STATUS REPORT
OIP's new website also provides guidance and best practices about the administration of FOIA, frequently asked questions about FOIA, a glossary with commonly used FOIA terms, and educational videos on different aspects of FOIA. FOIA.Gov also links to the FOIA websites for all federal agencies, boards, and commissions subject to the FOIA, and also to agencies' Open Government websites to help requesters find data they need without having to file a FOIA request. Finally, FOIA.Gov highlights FOIA news and provides announcements of new opportunities for requesters to meet with agencies.
In addition, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives has also undertaken new efforts to facilitate the administration of FOIA. OGIS provides help to both requesters and federal agencies encouraging, for example, properly targeted requests and agency responsiveness, especially for complex requests. OGIS thus complements the rest of the federal government's FOIA architecture.
Thus, by a variety of reinforcing measures—agencies' statistical track records with respect to disclosures, exemptions, and request processing; agency initiatives to improve their administration of FOIA; and government-wide efforts to improve the FOIA architecture—it is clear that the Administration has taken substantial steps to implement the President's instructions to provide greater government transparency in response to FOIA requests.
Proactive Disclosure
Agencies have increased transparency not only in response to incoming FOIA requests, however. As directed by the President, agencies have also disclosed information proactively: Rather than fielding requests for information, agencies are increasingly pushing information out to the public.
In some cases, agencies have affirmatively disclosed information that is traditionally sought under the FOIA. That is, many agencies are now making information available proactively as an alternative to processing FOIA requests that seek the same or nearly-same information. This has the great advantage of sparing costs and time for both agencies and the public.
For a concrete example, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) now posts online a variety of its reports, enforcement actions, and prior FOIA responses. These reports and enforcement actions were often the object of FOIA requests. As a result of posting this information proactively instead, the APHIS reduced its incoming FOIA requests by 42% over the past fiscal year.
For another example, the EPA's FOIA Office created a public interface that allows users to access information pertaining to real property, housed across multiple EPA databases, relating to the potential environmental hazards. EPA has in the past received FOIA requests for such information by prospective real estate purchasers, and most of EPA's dormant FOIA requests concerned just this information. Now, this frequently requested information is easily accessible; users can search a specific address to determine potential environmental hazards prior to prospective real estate transactions.
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