GAO: Government Agencies Slowly Adapting
To Electronic Mandate Of New E-FOIA Law
WASHINGTON- Most federal agencies have begun to open electronic
reading rooms and to expedite handling of the public's requests
for government documents, but several lag behind in implementing a
1996 law intended to speed the processing of Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests and to provide electronic versions
of documents to the public, according to a new report by the
General Accounting Office (GAO), Congress's "watchdog"
arm.
The report, based on a survey of 25 major federal departments
and agencies which account for 97 percent of all FOIA requests,
was requested by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the prime author of
the 1996 "E-FOIA" law; Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), who
chairs the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs; and Rep.
Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), who chairs the House Subcommittee on
Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental
Relations of the House Committee on Government Reform.
The 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act (E-FOIA)
requires federal agencies to set up electronic reading rooms
stocked with frequently requested documents and reference
materials to help the public locate government records or
information. The law also gives agencies a 20-day deadline to
decide whether they can comply with any given request, directs
them to devise expedited ways to improve their responsiveness, and
includes annual workload reporting
requirements to gauge their progress.
Asked by the lawmakers to evaluate compliance with E-FOIA, GAO
found that most agencies have implemented many of the law's
requirements, but many have not made all required documents
available electronically. For example, in four categories of FOIA
information required to be electronically available, 15 agencies
had information available in all four categories but the remaining
10 agencies had only some available.
GAO also found that in Fiscal Year 1999 the 25 agencies
processed about 1.9 million FOIA requests, providing complete
records 82 percent of the time. Twenty-three agencies reported
that 1.6 million requests were processed within median times of 20
days or fewer. Understaffing and lack of training were identified
as key reasons for backlogs and delays.
GAO found that:
* Agencies are using electronic reading rooms to give access
to documents and reference materials and also are using the
Internet in other ways to exchange information, but not all
required documents are yet posted.
* Agencies are finding that the 20-day deadline for
determining whether to comply with requests is often impractical
because information often is dispersed among several agencies
and some requests involve hundreds or thousands of pages that
require time-consuming line-by-line review in applying legal
exemptions, but new leeway the law gives agencies to refine what
requesters are after is improving efficiency. Several agencies
say they need more staff and training.
* Agencies are beginning to use automated processing and
specialized software to improve handling of FOIA requests, and a
third have implemented multi-track and expedited processing.
* Better reporting data and more prodding by the Department
of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy may help boost
compliance and accountability. E-FOIA author Leahy said,
"This is an effort to update FOIA's charter for the
information age. Some agencies have jumped into the pool with
both feet, but others are still just dipping their toes. The
holdouts have to understand that the customer comes first, and
the customer is the public. There also are steps that Congress
needs to take, including action to address concerns about
inadequate staff and training."
Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Thompson said,
"The GAO report highlights how many of our agencies have used
the power of the Internet to provide government information of
public interest. It is also clear, however, that there is still
much work ahead in order to take full advantage of information
technology and comply fully with the E-FOIA requirements to ensure
the government provides all appropriate information to the
public electronically."
Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and
Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee Chairman Horn said,
"E-FOIA will eventually open the doors to a new generation of
citizen participation in government, but according to the GAO
report, we're not quite there yet. "We still face many
challenges in ensuring that all federal agencies fully comply with
the public's electronic requests for information. I look forward
to working with my colleagues in Congress to help speed up the
process."
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