Guidance on New Annual FOIA Report Requirements and Upcoming Reporting Deadlines

On June 30, 2016, President Obama signed into law the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, which contains several substantive and procedural amendments to the FOIA. As a part of the amendments, new reporting requirements were added for agency Annual FOIA Reports. Today OIP has published guidance to assist agencies in meeting these new requirements. Additionally, to assist agencies with their reporting obligations for the upcoming year, OIP is also announcing the deadlines for the submission of agencies' Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Reports, 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports, and Fiscal Year 2017 Quarterly FOIA Reports.

The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 added three new requirements concerning agencies' Annual FOIA Reports. Agencies must now:

• Proactively make available the raw data elements used in the creation of their final Annual FOIA Report,
• Include in their Annual FOIA Report the number of times an exclusion was used, and
• Include in their Annual FOIA Report the number of records that were made available for public inspection under subsection (a)(2) of the FOIA (proactive disclosures). 

OIP’s new guidance details how agencies can meet these new reporting obligations, including new instructions on how agencies should provide the additional reporting metrics to OIP during the Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report review process. Additionally, to assist agencies in posting their raw data, OIP is providing agencies with a Raw Data Template which can be used as a resource.  

While agencies are hard at work on compiling their data for the Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report, deadlines and dates for agency Chief FOIA Officer Reports and Quarterly Reports are also upcoming. All three of these reports serve a vital role in illustrating the steps taken and the progress made by  agencies in administering the FOIA.  Additionally, these reports provide valuable information about how agencies are employing tools to promote efficiency, making more information available proactively, and using technology to improve FOIA administration.

In order to satisfy their reporting obligations in the upcoming year, agencies should mark the following deadlines on their calendars:

Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report

November 21, 2016 – Agencies are required to submit their Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Reports to OIP for review.

For guidance on the requirements for completing the Annual FOIA Report, please see the Department’s Annual FOIA Report Handbook and the recently released guidance on new requirements for Annual FOIA Reports from the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

Fiscal Year 2017 Quarterly FOIA Reports

January 27, 2017 – Quarter 1 data is required to be posted.
April 28, 2017 – Quarter 2 data is required to be posted.
July 28, 2017 – Quarter 3 data is required to be posted.
October 27, 2017 – Quarter 4 data is required to be posted.

For guidance on the requirements for completing the FY 2017 Quarterly Reports, please see OIP’s guidance on quarterly reporting.

2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

January 13, 2017 – The twenty-six high-volume agencies noted in the 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines are required to submit their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports to OIP for review.

February 3, 2017 – All other agencies (small- and medium-volume) are required to submit their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports to OIP for review.

March 13, 2017 – Agencies are required to post their 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Reports online.

For guidance on the requirements for completing the 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report, please see OIP's 2017 Chief FOIA Officer Report Guidelines.

If you have any questions regarding any of the deadlines noted above or the requirements for any of the reports, please contact OIP’s FOIA Compliance Team at (202) 514-3642.

You can also find all of these reporting deadlines on the Reports page of OIP’s website.