CERTIFICATION FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

This certification is provided in response to the Attorney General’s May 30, 2008 recommendation that each agency’s Chief FOIA Officer submit a certification of compliance with the reading room requirements contained in 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2). The certification is arranged in the three sections specified in the “Template for Certification of FOIA Reading Rooms” provided by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), in guidance issued June 25, 2008. As explained below, this certification is a follow-up to the Department’s October 31, 2008 certification on the same topic.

I. Internal Review of Agency FOIA Reading Room

At my direction as Deputy General Counsel and Chief FOIA Officer for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), DOT completed an internal review of all DOT Components’ FOIA reading rooms between August and early October 2008. ¹ The internal review was led by the Assistant General Counsel for Operations, working with the Chief Counsel of each DOT Component. FOIA Officers and other DOT personnel also provided valuable assistance, with each DOT Component focusing on its own Web page and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) also providing guidance and coordination.

II. Any Reading Room Deficiencies Addressed

A. Not every DOT Component maintained a separate “Electronic Reading Room” on its FOIA Web page.

The internal review revealed that, although all DOT FOIA Web pages were linked together, some did not have a separate “Electronic Reading Room” section. To address this deficiency, we required that pertinent DOT Components create a clearly-designated “Electronic Reading Room” on their FOIA Web pages. Further, we required that all electronic reading rooms meet these criteria:

1. Group the records into the four main reading room categories identified in FOIA Section 552(a)(2)(A)-(D);

2. Include subcategory headings (or some other mechanism) serving as an index;

3. Ensure that the linking devices associated with the records are functional; and

4. Include a statement informing the public that only reading room records created on or after November 1, 1996 must be made available electronically, and indicating the location of a “conventional” reading room where other reading room records (as well as those made available electronically) can be accessed.

B. A number of DOT Components had not made all required reading room records accessible through their FOIA Web pages.

At the time of the internal review, the reading room records that were included in many Components’ FOIA Web pages were not comprehensive and up-to-date. However, we found that DOT already had made many records fitting the description of “reading room records” publicly available on a variety of Internet sites, other than DOT Components’ FOIA Web pages. Although arguably such publicly-available records need not be included in a reading room to avoid constituting “secret law,” nevertheless, between August and early October 2008, the pertinent DOT Components created links to such records from the “Electronic Reading Room” sections of their FOIA Web pages.

Moreover, based on August 2008 guidance that my office provided to each DOT Component on the reading room requirements, pertinent DOT Components identified additional reading room records created on or after November 1, 1996 that had not been posted on the Internet. Some of those sets of records were voluminous, contained sensitive information that required redacting, and/or required reformatting work to bring them into compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act before posting. As explained in my initial certification dated October 31, 2008, submitted pursuant to the Attorney General’s May 30, 2008 recommendation, DOT took the following corrective actions to address this deficiency:

1. Each DOT Component having a backlog of reading room records to be redacted and/or made Section 508-compliant committed additional resources to eliminate or significantly reduce that backlog between August and October 2008.
2. In August 2008, I issued a memorandum requiring that the Assistant Chief Counsel for Operations and the Chief Counsels conduct semi-annual reviews of their Components’ Electronic Reading Rooms and issue periodic reminders to responsible personnel within their Components about the types of records that must be included in the Electronic Reading Room and how to submit them for inclusion.
3. DOT developed a “Quick Reference Guide” to assist the Chief Counsels and the Assistant General Counsel for Operations in explaining the reading room requirements to responsible personnel within their Components. I included the Quick Reference Guide as an attachment to my August 2008 memorandum. We also distributed copies of the Quick Reference Guide to DOT FOIA Offices and FOIA Public Liaisons.

IV. Certification

On October 31, 2008, pursuant to the Attorney General’s May 30, 2008 recommendation, I certified DOT’s substantial compliance with the reading room requirements, but noted as follows: “Less than half of the twelve DOT Components…are still processing, on a priority basis, certain documents identified over the past few months for inclusion in their Electronic Reading Rooms. As stated above, this processing involves redacting sensitive information and ensuring Section 508 compliance before posting. I anticipate that all remaining processing will be completed by February 17, 2009. Once completed, I will resubmit a final version of this certification, certifying DOT’s full compliance with the reading room requirements.” I am proud to report that the Department has now completed this processing work.

As for documents identified after October 31, 2008 and going forward, as Chief FOIA Officer I have established procedures -- including the semi-annual reviews and periodic reminders described above -- to ensure that the Department and all its Components remain vigilant about keeping their Electronic Reading Rooms current.

Rosalind A. Knapp
Chief FOIA Officer, U.S. Department of Transportation

1. DOT Components include the following: the Office of the Secretary of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Maritime Administration, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, and Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

Last updated: 2/17/2009