FOIA News: FOIA Advisory Committee’s upcoming schedule

The 2022-2024 term of NARA’s Freedom of Information Act Committee will meet virtually on eleven dates spanning from September 8, 2022, through June 13, 2024, according to the Committee’s webpage. The Committee’s membership has not yet been announced.

FOIA News: FOIA contest starts today. Win $100!

In fiscal year 2021, the federal government received a total of 838,164 FOIA requests. How many FOIA requests will federal agencies receive in FY 2022? Send us an email with your best guess. We’ll give away a total of $175 to those closest to the mark.

See official rules below. Good luck!

Contest Official Rules

This FOIA contest is open to all legal residents of the United States. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older as of their date of entry in the contest in order to qualify. This contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Void outside the United States and where prohibited by law.

The contest sponsor is FOIA Advisor, located at P.O. Box 17218, Arlington, VA 22216.

No entrance fee or purchase necessary. Submit entries by email to admin@foiaadvisor.com. Entries must include entrant’s full name. One entry per person. FOIA Advisor will not sell, rent, or lease entrants’ contact information or use it to solicit new subscribers.

Entries will be accepted from August 10, 2022, at 9:00am ET to September 30, 2022, at 11:59pm ET. Entries that are late, incomplete, unreadable, unintelligible or otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules will be disqualified. FOIA Advisor is not responsible for lost or misdirected entries.

Prizes will consist of Amazon eGift cards. First prize, $100; second prize: $50; third prize, $25. No substitutions, exchanges, refunds or other compensation will be made for any reason, including cancellation of the contest. Winners are responsible for all taxes associated with claiming these prizes.

Winning entries will be the closest to the actual number of FOIA requests received by federal agencies in FY 2022, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice. If two or more entrants tie for first place, the entire prize pool of $175 will be divided evenly among the first-place winners. If there is one first-place winner and two or more entrants tie for second place, the combined $75 prize pool for second and third place will be divided evenly among the second-place winners. If there are no ties for first and second place and two or more entrants tie for third place, the $25 third prize will be divided evenly among the third-place winners.

Winners will be notified by FOIA Advisor by email in 2023, when the U.S. Department of Justice is expected to publish aggregate FOIA data for FY 2022. Winners have sixty (60) days to reply to FOIA Advisor to claim prizes. In FOIA Advisor’s sole discretion, a winner may be required to forfeit a prize and an alternate winner may be selected in accordance with these Official Rules from among the remaining eligible entries for that prize if the winner: (a) is unreachable, (b) declines or cannot accept, receive or use the prize for any reason, or (c) fails to comply with these Official Rules.

By participating in this contest, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of FOIA Advisor, which are final and binding in all respects. By entering, each entrant agrees to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless FOIA Advisor from and against any claims, damages or liability.

By accepting a prize, a winner agrees and acknowledges that FOIA Advisor may use winner’s name and biographical data in any and all media throughout the universe and in perpetuity for promotional purposes without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law.

This contest is not sponsored, endorsed, administered, or associated with Squarespace, Amazon, or any other commercial or non-profit entity.

FOIA News: CPSC FOIA roundtable

The Consumer Product Safety Commission will host a roundtable FOIA discussion with requesters and agency staff on September 12, 2022. More details are available in CPSC’s Federal Register notice.

FOIA News: Treasury seeks to bounce POGO suit

Treasury Moves To Shut Records Request Case

By Anna Scott Farrell, Law360, Aug. 5, 2022

A federal court should grant summary judgment to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and close a watchdog group's case challenging the department's release of documents related to the group's search for potential government misconduct, Treasury said.

Read more here (accessible with free trial subscription).

See copy of lawsuit here.

FOIA News: TIGTA Releases Audit of IRS FOIA Compliance

Fiscal Year 2022 Mandatory Review of Compliance With the Freedom of Information Act

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, July 28, 2022

In May 2021, the IRS completed the transition of processing cases from the Automated Freedom of Information Act System to FOIAXpress. TIGTA reviewed a statistical sample of 83 of the 3,188 Fiscal Year 2021 FOIA requests for which the IRS denied the requested information either partially or fully based on exemption (b)(7), replied that no responsive records were available, or closed the request as imperfect. TIGTA also reviewed all 34 Fiscal Year 2021 I.R.C. § 6103(c) and (e) requests documented in FOIAXpress for which the IRS withheld information from the requestor. While TIGTA determined that information was properly withheld or released in most cases, the Disclosure Office did not follow FOIA requirements when withholding or releasing information for 13 (16 percent) cases. The Disclosure Office properly processed all 34 I.R.C. § 6103(c) and (e) requests.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Another summary of FY 2021 data

FOIA Work Increases but Still Below Peak

FEDweek, July 27, 2022

Federal agencies both received and processed more Freedom of Information Act requests in fiscal 2021 than they did the prior year but both remained below their peak levels of 2019, according to a Justice Department report.

Agencies received just above 838,000 requests and processed about 500 more than that number, although the number deemed to be backlogged—that is, processed after the 20-day standard for regular requests and the 30-day standard if there are “unusual circumstances”—rose from about 141,800 to about 153,200. Average processing time for standard requests increased by almost 3 days to just under 33, while the average for processing expedited requests fell by about a half-day to just above 13 ½.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Microsoft Says IRS Can't Skip FOIA Suit Over 15-Year Audit

Microsoft Says IRS Can't Skip FOIA Suit Over 15-Year Audit

A Washington federal court should reject the IRS' bid to escape without trial from Microsoft Corp.'s public records suit seeking documents on its 15-year audit, the company argued, saying the agency withheld tens of thousands of files with little justification.

Read more here (subscription).

FOIA News: Summary of OIP's summary of FY 2021 FOIA data

The FOIA backlog continued to grow last year

By Justin Doubleday, Fed. News Network, July 22, 2022

The federal Freedom of Information Act request backlog continued to rise in fiscal 2021, but FOIA offices were able to make a dent in the backlog of administrative appeals last year.

The Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) runs down the numbers in its analysis of agency chief FOIA officer fiscal 2021 reports.

Agencies received 838,164 FOIA requests in fiscal 2021, a 6% increase above the total received in fiscal 2020. And the FOIA backlog increased by just over 8% to a total of 153,227 requests by the end of fiscal 2021.

A request is considered backlogged when it has been pending at an agency longer than the statutory time to respond, which is typically 20 working days, but can be up to 30 working days in unusual circumstances.

DOJ’s 49,959 delayed requests made up 33% of the backlog alone. The Department of Homeland Security, which typically receives the most FOIA requests of any agency and was able to make a dent in its backlog last year, accounted for 16% of the backlog at the end of fiscal 2021, while the Defense Department represented 11% of the backlog.

Read more here.

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.