U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
Briefing Report:
Review of EPA's Process to
Release Information Under the
Freedom of Information Act
Report No. 14-P-0262
May 16, 2014

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Report Contributors:	Patrick Gilbride
Randy Holthaus
Raul Adrian
Todd Goldman
Kevin Lawrence
Lori Ruk
Abbreviations
CFR	Code of Federal Regulations
EPA	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
FOIA	Freedom of Information Act
FY	Fiscal Year
OARM	Office of Administration and Resources Management
OEI	Office of Environmental Information
OGC	Office of General Counsel
OIG	Office of Inspector General
OMB	Office of Management and Budget
ORD	Office of Research and Development
OSWER	Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
OW	Office of Water
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
14-P-0262
May 16, 2014
Why We Did This Review
In Office of Inspector General
planning outreach we conducted
with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and
congressional sources, they
expressed concern about
possible inconsistencies in how
the EPA decides what
information to release under the
Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). In response, we
conducted this review to
determine how the EPA offices
and regions decide what
information to release under the
FOIA.
The FOIA is a law that
governs public access to
U.S. government records.
FOIA carries a presumption of
disclosure.
This report addresses the
following EPA theme:
• Embracing EPA as a high
performing organization.
For further information,
contact our public affairs office
at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2014/
20140516-14-P-0262.pdf
Briefing Report: Review of EPA's
Process to Reiease Information Under the
Freedom of Information Act
What We Found
Each EPA region and headquarters office has processes for addressing FOIA
requests. While the regional and headquarters' processes vary, they all lead to
a decision to release or withhold information based on an evaluation of the
request and the exemptions and exclusions prescribed in the FOIA. To ensure
consistency in the processes used throughout the agency, the EPA's Office of
Environmental Information approved agencywide Interim FOIA Procedures in
September 2013, and plans to finalize them by the end of September 2014.
During our review, we obtained and reviewed FOIA procedures from all
10 regions and four headquarters program offices, and found the following:
•	All offices, except one, had internal FOIA procedures in writing to varying
degrees. For example, some procedures were still in draft or were dated
prior to the EPA's implementation of its current online electronic system
for processing FOIA requests—FOIAonline. In addition, some were
detailed while others consisted of a basic flowchart or narrative
description of the process.
•	Seven offices (three EPA regions and all four headquarters program
offices reviewed) had procedures that were not consistent with the EPA's
current interim FOIA procedures. Primarily, the procedures did not
include language regarding the use of FOIAonline, or were silent or
unclear regarding who has the authority to sign EPA letters responding to
FOIA requests.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the EPA Assistant Administrator for Environmental
Information: (1) issue the final agency FOIA procedures by September 30,
2014; and (2) require that Senior Information Officials at each region and
headquarters program office certify that their local FOIA procedures are
consistent with the agency's final procedures by March 31, 2015. The EPA
agreed with both of our recommendations, and its actions, when completed,
will address the issues presented in this report. All recommendations are
resolved.

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£	\	UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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|	WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
PRo^°
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
May 16, 2014
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Briefing Report: Review of EPA's Process to Release Information Under the
Freedom of Information Act
Report No. 14-P-0262
FROM: Arthur A. Elkins Jr.
TO:	Renee Wynn, Acting Assistant Administrator and Chief Information Officer
Office of Environmental Information
This is a briefing report on the subject evaluation conducted by the Office of Inspector General of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This report represents the opinion of the OIG and does
not necessarily represent the final EPA position. In accordance with established audit-resolution
procedures, EPA managers will make final determinations on matters in this report.
Action Required
You are not required to provide a written response to this final report because you agreed to all
recommendations and provided corrective actions and planned completion dates that meet the intent of
our recommendations. The recommendations remain open with corrective actions ongoing. Please
update the EPA's Management Audit Tracking System as you complete the planned corrective actions
for these recommendations and notify my staff if there is a significant change in the agreed-to corrective
actions. We will post this report on our website at http://www.epa.gov/oig.
If you or your staff have any questions regarding this report, please contact the Assistant Inspector
General for Program Evaluation, Carolyn Copper, at (202) 566-0829 or copper.carolyn@epa.gov:
or the Director, Patrick Gilbride, at (303) 312-6969 or gilbride.patrick@epa. gov.

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
Review of EPA's Process to
Release Information Under the
Freedom of Information Act
~ Report No. 14-P-0262
May 16, 2014

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Assignment Objective
Our assignment objective was to determine how the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offices and
regions decide what information to release under the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
14-P-0262
V
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Background
~	FOIA is a law governing public access to the U.S. government records. FOIA carries a presumption of disclosure.
a At the EPA, the FOIA program is decentralized. The Agency FOIA Officer manages a small staff in headquarters,
and each region and headquarters program office has a FOIA Coordinator and staff involved in processing FOIA
requests on a full- or part-time basis. In most cases, the FOIA office will assign the request in FOIAonline to the
primary FOIA Coordinator in the program or regional office believed to most likely house the majority of
responsive records.
~	FOIAonline is the new online system the EPA uses for processing FOIA requests. The EPA introduced this system
at the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2013. The requirement to use FOIAonline to manage all FOIA requests did not
become effective until June 28, 2013, through the interim FOIA policy.
~	The agency approved its Interim Procedures for Responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests on
September 30, 2013. These procedures address statutory, regulatory, policy, procedural and processing
requirements to be followed by all EPA organizations in responding to FOIA requests submitted to the EPA. The
procedures must comprise the core of any office-specific response procedures that are developed and
implemented in the EPA.
~	According to the Agency FOIA Officer, the interim policy and procedures are expected to become final by the end
of FY 2014. At that time, regions and offices will have 6 more months (around March 2015) to establish office
specific procedures that are consistent with the interim procedures.
14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Background (continued)
Table 1 shows that, between FYs 2010-2012, EPA received 30,221 FOiA requests. Of those, EPA
partially or fully denied 2,182 requests (about 7.2 percent). Requests were fully denied in less than
1 percent of the cases.
Table 1: Breakdown of FOIA requests received/denied
(FYs 2010-2012)
Fiscal year
Requests
Partial grants/
Full denials

received
partial denials
(based on exemptions)
2012
9,689
609 (6.29%)
96 (0.99%)
2011
10,123
676 (6.68%)
94 (0.93%)
2010
10,409
607 (5.83%)
100 (0.96%)
3-Year Total
30,221
1,892 (6.26%)
290 (0.96%)
Source: EPA FOIA Annual Reports.
14-P-0262
V
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Criteria
~ 5 LJ.S.C. § 552, Freedom of Information Act.
The act identifies exemptions—categories of information that are not required to be released to a
FOIA requestor because release would be harmful to governmental or private interests. The act also
excludes certain information related to law enforcement and national security from the requirements
of FOIA. See a list of the FOIA exemptions on the following slide.
~ 40 CFR, Part 2, Subpart A, Procedures for Disclosure of Records Under the Freedom of
Information Act.
This subpart contains the rules that the EPA follows in processing requests for records under the
FOIA.
~ CIO 2157.0, Interim Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Policy, June 28, 2013.
"All FOIA requests received at the EPA will be managed throughout their life cycle in FOIAonline,
the Agency's new FOIA processing and records repository tool. All records provided by the EPA in
response to a FOIA request must be entered into FOIAonline unless subject to special handling
requirements or policies."
~ CIO 2157-P-01 -0, Interim Procedures For Responding To Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Requests, September 30, 2013.
These interim procedures provide basic instructions for responding to FOIA requests submitted to
the EPA and must comprise the core of any office-specific FOIA response procedures that are
developed and implemented in the EPA.	14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
\	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
\	www.epa.gov/oig

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Criteria (continued)
FOIA Exemptions
•	Exemption 1: Classified national defense and foreign policy information.
•	Exemption 2: Internal personnel rules and practices of an agency.
•	Exemption 3: Information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law.
•	Exemption 4: Trade secrets and other confidential business information.
•	Exemption 5: Inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges.
•	Exemption 6: Information involving matters of personal privacy.
•	Exemption 7: Certain records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes.
•	Exemption 8: Information relating to the supervision of financial institutions.
•	Exemption 9: Geological information on wells.
14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Scope & Methodology
Reviewed key criteria (federal statute, regulations, arid EPA policies arid procedures).
Reviewed prior U.S. Government Accountability Office and the EPA Office of Inspector General reports.
Interviewed FOIA personnel at headquarters and Regions 4 and 6. The Agency FOIA Officer is located in
headquarters, and we selected Regions 4 and 6 due to a large number of FOIA requests partially or fully
denied in FY 2012 compared to other regions (Region 4), and senior managers having expressed concern
about the FOIA process to the OIG prior to our review (Region 6).
Selected and reviewed a sample of 33 requests that were fully or partially denied or appealed during
FY 2013, as follows:

R4
R6
HQ
Total
Sample size




Partial denials
4
1
11
16
Full denials
2
2
3
7
Appeals
1
1
8
10

7
4
22
33|





Universe




Partial denials
78
23
218
319
Full denials
2
2
62
66
Appeals
3
6
159
168

83
31
439
553|





V
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Scope & Methodology (continued)
Selected and reviewed an additional sample of 12 requests that resulted in either full or partial denials and were
received on or after July 1, 2013 (after the interim policy went into effect requiring full use of FOIAonline).
o No requests resulting in a full denial were received in Regions 4 or 6 from July 1, 2013, to the date
we selected our sample. Therefore, we selected two requests listed as partial denials for each
region.
o From headquarters, we selected four requests received on or after July 1, 2013, that were listed as
full denials and four requests listed as partial denials.
Requested and obtained FOIA procedures from all 10 regions and four headquarters program offices:
Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM), Office of Research and Development (ORD),
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), and Office of Water (OW). We selected those
four headquarters program offices for review because those offices, in their FY 2012 Federal Managers
Financial Integrity Act submissions, made no mention of their FOIA programs. We reviewed existing procedures
to determine whether they were consistent with the EPA's interim FOIA procedures.
During FY 2013, the EPA's FOIA program underwent changes in its data tracking systems, policies and
procedures. Some of these changes are not yet fully implemented. Therefore, we conducted limited testing of
the effectiveness of EPA's FOIA process.
We conducted our work from August 2013 to January 2014.
14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Overall Results
Each EPA region arid office has processes for addressing FOIA requests.
While the regional and headquarters' processes vary, they all lead to a
decision to release or withhold information based on an evaluation of the
request and the exemptions and exclusions prescribed in the FOIA.
Common elements of the regional and headquarters' processes include:
~	Ensure that the request is clearly stated and has sufficient contact
information about the requester.
~	Assign the request to the appropriate individual who can effectively
conduct the research on a given request.
~	Monitor the processing to ensure timely responses and/or extensions.
~	Coordinate with legal counsel as needed.
~	Communicate with the requester as needed.
14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
\	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
\	www.epa.gov/oig

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Overall Results (continued)
~	For requests received prior to July 2013 (when the interim FOIA policy was
issued), we identified some minor input errors in FOIAonline and cases where
documentation was not uploaded into the system. For requests received on or
after July 1, 2013, we did not find any instances where required
documentation was missing.
~	All 10 regions and three of the four headquarters program offices we sampled
had FOIA procedures in writing, to varying degrees. Some procedures were
still in draft or dated prior to the implementation of FOIAonline. Some were
detailed while others simply included a flow chart or a narrative description of
the process.
~	Seven of the 14 regional and headquarters offices we reviewed had
procedures that were not consistent with the EPA's interim procedures. The
table in the next slide shows a detailed breakdown of whether regions and
offices had formal procedures and whether the procedures were consistent
with the EPA's interim procedures.
14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Region/office
FOIA procedures
documented
FOIA procedures
signed/
approved
Consistent with FOIA
interim procedures?

Yes = 13; No = 1
Yes = 3; No = 11
Yes = 7; No = 7
Region 1
YES
YES
YES
Region 2
YES
NO
YES
Region 3
YES
YES
NO
Region 4
YES
NO
YES
Region 5
YES
NO
YES
Region 6
YES
YES
NO
Region 7
YES
NO
NO
Region 8
YES
NO
YES
Region 9
YES
NO
YES
Region 10
YES
NO
YES
OARM
YES
NO
NO
ORD
YES
NO
NO
OSWER
YES
NO
NO
OW
NO
NO
NO
Note: For purposes of our review, procedures had to incorporate information about FOIAonline to be considered consistent with the EPA's interim FOIA procedures.
14-P-0262
V
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Conclusions
~	The EPA does not plan to finalize its FOIA policy and procedures until the end
of FY 2014. During this period of transition, the EPA should make it clear that
regions and offices should be following the agency's FOIA interim procedures.
~	The EPA will require regions and program offices to develop internal FOIA
procedures that are consistent with the new final agency procedures. Based
on a timeframe negotiated within the EPA by the Office of General Counsel
and all Regional Counsels, the EPA plans to give regions and program offices
6 months from the date when the interim procedures are finalized to comply
with this requirement. At that point, the EPA must ensure accountability by
requiring that each region and program office certifies that their local
procedures are consistent with the final agency procedures. While it will be
about another year before regions and offices will be required to have
documented procedures in place that are consistent with national procedures,
the EPA should encourage regions and offices to address any inconsistencies
before then.
14-P-0262
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
\	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
\	www.epa.gov/oig

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Recommendations
We recommend that the EPA Assistant Administrator for Environmental
Information:
(1)	Issue the final agency FOIA procedures by September 30, 2014.
(2)	Require that Senior Information Officials at each region and program
office certify that their local FOIA procedures are consistent with the
agency's final procedures by March 31, 2015.
Agency Response and OIG Evaluation
The agency agreed with both of our recommendations. We have reviewed the
proposed corrective actions and timeframes and agree with the agency's plans
for complying with our recommendations. All recommendations are resolved.
14-P-0262
V
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	@EPAoig
www.epa.gov/oig

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Status of Recommendations and
Potential Monetary Benefits
RECOMMENDATIONS
13 Issue the final agency FOIA procedures by
September 30, 2014.
13 Require that the Senior Information Officials at
each region and program office certify that their
local FOIA procedures are consistent with the
agency's final procedures by March 31, 2015.
Assistant Administrator for 9/30/14
Environmental Information
Assistant Administrator for 3/31/15
Environmental Information
POTENTIAL MONETARY
BENEFITS (In $000s)





Planned


Rec.
Page



Completion
Claimed
Ag reed-To
No.
No.
Subject
Status1
Action Official
Date
Amount
Amount
1 0 = recommendation is open with agreed-to corrective actions pending
C = recommendation is closed with all agreed-to actions completed
U = recommendation is unresolved with resolution efforts in progress
14-P-0262
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Appendix A
Agency Response
April 8, 2014
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Response to Office of Inspector General Briefing Report No.
OPE-FY13-0027, "Review of EPA's Process to Release
Information Under the Freedom of Information Act."
FROM: ReneeWynn/s/
Acting Assistant Administrator
and Chief Information Officer
TO:	Arthur A. Elkins, Jr.
Inspector General
Thank you for the opportunity to review and respond to the recommendations in the
subject audit briefing report. Following is a summary of the agency's overall position,
along with its position on each of the briefing report recommendations.
AGENCY'S OVERALL POSITION: OEI agrees with the recommendations and plans to
address each recommendation by the estimated completion dates for the corrective
actions as listed in the agreements table below.
OEI understands the OIG will incorporate OEI's response and then issue the briefing
report as final. The audit will then be closed upon issuance of the final report. The two
recommendations and corrective actions will be tracked in the Management Audit
Tracking System (MATS) until completed.
I want to assure you that EPA is committed to continuous improvements to the FOIA
program. We have made great strides in implementing the recommendations from the
Deputy Administrator's FOIA workgroup and will continue to implement the workgroup's
recommendations. Recent improvements in the FOIA program include:
Issuing an interim FOIA policy and interim FOIA processing procedures;
Establishing an implementation schedule for the 22 FOIA recommendations
made by the FOIA Workgroup;
Beginning quarterly reporting to the Deputy Administrator on the progress
made in implementing the FOIA Workgroup recommendations;
14-P-0262
15

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Sending a quarterly report to Agency Deputy Assistant Administrators and
Deputy Regional Administrators on the processing status of FOIA requests in
their organizations;
Delivering training to the Agency's FOIA coordinators and FOIA officers; and
other FOIA professionals, employees and managers who make decisions on
the release of documents; and
Developing a new FOIA Intranet site that provides immediate access to FOIA
guidance, management reports, tools, and training courses.
If you have any questions regarding this response, please contact Larry Gottesman,
EPA's FOIA Officer, on 202-566-2162 or Scott Dockum, OEI Audit Follow-Up Manager,
at 202-566-1914.
AGENCY'S RESPONSE TO REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
Agreements
No.
Recommendation
High-Level
Intended
Corrective
Action(s)
Estimated
Completion by
Quarter and FY
1
Issue the final Agency FOIA
procedures by September
30, 2014.
OEI concurs with
the
recommendation.
4th Quarter FY 2014
2
Require that Senior
Information Officials at each
region and program office
certify that their local FOIA
procedures are consistent
with the Agency's final
procedures by March 31,
2015.
OEI concurs with
the
recommendation.
2nd Quarter FY
2015
14-P-0262
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Appendix B
Distribution
Office of the Administrator
Deputy Administrator
Chief of Staff
Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information and Chief Information Officer
Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO)
Agency Follow-Up Coordinator
General Counsel
Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Associate Administrator for External Affairs and Environmental Education
Assistant Administrator for Administration and Resources Management
Assistant Administrator for Research and Development
Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response
Assistant Administrator for Water
Regional Administrators, Regions 1-10
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information
EPA Freedom of Information Act Officer
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Environmental Information
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Environmental Information
14-P-0262
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