Chief FOIA Officer Report for (bureau) - Department of Commerce

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IV. Steps Taken to Applying the Presumption of Openness1. Description: Circulated Attorney General Holder memo all legal personnel in Officeof Chief Counsel; Provided briefings on the policy of the presumption of openness to legalpersonnel; Office of General Counsel FOIA trainings scheduled and attended forHeadquarters staff Provided for joint Chief Counsel and Regional Counsel review of allitems considered for redaction or withholding under FOIA exemptions,with emphasis on presumption of openness; Established FOIA reading room on EDA website.2. Disclosure Comparison:EDA agency records reflect: (i) an increase in the number of FOIArequests where records were released in full (both in total number and as apercentage of total requests processed: 16/64 full releases in 2008 and20/34 full releases in 2009); (ii) a decrease in number of FOIA requestswhere records were only released in part (12/64 partial releases in 2008and 4/34 releases in 2009).V. Steps Taken to Ensure That Your Agency Has an Effective System forResponding to FOIA Requests1. Formal clarification for EDA staff of internal EDA FOIA review procedures,using flowcharts.2. Weekly meetings with Regional Counsels where FOIA issues and questions maybe raised and discussed.VI. Steps Take to Increase Proactive Disclosures1. Discussed with regional offices what proactive disclosures might be useful andappropriate for EDA stakeholders (conversations are ongoing).2. Posted on EDA website certain “high quality” comprehensive economicdevelopment strategies (CEDS); this is intended to assist stakeholders andapplicants generally in learning what EDA expects a CEDS to look like.3. Posted on EDA website certain internal guidelines on establishment of federalgrant rates (and local match requirements) with respect to disaster grants.10
VII. Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology1. Yes, EDA does receive requests electronically.2. N/A3. EDA handles electronic requests the same way as mail-in requests. EDA tracksrequests and the processing of those requests by manually entering data into anExcel-spreadsheet (the FOIA log), which is accessible to all legal counsel withFOIA-processing responsibilities.4. N/A5. No, EDA does not use any technology to process requests.6. EDA does not receive many FOIA requests a year so technology to process therequest is not necessary. EDA manually redacts the non-responsive or exemptedinformation as needed on the responsive documents. EDA will engage incorrespondence with FOIA requesters via email if most expedient and appropriatemeans for speedy resolution of the matter.7. No, EDA does not use any technology to prepare the agency’s Annual FOIAreport.8. EDA currently uses its electronic excel FOIA log to retrieve information that isneeded to prepare the FOIA report.VIII. Steps Taken to Reduce Backlogs and Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests1. EDA does not have backlogs of FOIA requests, and has a very good record oftimeliness of responses.2. N/A3. N/ABureau of Industry and Security:I. Steps Taken to Applying the Presumption of Openness11
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Chief FOIA Officer Report for (bureau) - Department of Commerce

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