U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Office of Legal Policy
June 28, 1983
The Speaker
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515Dear Mr. Speaker:
Enclosed is a copy of the Department of Justice's 1982 annual report on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) activities. This report covers the FOIA activities of all Department of Justice organizations, including the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission which in previous years submitted a separate report.
Because in 1982 the Department, as a matter of administrative discretion, processed virtually all requests received under the Privacy Act of 1974 (requests by individuals for access to records relating to themselves) under the FOIA as well as under the Privacy Act, the enclosed report covers all access requests regardless of the Act cited by the requester.
A comparison of the report with our 1981 report shows that the Department received 2,548 more FOIA requests in 1982, but received 4,079 fewer Privacy Act requests, for a net decrease of 1,531 requests. Reported costs decreased slightly by $153,418 (.89%), but the backlog of total unprocessed requests increased by 9.7% to 11,335. We believe that this is in large part due to a continuing trend toward more expansive and complex FOIA requests, while cost levels have been maintained.
Calendar year 1982 costs are reported at page 19 of the report. This cost table primarily reflects those costs incurred in "processing" access requests. Nevertheless, to the extent that such cost figures are available or can be estimated, certain ancillary costs have been footnoted. Not included at all, however, are significant costs to the Department incurred in litigating FOIA issues for the United States Government.
While administration of the FOIA continues to demand considerable resources both in terms of time and money, the Department will continue to make a diligent effort to fully comply. At the same time, however, we are continuing our efforts to obtain FOIA amendments which we believe to be necessary to reduce the administrative burden on the entire executive branch.
Sincerely,
Jonathan C. Rose
Assistant Attorney General
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