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REPORT CONTENTS

Executive Summary

E-Stars and E-Delinquents

Introduction

Electronic Reading Rooms: File Not Found

FOIA Guidance for the Public: File Not Found

FOIA Web Sites: Missing Links

Conclusion

Methodology

Bibliography

Appendix One: Glossary of Agency Acronyms (PDF-57 KB)

Appendix Two: Glossary of Internet Terminology (PDF-57 KB)

Appendix Three: Web Site Review Data (PDF-81 KB)

Appendix Four: Web Site Review Template (PDF-128 KB)

Archive's Letters to E-Delinquents

Sunshine Week Homepage

In 1996, Congress sought to revolutionize disclosure of government information to the public by directing federal agencies to use the Internet to make more information publicly available. Congress saw on the horizon huge returns: more public access to important government information and less time and money spent at agencies to process Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

WHAT CONGRESS INTENDED: TRANSFORMING FOIA Revolution in Web access. Most government documents available on the Web as a matter of course. When agencies anticipate significant public interest in a topic or event, they post key records before FOIA requests are received. Fewer FOIA requests. Public has immediate access to vital records online without adding another FOIA request into the backlogged system. Valuable FOIA tools. Agencies provide FOIA requesters with information they need to make a request and comprehensive guides to agency records, reducing the administrative burden. THE REALITY: 10 YEARS LATER Agencies have not obeyed the law. o Only 1 in 5 posts all required records. o Only 1 in 16 provides complete guidance for requesters. o FOIA Web sites are poorly organized, difficult to use.

Ten years after the provisions of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (E-FOIA) came into force, the Executive Branch still has not obeyed Congress's mandate for change. The National Security Archive's Knight Open Government Survey of 149 federal agency and component Web sites found massive non-compliance with E-FOIA. The poor state of agencies' FOIA Web sites forces the conclusion that not only did the agencies ignore Congress, but lack of interest in FOIA programs is so high that many agencies have failed even to keep their FOIA Web sites on par with their general agency Web sites. Congress's best intentions have not had the desired impact.

Key findings of the Knight Open Government Survey are:

• Only about one in five (21%) of the agencies reviewed had on its FOIA site all four categories of records that Congress explicitly required agencies to post. (See Figure 1.) This audit found 41% of the agencies had not even posted frequently requested records. (See Figure 2.) Agencies have generally failed to use the Internet as a means to reduce the FOIA burden by posting as a matter of course records related to matters of strong public interest or categories of records generally requested by the public.

• Only one in sixteen agencies (6%) had on its Web site all ten elements of essential FOIA guidance that the Archive's audit identified based on the E-FOIA statute, legislative history, and DOJ guidance. (See Figures 3 and 4.) These include basic information on: (1) where to send a FOIA request (by mail and by fax or electronically), (2) fee status, (3) fee waivers, (4) expedited processing, (5) reply time, (6) exemptions, (7) administrative appeal rights, (8) where to send an administrative appeal, (9) judicial review rights, and (10) an index of records or major information systems.

• Only about one in three agencies (36%) provided required indexes and guides to agency records, and many of those are incomprehensible or unhelpful. The guidelines for major information system indexes and the related Government Information Locator Service (GILS) program need a major overhaul.

• Agencies have not incorporated many useful online tools that could ease their processing burden. Only about one in four agencies (26%) has developed a Web-based FOIA submission form.

• Many agency FOIA Web sites are poorly organized and difficult to navigate. Even on sites that provide some or all of the required materials, users may be unable to find the information they are seeking because agencies have not made an effort to design user-friendly FOIA sites. The organization of decentralized agency Web sites in particular is more likely to confuse FOIA requesters than help them. These agencies must establish agency-wide policies and exercise direction and oversight over their components' FOIA programs, particularly in the area of E-FOIA compliance.

Agencies clearly have failed to keep pace with the revolution in access to information. Today, nearly three-quarters of the adult public has Internet access, and the Web has become a principal means of conducting a broad range of personal and business communications. Yet the Knight Open Government Survey showed extremely disparate levels of effort by agencies to use FOIA Web sites as a means to communicate with the public.

There are several outstanding agencies whose efforts in complying with E-FOIA demonstrate that the burden of the law is not too high. For example, the National Aeronautics & Space Administration has proactively posted records of great interest to the public, such as those related to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Also, the Department of Education provides excellent guidance and tools such as online forms for FOIA requesters. However, this audit identified a much larger number of agencies that are delinquent in complying with E-FOIA. For example, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (a Department of Homeland Security component) has no dedicated FOIA page at all; and the Air Force has not posted any of the required records. The Archive has sent letters to the Chief FOIA Officer or other FOIA administrator at each of the worst agencies, laying out the deficiencies found in their FOIA Web sites and recommending improvements.

No authority has compelled federal agencies to comply with the E-FOIA Amendments. This dearth of Executive Branch leadership and Congressional oversight on E-FOIA matters has allowed many agencies to remain far out of compliance for far too long. It is time for FOIA finally to catch up with the information revolution.

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