FOIA portal, the first phase of which will be launched by the end of 2017.

The majority of the meeting consisted of discussion about the “release to one is a release to all” policy that would direct agencies to proactively post online their FOIA responses. After the CFO Council meeting on July 23, 2016, OIP circulated a questionnaire to all agency CFOs seeking their feedback on the feasibility, timeline, and any other concerns associated with implementing a “release to one is a release to all” policy. Director Pustay summarized agency responses to the questionnaire, which overall indicated that many agencies could begin implementing such a policy within 60 days of January 1, 2017 with most agencies preferring an incremental approach to full implementation. 

Director Pustay then welcomed a representative from Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to present the findings of their survey of journalists regarding the potential impact of a “release to one is a release to all” policy on investigative journalism. The President tasked the CFO Council with examining issues critical to the policy’s implementation, including assessing the impact on investigative journalism efforts. Following the presentation from Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Director Pustay welcomed comments from other journalists, agency personnel, and the public regarding the policy.

On behalf of the CFO Council OIP greatly appreciates all the comments that have been provided and will consider the feedback as it works with the Office of Management and Budget to develop a government-wide FOIA presumption of “release to one is a release to all.”      

All documents from the meeting, including the agency questionnaire and responses, are posted on the CFO Council page of OIP’s website.  

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

As a part of our responsibility to encourage agency compliance with the FOIA, OIP offers a number of training opportunities throughout the year for agency FOIA professionals and individuals with FOIA responsibilities. These courses have been designed to offer training opportunities for personnel from all stages of the FOIA workforce, from new hires to the experienced FOIA professionals or FOIA managers. As Fiscal Year 2017 quickly approaches, we are pleased to announce the first set of training courses and dates through the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

As noted on the Training page of our website, OIP offers a number of training courses throughout each fiscal year. As demand for these courses has increased over the last few years, our training team has been working diligently to put together the best possible programs for attendees, from evaluating the topics covered to exploring alternative venues for where these courses are held. Today we are announcing the first set of training courses and dates that will cover the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2017. We will announce the remaining training schedule for Fiscal Year 2017 as we finalize the best facilities for those courses.

OIP’s training courses and dates for the first quarter of FY 2017 are:

Last year, we introduced a new course titled the FOIA Processing Workshop which was designed as a half-day workshop that took attendees through the processing of a FOIA request in a small classroom setting. Based on attendee feedback, this workshop has been incorporated into a new, expanded Introduction to the FOIA course. In the new course, attendees will be provided with both a basic overview of the FOIA, including procedural requirements and an overview of exemptions, as well as a hands-on workshop taking participants through a FOIA request from start to finish.

Please note that the following courses will be offered in FY 2017 beginning in quarter 2 with multiple dates for each:

• Freedom of Information Act for Attorneys and Access Professionals (our 2-day course),
• Continuing Freedom of Information Act, and
• Advanced Freedom of Information Act Seminar.

All of these seminars will be held in the Washington DC area, and are open to all federal government employees. Information on each course, including descriptions of each course, general topics covered, and the intended audience are all available on the Training page of our site.

To register for any of the first quarter course offerings listed above, please email your name to OIP’s Training Staff at DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov. In the subject line of your email, please specify the name of the course and the date you wish to attend the training. If registering multiple individuals, please include email addresses for each individual in the registration message. Once you are registered, you will be sent a confirmation email with the location of the training.

In addition to these scheduled training programs, OIP also offers various other training programs and workshops throughout the year such as our Best Practices Workshop series. Details on all of our training opportunities will be announced here on FOIA Post and through OIP’s Twitter account, @FOIAPost.

Any questions regarding these training opportunities may also be directed to OIP’s Training Staff at (202) 514-FOIA (3642). We look forward to seeing you at our events and trainings during Fiscal Year 2017.

Source: United States Department of Justice 2

Launched in 2014, the Best Practices Workshop series was designed as a part of the United States’ Second Open Government National Action Plan commitment to modernize FOIA administration. The goal of the series is to improve FOIA processes by leveraging effective strategies from across the government, highlighting successes achieved by agencies, and sharing successful approaches on a wide range of FOIA issues.

As the fiscal year wraps up, OIP has updated its Best Practices Workshop page with descriptions of two workshops held earlier this year.  At the first workshop, agency personnel from across the government joined us for a panel discussion on Best Practices from the Requester’s Perspective. Moderated by Director Melanie Ann Pustay, the panel included Tom Susman, Director of the Governmental Affairs Office at the American Bar Association and Sean Moulton, Open Government Project Manager at the Project on Government Oversight. During the event, the panelists highlighted noteworthy agency practices, including:

• Regularly communicating with requesters and working with them throughout the process
• Making contact early on with requesters to discuss procedural issues
• Using technology to improve how requests are made 
• Training and educating agency personnel to facilitate communications with requesters

Following-up this vibrant discussion, OIP held another Best Practices Workshop in focused on the topic of FOIA training programs. A proper understanding of the FOIA is critical to the success of FOIA administration and the panelists at this event discussed several best practices for ensuring a robust training program. Moderated by Director Pustay, the panel included Bobak Talebian from the Department of Justice, James Hogan from the Department of Defense, and Alexis Graves from the Department of Agriculture.  During the event, the panelists highlighted several best practices, including:

• Reinforcing the message that FOIA is everyone’s responsibility
• Being creative and thinking outside the box when it comes to how you provide training
• Tailoring your FOIA training to the specific needs of your personnel
• Rewarding and incentivizing FOIA training

Additional details on the best practices discussed during these events, as well as OIP resources on these topics, are available on our Best Practices Workshops page.

The Best Practices Workshop series will continues in the new fiscal year with new topics to be announced on FOIA Post. If you have topics you would like addressed in a Best Practices Workshop we encourage you to let us know.  In the meantime, please be sure to continue reading FOIA Post for more information on this series and other events offered by OIP.