- (A) descriptions of its central and field organization and the established places at which, the employees (and in the case of a uniformed service, the members) from whom, and the methods whereby, the public may obtain information, make submittals or requests, or obtain decisions;
- (B) statements of the general course and method by which its functions are channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of all formal and informal procedures available;
- (C) rules of procedure, descriptions of forms available or the places at which forms may be obtained, and instructions as to the scope and contents of all papers, reports, or examinations;
- (D) substantive rules of general applicability adopted as authorized by law, and statements of general policy or interpretations of general applicability formulated and adopted by the agency; and
- (E) each amendment, revision, or repeal of the foregoing.
- (A) final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases;
- (B) those statements of policy and interpretations which have been adopted by the agency and are not published in the Federal Register;
- (C) administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public;
- (D)
copies of all records, regardless of form or format, which have been released to any person under paragraph (3) and which, because of the nature of their subject matter, the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records; andcopies of all records, regardless of form or format –- (i) that have been released to any person under paragraph (3); and
- (ii)(I) that because of the nature of their subject matter, the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records; or
- (II) that have been requested 3 or more times; and
- (i) it has been indexed and either made available or published as provided by this paragraph; or
- (ii) the party has actual and timely notice of the terms thereof.
- (B) In making any record available to a person under this paragraph, an agency shall provide the record in any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by the agency in that form or format. Each agency shall make reasonable efforts to maintain its records in forms or formats that are reproducible for purposes of this section.
- (C) In responding under this paragraph to a request for records, an agency shall make reasonable efforts to search for the records in electronic form or format, except when such efforts would significantly interfere with the operation of the agency's automated information system.
- (D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "search" means to review, manually or by automated means, agency records for the purpose of locating those records which are responsive to a request.
- (E) An agency, or part of an agency, that is an element of the intelligence community (as that term is defined in section 3(4) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 401a(4))) shall not make any record available under this paragraph to—
- (i) any government entity, other than a State, territory, commonwealth, or district of the United States, or any subdivision thereof; or
- (ii) a representative of a government entity described in clause (i).
- (ii) Such agency regulations shall provide that—
- (I) fees shall be limited to reasonable standard charges for document search, duplication, and review, when records are requested for commercial use;
- (II) fees shall be limited to reasonable standard charges for document duplication when records are not sought for commercial use and the request is made by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research; or a representative of the news media; and
- (III) for any request not described in (I) or (II), fees shall be limited to reasonable standard charges for document search and duplication.
- (I) if the costs of routine collection and processing of the fee are likely to equal or exceed the amount of the fee; or
- (II) for any request described in clause (ii)(II) or (III) of this subparagraph for the first two hours of search time or for the first one hundred pages of duplication.
- (II)(aa) If an agency has determined that unusual circumstances apply (as the term is defined in paragraph (6)(B)) and the agency provided a timely written notice to the requester in accordance with paragraph (6)(B), a failure described in subclause (I) is excused for an additional 10 days. If the agency fails to comply with the extended time limit, the agency may not assess any search fees (or in the case of a requester is described under clause (ii)(II) of this subparagraph, duplication fees).
- (bb) If an agency has determined that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request, an agency may charge search fees (or in the case of a requester described under clause (ii) (II) of this subparagraph, duplication fees) if the agency has provided a timely written notice to the requester in accordance with paragraph 6(B) and the agency has discussed with the requester via written mail, electronic mail, or telephone (or made not less than 3 good-faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request in accordance with paragraph (6)(B)(ii).
- (cc) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist (as that term is defined in paragraph (6)(C)), a failure described in subclause (I) shall be excused for the length of time provided by the court order.
- (ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a complainant has substantially prevailed if the complainant has obtained relief through either—
- (I) a judicial order, or an enforceable written agreement or consent decree; or
- (II) a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the agency, if the complainant’s claim is not insubstantial.
- (ii) The Attorney General shall—
- (I) notify the Special Counsel of each civil action described under the first sentence of clause (i); and
- (II) annually submit a report to Congress on the number of such civil actions in the preceding year.
- (i) determine within 20 days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with such request and shall immediately notify the person
making such request of such determination and the reasons therefor, and of the right of such person to appeal to the head of the agency any adverse determination;making such a request of –- (I) such determination and the reasons therefor;
- (II) the right of such person to seek assistance from the FOIA Public Liaison of the agency; and
- (III) in the case of an adverse determination –
- (aa) the right of such person to appeal to the head of the agency, within a period determined by the head of the agency that is not less than 90 days after the date of such adverse determination; and
- (bb) the right of such person to seek dispute resolution services from the FOIA Public Liaison of the agency or the Office of Government Information Services;and
- (I) that the agency may make one request to the requester for information and toll the 20-day period while it is awaiting such information that it has reasonably requested from the requester under this section; or
- (II) if necessary to clarify with the requester issues regarding fee assessment. In either case, the agency’s receipt of the requester’s response to the agency’s request for information or clarification ends the tolling period.
- (ii) With respect to a request for which a written notice under clause (i) extends the time limits prescribed under clause (i) of subparagraph (A), the agency shall notify the person making the request if the request cannot be processed within the time limit specified in that clause and shall provide the person an opportunity to limit the scope of the request so that it may be processed within that time limit or an opportunity to arrange with the agency an alternative time frame for processing the request or a modified request. To aid the requester, each agency shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison, who shall assist in the resolution of any disputes between the requester and
the agencythe agency, and notify the requester of the right of the requester to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services. Refusal by the person to reasonably modify the request or arrange such an alternative time frame shall be considered as a factor in determining whether exceptional circumstances exist for purposes of subparagraph (C). - (iii) As used in this subparagraph, "unusual circumstances" means, but only to the extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the particular requests—
- (I) the need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request;
- (II) the need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which are demanded in a single request; or
- (III) the need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more components of the agency having substantial subject-matter interest therein.
- (ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, the term "exceptional circumstances" does not include a delay that results from a predictable agency workload of requests under this section, unless the agency demonstrates reasonable progress in reducing its backlog of pending requests.
- (iii) Refusal by a person to reasonably modify the scope of a request or arrange an alternative time frame for processing a request (or a modified request) under clause (ii) after being given an opportunity to do so by the agency to whom the person made the request shall be considered as a factor in determining whether exceptional circumstances exist for purposes of this subparagraph.
- (ii) Regulations under this subparagraph may provide a person making a request that does not qualify for the fastest multitrack processing an opportunity to limit the scope of the request in order to qualify for faster processing.
- (iii) This subparagraph shall not be considered to affect the requirement under subparagraph (C) to exercise due diligence.
- (I) in cases in which the person requesting the records demonstrates a compelling need; and
- (II) in other cases determined by the agency.
- (I) that a determination of whether to provide expedited processing shall be made, and notice of the determination shall be provided to the person making the request, within 10 days after the date of the request; and
- (II) expeditious consideration of administrative appeals of such determinations of whether to provide expedited processing.
- (I) that a failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis under this paragraph could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; or
- (II) with respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity.
- (A) establish a system to assign an individualized tracking number for each request received that will take longer than ten days to process and provide to each person making a request the tracking number assigned to the request; and
- (B) establish a telephone line or Internet service that provides information about the status of a request to the person making the request using the assigned tracking number, including—
- (i) the date on which the agency originally received the request; and
- (ii) an estimated date on which the agency will complete action on the request.
- (i) withhold information under this section only if –
- (I) the agency reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected by an exemption described in subsection (b); or
- (II) disclosure is prohibited by law; and
- (II) take reasonable steps necessary to segregate and release nonexempt information; and
(b) This section does not apply to matters that are—
- (1)(A) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (B) are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;
- (2) related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency;
- (3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), if that statute--
- (A)(i) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or
- (ii) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld; and
(c)(1) Whenever a request is made which involves access to records described in subsection (b)(7)(A) and—
- (A) the investigation or proceeding involves a possible violation of criminal law; and
- (B) there is reason to believe that (i) the subject of the investigation or proceeding is not aware of its pendency, and (ii) disclosure of the existence of the records could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, the agency may, during only such time as that circumstance continues, treat the records as not subject to the requirements of this section.
- (A) the number of determinations made by the agency not to comply with requests for records made to such agency under subsection (a) and the reasons for each such determination;
- (B)(i) the number of appeals made by persons under subsection (a)(6), the result of such appeals, and the reason for the action upon each appeal that results in a denial of information; and
- (ii) a complete list of all statutes that the agency relies upon to authorize the agency to withhold information under subsection (b)(3), the number of occasions on which each statute was relied upon, a description of whether a court has upheld the decision of the agency to withhold information under each such statute, and a concise description of the scope of any information withheld;
- (i) the number of requests for records to which the agency has responded with a determination within a period up to and including 20 days, and in 20-day increments up to and including 200 days;
- (ii) the number of requests for records to which the agency has responded with a determination within a period greater than 200 days and less than 301 days;
- (iii) the number of requests for records to which the agency has responded with a determination within a period greater than 300 days and less than 401 days; and
- (iv) the number of requests for records to which the agency has responded with a determination within a period greater than 400 days;
- (A) without charge, license, or registration requirement;
- (B) in an aggregated, searchable format; and
- (C) in a format that may be downloaded in bulk.
- (i) a listing of the number of cases arising under this section;
- (ii) a listing of –
- (I) each subsection, and any exemption, if applicable, involved in each case arising under this section;
- (II) the disposition of each case arising under this section; and
- (III) the cost, fees, and penalties assessed under subparagraphs (E), (F), and (G) of subsection (a)(4); and
- (i) each report submitted under subparagraph (A) available for public inspection in an electronic format; and
- (ii) the raw statistical data used in each report submitted under subparagraph (A) available for public inspection in an electronic format, which shall be made available –
- (I) without charge, license, or registration requirement;
- (II) in an aggregated, searchable format; and
- (III) in a format that may be downloaded in bulk;
(f) For purposes of this section, the term—
- (1) "agency" as defined in section 551(1) of this title includes any executive department, military department, Government corporation, Government controlled corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Government (including the Executive Office of the President), or any independent regulatory agency; and
- (2) ‘record’ and any other term used in this section in reference to information includes—
- (A) any information that would be an agency record subject to the requirements of this section when maintained by an agency in any format, including an electronic format; and
- (B) any information described under subparagraph (A) that is maintained for an agency by an entity under Government contract, for the purposes of records management.
(g) The head of each agency shall prepare and make
publicly available upon requestavailable for public inspection in an electronic format, reference material or a guide for requesting records or information from the agency, subject to the exemptions in subsection (b), including—- (1) an index of all major information systems of the agency;
- (2) a description of major information and record locator systems maintained by the agency; and
- (3) a handbook for obtaining various types and categories of public information from the agency pursuant to chapter 35 of title 44, and under this section.
(h)(1) There is established the Office of Government Information Services within the National Archives and Records Administration. The head of the Office shall be the Director of the Office of Government Information Services.
- (2) The Office of Government Information Services shall—
- (A) review policies and procedures of administrative agencies under this section;
- (B) review compliance with this section by administrative agencies; and
- (C)
recommend policy changes to Congress and the President to improve the administration of this section.identify procedures and methods for improving compliance under this section.
- (i) A report on the findings of the information reviewed and identified under paragraph (2);
- (ii) A summary of the activities of the Office of Government Information Services under paragraph (3), including –
- (I) any advisory opinions issued; and
- (II) the number of times each agency engaged in dispute resolution with the assistance of the Office of Government Information Services or the FOIA Public Liaison; and
(i) The Government Accountability Office shall conduct audits of administrative agencies on the implementation of this section and issue reports detailing the results of such audits.
(j) Each agency shall designate a Chief FOIA Officer who shall be a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level).(k) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, subject to the authority of the head of the agency—(1) have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and appropriate compliance with this section; (2) monitor implementation of this section throughout the agency and keep the head of the agency, the chief legal officer of the agency, and the Attorney General appropriately informed of the agency’s performance in implementing this section; (3) recommend to the head of the agency such adjustments to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding as may be necessary to improve its implementation of this section; (4) review and report to the Attorney General, through the head of the agency, at such times and in such formats as the Attorney General may direct, on the agency’s performance in implementing this section; (5) facilitate public understanding of the purposes of the statutory exemptions of this section by including concise descriptions of the exemptions in both the agency’s handbook issued under subsection (g), and the agency’s annual report on this section, and by providing an overview, where appropriate, of certain general categories of agency records to which those exemptions apply; and (6) designate one or more FOIA Public Liaisons.(j)(1) Each agency shall designate a Chief FOIA Officer who shall be a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level).
- (2) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, subject to the authority of the head of the agency –
- (A) have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and appropriate compliance with this section;
- (B) monitor implementation of this section throughout the agency and keep the head of the agency, the chief legal officer of the agency, and the Attorney General appropriately informed of the agency’s performance in implementing this section;
- (C) recommend to the head of the agency such adjustments to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding as may be necessary to improve its implementation of this section;
- (D) review and report to the Attorney General, through the head of the agency, at such times and in such formats as the Attorney General may direct, on the agency’s performance in implementing this section;
- (E) facilitate public understanding of the purposes of the statutory exemptions of this section by including concise descriptions of the exemptions in both the agency’s handbook issued under subsection (g), and the agency’s annual report on this section, and by providing an overview, where appropriate, of certain general categories of agency records to which those exemptions apply;
- (F) offer training to agency staff regarding their responsibilities under this section;
- (G) serve as the primary agency liaison with the Office of Government Information Services and the Office of Information Policy; and
- (H) designate 1 or more FOIA Public Liaisons.
- (A) agency regulations;
- (B) disclosure of records required under paragraphs (2) and (8) of subsection (a);
- (C) assessment of fees and determination of eligibility for fee waivers;
- (D) the timely processing of requests for information under this section;
- (E) the use of exemptions under subsection (b); and
- (F) dispute resolution services with the assistance of the Office of Government Information Services or the FOIA Public Liaison.
(k)(1) There is established in the executive branch the Chief FOIA Officers Council (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Council’).
- (2) The Council shall be comprised of the following members:
- (A) The Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget.
- (B) The Director of the Office of Information Policy at the Department of Justice.
- (C) The Director of the Office of Government Information Services.
- (D) The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency.
- (E) Any other officer or employee of the United States as designated by the Co-Chairs.
- (i) Develop recommendations for increasing compliance and efficiency under this section.
- (ii) Disseminate information about agency experiences, ideas, best practices, and innovative approaches related to this section.
- (iii) Identify, develop, and coordinate initiatives to increase transparency and compliance with this section.
- (iv) Promote the development and use of common performance measures for agency compliance with this section.
- (B) Not less frequently than annually, the Council shall hold a meeting that shall be open to the public and permit interested persons to appear and present oral and written statements to the Council.
- (C) Not later than 10 business days before a meeting of the Council, notice of such meeting shall be published in the Federal Register.
- (D) Except as provided in subsection (b), the records, reports, transcripts, minutes, appendices, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, or other documents that were made available to or prepared for or by the Council shall be made publicly available.
- (E) Detailed minutes of each meeting of the Council shall be kept and shall contain a record of the persons present, a complete and accurate description of matters discussed and conclusions reached, and copies of all reports received, issued, or approved by the Council. The minutes shall be redacted as necessary and made publicly available.
- (2) This subsection shall not be construed to alter the power of any other agency to create or maintain an independent online portal for the submission of a request for records under this section. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall establish standards for interoperability between the portal required under paragraph (1) and other request processing software used by agencies subject to this section.
(l) FOIA Public Liaisons shall report to the agency Chief FOIA Officer and shall serve as supervisory officials to whom a requester under this section can raise concerns about the service the requester has received from the FOIA Requester Center, following an initial response from the FOIA Requester Center Staff. FOIA Public Liaisons shall be responsible for assisting in reducing delays, increasing transparency and understanding of the status of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes.
(m)(1) The Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Attorney General shall ensure the operation of a consolidated online request portal that allows a member of the public to submit a request for records under subsection (a) to any agency from a single website. The portal may include any additional tools the Director of the Office of Management and Budget finds will improve the implementation of this section.
(d) This section does not authorize the withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as specifically stated in this section. This section is not authority to withhold information from Congress.
(e)(1) On or before February 1 of each year, each agency shall submit to the Attorney General of the United States and to the Director of the Office of Government Information Services a report which shall cover the preceding fiscal year and which shall include—
- (A)(i) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue; or