The number of FOIA requests received by all departments and agencies in fiscal 2011 jumped 8 percent to 46,000 requests over fiscal 2010, and higher overall than the previous high of 605,941 in fiscal 2011, the Department of Justice has said.
Its Office of Information Policy said in its annual FOIA summary that DHS received the largest number of requests for the second year running: it received 175,656 requests for a 35 percent increase over fiscal 2010.
DoD received the second highest number with 74,117, while the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice recorded the third and fourth highest numbers of incoming requests with 67,431 and 63,103.
The Social Security Administration reported receiving 32,456. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 18,424, followed by the National Archives and Records Administration with 18,129, the Securities and Exchange Commission 11,555, and the EPA 10,123.
Among the least burdened are the Department of Commerce, which received just 2,202 requests last year, along with the Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.
