Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)

Chief Freedom of Information Act Officers Council Meeting Meeting Minutes – September 15, 2016

The Chief FOIA Officers (CFO) Council Meeting convened at 10:00 a.m. on September 15, 2016, in the GSA Central Office – Auditorium at 1800 F. Street, N.W., Washington DC 20405.

A livestream video of the meeting was also made available, and in accordance with 5 U.S.C. §552(6)(A), the meeting was open to the public.

All meeting materials are available on the Office of Information Policy’s (OIP’s) website at: https://www.justice.gov/oip.

Speakers:

  • Melanie Ann Pustay, Director, Office of Information Policy (OIP), Department of Justice (DOJ), Council Co-Chair
  • Katie Townsend, Director of Litigation, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press A full list of attendees is included at the end of the minutes.

Introduction and General FOIA Updates from Ms. Melanie Ann Pustay

  • The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Council Co-chair Melanie Ann Pustay.
  • Ms. Pustay welcomed everyone to the second Council meeting and stated that the focus of the meeting was hearing from the journalist community in order to factor in their views related to the “Release to One is a Release to All” presumption.
  • ​Before turning to that topic, Ms. Pustay provided Council members with updates from OIP including an overview of newly issued guidance and further information regarding the consolidated FOIA portal.

“Release to One is a Release to All” Questionnaire

  • Ms. Pustay then discussed the results of the questionnaire which sought feedback on agencies’ ability to implement the “Release to One is a Release to All” policy by January 2017.
  • Ms. Pustay stated that 61 agencies responded to the questionnaire with 27 agencies indicating that they could fully implement the presumption by January 2017.
  • Ms. Pustay further discussed the findings of the questionnaire in which many agencies noted that they would like a staggered implementation, such as on a quarterly or bimonthly basis.
  • Ms. Pustay also noted the suggestions given regarding possible exceptions to the presumption.

Remarks from Ms. Townsend on the Results of the Journalist Community Survey

  • Ms. Townsend discussed the findings of her organization’s survey which was a launched online after the inaugural Chief FOIA Officer Council meeting in July 2016.
  • Ms. Townsend explained the purpose of the survey – to obtain feedback related to the concern that the “Release to One is a Release to All” policy could remove some of the incentives journalists have to make FOIA requests.
  • Ms. Townsend stated that 119 responses were received and that respondents were anonymous, 12 responses were removed.
  • Ms. Townsend noted that the survey results are available on www.rcfp.org.
  • Ms. Townsend explained that while some respondents indicated that the policy would hurt journalistic reporting, the overall survey indicated support of such a policy provided it included a built-in delay between releasing records to the requester and posting them for the public.

Questions

  • Ms. Pustay then opened the floor to discussion. Mr. Kevin Goldberg, Legal Counsel to the American Society of News Editors, stated that his conversations with members of the American Society of News Editors largely reinforce the Reporters Committee’s survey results. He expressed support for a standard delay, and provided other comments for the Council to consider.
  • Other attendees commented on the presentations and the "Release to One Release to All" presumption, including expressing concerns with requiring a delay. Ms. Pustay then discussed different aspects of the presumption that will be evaluated in preparation for the guidance.

Meeting concluded at 12:00 PM.

 

Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting September 15, 2016 - Attendees

Last Name

First Name

Agency (if applicable)

Addis

Bethlehem

DHS

Agans

Autumn

FCA

Bartlett

Michael

FMCS

Beckett

Amy

OSC

Bennett

Amy

OGIS

Bishop-Green

Jacob

DOJ

Bradford Franklin

Sharon

PCLOB

Brennan

Christopher

 

Cafaro

Cindy

DOI

Chung

Joo

DOD

Crawford

Tim

EPA

Dawson

Erin

NSF

Demps-Barrett

Stacey

FMSHRC

Dickon

Rachel

FMC

Dunkin

Ann

EPA

Elston

Michael

USPS

Flagg

Ronald

LSC

Ford

Tiffany

OPM

Freeman

Donald

ED

Gamez

Maria

PBGC

Gardner

Matt

DOJ

Garner

Stephanie

EEOC

Ginsberg

Wendy

 

Gottesman

Larry

EPA

Green

Claire

SSAB

Grulkowski

Bryan

State

Herrera

Katherine

DNFSB

Heverling

Angela

NMB

Hill

Kevin

DHS

Hogan

James

DOD

Holzer

James

DHS

Hussain

Jibran

DHS/PRIV

Jacob

Fred

FLRA

Johnson

Toyia

FERC

Kaleta

Judy

DOT

Kambhampaty

Ravi

IAF

Kupka

Nathan

ACUS

Kurylo

Stephen

SIGAR

Langer

William

USTDA

Laudon

Sterling

SSAB

Law

Ryan

Treasury

Lazier

Raynell

CFPB

Levandusky

Whitney

CO

Luecke

Matthew

FOMC

Mallon

Carmen

DOJ

Mancini

Nadine

OSHRC

Marquis

Michael

HHS

Morris

Alexander (Chris)

Energy

Moser

Rebecca

EPA

Nicolas

Amy

NCD

Oliver

Ramona

DOL

Perry

D. Camilla

PBGC

Piccirilli

Rosanna

FFIEC

Platt

Nancy

NLRB

Pritzker

David

ACUS

Przysucha

Martha

 

Pustay

Melanie

DOJ

Raanan

Alice

 

Roberts

Lindsay

DOJ

Robinson

Kellie

State

Rudolph

Maureen

USCCR

Santa

Angel

NTSB

Schecker

Larry

FCC

Shanks

Margaret

FRB

Sharrett

Kenneth

GSA

Shirazi

Lubna

DOJ

Sillah

Alecia

USAID

Smith

Gregory

ED

Spudis

M. Ann

PBGC

Stern

Gary

NARA

Talebian

Bobak

DOJ

Teti

Catherine

HHS

Townsend

Katie

 

Veilleux

Diana

OGE

Waddell

Anne-Marie

USDA/FSIS

Whitener

Bryan

EAC

Winston

Lynn

USAID

Yi

Charles

FDIC

Zia

Hugo

FDIC

Zimmerman

Mary Ann

SSA

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