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Tags: agency disclosure, alcohol tobacco firearms, annual foia report, atf, august 1, bureau of alcohol tobacco firearms, bureau of alcohol tobacco firearms and explosives, deficiencies, department of justice, disclosure of information, executive order, foia, foia web, improvement areas, improvement plan, management council, milestone report, questions section, target date, web site development,Pages: 16
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Created: Wed Aug 1 19:45:59 2007
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August 1, 2007
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE UPDATED STATUS REPORT
PURSUANT TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 13,392
As part of the June 1, 2007 report to the President on agency progress under Executive
Order 13,392, "Improving Agency Disclosure of Information," the Attorney General
recommended that agencies submit to the President's Management Council an Updated Status
Report concerning any deficiency in implementing its FOIA Improvement Plan as reported by
the agency in its Fiscal Year 2006 annual FOIA report. Each such agency is required to identify
the improvement area to which its deficient milestone relates, identify the specific deficient
milestone, report the specific steps already taken to remedy the deficiency, and describe, if
applicable, any future steps necessary to remedy the deficiency. These Updated Status Reports
need not address any deficiencies remedied as of the Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report.
Pursuant to the Attorney General's recommendation, the Department of Justice hereby
submits its Updated Status Report. Overall, the Department has timely met hundreds of
milestones under the Executive Order and achieved real success in a wide variety of
improvement areas. Between June 14, 2006 and December 31, 2006, however, the Department
reported the deficiencies described below. The Department also has one deficient milestone
from January 2007, which is also reported below. Status information follows for each of the ten
components required to update for this reporting period.
BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS AND EXPLOSIVES (ATF)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Web site development.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Prepare a 'Frequently Asked Questions' Section on ATF's FOIA Web site, by
September 30, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. The ATF Disclosure Division determined the most commonly
asked questions from members of the public. The most general questions that could be
answered succinctly were compiled and posted to a 'Frequently Asked Questions' section
on the ATF FOIA Web site in July 2007.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
CIVIL DIVISION
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Acknowledgment letter responses.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Implement processing changes to content of acknowledgment letters, by
December 15, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. The delay in meeting the "Acknowledgment letter response"
milestone was resolved by February 15, 2007. It was determined that no changes in
content of acknowledgment letters was necessary. However, it was determined that
weekly review of the internal FOIA backlog report better identifies requests over twenty
days old that may require acknowledgment letters. Those requests that are shown on the
backlog report for which the requester has not been acknowledged are selected for
acknowledgment letter processing.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
E-FOIA publication requirements.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Identify specific Civil Division records that meet the E-FOIA publication requirements
and submit those records to be placed on the Web site, by December 15, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. The delay in meeting the "E-FOIA publication requirement" for
certain Civil Division records was remedied by appropriate publication on or about
January 30, 2007. Regular review of the publication requirement will be carried out to
ensure that all records required to be published are published.
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4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
CRIMINAL DIVISION
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Backlog reduction.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Achieve backlog reduction in proportionate amounts (approximately eighty requests), by
January 15, 2007.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Although the Criminal Division has not been able to replace all of the employees lost to
retirement, the additional resources it has gained has enabled it to reduce its backlog from
892 to 865 as of June 30, 2007. These additional resources include hiring one attorney
and one FOIA Specialist.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
The Criminal Division has hired another FOIA Specialist, who will be starting in the near
future. It has since lost one attorney to a six month detail to the USA's Office, but
another attorney has been detailed to its Unit in her absence. Although the milestones in
this area are extremely aggressive given the limited resources of the Division, the
Criminal Division still anticipates achieving its overall goal in this improvement area by
December 31, 2008.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Web site.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Review Web site and remove outdated material, by September 30, 2006.
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3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. As of July 7, 2007, all outdated material has been removed from
the Criminal Division's FOIA Web site.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Web site.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Develop a better system to obtain subsection (a)(2) material from the sections in a timely
manner so that it can be posted on the Web site, by December 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Due to budget constraints, the Criminal Division will not be able to hire a contractor or
employee to develop a system to obtain subsection (a)(2) material from the sections in a
timely manner so that it can be posted on the Web site. Most of the individual sections of
the Criminal Division continue to post a volume of information that is available to the
public.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
The Criminal Division anticipates that once its staffing situation normalizes it can assign
someone to work on this area. It is confident this milestone will be completed by
December 31, 2007.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Declassification process.
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2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Because the Criminal Division's Declassification Officer was scheduled to move to the
new National Security Division, the FOIA Office requested that this responsibility be
delegated to a new individual in the Criminal Division, by September 30, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Declassification remedied. All of the necessary steps to achieve this goal have been
taken. The FOIA Office has been advised that several positions in the Criminal Division
are authorized to classify or declassify information. The FOIA Office will work with
those individuals. In addition, the number of classified documents handled by the
Criminal Division has decreased significantly with the move of the Counterterrorism and
Counterespionage Sections to the new National Security Division.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No further steps are necessary.
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION (DEA)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Backlog reduction.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
To reduce the existing backlog of pending FOIA requests by a proportional ratio of a
percentage each year to include a quarterly reduction of 2% of existing cases more than
twenty days old, by December 31, 2006. This will be completed by periodically and
consistently focusing on the existing backlog.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
DEA has implemented all the steps indicated in the plan, however, DEA has not achieved
the goal of reducing the backlog by two percent on a quarterly basis. This deviation from
this goal is in large part due to a reduction in staffing resources. Current staffing stands
at seventy-six percent with seven vacancies. Also, DEA is still currently in a hiring
freeze.
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4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
Continue to encourage DEA Program Offices to post information regarding policy
statements, agency opinions, staff manuals, etc. on the DEA Web site for the public's
review. This process can reduce future FOIA requests sent to the DEA for processing.
Continue to communicate with requesters regarding their requests. This could include
the identification of documents already in the public domain. Also, communicate the
status of requests received by DEA and their pending status.
Implement informal symposiums targeted to specific areas of the FOIA/PA in order to
educate personnel on the requirements under the FOIA and the importance of responding
to FOIA/PA requests for information within established time requirements.
DEA anticipates that once its staffing limitations are lifted, it can achieve its overall goal
in the improvement area, as set on November 1, 2007.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF IMMIGRATION REVIEW (EOIR)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Improve customer satisfaction.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Create tracking mechanism to capture public comments, by October 16, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. After realizing that the Service Center's goal to have the Information
and Resource Management (IRM) create an add-on to our FOIA database would not be
possible due to budgetary and other constraints, the Service Center implemented a stand-
alone tracking system which became effective January 22, 2007. This system has been
followed up by quarterly reviews as set forth in out original plan.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
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1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Increase efficiency and reduce backlogs.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Centralize filing of FOIA records, by November 30, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. Centralization of FOIA files, with a file transfer, was completed on
April 16, 2007, when the newly constructed space became functional.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Increase efficiency and reduce backlogs.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Evaluate the feasibility of expanding bar coding to manage files, by June 30, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
The IRM unit continues to work on the major system implementation project described in
our annual report and therefore they remain unavailable to assist with a feasibility study.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
As noted in its annul report, EOIR will meet with IRM to pursue this study within one
quarter after IRM actually completes the phase-in of the major database system.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Increase efficiency and reduce backlogs.
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2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Include FOIA compliance in Court evaluation reviews, by October 1, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. A method of including FOIA compliance in Court evaluations has
been devised for inclusion in evaluations conducted in the Courts nationwide beginning
in August 2007. FOIA compliance is now a part of the headquarters evaluation process.
The Courts will now receive reports as part of their evaluations and must provide
explanations to the Court evaluators about deficiencies in meeting FOIA requests in a
timely manner.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS (EOUSA)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Backlog reduction.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Reduce the backlog by 33%, by September 30, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
In this area, EOUSA set very aggressive goals and is aggressively working to reduce the
backlog. It believed it could accomplish this goal with a full staff and with cooperation
from the United States Attorneys Offices (USAOs). It is now almost fully staffed. On
May 14, 2007, the one remaining paralegal position was filled and training was
completed on June 28, 2007; one of the attorney positions was filled on July 9, 2007.
Since February 2006, it has reduced the backlog by twenty-six percent.
In May 2007, EOUSA created a plan for continued backlog reduction. This plan
included the Assistant Director picking the districts with the largest backlog and oldest
requests and assigning individuals to work with the district FOIA Contacts to help reduce
their backlog. Since its last report on September 30, 2006, the backlog of the oldest
requests (requests received in 2000) was reduced by fifty-seven percent.
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The plan also included training new FOIA Contacts at the EOUSA components, holding
a FOIA Contacts seminar, continuing to have monthly meetings with all processors to
review their workload and assure that requests are moving, and centralizing the
processing of requests for the United States Attorneys Manual (USAM) and assigning
them to one processor.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
Bring the Office up to full staff by hiring the last attorney, by September 2007.
Hold the FOIA Contacts Seminar on August 6-7, 2007.
Set up a new track to process USAM expeditiously, by July 30, 2007.
Continue to have monthly paralegal reviews.
Continue to send experienced FOIA contacts to the districts that need assistance on an as
needed basis.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Human Resources.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Fill sixty vacant positions, by September 30, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
A number of FOIA employees have chosen not to relocate to Winchester, VA. In
anticipation of this situation, the FBI began interviewing applicants in June 2005;
continuing this process throughout 2006. In all, 333 applicants have been interviewed
with fifty-three new employees on or pending entry on duty. Sixty-three applicants are in
the security-background check process.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
The FBI is continuing to seek new applicants throughout 2007. The new completion date
is September 30, 2007.
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_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Human resources.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Develop and implement formal training programs for search skills, declassification,
FOIA redaction, and automated processing, by December 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. The goal was completed on March 31, 2007. The FBI developed
five formal training programs- search skills, declassification, FOIA processing, FOIA
litigation, and prepublication review. Automated processing was incorporated into each
course. Courses have already been conducted in the first three topics. In fact, at this time
there is an on-going six week search skills class for new employees, a six week FOIA
processing class for new FOIA specialists, and a one week FOIA processing refresher
class for two FOIA processing teams.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps necessary.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
FOIA process policies and design.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Goal: Develop within the automated processing system OCR capability parallel with
scanned images to identify duplicate documents, by December 31, 2006. (This will
improve quality and consistency of processing.)
Steps:
Develop prototype process for testing, by December 31, 2006.
Implement OCR capability, by December 31, 2006.
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3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. The goal was completed on May 1, 2007. The FBI developed a
process by which the FOIA data processing system can convert scanned images into the
OCR format. The information then can be manipulated to identify duplicate documents.
This capability is now available for all large and medium sized requests.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
FOIA process policies and design.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Submit proposal before the IT Change-Management Board, by July 1, 2006.
Develop prototype for testing, by December 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. By May 1, 2007, it was determined that this project is not
necessary. A larger Records Management Division enterprise project that includes OCR
format scanning concurrent with image scanning is being implemented. Once completed,
FOIA analysts will be able to conduct textual searches for similar requests.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
FOIA process policies and design.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Complete all requests older than August 15, 2003, by December 31, 2006.
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3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
On August 15, 2005, the FBI identified seventy-four requests with an estimated 320,708
pages (32,000 additional pages have been identified recently as responsive to a request)
that had been received prior to August 15, 2003. As of July 1, 2007, seventy of these
requests had been closed by reviewing 264,070 pages.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
Almost all of these requests are large requests (greater than 2,500 pages) and most
require declassification review or consultation with other agencies or foreign
governments. Because of these factors, the FBI is processing the requests simultaneously
and making interim releases in all of the remaining open requests. The new completion
date for this milestone is now August 15, 2007.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Improvements in customer ability to determine the status of a request.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Goal: Determine feasibility of automatic generation of status letters as requests move
through FOIA sub-processes, by December 31, 2006.
Steps:
Develop prototype process for testing, by October 31, 2006.
Implement automatic generation of status letters, by December 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiencies remedied. As of May 1, 2007, the FOIA automated processing system
generates status letters on pending requests to requesters every 90 days.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
_____________________________
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1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Improvements to the FBI's FOIA Web site reading room.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Goal: Update the FBI's general reading room and its FOIA/PA Web site's electronic
reading room, by December 31, 2006.
Steps:
Review reading room and electronic reading room materials that "begin with A to C," by
July 1, 2006.
Delete seldom-visited items (if not required to be posted under subsection (a)(2)) and add
more recent/topical requests, by December 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
With the assistance of the FBI Historian, a new Reading Room list was completed on
July 1, 2007.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
All Reading Room materials will be in the Electronic Reading Room. FBI IT specialists
are making the required programming modifications. In addition, a new site- "FOIA Hot
Topics" - is already on the FBI's public Web site. These updates will be complete in
August 2007.
OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS (OJP)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Backlog Reduction.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
To reduce the processing time for FOIA requests to 20 days, by December 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
On January 8, 2007, access was granted to retrieve requested documents from the OJP
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electronic database.
On January 8, 2007 and continuing thereafter, OJP met with its bureaus' subject matter
experts on highly technical documents that originated outside OJP to provide the FOIA
Officer with all relevant contact information needed for external consultations.
On February 16, 2007, OJP extended the FOIA paralegal's contract through August 31,
2007 to assist with processing FOIA requests. With the additional assistance OJP has
reduced its processing and closing time to 29.4 days.
On June 25, 2007, the General Counsel was informed that his request for additional funds
to extend the contract FOIA paralegal from two days a week to five days a week for the
next fiscal year had been approved.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
By December 31, 2007, OJP's Senior Counsel will review resources and make
recommendations on maintaining a part-time or full-time contractor for the FOIA
operation.
_____________________________
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Improve response time from the OJP bureaus and offices.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
To receive responses from the OJP bureaus and offices within five days of receipt of the
OGC search letter, by September 1, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Since December 31, 2006 and continuing thereafter, the FOIA Officer has been assisted
by the Comptroller's Office in securing requested documents.
On January 8, 2007, the FOIA Officer was given access to the OJP electronic database
that maintains some of the OJP funded grants. The FOIA Officer can now retrieve
requested grants without requesting these documents from the offices and bureaus. This
has reduced the need to contact some of the bureaus and offices.
The OJP Senior Counsel met with the General Counsel on July 27, 2007 and discussed
ways that the OGC Attorney-Advisors could assist the OJP bureaus and offices in
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submitting timely responses to the FOIA Officer.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
The OGC Attorney-Advisors will continue to inform their client bureaus and offices, by
October 31, and again by December 31, 2007, of the importance of responding timely to
the deadlines set by the FOIA Officer, and will continue to assist in obtaining responses.
OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN (OVW)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Additional FOIA training for relevant Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) staff.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Provide FOIA training to two additional staff members in order to develop and enhance
understanding of the FOIA process, by August 31, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. Two OVW attorneys attended FOIA training offered by the
Department of Justice's Office of Information and Privacy on January 23-24, 2007.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
UNITED STATES MARSHALS SERVICES (USMS)
1. FOIA Improvement Plan area to which this deficient milestone relates.
Electronic Access and Affirmative Disclosure.
2. Deficient milestone and the original target date from the FOIA Improvement Plan.
Posting of our processed awarded contracts and policy material on our Web site, by
September 15, 2006.
3. Steps taken to correct the deficiency, and the dates by which the steps were completed.
Deficiency remedied. The posting of frequently requested USMS Judicial Security
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contracts was delayed due to technical issues regarding the size of the files to be posted.
The USMS FOIA staff worked with USMS Information Technology staff to compress the
files and the contracts were posted on the USMS Web site in the Electronic Reading
Room by February 15, 2007.
4. Future remedial steps and the dates by which the steps will be completed.
No additional steps are necessary.
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