FOIA Advisor

FOIA News (2024)

FOIA News: OCC to update FOIA regulations

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will amend its FOIA regulations in accordance with a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on February 22, 2024. The updated regulations will add provisions concerning expediting requests and appeals and remove language regarding substantial competitive harm from its submitter notice provisions. Public comments may be submitted through April 22, 2024.

FOIA News: DOJ announces Sunshine Week event

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

Department of Justice Sunshine Week 2024 Celebration

DOJ/OIP, FOIA Post, Feb. 21, 2024

We invite you to join the Department of Justice for this year’s kick-off to Sunshine Week in person and online.  On Monday, March 11, 2024 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, the Department will hold its annual Sunshine Week celebration event in the Great Hall.  Established in 2010, this will mark the fourteenth year of the Department’s event recognizing the importance of FOIA for government transparency and celebrating the efforts of those professionals dedicated to the success of their agencies’ FOIA administration.  We invite all agency personnel and members of the public to join us for this year’s event.

The event will include the Department’s annual Sunshine Week FOIA Awards Ceremony to honor and celebrate the work of dedicated FOIA professionals across the government.

The event will also be broadcast via livestream at www.justice.gov/live.   

See more here.

FOIA News: Interior Department releases FY23 report; backlogs reduced

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

The Department of the Interior, whose request backlog increased nearly 200 percent between FY 2017 and FY 2022, has released its annual FOIA report for FY 2023. Here is a summary of the notable data:

  • Requests received: 7,085 a 10 percent increase from FY 2022, when it received 6.405 requests.

  • Requests processed: 7,388, a nearly 20 percent increase from FY 2022, when it processed 6,167 requests.

  • Backlog of requests: 4,320, down 10 percent from 4,808 at end of FY 2022.

  • Appeals received: 205, which is just over 10 percent higher than in FY 2022 (229).

  • Appeals processed: 299, which is just under 10 percent higher than in FY 2022 (273)

  • Backlog of appeals: 217, down nearly 31 percent from 314 in FY 2022.

  • Costs: A total of S18.14 million, with $17.35 million in administrative costs and $794k in litigation costs. The department’s total costs in FY 2023 were 2.3 percent lower than its total costs in FY 2022 ($18.57 million).

FOIA News: HHS releases annual report; requests climb nearly 21 percent

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

The Department of Health and Human Services, whose FOIA request load often places it in the top five government-wide, has released its annual FOIA report for fiscal year 2023. Here is a summary of the notable data:

  • Requests received: 46,530, an increase of nearly 21 percent from FY 2022, when it received 38,462 requests.

  • Requests processed: 47,038, an increase of 26 percent from FY 2022, when it processed 37,241 requests.

  • Backlog of requests: 11,256, down one-half percent from 11,320 at end of FY 2022.

  • Appeals received: 466, which is just shy of 6 percent higher than in FY 2022 (440).

  • Appeals processed: 411, which is 14 percent lower than in FY 2022 (478)

  • Backlog of appeals: 640, up 10 percent from 581 in FY 2022.

  • Costs: A total of S39.7 million, with $32.23 million in administrative costs and $7.46 million in litigation costs. This is approximately 18 percent higher than total costs in FY 2022 ($33.5 million).

FOIA News: Part 5 of FOIA and eDiscovery

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

Part Five of Processing Freedom of Information Act Requests and Utilizing eDiscovery

Michael Sarich & Nicholas Wittenburg, eDiscoveryToday, Feb. 14, 2024

Michael Sarich and Nicholas Wittenberg wrote an article on FOIA requests and eDiscovery, which is being published as a five-part series on eDiscovery Today. Parts one, two, three and four were published last week and this Monday, here’s part five of processing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and utilizing eDiscovery.

Read more here.

FOIA News: Hedge Funds Watching Drug Makers

FOIA News (2024)Kevin SchmidtComment

Hedge Funds Watching Drug Makers

By Randy E. Miller, Law Street, Feb. 15, 2024
Financial firms are continuing to monitor many of the pharmaceutical manufacturers we’ve reported on in recent months, including Krystal Biotech, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Establishment Labs, Catalent and Astellas.  That’s according to a review of Freedom of Information Act requests made to the Food and Drug Administration during December 2023 and January 2024. 

Read more here.

FOIA News: FOIA and eDiscovery

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment

In case you’ve missed it, the blog “eDiscovery Today” is running a five-part article entitled “Processing Freedom of Information Act Requests and Utilizing eDiscovery.” The co-authors are Michael Sarich, the Director of FOIA at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and Nicholas Wittenberg, Corporate Counsel and Senior Advisor for Legal Technology and Innovation at Armedia.

Part 1 , Feb. 5, 2024.

Part 2, Feb. 7, 2024.

Part 3, Feb. 9, 2024.

Part 4 , Feb. 12, 2024.

FOIA News: More FY 2023 FOIA reports

FOIA News (2024)Allan BlutsteinComment