FBI, FEMA FOIA Officers Share Best Practices in Reducing Backlogs, Complaints
Leslie Garvey | POGO
The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)—the agency mandated by Congress to review Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) procedures, compliance, and efficiency—convened at their annual meeting last week to discuss findings in the agency's fiscal year (FY) 2021 report and best practices from effective FOIA officers.
Two federal agencies were successful in limiting processing times amid the pandemic for FOIA requests despite the surge of submissions. FOIA officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—two agencies with a significant number of requests even prior to the pandemic—provided tips agencies may want to consider implementing to minimize backlogs and enhance developments alerts to requesters.
Communication
Gregory Bridges, Disclosure Branch Chief of FEMA's Records Management Division, stated agencies can initiate proactive communication by providing requestors with estimated dates of completion (EDCs).
“There’s nothing wrong with telling a requester ‘we think it’s going to be ready by this date. If we don’t think we can meet that date, we’ll definitely reach out.’ But you have to reach out,” Bridges noted. “Even if they don’t like the date being extended, at least they know that you’re actively working on it.”
A common complaint among requesters, according to Bridges, is feeling forgotten. OGIS analysis supports this claim as the number of assistance claims on behalf of requestors concerning delays jumped 73 percent from 2020 to 2021. In 2020, there were 220 cases and in 2021 there were 380. In 85 percent of delay claims, the requester could not get an estimated date of completion from the respective agency.
Despite the FOIA's requirement for EDCs, Bridges said they don't just benefit requesters; they also strengthen the office's knowledge.
“If you put all of your requests on an EDC that can also help you factor in how long it’ll take you to work on a particular request. Because you’re considering your current workload,” Bridges concluded.
FEMA implemented this approach in 2018 which dramatically reduced denied request appeals from 1,700 annually to approximately 45.
Online Resources
Michael Seidel, the FBI's Chief FOIA Officer, said the agency receives about 30,000 requests each year. Thus far in FY 2022, the FBI has already received more than 14,000 emails and 1,100 phone calls concerning requests.
To address questions, the FBI features an online tool that identifies where a request is in the process and directs requesters to an available negotiation team at the Public Information Office (PIO). The tool eliminated approximately 66 million pages from requests that did not need to be divulged, according to Seidel.
“We find that a lot of our requesters engage with our public information officer to get more information about the request and that’s where the discussion about the EDC really happens,” Seidel said. “We’re able to serve more requesters and give more requesters more information more frequently.”
Moreover, the FBI's FOIA office employs an automated system to estimate the average turnaround time for a FOIA request and an EDC. Office personnel run audits on the tools every six months to confirm or adjust accuracy.
The system divides requests into four categories based on page amount: small, medium, large, and extra-large. At the FBI, small requests fall between one and 50 pages and medium requests fall between 51 and 950 pages; although, other agencies who implement a similar process can adjust the track size as necessary.
Warranted Assistance
Since FY 2016, the backlog of FOIA requests has expanded alongside a surge in requests across the government. Between FYs 2012 and 2020, the backlog increased by 97 percent, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) January 2022 report. Between FY 2019 and 2020, the backlog increased by 18 percent to 141,762 unaddressed requests.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Labor, and the Environmental Protection Agency are among GAO’s earmarked agencies struggling to reduce their backlogs. Alternatively, the Department of Homeland Security, has made significant progress in FY 2021 by reducing its backlog by more than 30 percent. DHS is no longer on the earmarked agency list distributed by GAO.