FOIA News
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Information Policy Has Issued Guidance on Implementing FOIA's Statutory Exclusions
On September 14, 2012, the Office of Information Policy (OIP) issued guidance to all agencies concerning proper implementation of the exclusion provisions contained in the FOIA.
The new guidance establishes multiple procedures that agencies should follow to increase awareness of agency use of the FOIA's statutory exclusions. All agencies now must (1) consult with OIP prior to using an exclusion to ensure that the exclusion is warranted and that exclusions are consistently applied; (2) publicly report each year on the number of times, if any, that an exclusion was used; (3) include on their FOIA websites a brief description of the three exclusions; and (4) for those agencies that could possibly invoke an exclusion, include individual notification about the existence of exclusions in their response letters.
To read the full text of the guidance, see FOIA Post, "Implementing FOIA's Statutory Exclusions."
DOI's Proposed New FOIA Regulations are Available for Review and Comment
On September 13, 2012, the Department's proposed new FOIA regulations were published in the Federal Register. The proposed new regulations are available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?granuleId=2012-22391packageId=FR-2012-09-13&acCode=FR
The Managing Government Records Directive Issued to Provide a Records Management Framework for Federal Agencies
On August 24, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Acting Director, Jeffrey D. Zients, and the Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero, issued the Managing Government Records Directive (M-12-18).
The Directive is the culmination of feedback from consultations with agencies, interagency groups, and public stakeholders. It lays out records management goals for Federal agencies and identifies specific actions that National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), OMB, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will take to assist agencies in meeting those goals.
You can read the full text online here.