Press/Journalists

2022–2024 Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee Nominations Now Open
Press Release · Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Washington, DC

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) seeks member nominations for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee (Committee). The Committee serves as a deliberative body to study the FOIA landscape across the executive branch and advise the Archivist of the United States on improvements to the administration of FOIA.

We must receive nominations for Committee members no later than 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday June 30, 2022. Email nominations to OGIS at foia-advisory-committee@nara.gov.

Background
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) established the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee (Committee) in accordance with the United States Second Open Government National Action Plan, released on December 5, 2013. The Committee operates under the directive in FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(h)(2)(C), that the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) within NARA “identify procedures and methods for improving compliance” with FOIA. The Committee is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. App. 

NARA initially chartered the Committee on May 20, 2014. The Archivist of the United States renewed the Committee's charter for a fifth term on April 28, 2022, and certified that renewing the Committee is in the public interest. Member appointment terms run for two years, concurrent with the Committee charter.

The 2022–2024 FOIA Advisory Committee will consist of no more than 20 individuals who will include a range of government and non-government representatives. Members are selected in accordance with the charter. Considerations when making appointments will include geographic diversity; diversity in size of company or organization to be represented; and diversity in representations of business and industry, academic institutions, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders in accordance with the charter.

Government members will include, at a minimum: 

  • three FOIA professionals from Cabinet-level Departments; 
  • three FOIA professionals from non-Cabinet agencies; 
  • the Director of the Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy or their designee; and 
  • the Director of OGIS or their designee.

Non-governmental members will include, at a minimum: 

  • two individuals representing the interests of non-governmental organizations that advocate on FOIA matters; 
  • one individual representing the interests of FOIA requesters who qualify for the “all other” FOIA requester fee category; 
  • one individual representing the interests of requesters who qualify for the “news media” FOIA requester fee category; 
  • one individual representing the interests of requesters who qualify for the “commercial” FOIA requester fee category; and
  • one individual representing the interests of historians and history-related organizations; and one individual representing the interests of academia.

All Committee members are expected to attend a minimum of nine public meetings during the two-year Committee term. Meetings will be held in-person or virtually depending on COVID-19 community levels. All Committee members are expected to volunteer for one or more working subcommittees that will meet at various times during the two-year term. The first meeting of the 2022–2024 Committee term is scheduled for Thursday, September 8, 2022. Meeting notices will be published in the Federal Register.

Additional information on how to apply can be found at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2022-12276/requests-for-nominations-freedom-of-information-act-advisory-committee 

The Acting Archivist of the United States will review the nominations and make final appointments prior to the first Committee meeting in September. OGIS will notify the appointees in writing.

Snippet

# # #

For media inquiries, please contact: National Archives Public and Media Communications at (202) 357-5300 or via email at public.affairs@nara.gov.

Connect with the National Archives on:

Facebook logo icon Facebook: USNationalArchives

Instagram logo icon Instagram: usnatarchives

LinkedIn icon LinkedIn: usnatarchives

Threads icon Threads: usnatarchives

Tumblr icon Tumblr: usnatarchives

X iconX: @USNatArchives

YouTube iconYouTube: usnationalarchives

 

This page was last reviewed on June 9, 2022.
Contact us with questions or comments.

Top