Chief FOIA Officer Report - Agency Received More Than 50 Requests

High-Volume Agencies Receiving More Than 50 Requests in FY20

Content of 2022 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

Section 1:  Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness.

Please answer the following questions in order to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA.  You may also include any additional information that illustrates how your agency is working to apply the presumption of openness.

A.  FOIA Leadership

1.  The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level.  See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) (2018).  Is your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer at this level? 

Yes, the Legal Counsel reports directly to the EEOC’s Chair Charlotte Burrows

2.  Please provide the name and title of your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer.

Carol R. Miaskoff, Legal Counsel

B.  FOIA Training

3.  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.

The Chief FOIA Officer conducted training for the EEOC’s Chairwoman and Commissioners.  Training for new employees is provided during the on boarding process; and, finally, training is offered to any non- FOIA employees on an as needed or requested basis.  Agency-wide FOIA training was provided to agency personnel.  Ad hoc training was provided to FOIA professionals and other agency staff as requested.

4.  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

5. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted and the topics covered.

The Office of Legal Counsel conducted training for all FOIA professionals.  The training addressed FOIA’s  requirements; FOIA’s exemptions, with particular emphasis on the exemptions utilized most often by the EEOC, importance of acknowledgement letters, determination letters, identifying redactions, etc.  New employees also attended Virtual Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act; Virtual Best Practices FOIA Administration During the Pandemic 3-30-2021; Annual Open Meeting of the Federal FOIA Ombudsman 5-12-2021; OIP Fees Workshop 7-21-21; OIP’s Chief FOIA Officer Refresher Training-10-19-21; Virtual Procedural Requirements and Fees Training 12-7-21; Virtual Exemption 1 and Exemption 7 Training 1-11-22; Virtual Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Training 1-18-22; Virtual Privacy Considerations Training 1-20-22;and Virtual Advanced Freedom of Information Act Training 2-2-22.

6. 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.

100%

7. OIP 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.

N/A

8.  Did the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities attend training in federal records management during this reporting period?

Yes

C. Outreach

9. 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.

No

D. Other Initiatives

10. 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?

The Chief FOIA Officer presented a FOIA briefing to the new Chairwoman and Vice Chair after Senate confirmation.  The Chief Operations Officer also received several briefings on various topics, including fee waiver and fee categorization and FOIA’s statutory requirements concerns timeframe and who can submit a FOIA.  FOIA training is also presented via slides and/or oral briefing on an as needed and/or requested basis.

1. 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.

N/A

Section II:  Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an Effective System in Place for Responding to Requests

DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines emphasize that “[a]pplication of the proper disclosure standard is only one part of ensuring transparency.  Open government requires not just a presumption of disclosure, but also an effective system for responding to FOIA requests.”  It is essential that agencies effectively manage their FOIA program.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the management of your FOIA program is effective and efficient.  You should also include any additional information that that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

1. For Fiscal Year 2021, 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 2021 Annual FOIA Report.

15.63 days

2. 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 2021 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.

We will continue to remind the Government Information Specialists the FOIA requires that expedited requests be adjudicated within ten days.

3. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 required all agencies to update their FOIA regulations within 180 days.  In 2016, OIP issued Guidance for Agency FOIA Regulations and the accompanying Template for Agency FOIA Regulations to assist agencies in updating their regulations in accordance with the statute.  Has your agency updated its FOIA regulations in accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016?  If not, what is your agency's plan to update your regulations?

Yes, EEOC’s FOIA regulations were updated in accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016

4.  Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) generally document your agency’s internal processes for administering the FOIA beyond your FOIA regulations and FOIA Reference Guide.  As noted in OIP’s guidance, having SOPs can improve the consistency and quality of  an agency’s FOIA process.  SOPs can also serve as a significant resource for incoming FOIA professionals and a way to preserve much of the agency’s institutional knowledge on administering the FOIA from how to handle requests from start-to-finish, to identifying and making proactive disclosures, to maintaining a FOIA website. Does your agency have up-to-date internal SOPs for your FOIA administration?

No.  The Agency, however, is in the process of creating an SOP and/or FOIA Manual.  Currently, we make available to our FOIA processers, attorneys, and all agency staff “FOIA Updates” on our internal (“intranet”) website.  These updates are a series of various memoranda related to specific FOIA issues and issues related to the processing of FOIAs in general.

5.  If not, please provide a timeline for when your agency plans to develop or update its SOPs.

EEOC plans to develop an SOP and/or FOIA Manual by the end of Fiscal Year 2024.

6. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first-party requested records outside of the FOIA process?

Yes

7. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please explain if such opportunities exist at your agency and whether there are any challenges in establishing alternative means of access.

Section 83 of Volume I of the EEOC’s Compliance Manual was created as an alternative means for Charging Parties and Respondents (First Party requesters) to gain access to charge files.

8.  Did your agency conduct a self-assessment of its FOIA administration during the reporting period?  If so, please describe the self-assessment methods used, such as analyzing Annual Report or raw data, using active workflows and track management, reviewing and updating processing procedures, etc.  In addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used to assess your agency's FOIA program.

Yes, the EEOC reviewed the Annual FOIA Report and the raw data.  The technology utilized included both FOIAXPress reports and ArkCase reports to track FOIA administration during the reporting period

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 FY 2021 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number). 

EEOC estimates that the FOIA Public Liaison responded to a minimum of 456 requests for assistance

10.  Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related staffing capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?

Yes

11. Optional -- Please describe:

Best practices used to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently and effectively

Any challenges your agency faces in this area.

Fully staffing the FOIA components.

Section III:  Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

The Department of Justice has long focused on the need for agencies to work proactively to post information online without waiting for individual requests to be received.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to increase the amount of material that is available on your agency websites.  In addition to the questions below, you should also describe any additional steps taken by your agency to make and improve proactive disclosures of information.

1. Please describe what steps your agency takes to identify, track, and post (a)(2) proactive disclosures.     

FOIA professional staff regularly coordinates to identify records that have been requested by three or more requesters.  The individuals logging the FOIA requests also track whether the same records have been requested three or more times.

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.

Over 85% of EEOC’s FOIA requests concern charge files.  Based on Title VII’s confidentiality provisions and Exemption (b)(7)(C) the EEOC is prohibited from posting materials requested in the vast majority of its FOIA requests.  The EEOC, however, has now added additional FOIA logs to its website:  https://www.eeoc.gov/foia/foia-logs

3. Does your agency disseminate common types of material outside of FOIA, including in online databases where the public may access them?  If yes, please provide examples and, if applicable, statutory authority.

Yes, EEOC posts statistical data, located at: https://www.eeoc.gov/statistics  

The Office of Federal Operations also updates the website with “Selected Noteworthy Federal Sector Appellate Decisions” found at:  https://www.eeoc.gov/federal-sector/selected-noteworthy-federal-sector-appellate-decisions   

4. 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

5. 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.

EEOC’s entire website was updated in September 2021.  As a result of the update, information is easier to locate.

6. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff outside the FOIA office?  If so, describe this interaction.

Yes, Office of Federal Operations (OFP), Office of Information Technology (OIT) and Office of Communications and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) are involved in the proactive disclosure process.

Optional -- Please describe:

Best practices used to improve proactive disclosures

Any challenges your agency faces in this area    

Section IV:  Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information more accessible.  In addition to using the internet to make proactive disclosures, agencies should also be exploring ways to utilize technology in responding to requests.

Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is utilizing technology to improve its FOIA administration and the public's access to information. You should also include any additional information that that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

1. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?

Yes.

2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency began using during the reporting period to support your FOIA program. 

EEOC transitioned from using FOIAXPress as its FOIA tracking system to ArkCase. EEOC is also looking into the FOIA Division using Relativity for high records volume requests

3.  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?

Yes.

4.  Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2021 appear on your agency's website and on FOIA.gov?

Yes.

5. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports, with information appearing on FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency’s plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2022.

N/A

6.  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 2020 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report. 

2020 Annual FOIA Report: https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/2021-09/annrep2020.xlsx

2021 Annual FOIA Report is not yet available.  

7.  Optional -- Please describe:

Best practices used in greater utilizing technology

Any challenges your agency faces in this area  

Section V:  Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests and Reducing Backlogs

The Department of Justice has emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in responding to requests.  This section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report addresses both time limits and backlog reduction.  Backlog reduction is measured both in terms of numbers of backlogged requests or appeals and by looking at whether agencies closed their ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations.

For the figures required in this Section, please use the numbers contained in the specified sections of your agency’s FY 2020 and 2021 Annual FOIA Reports.

A. Simple Track

Section VII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled "FOIA Requests – Response Time for All Processed Requests," includes figures that show your agency's average response times for processed requests.  For agencies utilizing a multi-track system to process requests, there is a category for "simple" requests, which are those requests that are placed in the agency’s fastest (non-expedited) track, based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.

1. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests?   

Yes

2. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA Report section VII.A, was the agency overall average number of days to process simple requests twenty working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2021?

No

3.  Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2021 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.1) divided by (requests processed from Section V.A.) x 100. 

76.93%

4.  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?

N/A

B. Backlogs

When answering these questions, please refer to you Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report, Sections XII.D-E, which compare the numbers of requests and appeals received, processed, and backlogged between Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2021, 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 2020?

Yes

6.  If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.1, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 2020?

N/A

7. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, 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:

N/A

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.

8. 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 2021. 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.”

.72%

    BACKLOGGED APPEALS

9. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2021, 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 2020?  

No

10.  If not, according to section XII.E.1 of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 2020?

No

11. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, 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:

The EEOC transitioned from FOIAXpress to ArkCase, a new FOIA tracking system, during the last fiscal year.  The individuals assigned to process FOIA appeals do not utilize ArkCase on a daily or weekly basis and required additional training to process appeals; EEOC also experienced an increase in the number of appeals received during FY 2021; and the impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions contributes to delays on processing appeals.  Many files were still “paper” files and individuals were not entering the offices on a regular basis thereby resulting in delays in responding to appeal processors questions and/or concerns.

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.

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.

12. 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 2021. 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 2021 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

19.88%

C. Backlog Reduction Plans

13. In the 2021 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2020 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog reduction in the year ahead.  Did your agency implement a backlog reduction plan last year?  If so, describe your agency’s efforts in implementing this plan and note if your agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2021?

N/A

14. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2021, please explain your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2022.  In particular, please also detail how your agency developed and plans to execute your backlog reduction plans.

N/A

D. Status of Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations

Section VII.E, entitled "Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Requests," Section VI.C.(5), entitled "Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals," and Section XII.C., entitled "Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency," show the ten oldest pending requests, appeals, and consultations.  You should refer to these numbers from your Annual FOIA Reports for both Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

    OLDEST REQUESTS

15. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report?

No

16. 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 2020 Annual FOIA Report.  If you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that.

Five requests were closed

17. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending requests.

FOIA staff assisted other offices with backlogs and more FOIA staff were hired to assist in reducing the overall age of the pending requests.

    TEN OLDEST APPEALS

18. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report?

Yes

19. 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 VI.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report.  If you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that.

N/A

20. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending appeals.

Additional attorneys were assigned to process FOIA appeals.

    TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

21. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report?

N/A-EEOC did not have any consultations in FY 2020

22. 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. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report.  If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that.

N/A

E. Additional Information on Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations & Plans

23. Briefly explain any obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations from Fiscal Year 2020.

The volume of records associated with the ten oldest requests created obstacles in closing the requests during FY 2021 and paper records also exist for the requests.  Due to COVID, the offices where potential responsive paper records may exist, continue to be closed.   Despite the obstacles identified in the preceding sentence, several of the oldest FOIA requests not able to be closed in FY 2021 were closed in the first quarter of FY 2022.

24. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest requests because you were waiting to hear back from other agencies on consultations you sent, please provide the date the request was initially received by your agency, the date when your agency sent the consultation, and the date when you last contacted the agency where the consultation was pending.

N/A

25. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, please provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those “ten oldest” requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2022.

Additional staff have been assigned to assist in processing the oldest FOIA requests, overtime funds have been allocated to process the oldest requests because the processors are unable to review and process the high number responsive records associated with the requests.

F. Success Stories

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2021 to increase transparency and improve FOIA administration, please briefly describe here at least one success story that you would like to highlight as emblematic of your agency’s efforts.  The success story can come from any one of the five key areas, but should not be something that you have reported in a prior year.  As noted above, these agency success stories will be highlighted during Sunshine Week by OIP.  To facilitate this process, all agencies should use bullets to describe their success story and limit their text to a half page.  The success story is designed to be a quick summary of key achievements.  A complete description of all your efforts will be contained in the body of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

In order to reduce the high number of backlogged FOIA requests in certain district offices, the EEOC utilized contract funds to hire temporary employees to assist in scanning charge files, government information specialists working in district offices with a lower volume of FOIA requests offered to assist offices with backlogs, and overtime funds were utilized to address the backlog issue.  Due to this multi-pronged effort, the backlog number dropped significantly.