EO 13392 Title 3--The President Executive Order 13392 of December 14, 2005 Improving Agency Disclosure of Information By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to ensure appropriate agency disclo- sure of information, and consistent with the goals of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. (a) The effective functioning of our constitutional democracy depends upon the participation in public life of a citizenry that is well informed. For nearly four decades, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has pro- vided an important means through which the public can obtain information regarding the activities of Federal agencies. Under the FOIA, the public can obtain records from any Federal agency, subiect to the exemptions enacted by the Congress to protect information that must be held in confidence for the Government to function effectively or for other purposes. (b) FOIA requesters are seeking a service from the Federal Government and should be treated as such. Accordingly, in responding to a FOIA re- quest, agencies shall respond courteously and appropriately. Moreover, agencies shall provide FOIA requesters, and the public in general, with cit- izen-centered ways to learn about the FOIA process, about agency records that are publicly available (e.g., on the agency's website), and about the sta- tus of a person's FOIA request and appropriate information about the agen- cy's response. (c) Agency FOIA operations shall be both results-oriented and produce results. Accordingly, agencies shall process requests under the FOIA in an efficient and appropriate manner and achieve tangible, measurable im- provements in FOIA processing. When an agency's FOIA program does not produce such results, it should be reformed, consistent with available re- sources appropriated by the Congress and applicable law, to increase effi- ciency and better reflect the policy goals and obiectives of this order. (d) A citizen-centered and results-oriented approach will improve service and performance, thereby strengthening compliance with the FOIA, and will help avoid disputes and related litigation. Sec. 2. Agency Chief FOIA Officers. (a) Designation. The head of each agency shall designate within 30 days of the date of this order a senior official of such agency (at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level), to serve as the Chief FOIA Officer of that agency. The head of the agency shall promptly notify the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB Director) and the Attorney General of such designation and of any changes thereafter in such designation. (b) General Duties. The Chief FOIA Officer of each agency shall, subject to the authority of the head of the agency: (i) have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and appropriate compli- ance with the FOIA; 216
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