Freedom of Information Act Guide: Agency FOIA Review

REVIEW, PLAN, REPORT

Overall Nature of NEA's FOIA Operations

The National Endowment For the Arts processes its Freedom of Information Act requests through the Office of General Counsel. One employee, the FOIA Officer, currently handles all of the requests, which includes logging the information into a database, assessing the request and acquiring all documents relevant to the request, updating requestors on the progress of their request, and handling appeals.

The FOIA Officer reviews outgoing responses to ensure complete coverage of all issues, proper coordination with the appropriate parties, and compliance with FOIA regulations and policies. Based on research, the FOIA Officer makes decisions regarding disclosure, denial, or other disposition of legal requests.

Last year, the National Endowment of the Arts processed 84 requests, the majority of which related to sample grant applications for prospective grant applicants. Other frequently requested information relates to our annual budget, agency credit card holders, copies of administrative directives, grants database information, and occasionally correspondence with Members of Congress.

FOIA requests are received via email, fax and regular mail, and are immediately logged. Last year, the median response time for requests was 3.0 days.

Affirmative Disclosure under § 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2)

In 1996, the FOIA was amended to require agencies to post on their websites frequently requested records, policy statements, staff manuals, instructions to staff, and final agency opinions.

Following the amendment, the NEA created a FOIA webpage in 1996 that discloses the FOIA and Privacy Act guidelines. The webpage describes the process by which a FOIA request is submitted, displays a sample FOIA request letter for requestors to follow as a guide, posts FOIA annual reports, and serves as an electronic reading room.

In addition to the documents provided pursuant to FOIA requests, articles and other information on the Arts Endowment and the arts are available on the Internet at the Agency's website, http://www.arts.gov.

The availability of substantial information online has drastically reduced the Endowment's formal FOIA caseload, from 697 requests in 1996, prior to the launching of the website, to an average of 67 requests in the three most recent reporting periods. The Endowment views this as a positive demonstration of the effectiveness of our website.

POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENT AREAS

Backlog Reduction/Elimination

Because of our quick turnaround, the NEA does not have a backlog of requests at this time.

National Endowment for the Arts · an independent federal agency
1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20506