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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
(NARA)
20 DAYS TO RESPOND TO ARCHIVE; OUTSTANDING REQUESTS AS OLD
AS 13 YEARS
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Recordkeeping Issues - NARA's FY 2002 annual FOIA
report says that its FOIA responses are delayed as a result
of referrals to other agencies and because it must permit
review of releases of presidential papers. |
Ten Oldest - NARA responded approximately
20 business days after the request was made; it reported ten
FOIA requests ranging from March 9, 1990 to August 18, 1993.
These requests included one from an Archive analyst seeking
classified records regarding Berlin, French-United States
military relations, and several specified files, a request
for cable files of the Assistant Chief of Staff G-2(Intelligence)
1961-1965 relating to Laos, records of the Physical Security
Equipment Agency, specified records of General Wheeler, an
Archive request for specified documents from the White House
Office of Science and Technology, and Archive request for
specified files from the State Department from 1955-1959,
a request referred by the Department of Defense for records
of the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1960-1970,
records regarding Chinese and Korea in the 1950s, specified
files of the Officer in Charge of Politico-Military Affairs,
Office of European Regional Affairs 1950-57, and other specified
files relating to Algerian terrorist activity in France and
the French intelligence services. |
Workload Statistics - NARA's reported statistics
from 1998 through 2002 indicate that the agency has received
an increasing number of FOIA requests (up 51.16% from 6606
in 1998 to 9986 in 2002). The number of requests processed
each year also has increased (up 48.84% from 5930 processed
in 1998 to 8826 processed in 2002). NARA's processing rate
per year -- a comparison of the number of requests processed
to the number received - rose for a few years from 89.77%
in 1998 to 101.35% in 2000, but then fell again to 88.38%
in 2002. |
Backlog Statistics - NARA's backlog of pending FOIA
requests has increased (from 1520 FOIA requests pending at
the end of 1998 to 2430 FOIA requests pending at the end of
2002). NARA's backlog as a percentage of FOIA requests processed
each year has increased from 18.74% in 1998 to 40.68% in 2002.
Its backlog rate per year -- a comparison of the number of
requests pending at the end of the year to the number received
during that year -- has increased from 16.82% in 1998 to 35.95%
in 2002. |
Processing Time - While its median days to process
has ranged from 7-140 days for simple requests and 20-541
days for complex requests over the 1998-2002 period, with
improvement in the last year, the median days that backlogged
requests have been pending is reported as 887 days for 2002.
NARA's FY 2002 annual FOIA report indicates two reasons for
its excessive response times. First, NARA must inform current
and former presidents of records in presidential libraries
that NARA proposes to release and allow at least a 90-day
review period prior to any release. Second, when NARA receives
a request for classified materials, it must await a release
decision from the originating agency; in such cases, NARA
contends that its own processing of the request is within
the 20-business day statutory timeframe and that the rest
of the delay is due to the originating agencies. No processing
times are reported for expedited requests. |
TEN
OLDEST REQUESTS
NARA Response
Letter
NARA March 9, 1990 Letter
NARA May 18, 1992 Letter
NARA June 26, 1992 Letter
NARA July 10, 1992 Letter
NARA September 17, 1992
Letter
NARA October 22,
1992 Letter
NARA January 26, 1993
Letter
NARA May 31, 1993 Letter
NARA July 23, 1993 Letter
NARA August 18, 1993 Letter
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