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United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Chief FOIA Officer Report
2023
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Jeffrey M. Prieto
nersl Counsel
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Section I: FOIA Leadership and Applying the Presumption of Openness 4
A. Leadership Support for FOIA 4
B. Presumption of Openness 4
Section II: Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration 7
A. FOIA Training 7
B. Outreach 12
C. Other Initiatives 14
Section III: Proactive Disclosures 17
Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology 20
Section V: Steps Taken to Remove Barriers to Access, Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests,
and Reduce Backlogs 25
A. Remove Barriers to Access 25
B. Timeliness 26
C. Backlogs 27
D. Backlog Reduction Plans 29
E. Reducing the Age of Requests, Appeals, and Consultations 31
F. Additional Information about FOIA Processing 33
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Executive Summary
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is committed to implementing the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) to promote transparency and build public trust in agency actions. In the
period covered by this 2023 Chief FOIA Officer Report, EPA significantly enhanced its FOIA
processing program by building on initiatives started in prior years, by launching new initiatives
under a commitment to continuous improvement, and by procuring a new FOIA case management
software system to replace FOLAonline.
EPA Implemented DO J and Chief FOIA Council Recommendations.
In this reporting period, EPA implemented Department of Justice guidance and Chief FOIA
Officer Council recommendations to enhance its FOIA program. On March 17, 2022, EPA
Administrator Michael S. Regan emailed all EPA employees, telling them about their FOIA
responsibilities, encouraging EPA offices to look for new opportunities to proactively disclose
EPA records, and highlighting the recently issued Attorney General Garland FOIA Memo.
Administrator Regan encouraged "offices to identify information useful to the public and consider
the best ways to make that information accessible on the agency's website, without waiting for a
request from the public to do so." This was Administrator Regan's second annual email to all EPA
employees on their FOIA responsibilities, thereby implementing the Office of Government
Services1 recommendation to raise the profile of FOIA by calling for agency heads to annually
issue a memorandum reminding the agency employees of their responsibilities and obligations
under the FOIA.
EPA's National FOIA Office (NFO) implemented the Garland Memo's recommendation that all
offices should confirm in response letters to FOIA requesters that EPA considered the foreseeable
harm standard when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions. The NFO provided a
training on May 15, 2022, and January 12, 2023, to EPA's FOIA Community on the importance
of telling requesters about EPA's consideration of the foreseeable harm standard in applying
exemptions. Additionally, the NFO provided a template letter and FOIA Toolkit updates
illustrating how to tell requesters about EPA's consideration of the foreseeable harm standard in
applying exemptions.
FOIAonline Replacement and Support for FOIAonline Partners.
On March 7, 2023, EPA entered a contract with OPEXUS (formerly AINS) to provide EPA and
FOIA requesters with the next generation FOIA case management software solution to replace
1 In March 2013, OGIS issued "Policy Recommendations for Improving Freedom of Information Act Procedures,
recommending that agency leadership actively support FOIA programs and encouraged senior agency officials to
issue memos. See https://www.archives.gov/files/ogis/assets/ogis-2013-recommendations.pdf. In a subsequent FOIA
Ombudsman blog, OGIS shared a supportive memorandum from the Archivist of the United States on FOIA and
encouraged leadership at other agencies to issue similar memos to promote FOIA's importance. See
https://foia.blogs.archives.gov/2013/04/03/foia-spread-the-word/ (April 3, 2013). Additionally, the 2020 FOIA
Advisory Committee Recommendation 17 states "We propose that the Chief FOIA Officers Council recommend
that agency leadership annually issue a memorandum reminding the workforce of its responsibilities and obligations
under FOIA and encouraging the workforce to contact the agency's FOIA officer for assistance with the FOIA
process." See, https://www.archives.gov/files/ogis/assets/foiaac-fmal-report-and-recs-2020-07-09.pdf#page=17.
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FOIAonline, which will cease operation as of the end of FY 2023. During the remainder of the
2023 fiscal year, EPA will work with OPEXUS to configure FOIAXpress for EPA's FOIA
operations, migrate data, and train EPA employees and requesters on the use of FOIAXpress. EPA
anticipates that the selection of FOIAXpress as EPA's next generation FOIA case management
software solution will provide the following FOIA service enhancements: public access link,
document management, reporting, role-based permissions, advanced integrated search engine,
real-time dashboards & analytics, and collaboration tools.
Throughout EPA's procurement process, EPA's National FOIA Office worked with other
FOIAonline partners to share information and support them in their procurement process. For
example, EPA's NFO shared its procurement documents with nine federal agencies to assist them
in their procurement process.
EPA Enhanced Requester Communication. Quickened Adjudication of Expedited
Processing Applications, and Maintained a Zero Appeals Backlog.
In FY 2022, EPA maintained its extraordinary achievement of a zero FOIA appeals backlog.
EPA reduced its average appeal response time from 256.93 days in FY 2019 to 13.66 days in FY
2022a 95% reductionby applying lean management methods, such as weekly workflow
meetings on all pending appeals. In FY 2022, EPA processed 100% of the appeals within the
statutory timeframe.
In FY 2022, EPA continued to increase the speed of issuing decisions on applications for
expedited processing, an improvement project EPA began in FY 2021. EPA applied lean
management methods and techniques to dramatically reduce the average time to issue these
decisions from 21.06 days in FY 2020 to only 3.39 days in FY 2022, an overall 84%
improvement. All decisions were issued in less than ten days. This measurable processing speed
improvement illustrates the results EPA achieved by its commitment to continual improvement
through lean management methods, techniques, and principles throughout EPA's centralized
intake team and decentralized FOIA processing program. While management identified the need
for this improvement, credit goes to the NFO staff member, Gail Davis, who reviewed their own
process steps and identified ways to speed the process through focused attention and continuous
problem solving.
While EPA was not able this year to reduce its backlog of FOIA requests as shown in its FOIA
Annual Report, nevertheless through better, more consistent, and earlier communication with
requesters, the Agency was able to extend due dates on many requests thereby reducing the
number of requests that are statutorily overdue, an accomplishment not reflected in the reported
request backlog data.
EPA Proposed FOIA Rulemaking Enhancements to Reduce Access Barriers to Records
About the Most Vulnerable Communities
In November 2022, EPA proposed a new regulatory provision to allow requesters to seek
expedited processing of their request, and fee waiver, if the records sought pertain to an
environmental justice-related need and will be used to inform an affected community. EPA has
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defined Environmental justice (EJ) as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all
people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This proposed
provision would recognize that timely access to information contained in EPA records may play
an important role in the opportunity for meaningful involvement by communities that potentially
experience disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects.
EPA is currently considering comments on the proposed new regulatory provision and
anticipates issuing a final rulemaking decision in FY 2023. The link to the proposed rule is:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/ll/17/2022-24678/freedom-of-information-act-
regulations-update-phase-ii
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Section I: FOI.A. Leadership and Applying the Presumption of Openness
The guiding principle underlying the Attorney General's iidelm.es is the presumption of
openness. The Guidelines also highlight the importance of agency leadership in ensuring
effective FOIA administration. Please answer the following questions about FOIA leadership at
your agency and describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of
openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA.
A. Leadership Support foi
1. The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at
least at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. See 5 U.S. C. § 552(j)(l) (2018). Is your
agency's Chief FOIA Officer at or above this level?
Yes, the EPA's Chief FOIA Officer is the Agency's General Counsel, a Presidentially
appointed, Senate confirmed position.
2. Please provide the name and title of your agency's Chief FOIA Officer.
Jeffrey M. Prieto, General Counsel
3. What steps has your agency taken to incorporate FOIA into its core mission? For example,
has your agency incorporated FOIA milestones into its strategic plan?
The FY 2022-2026 EPA Strategic Plan establishes a long-term performance goal to
enhance its efforts to meet statutory deadlines for responding to Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) requests and eliminate the backlog of overdue responses by September 30,
2026. Through enhanced transparency, the public and local communities can participate
more meaningfully and partner with EPA in protecting human health and the
environment.
umption of Openness
4. The Attorney General's 2022 FOIA Guidelines provides that "agencies should confirm in
response letters to FOIA requesters that they have considered the foreseeable harm standard
when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions." Does your agency provide such
confirmation in its response letters?
Yes, in response letters EPA provides confirmation that the foreseeable harm standard
was considered when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions. On May 15,
2022, and January 12, 2023, the EPA's NFO provided training to the EPA FOIA
Community highlighting Attorney General Garland's March 15, 2022,
Memorandum Regarding Freedom of Information Act Guidelines. NFO provided an
updated template letter and updated FOIA Toolkit illustrating how to tell requesters
about EPA's consideration of the
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foreseeable harm standard in applying exemptions and determining the releasability of
records when issuing FOIA responses.
5. In some circumstances, agencies may respond to a requester that it can neither confirm nor
deny the existence of requested records if acknowledging the existence of records would harm an
interest protected by a FOIA exemption. This is commonly referred to as
a Glomar response. With respect to these responses, please answer the below questions:
a. In addition to tracking the asserted exemption, does your agency specifically track
whether a request involved a Glomar response?
EPA does not currently track the use of "Neither Confirm nor Deny" (NCND)/Glomar
responses.
b. If yes, please provide:
i. the number of times your agency issued a full or partial Glomar response
(separate full and partial ifpossible);
ii. the number of times a Glomar response was issued by exemption (e.g.,
Exemption 7(C) - 20 times, Exemption 1-5 times).
This is not applicable to the EPA.
c. If your agency does not track the use of Glomar responses, what would your agency
need to do to track in the future? If possible, please describe the resources and time
involved.
EPA's current FOIA case management system does not have the capability to track the
use of Glomar in final response letters. EPA has recently completed the procurement of
a new FOIA case management system and anticipates having the new system in use by
the end of FY 2023. EPA does not yet know whether the new system will have the
capability to separately track use of Glomar responses.
6. Optional If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the
presumption of openness is being applied, please describe them here.
EPA worked to enhance transparency throughout the reporting year to improve compliance
with the FOIA and to ensure EPA applies the presumption of openness. Steps taken included:
Monthly FOIA Backlog Reports to Senior Leadership. The National FOIA Office
issued monthly FOIA backlog reports to the heads of all Agency program and regional
offices, identifying each office's existing FOIA backlog and the change from the prior
month.
Routine Meetings of EPA FOIA Professionals. The National FOIA Office emphasized
the presumption of openness and FOIA compliance during regular monthly meetings
of the FOIA Community.
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Requester Engagement for More Efficient Processing. EPA's FOIA professionals
regularly work with requesters throughout the FOIA process to seek clarification and
to develop schedules for interim releases when appropriate.
Post Simplified Calendars of Senior Officials on EPA Webpage. In response to
inquiries from the requester community, EPA proactively posts on the EPA webpage
simplified, or abridged, calendars of Agency senior leadership. The simplified
calendars provide the public with information regarding key activities of EPA Senior
Leaders.
Proactively Release Monthly Visitors Logs of Headquarters Buildings. EPA uploads
Headquarters visitors logs to the FOIA website by the 15th of each month. Posting the
visitors logs eliminates the need for the public to submit a FOIA request to obtain this
information.
Publication of Administrator Regan's Messages to EPA Employees. EPA maintains on
the agency webpage Administrator Regan's messages to EPA employees regarding
transparency and maintaining the public trust.
Updates to Environmental Justice Manning Tool EJScreen. EPA updated and added
new capabilities to EJScreen, the Agency's public environmental justice (EJ) screening
and mapping tool. EJScreen combines environmental and socioeconomic information
to identify areas overburdened by pollution. EJScreen 2.1 includes the addition of new
data on US territories, threshold maps which provides a cumulative outlook, and
supplemental indexes providing additional socioeconomic information.
New Chemicals Review Program Website Redesign and Updates to Statistics. The
update includes additional information and metrics on the Agency's review of new
chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), increasing transparency
for the public, the regulated community and other stakeholders. The new information
and features will help users understand EPA's new chemicals review process, and
trends, while highlighting the progress the program has made despite ongoing resource
challenges.
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Section II: Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration
The Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines provide that "[ejnsuringfair and effective FOIA
administration requires .. . proper training, and a full understanding of FOIA obligations by the
entire agency workforce." The Guidelines reinforce longstanding guidance to "work with FOIA
requesters in a spirit of cooperation. " The Attorney General also "urge[s] agency Chief FOIA
Officers to undertake comprehensive review of all aspects of their agency's FOIA
administration " as part of ensuring fair and effective FOIA administration.
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1. The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered to
agency personnel. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(j)(2)(F). Please describe the efforts your agency has
undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by agency personnel.
EPA Annual FOIA Training (In-house).
EPA requires all employees to take annual online FOIA training. This year's training focused
on the intersection of the FOIA and the Privacy Act and FOIA Exemption 6, Personal Privacy.
In FY 2022, 93%2 of EPA employees successfully completed the training.
EPA FOIA Training Committee fin-house).
Launched in FY 2021, EPA launched a new, centralized FOIA training committee to review
and progressively strengthen the training provided throughout EPA's decentralized FOIA
processing program. This initiative aims to increase the quality and consistency of EPA's
training while building on EPA's strong tradition of encouraging EPA FOIA professionals to
share their skills, knowledge, enthusiasm, and leadership by developing or presenting FOIA
trainings to the EPA FOIA Community and EPA at-large.
2. Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities
attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period such as that provided by the
Department of Justice?
Yes. FOIA professionals and staff who have FOIA responsibilities attended substantive
FOIA training during the reporting period.
3. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted and the
topics covered.
Department of Justice. Office of Information Policy Trainings (External).
EPA FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities attended the following training
offered by the Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Information Policy:
2 In this report, EPA rounded percentages to the nearest whole number using commonly applied decimal rounding
rules. If the calculated number in the tenths place was 5 or higher, EPA rounded up to the next whole number; if the
calculated number in the tenths place was 4 or lower, EPA rounded down to the nearest whole number.
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Virtual FOTA Summit for Agency FOIA Professionals: An opportunity for agency FOIA
professionals to hear about how some of their colleagues are modifying their FOIA plans
and process in light of COVID-19 and best practices for leveraging FOIA data to
strengthen FOIA programs. Discussion of recent Government Accountability Office
FOIA reports and recommendations, and perspectives on FOIA litigation trends.
Virtual Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Workshop: An overview of the requirements of
Exemption 4, protecting trade secrets and certain commercial and financial information,
as well as the submitter-notice process for exemption determinations. An overview of
Exemption 5, which incorporates civil discovery privileges into the FOIA.
Virtual Freedom of Information Act Litigation Seminar: Discussion of current legal and
policy developments impacting FOIA administration, and an overview of recent FOIA
court decisions.
Virtual Procedural Requirements and Fees Training: Overview of the FOIA's procedural
requirements, and statutory fees and fee waiver provisions.
Virtual Advanced Freedom of Information Act Training: Introduction of the FOIA's
personal privacy exemptions, an overview of the various FOIA procedural
requirements and, an advanced overview of the FOIA's requirements to make
information available proactively to the public.
Virtual Privacy Considerations Training: Overview of FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C) and
interface between the FOIA and the Privacy Act.
Virtual Continuing FOIA Education: Discussion of current topics in FOIA
administration, including an update of current legal and policy developments
impacting FOIA administration, and an overview of recent FOIA court decisions.
Virtual Annual/Quarterly FOIA Report Training: Overview of requirements for
completing and submitting agencies' Annual and Quarterly FOIA Reports in accordance
with the FOIA and DOJ guidance.
Virtual Chief FOIA Officer Report Training: Overview of requirements for agencies'
Chief FOIA Officer Reports.
American Society of Access Professionals (External).
EPA FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities attended the National Training
Conference offered by the American Society of Access Professionals.
EPA FOIA Training Committee fin-house).
In FY 2021, EPA launched a new, centralized FOIA training committee to review and
progressively strengthen the training provided throughout EPA's decentralized FOIA
processing program. This initiative aims to increase the quality and consistency of EPA's
training while building on EPA's strong tradition of encouraging EPA FOIA professionals to
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share their skills, knowledge, enthusiasm, and leadership by developing or presenting FOIA
trainings to the EPA FOIA Community and EPA at-large.
The Committee leverages the FOIA knowledge and expertise of its members from regional
and headquarters FOIA professional staff to ensure the quality of FOIA training provided
throughout EPA. The Committee has the following objectives:
Identify and respond to EPA FOIA Community needs for new training resources;
Facilitate access to existing training resources, including the development and
maintenance of an archive or library for use by the EPA FOIA Community;
Ensure training resources are tailored to diverse roles, tasks, and concepts related to
EPA FOIA processing; and
Design resources that emphasize prevailing FOIA best practices and improve
consistency in FOIA practice across the Agency in accordance with statutory
requirements, regulatory requirements, and EPA FOIA Policy and Procedures.
Building on its accomplishments from last fiscal year, in FY 2022 the EPA FOIA Training
Committee:
Delivered a training at a monthly FOIA Community Meeting on the Attorney General's
FOIA Guidelines, with particular focus on the foreseeable harm statements in response
letters;
Provided training on fee assessments to support EPA's FOIA Fee Invoice Verification
and Improvement Project;
Continued a regular practice of reporting at FOIA Community Meetings on significant
new court decisions and on frequent counseling questions; and
Oversaw the creation of the FY 2023 all-staff training and initiated the conversion of
the companion Supervisor Training eLearning module on the application of
exemptions, to be hosted in EPA's FedTalent learning management system.
Focused EPA FOIA Training Events (In-house).
FOIA experts in EPA's Office of General Counsel also provided a wide variety of training,
briefing, and assistance on an as needed or project-specific basis throughout the year.
The National FOIA Office, in the Office of General Counsel, provided comprehensive
training to FOIA professionals and agency employees in several FOIA topic areas,
including: Identifying Proactive Disclosures; Choosing the Appropriate Disposition at
Closeout; Negotiating with FOIA Requesters; Conducting Self-Audits of Due Date
Extensions and Supporting Documentation; EPA's Awareness Notification Process;
several fees-related topics; EPA Proprietary Business Information Procedures;
Foreseeable Harm Statements in Release Letters; and Protecting Privileges Practice
Tips.
EPA FOIA Community Meetings fin-house).
The National FOIA Office held monthly meetings with the Agency's FOIA Community to
provide guidance and updates on FOIA-related matters. These monthly meetings provided
key FOIA personnel with ongoing training relevant to the performance of their duties,
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including but not limited to: information on Agency FOIA processes and procedures;
explanations of how to apply FOIA exemptions, negotiate with requesters and appropriately
extend the response due date, estimate fees, and make discretionary disclosures; as well as
guidance on other administrative processing matters, case law developments, and FOIA
related topics.
E-Discoverv & Technology Training for FOIA Experts (External & In-house).
EPA FOIA professionals attended several eDiscovery training events:
RelativitvFest 2022 conference to stay abreast of advances in eDiscovery technology
and best practices applicable to processing FOIA document reviews using Relativity
software.
The EPA provided training throughout the year to EPA FOIA professionals on the
analytics tools included in EPA's e-Discovery Relativity platform that can be leveraged
to more efficiently review records for response to FOIA requests.
4. Please provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA
responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.
EPA estimates nearly all EPA FOIA professionals took substantive FOIA training in FY
2022. Ninety-three percent of all EPA employees completed the FY 2022 Annual FOIA
Training, and EPA identified less than 5 FOIA professionals who did not take this annual
training. In addition, EPA's National FOIA Office provides substantive training as part
of its monthly "FOIA Community" meetings, which are routinely attended by more than
150 FOIA professionals and managers.
5. OTP has directed agencies to "take steps to ensure that all of their FOIA professionals attend
substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the year. " If your response to the previous
question is that less than 80% of your FOIA professionals attended training, please explain your
agency's plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training
during the next reporting year.
This is not applicable to EPA.
6. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of their
obligations under the FOIA. In particular, please describe how often and in what formats your
agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff; and if senior leaders at your
agency received a briefing on your agency's FOIA resources, obligations and expectations
during the FOIA process?
Annual FOIA Message from Administrator Regan.
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On March 17,2022, Administrator Regan issued an email message to all EPA employees
in celebration of Sunshine Week and to emphasize the importance of the FOIA as a tool
that "implements a bedrock principle of democracy that the public is entitled to 'know
what their government is up to.'" This annual message implements the 2018-2020 FOIA
Federal Advisory Committee Recommendation 17, which encourages "agency leadership
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annually issue a memorandum reminding the workforce of its responsibilities and
obligations under FOIA and encouraging the workforce to contact the agency's FOIA
officer for assistance with the FOIA process."
Administrator Regan pointed to the Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines and committed
EPA "to conducting its business in an open and transparent manner through high quality
and timely FOIA responses" and "to being a flagship example of transparent, efficient,
and effective government." Further, Administrator Regan called on EPA employees "to
work together to serve the public interest, ensure the public trust, and emphasize
transparency, disclosure, and cooperation."
Mandatory Annual FOIA Training.
EPA required all employees to complete mandatory FOIA Awareness Training in FY 2022.
The training was provided via an online training platform, FedTalent, with regular reminders
to each employee and to their supervisors to ensure completion by the end of the fiscal year.
The online platform also provided data tracking for accountability. In FY 2022, 93% of
employees successfully completed the required training, which focused on the intersection of
the FOIA and the Privacy Act, and FOIA Exemption 6, Personal Privacy.
FOIA-Related Performance Standards.
EPA requires that all senior manager performance agreements contain FOIA-related
performance responsibilities to ensure Agency management promotes compliance with FOIA
laws, regulations, policies, and Executive Orders. Managers are accountable to manage FOIA
responses and to supervise and train all EPA employees who have a role in administering the
FOIA.
FOIA Supervisor Training.
The National FOIA Office is currently developing a companion Supervisor-focused eLearning
module focusing on the application of the most frequently applied FOIA exemptions by EPA,
Exemptions 5 (Civil Discovery Privileges) and 6 (Personal Privacy). Like the primary
Supervisor Training eLearning module, this companion module will be remote, on-demand,
Section 508 compliant, and user accessibility tested for assistive technologies.
Self-Learning Resources.
The National FOIA Office regularly reviewed and updated the Agency's FOIA Intranet site
available to EPA FOIA professionals and agency employees. This site includes a subsection
on "FOIA Training and How To's," training records and guidance issued by the Department
of Justice, and other learning resources useful to non-FOIA professionals new to FOIA
processing or needing refresher training. The FOIA Intranet site also prominently displays
news highlights including regarding recent court decisions.
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7. Did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, outside of the standard
request process, with the requester community or open government groups regarding your
administration of the FOIA? Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable,
any specific examples of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agency's FOIA
administration.
Yes. The EPA FOIA Public Liaison, FOIA Officers, and FOIA professionals engaged in
dialogue with members of the FOIA requester community regularly throughout the year
regarding administration of the FOIA.
Proposed Rule - Freedom of Information Act Regulations Update: Phase II
On November 17,2022, EPA published in the Federal Register a Proposed Rule to update
the agency FOIA regulations at 40 C.F.R. part 2 and sought public comments on 22
distinct issues. The Phase II Proposed Rule set out changes that would alter the process
by which individuals and entities request records from EPA under the FOIA, as well as
clarify certain provisions and align with the FOIA and with EPA and government-wide
policy.
Environmental Justice Expedited Processing Criteria. EPA proposed a provision to allow
requesters to seek expedited processing of their request if the records sought pertain to an
environmental justice-related need and will be used to inform an affected community.
EPA has recognized environmental justice concerns for many decades and has defined
Environmental Justice as the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development,
implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. EPA
recognizes the role timely access to information contained in EPA records may play in
the opportunity for meaningful involvement by communities that potentially experience
disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects. Establishing
this new expedited processing category would target an understood need for timely access
for communities with environmental justice concerns to information, which may not be
met by the "compelling need" category set forth in the FOIA statute.
To qualify for expedited processing under the proposed Environmental Justice provision,
a requester would need to show: (1) a pressing need; (2) to inform a community
potentially experiencing disproportionately high and adverse human health or
environmental effects; (3) about those effects; (4) affecting, or potentially affecting, that
community.
Federal FOIA Advisory Committee.
Two EPA personnel, Patricia Weth, a manager in EPA's Office of General Counsel and
Matthew Schwarz, an attorney advisor in EPA's Office of General Counsel, served as
government members of the FOIA Advisory Committee for the 2020-2022 term. Patricia
Weth continues to serve as a government member for the current 2022-2024 term. The FOIA
Advisory Committee establishes an open and transparent way for the public to provide the
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federal government advice regarding FOIA implementation, and it consists of members both
inside and outside the federal government, who have considerable FOIA expertise. NARA
created the Advisory Committee to foster dialogue between the federal government and the
requester community and to solicit public comments and develop recommendations for
improving FOIA administration and proactive disclosures.
Chief FOIA Officers Council Technology Committee.
Five EPA personnel, Jennifer MacDonald, an attorney-adviser in EPA's Region 10 Office of
Regional Counsel, Mark Muro, a government information specialist in EPA's Region 5, Brian
Thompson, a manager in the EPA's Office of Mission Support, and Heather Thompson, an
attorney-adviser in EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, and Joan
Moumbleaux a government information specialist in EPA's Office of General Counsel;
represent EPA on the Chief FOIA Officers Council, Technology Committee. The Chief FOIA
Officers Council established the Technology Committee to study the use and deployment of
technology in FOIA programs across agencies, and to identify best practices and
recommendations that can be implemented across agencies.
Chief FOIA Officers Council Committee on Cross-Agency Collaboration anil
Innovation.
Two EPA personnel, Brittany Pugh, a government information specialist in EPA's Office
of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, and Nicole Rementer, an attorney-adviser
in EPA's Office of General Counsel, serve as EPA members on the Chief FOIA Officers
Council, Committee of Cross-Agency Collaboration and Innovation (COCACI). The
Chief FOIA Officers Council created the COCACI in October 2020 to implement
Recommendation 16 from the 2018-2020 FOIA Advisory Committee Final Report and
Recommendations. Its purpose is to research and propose cross-agency grant programs
and funding sources, create federal career paths for FOIA professionals, and promote
models to align agency resources with agency transparency. Nicole Rementer co-chairs
the Government Information Specialists (Job Series) Professionalization Subcommittee.
8. As part of the standard request process, do your FOIA professionals proactively contact
requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope
of the request so requesters can receive responses more quickly? Please describe any such
outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples.
Yes. EPA FOIA professionals regularly contact requesters concerning complex or
voluminous requests. Agency FOIA procedures encourage FOIA Program Offices to
contact a requester as many times as needed to clarify the scope of the request at any step
in the FOIA process. EPA's centralized FOIA request intake team located within EPA's
National FOIA Office evaluate requests for complexity within the first few days of
receipt. NFO FOIA professionals contact requesters to provide recommendations on ways
to clarify or narrow requests. Additionally, the NFO provided several trainings in FY
2022 for agency FOIA professionals on best practices when proactively contacting
requesters to discuss the scope of requests and when seeking clarification. For internal
communications to the EPA FOIA processing community and Agency leadership, EPA
uses FOIA backlog data display that takes into account due date extensions where EPA
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offices appropriately reach out to requesters about requests that are complex or seek
voluminous records.
9. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about the
services provided by the agency's FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an estimate of the
number of times requesters sought assistance from your agency's FOIA Public Liaison during
Fiscal Year 2022 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number).
For FY 2022, EPA's FOIA Public Liaison responded to an estimated 1-2 phone calls for
assistance per month. The FOIA Public Liaison and FOIA Requester Service Center
email account received approximately 800 inquiries this year, including 200 specifically
requesting FOIA Public Liaison services. The National FOIA Office responds to emailed
inquiries by email or follow up phone call. In addition, the National FOIA Office, which
includes EPA's FOIA Public Liaison and FOIA Requester Service Center, issues a unique
correspondence to each requester as part of its intake review of FOIA requests and
includes information on how to contact EPA's FOIA Public Liaison in that
correspondence, as well as in every FOIA final letter and interim response letters.
;r Initiatives
10. Has your agency evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond
to current and anticipated FOIA demands? If so, please describe what changes your agency has
or will implement.
In 2022 EPA has continued to use lean management principles, methods and techniques
to continuously review and improve EPA's FOIA response processing. By deploying lean
management methods agency-wide, many offices across the agency conducted lean
management improvement events around FOIA processing and deployed visual
management tools to bring greater focus to FOIA processing. Root cause analysis is a
critical lean management method that requires offices to analyze whether FOIA
processing goals and targets can be met through process improvements, deployment of
technology, or changes in personnel resources. Through application of these methods,
some EPA offices reorganized FOIA processing in various ways including by changing
personnel resource allocations.
In FY 2022, in looking at root cause analysis pertaining to loss of momentum on backlog
reduction, EPA identified delays in hiring and onboarding staff to replace certain key
employees who retired or left the agency in offices with the highest backlogs. EPA
concluded that existing allocation of agency personnel resources remained appropriate,
subject to filling these vacancies. Replacement hiring was completed in one office by the
end of the fiscal year.
EPA's National FOIA Office has conducted several office-specific and agency-wide
reviews of FOIA staffing. As an outgrowth of those reviews, EPA's National FOIA
Office partnered with EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, EPA's
Office of Water, and EPA's Office of the Administrator to establish a contract for FOIA
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document reviewers for up to 3 years and $4 million in contractor document review
services. This contract is a pilot designed to provide additional contractor staff to assist
with two offices that have the largest backlogs of overdue FOIA requests at the agency
and as surge capacity where needed in response to evolving circumstances during the life
of the contract.
11. How does your agency use data or processing metrics to ensure efficient management of
your FOIA workload? For example, case management reports, staff processing statistics, etc. In
addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used.
The EPA regularly creates various reports to track the review status of FOIA requests and
response times and to make case assignments. EPA uses lean management methods and
techniques, including daily and weekly huddle data display and monthly and quarterly
business meeting review of data, throughout its decentralized FOIA program
administration. Several EPA program offices have developed their own FOIA processing
display dashboards for tracking FOIA processing through various stages of initial triage
through final response and use such data for daily and weekly allocation of resources to
keep FOIA processing on schedule and to identify when further contact with requesters
regarding estimated due dates is warranted. Additionally, the EPA compares the
Quarterly Reports and the FOIA Annual Reports to assess quarterly and yearly trends and
levels of productivity. The EPA will continue to use data reporting to assess productivity
and assist it in streamlining processes and procedures. Additionally, the NFO holds EPA
FOIA Community meeting to review and discuss the Annual FOIA Report, the Chief
FOIA Officer's Report, and the DO J Chief FOIA Officers' Report Assessment and
Summary to illustrate areas of improvement and to identify opportunities for
improvement in the next fiscal year.
12. Optional If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure fair and
effective FOIA administration, please describe them here.
Procuring a New FOIA Case Management System.
On March 7, 2023, EPA entered a contract with OPEXUS (formerly AINS) to provide EPA
and FOIA requesters with the next generation FOIA case management software solution to
replace FOIAonline, which will cease operation as of the end of FY 2023. During the
remainder of the 2023 fiscal year, EPA will work with OPEXUS to configure FOIAXpress
for EPA's FOIA operations, migrate data, and train EPA employees and requesters on the use
of FOIAXpress. EPA anticipates that the selection of FOIAXpress as EPA's next generation
FOIA case management software solution will provide the following FOIA service
enhancements: public access link, document management, reporting, role-based permissions,
advanced integrated search engine, real-time dashboards & analytics, and collaboration tools.
FOIA Expert Assistance Team (FEAT).
EPA's FOIA Expert Assistance Team (FEAT), located in EPA's National FOIA Office in the
Office of General Counsel, was created in 2014 to provide strategic direction and project
management assistance on the most challenging or complex FOIA requests. It continues to
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provide valuable centralized coordination and training to improve FOIA processing,
consistent with its original functional statement:
This unit provides legal counsel on all issues pertaining to selected FOIA
requests that have been determined to be [the] most complex and/or
potentially sensitive requests received across the Agency. Utilizing an
extraordinary breadth of FOIA knowledge and experience, together with in-
depth organizational and external awareness, the team provides advice and
guidance to the highest echelons of management within the Agency.
The FEAT also provides consulting services to EPA programs that need help assessing and
identifying areas of improvement in their FOIA programs or processes. Depending on the
specific needs of the Agency and each request for assistance, the FEAT adjusts its level of
involvement on a particular project.
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Section III: Proactive Disclosures
The Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines emphasize that "proactive disclosure of information is
... fundamental to the faithful application of the FOIA." The Guidelines direct agencies to post
"records online quickly and systematically in advance of any public request" and reiterate that
agencies should post records "in the most useful, searchable, and open formats possible."
1. Please describe what steps your agency takes to identify, track, and post (a)(2) proactive
disclosures.
Through the agency's current FOIA case management system, FOIAonline, the EPA can
identify, track, and post responsive records.
2. Provide examples of any material that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past
reporting year, including records that have been requested and released three or more times in
accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D). Please include links to these materials as well.
EPA continually updates its website with new information regarding public health and
environmental protection topics. These updates demonstrate EPA's commitment to
proactively disclose information to the public. The following illustrate these proactive
disclosures:
EPA Launched Updates to Environmental Justice Mapping Tool EJScreen
EPA updated and added new capabilities to EJScreen, the Agency's public
environmental justice (EJ) screening and mapping tool. EJScreen combines
environmental and socioeconomic information to identify areas overburdened by
pollution.
EJScreen 2.1 includes the addition of new data on US territories, threshold maps
which provides a cumulative outlook, and supplemental indexes providing
additional socioeconomic information.
EJScreen 2.1 now includes environmental, demographic, and index data for the
US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
EPA also created a set of "supplemental indexes" as an additional method to
highlight vulnerable populations that may be disproportionately impacted by
pollution, incorporating a new five-factor supplemental demographic index. The
five socioeconomic indicators considered are percent low-income, percent limited
English-speaking, percent less than high school education, percent unemployed,
and low life expectancy.
EJScreen is located at https r//www. epa, gov/ei screen.
EPA Updated New Chemical Review Program Webpage, and Metrics
EPA redesigned and updated the statistics webpage for the New Chemicals
Review Program. The update added information and metrics on the Agency's
review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA),
increasing transparency for the public, the regulated community and other
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stakeholders. The new information and features help users understand EPA's new
chemicals review process, throughput, and trends, while highlighting the progress
the program has made despite ongoing resource challenges.
The webpage now contains month-by-month counts of new chemical
submissions, completed risk assessments and completed risk management actions
for all notices and exemptions, allowing users to track monthly progress on EPA's
new chemicals workload.
New tables and graphs on the webpage visualize new chemicals submission trends
and changes from FY 2010-2022.
The revised webpage now also includes a tracker for other applications submitted
to the New Chemicals Program, including Low-Volume Exemptions (LVEs),
Low Release and Low Exposure Exemptions (LoREXs), Test Market Exemptions
(TMEs), TSCA Environmental Release Applications (TERAs) and Tier II
Exemptions for Microorganisms (Tier lis).
The new webpage provides greater detail about the new chemicals review process,
including explanations of each step of the review process for notices and
exemptions. Also new to the webpage is an explanation of factors that EPA
considers when triaging new chemical submissions for review.
This webpage is located at https://www.epa.gov/reviewing-new-chemicals-
undcr-toxic-substanccs-control-act-tsca
EPA Publishes State-Level Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data, Resources to Promote
State Action on Climate
EPA released new and updated resources to support states as they work to address
the climate crisis and reduce climate pollution:
o State-level data on greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: The Inventory of
U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks by State provides state-by-state
emission and sinks data consistent with the national greenhouse gas
inventory, and with international standards. The state-level GHG
Inventory provides annual emissions estimates from 1990 through 2019
and will be updated each year. This webpage is located at
https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/state-ghg-emissioiis-aiid-removals.
Updates to the State Inventory Tool: EPA's existing State Inventory Tool
helps states to compile and analyze their own estimates of GHG emissions
and sinks. The new version of the tool updates and extends calculations
through 2019 and better aligns the tool with the new Inventory by State
estimates. This tool is located at
fattps ://www,epa. gov/ statelocalenergy/state-inventorv-and-proi ection-
tool
o Information on state-level opportunities to reduce emissions of potent
greenhouse gases: The U.S. State-level Non-C02 Mitigation Analysis
provides states with improved data to better understand the costs and
opportunities for reducing emissions of potent greenhouse gases,
including methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. This report looks
at projected emissions of these gases through 2050 and provides
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comprehensive technical and economic data on the opportunities and costs
for reducing emissions. This report is located at
https://www.er)a.gov/glohal~mitigation~non~co2~greenhouse~gases/us~
state-level-non-co2-ghg-mitigation-report.
EPA Launched New Online Tools to Provide Communities with Information on
Environmental Enforcement and Compliance.
EPA launched three new online tools available to the public that provide
additional information on environmental enforcement and compliance in their
communities.
EPA integrated Environmental Justice metrics with ECHO. Members of the
public can use EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO)
website, which is located at https://echo.epa. gov/, to search for facilities in their
community to assess their compliance with environmental regulations. EPA has
now integrated Environmental Justice (EJ) metrics in the basic ECHO facility
features, allowing users to:
o Search for Facilities in Areas with Possible EJ Concerns
o Investigate Pollution Sources in Areas with Possible EJ Concerns
o Examine and Create EJ Enforcement-Related Maps
o Analyze Trends in Compliance & Enforcement EJ Data
Customized Updates on Local Enforcement and Compliance Activities. EPA
launched "ECHO Notify," which is located at https://echo.epa.gov/tools/echo-
notify and empowers members of the public to stay informed about important
environmental enforcement and compliance activities in their communities.
Through ECHO Notify, users can sign up to receive weekly emails when new
information is available within the selected geographic area, such as when a
violation or enforcement action has taken place at a nearby facility.
Benzene Fenceline Monitoring Dashboard. Beginning in 2015, petroleum
refineries were required to install air monitors around the perimeter of their
facilities to monitor benzene concentrations and report the results to EPA on a
quarterly basis. Those results are now accessible to the public on EPA's Benzene
Fenceline Monitoring Dashboard, which is located at
https://awseciap.epa.gov/p11l3lic/exte11sions/Fe11celine Monitoring/Fenceline Mo
nitoripg.html?sheet=MonitoringDashboard
3. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information
more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your
agency's website?
Yes. EPA upgraded its internet web content management system, ensuring that the site is
508 compliant and allowing the FOIA public site to be re-configured for clarity. The home
page is now structured in three distinct columns with links to Frequently Requested Records
featured prominently in the center of the page.
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4. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. In particular, please describe steps
your agency is taking to post information in open, machine-readable, and machine-actionable
formats, to the extent feasible. If not posting in open formats, please explain why and note any
challenges.
Please see response to question 2 above.
To further the Open Government Initiative, EPA is posting information in open, machine
readable, machine actionable formats by providing the public with an Environmental
Dataset Gateway (EDG). The EDG offers data consumers a catalog of all EPA open data
content, available at https://edg.epa.gov/metadata/catalog/maiii/home.page.
Further, EPA provides open data policies governing the open data initiative as well as
guidance for viewing or downloading datasets curated by the EPA, available at
https://www.epa.gov/data.
5. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff
outside the FOIA office, such as IT or data personnel? If so, describe this interaction.
EPA Program Offices and Regions work with the Office of Mission Support to post
records or databases on the agency website.
6. Optional Please describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any
challenges your agency faces in this area.
EPA continually strives to improve and increase disclosure of important environmental
and public health information to the public. EPA does this in a variety of ways, including
the following best practices:
Disclosure to One is Disclosure to All. EPA makes publicly available most records
that have been released under FOIA (except records responsive to first party
requests) through FOIAonline regardless of the number of times requested.
EPA program offices continuously disclose to the public, including through
interactive websites, the public health and environmental information that EPA
collects.
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A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information available to
the public and to gain efficiency in FOIA processing. The Attorney General's FOIA
Guidelines emphasize the importance of making FOIA websites easily navigable and complying
with the FOIA.gov interoperability requirements. Please answer the following questions to
describe how your agency is using technology to improve its FOIA administration and the
public's access to information.
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1. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources
needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?
In November 2021, EPA announced its decision to sunset FOIAonline FOIA case
management system in two years by the end of the 2023 calendar year. EPA's National
FOIA Office conducted an extensive market research of alternative FOIA case
management systems and solutions. For example, in February 2022, EPA attended the
NexGen FOIA Tech Showcase in order to get gain knowledge of new FOIA technologies
to assist the agency with its FOIA mission. The Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council's
Technology Committee, in conjunction with the Office of Government Information
Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration and the U.S.
Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Information Policy (OIP), hosted this event for
federal agencies. In July 2022, EPA also posted a request for information and in October
2022, EPA posted its request for quotes for a FOIA case management system to replace
FOIAonline.
On March 7, 2023, EPA selected the winning quote for a FOIA case management system
to replace FOIAonline and entered into a contract with OPEXUS to provide FOIAXpress.
EPA anticipates that this new system will be fully configured, data will be migrated, staff
will be trained, and it will be launched for the public to use for submitting FOIA requests
to the Agency by October 1, 2023.
2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency began using during the
reporting period to support your FOIA program.
During this reporting period, EPA substantially migrated records from the on-premises
version of Relativity to the newly launched RelativityOne cloud version.
3. Does your agency currently use any technology to automate record processing? For example,
does your agency use machine learning, predictive coding, technology assisted review or similar
tools to conduct searches or make redactions? If so, please describe and, ifpossible, estimate
how much time and financial resources are saved since implementing the technology.
EPA uses the RelativityOne software solution for FOIA document review and redaction.
The Relativity One software solution includes a variety of machine automation tools for
use in document review.
4. OIP issued guidance in 2017 encouraging agencies to regularly review their FOIA websites to
ensure that they contain essential resources and are informative and user-friendly. Has your
agency reviewed its FOIA website(s) during the reporting period to ensure it addresses the
elements noted in the guidance?
Beginning in 2022, the National FOIA Office started a review of its public-facing site.
The NFO's goal is to make information about the FOIA, about EPA FOIA administration,
and EPA's publicly available records, more findable and usable. During 2023, the NFO
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plans to re-architect its web pages to provide simple, clear information about how to file
a request as well as easy access to EPA records in the public domain.
5. Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2022 appear on FOIA.gov?
Yes. The EPA's Fiscal Year 2022 four quarterly reports appear in FOIA.gov.
Additionally, EPA posted the FY 2022 quarterly reports to its public facing website,
available at. https://www.epa.gov/foia/department-ittstice-qttarterlY-reports.
6. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports on FOIA.gov, please explain why
and provide your agency's plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year
2023.
This is not applicable to EPA.
7. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires all agencies to post the raw statistical data used
to compile their Annual FOIA Reports. Please provide the link to this posting for your agency's
Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency's Fiscal Year 2022
Annual FOIA Report.
The EPA FY 2021 FOIA Annual Report is posted on the agency website at
https://www.epa.gov/foia/foia-reports-qttarterlY-reports-ammal-reports-chief-foia-
officerreports#annual.
The EPA FY 2022 FOIA Annual Report is posted on the agency website at
https://www.epa.gov/foia/foia-reports-qttarterlY-reports-ammal-reports-cMef-foia-
officerreports#annual
8. In February 2019, DOJ and OMB issued joint Guidance establishing interoperability
standards to receive requests from the National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov. Are all components
of your agency in compliance with the guidance?
Yes. The EPA is in compliance with OMB M-19-10 Guidance for Achieving
Interoperability with the National Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Portal on
FOIA.gov
9. Optional Please describe the best practices used in greater utilizing technology and any
challenges your agency faces in this area.
EPA is exploring an opportunity to partner with MITRE to test its FOIA Assistant tool.
The tool supports FOIA analysis by identifying and recommending redaction of
exemption 5, 6, and 7(c) content. EPA's goal is to test the FOIA Assistant, which detects
potential personally identifiable information and deliberative language, to determine
whether the tool increases document review speed. MITRE is a not-for-profit
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organization working in the public interest by sharing its independent research with the
government.
The National FOIA Office's Intranet site is heavily used and relied upon by the EPA
FOIA Community. The usage statics show approximately 150 visitors each day.
Recently, the NFO redesigned the site giving it a modern look, making it user friendly,
and providing easy one-stop-shop access to templates of FOIA letters for download, the
FOIA Toolkit, the EPA FOIA Community Directory, and the FOIA Training Library.
The user experience design made the site more readily accessible, including media blocks
with representative pictures. The new site provides current FOIA "News" and "Events,"
such as the EPA FOIA Community Meeting, OGIS meetings, and DOJ training courses.
The screen shot on the next page illustrates these site highlights. The successful smooth
transition allowing users to seamlessly transition from the old to the new site is evidenced
by the complete absence of any complaints and there was no drop in usage of the site.
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EPA@Werk
Administrative Resource
Finance & Purchasing v Human Resources v Training & DevelopmenE *
FOIA
EPAigWorfc Home » FOIA
National FOIA Office
The Nationa l FOIA Office discharges the duties of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and allies
wich the Agency's fundamental commitment to government accountability through information
transparency and accessibility.
The FOIA allows any perso n access to federal agency records. All agencies, inciudi ng the EPA. have the
duty to release records to the public. To na lance the public's right to know with efficient government
operations, the FOIA allows agencies to withhold info rmat«on from the public if disclosure would
harm a government interest protected by any of nine exemptions.
O
FOIA Toolkit
Key steps to processing a FOIA request includes best
4 practices, records search, review, and productions.
FOIA Directories & Org Chart
EPA FOIA Professionals Directory. External Equity Review
(Consultations) Director/ and NFO Organization Chart
White House Consultations
Submit and trade FOIA consuftations tc White House
Counsel. OWE. CEQ, and all other Executive Offices of the
President
Delinquent Requester List
Sequesters vwth outstanding fees.
q Awareness Notification Process & CBI
Notification Process
ANP Template and Training: C&i Notices and Training.
FOIA Letter Templates
Template letters for FOlA processing.
e
FOIAonline & Relativity Access
Login to FOIAonline and Relativity.
I ^ ll
Contact Us
Have an inquiry'? Submit s comment.
Statute, Regulations, Policy»
Procedures, and Case Law
FOIA Statute and Regulation; National and
Program Poltcy and Procedures; FOIA Cases
of Note and Weekly Case Law Decisions.
View Legal Materials
FOIA Training Library
FOIA Processing and Fraining Materials.
View Training Materials
Agendas, Reports,
Announcements, Awards, and
Celebrations
EPA FOIA Community Agendas; .Annual
Statistical Reports and chief F OIA officer
Reports; Annoiu ncements. Awards, and
Celebrations
View Administrative Content
News
FOIA Community Meeting. Thursday December
15th 2PM to ^OPM EST.
December £. 2022
A monthly meeting for the EPA FOIA professional community.
New Decisions Received Week Ending October
24
Events
DATES TO KEEP AN EVE ON
EPA FOIA Community
Meeting
A monthly meeting for the
ERA FOIA community....
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The Attorney General's FOIA Guidelines instruct agencies "to remove barriers to requesting
and accessing government records and to reduce FOIA processing backlogs." Please answer
the following questions to describe how your agency is removing barriers to access, improving
timeliness in responding to requests, and reducing FOIA backlogs.
A. Remove Barriers to Access
1. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first-party requested records
outside of the FOIA process?
Yes.
2. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please indicate why not. Please also indicate if you do
not know.
MyProperty (https://enviro.epa.gov/facts/myproperty) is an internet-based tool for
searching facility data that comes from multiple EPA data sources available through the
EPA's Facility Registry System (FRS). This tool allows property owners, as well as real
estate agents, mortgage banks, engineering and environmental consulting firms and the
public, to determine if EPA's FRS system has records on a specific property without filing
a FOIA request. If a search of an address returns a 'No Information Found for the
Submitted Address' response, the user can generate a "No Records Certificate".
Environmental due diligence professionals often require documentation that EPA does
not possess environmental contamination records about a specific property, and submit
FOIA requests to obtain such documentation. The MyProperty "No Records Certificate"
satisfies such documentation requirements in several state and local jurisdictions. The
public continues to increase use of the MyProperty site since EPA began informing FOIA
requesters about the site. In FY 2022, the monthly average site Pageviews reached an all-
time high of 4,465, compared to 4,002 in FY 2021. The MyProperty site issued 9,069
"No Records Certificates" in FY 2022, an increase of 23% over FY 2021.
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Environmental Topic*
Law* & Regulations
About EPA
Search EPA.g<
Related Topics: Envirofacls Contact La
MyProperty
Searching Properties for Environmental Concerns
MyProperty is a tool For searching facility data that come from multiple EPA data sources available through the EPA's Facility Registry System
(FRS).
This tool allows Real Estate Agents, Mortgage Banks. Engineering and Environmental Consulting Firms and the public to determine if EPA's FRS
system has records on a specific property without filing a Freedom of Information Act 'I FOIA) request The results of this search will be identical to
the information you would receive by filing & FOIA request with EPA for these records,
Search Property Location
Enter Street Address lex, "1200 Pennsylvania Ave NW"), City (ex, "Washington") and State ex, "DC"). Note, this search will attempt to find an
address in the EPA database that is a "letter for letter' exact match with the address that is entered. Please be aware of the various forms of
addresses that exist (for example "St" vs. "Street"). If a match is not Initially found, try alternate forms of the ad-dress. Refer to possible alternate
forms of addresses and abbreviations found at usps.corn r- " ¦ ' .
Street Address: | j
Dty; j ~f~
State: I v |
Submit Query I Reset
B. Timeliness
3. For Fiscal Year 2022, what was the average number of days your agency reported for
adjudicating requests for expedited processing? Please see Section VIII. A. of your agency's
Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report.
EPA achieved a significant improvement in adjudicating requests for expedited
processing by reducing the average number of days to 3.39 in FY 2022, as compared to
an average of 7.77 days in FY 2021, and 21.06 days in FY 2020, an overall 84%
improvement. In FY 2022, EPA adjudicated 224 of the 225 requests for expedited
processing within 10 days or less.
4. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was
above ten calendar days, according to Section VIII. A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2022 Annual
FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests for
expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less.
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA's average number of days to adjudicate requests for
expedited processing was 3.39 days in FY 2022.
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5. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests?
Yes.
6. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA Report
section VILA, was the agency overall average number of days to process simple requests twenty
working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2022?
No. While EPA's average number of days to process simple requests in FY 2022 was
40.86 days, EPA processed 64% of simple requests within 20 working days.
7. If not, did the simple track average processing time decrease compared to the previous Fiscal
Year?
Yes, EPA reduced the average processing time for simple track requests in FY 2022
(40.86 days) as compared to FY 2021 (52.55 days).
8. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022 that
were placed in your simple track. Please use the following calculation based on the data from
your Annual FOIA Report: (processed simple requests from Section VII.C.l) divided by (requests
processed from Section V.A.) x 100.
In FY 2022, EPA processed 47% of the requests in the simple track.
9. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of days to
process all non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer?
This is not applicable to EPA, because EPA has a processing track for simple requests.
C. Backlogs
Backlogged Requests
10. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2022, according to
Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.2, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog
reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2021?
No, despite sizeable decreases for the prior three fiscal years, in FY 2022, EPA's backlog
of FOIA requests increased by 37 according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.2
11. If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.l, did your agency process more
requests during Fiscal Year 2022 than it did during Fiscal Year 2021?
No, EPA processed fewer requests during FY 2022 (6630 FOIA requests) than it did
during FY 2021 (6943 FOIA requests).
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12. If your agency's request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2022, please explain why and
describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When
doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:
An increase in the number of incoming requests
A loss of staff
An increase in the complexity of the requests received (if possible, please provide
examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog
increase)
Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions
Any other reasons -please briefly describe or provide examples when possible
EPA experienced delays in hiring and onboarding staff to replace certain key employees
who retired or left the agency in offices with the highest backlogs. EPA also had ongoing
challenges accessing and reviewing hardcopy records to search for responsive records in
certain offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic safety precautions and because of office
location moves that resulted in the records being boxed and inaccessible during the moves.
13. If you had a request backlog, please report the percentage of requests that make up the
backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022. Please
use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged
requests from Section XII.A) divided by (requests received from Section V.A) x 100. This number
can be greater than 100%. If your agency has no request backlog, please answer with "N/A."
The number of backlogged requests at the end of FY 2022 as a percentage of total requests
received in FY 2022 was 23%.
Backlogged .Appeals
14. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2022, according to
Section XII.E.2 of the Annual FOIA Report, did that backlog decrease as compared with the
backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2021?
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA did not have a backlog of appeals at the close of both
FY 2021 and FY 22.
15. If not, according to section XII.E.l of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process
more appeals during Fiscal Year 2022 than it did during Fiscal Year 2021?
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA did not have a backlog of appeals at the close of both
FY 2021 and FY 22.
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16. If your agency's appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2022, please explain why and
describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When
doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:
An increase in the number of incoming appeals
A loss of staff
An increase in the complexity of the requests received (if possible, please provide
examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog
increase)
Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions
Any other reasons -please briefly describe or provide examples when possible
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA did not have a backlog of appeals at the close of FY
2022.
17. If you had an appeal backlog please report the percentage of appeals that make up the
backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022. Please
use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged
appeals from Section XII.A) divided by (appeals received from Section VI.A) x 100. This number
can be greater than 100%. If your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2022
and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA did not have a backlog of appeals at the close of FY
2022.
I I ¦ Idog Reducti
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EPA's National FOIA Office supported agency-wide backlog reduction efforts by
issuing monthly FOIA backlog reports to EPA's senior leadership showing the
backlog of overdue FOIA requests in each EPA headquarters and regional offices,
as well as previous months' data trends.
EPA's National FOIA Office also implemented the first year of a document review
contract as a pilot to address need for additional document review capacity in two
offices with the largest FOIA backlogs, and for surge capacity in other offices, if
needed.
EPA maintained FOIA accountability language in all senior manager performance
agreements Agency-wide in FY 2022, and EPA continued delivering specialized
FOIA training for supervisors.
EPA sought to proactively disclose more records publicly available through
FOIAonline and on the EPA website.
Notwithstanding implementing these backlog reduction plan actions, EPA
experienced delays in hiring and onboarding staff to replace certain key employees
who retired or left the agency in offices with the highest backlogs, and EPA also
had ongoing challenges accessing and reviewing hardcopy records to search for
responsive records in certain offices due to the COVID-19 pandemic safety
precautions and because of office location moves that resulted in the records being
boxed and inaccessible during the moves.
19. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2022, please
explain your agency's plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2023.
EPA plans to continue the reforms it started in the prior years that have led to an overall
FOIA backlog reduction of 62 percent from FY 2018 through FY 2021, including
monthly data reporting of overdue FOIA requests showing progress towards the agency-
wide and office-specific backlog reduction goals. EPA will continue to provide training
to supervisors and EPA FOIA professionals on their FOIA duties.
EPA will continue focus on accountability through the performance review process. EPA
will also continue to apply lean management principles, methods and techniques to FOIA
agency-wide, thereby promoting continuous improvement through initiatives developed
in each FOIA processing office. EPA will also continue to enhance FOIA processing in
EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which reorganized and
centralized its FOIA program at the end of FY 2020. Through regular review of data and
meetings to discuss both challenges and successes, EPA is committed to continuously
identify ways to improve FOIA processing.
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E. Reduci : Age of Requests, Appeals, a,net Consultations
jest Requests
20. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that
were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?
No, EPA did not close all of the ten oldest requests reported in the FY 2021 Annual FOIA
Report.
21. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by the end
of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.E of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report. If
you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that.
In FY 2022, EPA successfully closed eight of the ten oldest FOIA requests that were
pending and reported in the FY 2021 Annual FOIA Report.
22. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce
the overall age of your pending requests.
EPA's efforts to reorganize and improve FOIA processing described in response to the
questions above are the steps that EPA took to reduce the overall age of FOIA requests
pending with EPA.
les'i .Appeals
23. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending
in Section VI. C. 5 of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?
Yes. EPA successfully closed all appeals reported in the FY 2021 Annual FOIA Report.
24. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close by the end of
the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report. If
you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that.
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA had fewer than ten total appeals in the FY 2021
Annual FOIA Report. EPA successfully closed five out of the five appeals reported as
pending in the FY 2021 Annual FOIA Report.
25. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce
the overall age of your pending appeals.
The EPA General Law Office (GLO), in the Office of General Counsel (OGC),
maintained the prior fiscal year's process improvements to maximize efficiency. Within
days of receiving an appeal, GLO notifies program offices and EPA regional offices
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responsible for the initial response to the FOIA request that the response has been
appealed and to be prepared to coordinate with an OGC attorney shortly. GLO holds a
weekly group meeting for each attorney to give an update on the processing of each open
appeal and to raise any issues for discussion and elevation. Additionally, attorneys abide
by a strict timeline to draft appeal determinations to provide management sufficient time
to review. To manage the operations of the Agency's FOIA appeals program, GLO
established a Team Lead for Administrative Appeals position. Before a draft
determination is presented to the Assistant General Counsel for review and signature, the
Team Lead reviews the draft to ensure completeness and legal sufficiency. The Team
Lead also briefs management with regular status updates, coordinates with EPA programs
and regions on individual appeals, and assists attorneys with the processing of individual
appeals as needed. Through these efforts, EPA was able to maintain a zero appeals
backlog throughout FY 2022.
dest Consultations
26. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported
pending in Section XII. C. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?
Yes, EPA closed all consultations that were pending and reported in the FY 2021 Annual
FOIA Report.
27. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency was able to close by the
end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section XII. C. ofyour Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA
Report. If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that.
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA closed ten out of the ten consultations that were
pending and reported in the FY 2021 Annual FOIA Report.
I ii'CnoNALInformationRegardi. i > m,dest
28. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, please
explain why and provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those "ten oldest"
requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2023.
This is not applicable to EPA. EPA closed all consultations that were pending and
reported in the FY 2021 Annual FOIA Report.
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F. Additional Information ab« ;ssing
29. Were any requests at your agency the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting
period? If so, please describe the impact on your agency's overall FOIA request processing and
backlog. If possible, please indicate the number and nature of requests subject to litigation,
common causes leading to litigation, and any other information to illustrate the impact of
litigation on your overall FOIA administration.
Yes, during the reporting period EPA defended approximately 37 lawsuits relating to
approximately 65 FOIA requests received by the agency. The most frequent allegation
made in the lawsuits was an alleged failure by EPA to respond to a FOIA request or
complete its response within the time requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6).
Litigation over a FOIA response often requires EPA to dedicate increased staff attention
to the response. Typically, the office that is leading EPA's response must dedicate
additional staff time and attention to assist the litigation attorney to review all actions
already taken in the FOIA response and to coordinate with the litigation attorney on
subsequent action if the litigation was filed before EPA completed its final response.
Litigation also often requires EPA staff to review and spend time preparing pleadings and
declarations that are not needed for FOIA responses not in litigation. This additional staff
time for review and coordination also must be done on compressed timelines due to court
ordered or agreed to production schedules. In this way, litigation over a FOIA response
can negatively impact a program office's ability to timely process other non-litigation
requests in their queue by requiring EPA to prioritize work on responses that are in
litigation. This can result in an increase in backlogged requests if an office has insufficient
FOIA processing staff to simultaneously process both the litigation and non-litigation
requests.
30. How many requests during Fiscal Year 2022 involved unusual circumstances as defined by
the FOIA? (This information is available in your agency's FY22 raw data).
In Fiscal Year 2022, the EPA had 2191 requests, which involved unusual circumstances
as defined by the FOIA.
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