Guidelines for 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

Guidelines for 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

President Obama’s FOIA Memorandum and the DOJ’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines

On his first full day in office, President Obama demonstrated his commitment to the ideals of transparency and openness by issuing a Memorandum to the heads of all Executive Branch Departments and agencies stressing the important role that the FOIA plays in our democracy. In accordance with the President’s memorandum, on March 19, 2009, the Department of Justice issued new FOIA guidelines, which called on all agencies to reaffirm the government’s "commitment to accountability and transparency." Among other things, the Guidelines stressed the importance of proactive disclosures and timely responses to FOIA requests. Agencies were instructed to greater utilize technology and to take steps to ensure that they have an effective system for responding to requests. Significantly, the 2009 FOIA Guidelines emphasized that "[e]ach agency must be fully accountable for its administration of the FOIA."

Agency Accountability

The 2009 FOIA Guidelines highlighted the key role played by each agency’s Chief FOIA Officer and emphasized that "[i]mproving FOIA performance requires the[ir] active participation." Accordingly, the Department of Justice directed agency Chief FOIA Officers to review "all aspects of their agencies' FOIA administration" and to report each year to the Department on the steps taken "to improve FOIA operations and facilitate information disclosure."

Since its introduction in 2010, agencies have highlighted in their Chief FOIA Officer Reports a wide range of initiatives, big and small, that have been undertaken to improve transparency in keeping with DOJ’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines. Since 2011, OIP has prepared a comprehensive annual assessment of agency compliance with the 2009 FOIA Guidelines, which combines pertinent details outlined by agencies in their Chief FOIA Officer Reports with data from their Annual FOIA Reports. These assessments are accompanied by a summary of agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports, which describes the various initiatives undertaken by agencies. Additionally, each year OIP compiles and posts a collection of success stories from the Chief FOIA Officer Reports of key agencies. OIP will once again prepare and release an assessment after the submission of the 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports.

In addition to the summary and assessment, based on its review of agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports, OIP issues guidance each year on steps that can be taken by agencies to achieve greater transparency in the years ahead. Over the last five years, these guidance articles have addressed the importance of:

• utilizing advanced technology to process requests,
• limitations on the use of “still interested” letters,
• complying with the FOIA’s requirements for response letters
• focusing on quality FOIA training,
• closing the ten oldest pending requests and appeals pending at each agency every year,
• utilizing multitrack processing,
• improving processing times for simple track requests, and
• communicating with requesters electronically.

Topics to be Addressed and Format of 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

In accordance with the DOJ’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines, OIP is charged with the responsibility of providing guidance to agencies on the timing and content of agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports to the Attorney General. The guidelines for the 2017 reports are set out below.

While the overall topics to be addressed in the reports remain the same, for 2017 OIP has once again modified and updated the questions that are asked, in particular to reflect the amendments to the FOIA made by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. As agencies continue to make improvements to their FOIA operations it is important that the Chief FOIA Officer Reports reflect the more advanced steps agencies are taking to apply DOJ’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines.  At the same time, it is also important that the Chief FOIA Officer Reports address those areas where agencies need to improve. In the course of planning for these guidelines OIP met with representatives of civil society and has taken their input into account.

Reporting Standards for Large-, Medium-, and Small-Volume Agencies

In 2014, OIP began issuing separate reporting requirements for agencies based on the volume of FOIA requests they receive. The 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines follow a similar format, but for the first time provide separate questions for three types of agencies instead of two.  We are now distinguishing between small-, medium-, and large- volume FOIA agencies.  By providing agencies with distinct reporting requirements based on the volume of requests received, OIP can more easily address the different circumstances and challenges faced by those agencies with small- and medium-volume FOIA workloads, while continuing to focus in depth on those agencies which receive a higher volume of FOIA requests. 

To account for the differences in FOIA administration across the government, the Chief FOIA Officer reporting guidelines for each agency are based on the number of requests that the agency received during Fiscal Year 2015.  The volume for each agency is listed in the chart provided at the end of this page.   

Small-volume agencies receiving less than 50 requests in Fiscal Year 2015:

These agencies should answer the questions designed for small-volume agencies, using this template. 

Medium-volume agencies that received 50-1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2015:

These agencies should answer the questions provided for medium-volume agencies, using this template.

High-volume agencies that received more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2015:

These agencies should answer the questions provided for high-volume agencies, using this template.

As in previous years, the 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports should provide an overall picture of each agency’s activities undertaken pursuant to DOJ’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines. Thus, even for those agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, by component, the Chief FOIA Officer Report should contain agency overall answers and should not be broken down by component. Instead, it should be organized by the five key topical areas. Then, within the discussion of each key area, data and examples from the agency’s various components can be provided. That approach makes it easier to get a picture of how the agency as a whole is addressing all the aspects of DOJ’s 2009 FOIA Guidelines.

Deadlines for Submitting 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

The twenty-six high-volume agencies noted below must submit their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports to OIP for review no later than Friday, January 13, 2017.

All other agencies must submit their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports to OIP for review no later than Friday, February 3, 2017.

The drafts should be submitted by email to DOJ.OIP.FOIA@usdoj.gov. Please use the following text for the subject line of the email:  Draft [insert agency name] Chief FOIA Officer Report.

After the reports are reviewed and cleared by OIP, they should be posted on each agency’s website. OIP, in turn, will make all the Chief FOIA Officer Reports available to the public on the Department of Justice’s website. For 2017, agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports should be posted in final form by no later than Monday, March 13, 2017.

If you have any questions regarding your agency's 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report, you can contact OIP’s FOIA Compliance Team at 202-514-3642, or by using the e-mail noted above.

Time Frame for Report

Unless otherwise noted, agency 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports should address agency activities that have occurred since the filing of last year’s Report, which was March 14, 2016, up until the filing of the 2017 Report (March 13, 2017). Thus, the general reporting period for the Chief FOIA Officer Reports is March 2016 to March 2017.

Agency Reporting Categories