August 21, 1996

Memorandum

To: Solicitor

Inspector General

Assistant Secretaries

Heads of Bureaus and Offices

From: Claudia P. Schechter

Director of Operations

Subject: Administering the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Program and Coordinating Departmental Requests

Over the years, this Department has made great strides in complying with the letter and spirit of the FOIA. It has always been our policy to make records available to the greatest extent possible. In accordance with President Clinton's and Attorney General Reno's October 4, 1993, FOIA policy memoranda, I am asking each of you to renew your commitment to the FOIA--to its underlying principle of openness and to its sound administration. This commitment includes reducing existing backlogs and improving service to the FOIA community.

While the recent downsizing and reallocation of duties have adversely impacted some of the bureaus and offices, it is important that FOIA activities receive appropriate consideration and a sufficiently high priority by each office and bureau of the Department. Adequate resources must be devoted to ensure that each bureau and office is in statutory and regulatory compliance. This is critical since the volume of FOIA requests the Department receives (approximately 8,000) continues to increase, as well as the number of requests involving sensitive and complex issues.

I want to reiterate strongly the expectation of full compliance with the provisions of the FOIA and the President's openness policy. Disclosure of records should be made in accordance with the requirements of the Act and the Department's FOIA regulations. You are encouraged to make discretionary releases whenever possible and the FOIA requires you to segregate releasable portions of otherwise exempt documents for disclosure. Responses to FOIA requests should be complete and provided within the given time limits. We, of course, will continue to protect the privacy interests of individuals in accordance with the FOIA and, when appropriate, will deny access to records covered by any of the FOIA's exemptions when 1) disclosure is prohibited by statute or Executive order or 2) sound grounds exist to withhold them.

During the past several years, we have received numerous FOIA requests involving potentially controversial or sensitive issues and affecting several bureaus. Responding to these requests requires special attention. To ensure that uniform and consistent responses are prepared and to protect litigation-sensitive material, the Departmental FOIA Officer designates a lead bureau or office to coordinate the response(s) for the Department (normally, this is the bureau/office that has primary interest in the records at issue). This includes resolving initial fee issues when appropriate.

The lead bureau is responsible for ensuring that all pertinent files are searched for documents that may be responsive to the request (this includes regional and field offices where applicable). Depending on the individual circumstances and in consultation with the Departmental FOIA Officer, the affected bureaus/offices may respond directly to the requester or the lead bureau may prepare a consolidated response after consulting with all affected bureaus/offices. In either case, the lead bureau coordinates the review of the documents to make sure that they are treated consistently, and follows up with the other bureaus to ascertain that responses have been sent to the requester. It is critical that the other bureaus/offices provide full support to the lead bureau to ensure that FOIA responses are complete, consistent, and timely. Similarly, the Office of the Solicitor is responsible for coordinating legal review of this material. This should preclude having one bureau release a document while another withholds the same document, a situation which can be very embarrassing for the Department. If it is necessary to deviate from these procedures, the Departmental FOIA Officer will contact the Bureau FOIA Officer.

While I recognize that the above procedures may impose an additional burden on the lead bureau/office, this cooperative effort should improve customer service, minimize potential litigation, and protect the position of the Government in the event of litigation.

The National Performance Review FOIA Reinvention Team presented its recommendations for improving the FOIA process to the bureaus on June 27, 1996. A Departmentwide work group will be reviewing, evaluating, and assisting the bureaus and offices in implementing these recommendations.

We appreciate your continued assistance and support in imple-menting the FOIA program in the Department. Please contact Alexandra Mallus, the Departmental FOIA Officer, MS-1414 MIB, (202) 208-5342, by fax at (202) 208-5048, by E-mail--Mallus, Alexandra (use ~Interior-CCM), or by Internet--Alexandra_Mallus@IOS.DOI.GOV, if you have any questions or suggestions.

cc: Bureau FOIA Officers

Designated FOIA Attorneys