Most federal agencies missed the late 2016 deadline to update their Freedom of Information Act regulations to meet new requirements under a law passed earlier last year, according to a survey by the National Security Archive.
The FOIA Improvement Act ordered agencies to revise their regulations to meet requirements including that they make more documents available in electronic format; that they generally may not charge a fee for providing records if they miss a disclosure deadline; that there is to be a presumption of openness in requests; that requesters must be notified of their rights; and that exceptions from disclosure are to be limited for records 25 or more years old, among other requirements.
However, the review found that only 38 of 99 agencies studied have updated their regulations as required. “Many requesters may still be charged improper FOIA fees if an agency misses a deadline, could be unaware of the mediation services available to them, and are being robbed of their rightful appeals deadlines. While the law mandates that requesters be given not less than 90 days to file an appeal, many agencies with outdated regulations routinely give requesters much shorter 30, 45, and 60-day deadlines,” it said.
It cited Interior, DHS and Energy as “stand out agencies” for complying with the law, termed State, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, VA and Education as “scofflaws” and said some agencies including OSC, SBA and the United States Copyright Office are in partial compliance.
