USDOJ: OIP: FOIA Post
Files moving from File cabinet to Computer

Guidance on Submitting Updated Status Reports to the
President's Management Council

As part of the June 1, 2007 report to the President on agency progress under Executive Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information," the Attorney General recommended that agencies submit to the President's Management Council an Updated Status Report concerning any deficiency reported by the agency in its Fiscal Year 2006 annual FOIA report. This Updated Status Report must describe the specific steps already taken, or which the agency has committed to take in the future, to remedy any deficiency the agency has encountered in implementing its FOIA Improvement Plan.

Set out below is the text of the guidance distributed by the Office of Information and Privacy to all Chief FOIA Officers concerning the content of the Updated Status Reports. These reports are required to be submitted first in draft form to the Office of Information and Privacy by July 18, 2007. Each agency, through its Chief FOIA Officer, must then submit the final report to the Chair of the President's Management Council by August 1, 2007.


From: Department of Justice, Office of Information and Privacy
To: Agency Chief FOIA Officers
Subject: Updated Status Reports by Agencies That Reported Deficiencies in Their Implementation of Executive Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information"

This memorandum provides guidance to agencies for reporting by August 1, 2007, on the progress that they have already made - - and have committed to make - - in remedying the deficiencies that the agencies previously reported in meeting one or more milestones in their FOIA improvement plans. Any agency that did not have a deficiency is not required to submit this Updated Status Report.

BACKGROUND:

On June 1, 2007, the Attorney General issued his second report to the President pursuant to Executive Order 13,392. This report is based on the FY06 Annual FOIA Reports that agencies submitted earlier this year and provides an update on the agencies implementation of the FOIA and of their FOIA Improvement Plans. In accordance with Sec. 4(a) of the Executive Order, the Attorney General's report includes recommendations for improving agency FOIA administration. The first recommendation requires that each agency that reported a deficiency in meeting one or more milestones in its FOIA Improvement Plan1 submit to the President's Management Council (PMC) an Updated Status Report regarding the corrective actions taken, or to be taken, regarding each deficiency.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS:

I. Timing of the Updated Status Report to the President's Management Council. In order to appropriately ensure that agency status reports incorporate the components detailed below, each agency must submit a draft of their Updated Status Report to the Department of Justice for review by July 18, 2007.

Each agency, through their Chief FOIA Officer, must submit a finalized and approved Updated Status Report to the Chair of the PMC by August 1, 2007, and post the Updated Status Report to its FOIA website.

II. Preparing the Updated Status Report. As noted above, each agency that reported a deficiency in implementing the agency's FOIA Improvement Plan is now required to provide an Updated Status Report that will describe for the PMC the progress made in completing the corrective steps described in the FY06 Annual FOIA Report. In order to comply with this requirement all agencies should follow the uniform template set out below.

A. General Issues.

1. A "deficiency" includes both the failure to meet a milestone, as well as the failure to meet it on the date specified.

2. Agencies' Updated Status Reports to the PMC need not address any deficiency that was corrected prior to February 1, 2007, and reported as such in the FY06 Annual FOIA Report.

B. Template for the Updated Status Report.2 For each deficiency, agencies must:

1. Identify the FOIA Improvement Plan area to which your deficient milestone relates.

2. Identify the deficient milestone (including the original target date listed in the agency's FOIA Improvement Plan).

3. Describe the specific steps you have taken to date to correct the deficiency, including the dates by which you completed these steps (this should include every corrective step listed in your FY06 Annual FOIA Report that you have since completed).

4. Describe any additional steps that you will be taking in the future to correct the deficiency, including the dates by which you will complete these steps (this should include every corrective step listed in your FY06 Annual FOIA Report that you have not yet completed).

III. Submitting the Updated Status Report. Your agency's status report should be submitted by your agency's Chief FOIA Officer, using the template provided above:

Agencies with questions regarding this matter should contact Ken Hendricks or Tom Hitter at the Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy at (202) 514-3642. (posted 6/28/2007)


Footnotes:

1 The Report, found at: http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/ag_report_to_president06012007.pdf stated: "By August 1, 2007, each agency that reported a deficiency in meeting one or more milestones in its FOIA Improvement Plan (this includes, for example, those agencies with red or yellow progress in the charts in Attachment B) shall submit to the PMC an updated status report that describes the progress that the agency has made in correcting the deficiency(ies), including any further corrective action that the agency has taken or will be taking. Additional guidance on this reporting item will be forthcoming."

2 All agencies should follow this template. Agencies that received a telephone call from the Chairman of the President's Management Council regarding a "Red" deficiency should also follow this template, addressing any "Red" deficiency first (to include, for example, those activities they have already agreed to undertake).

Go to: Main FOIA Post Page