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2016 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

Content of 2016 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

Time frame for Report

Unless otherwise noted, your 2016 Chief FOIA Officer Report should address agency 

activities that have occurred since the filing of last year’s Report, which was February 6, 2015, 

up until the filing of the 2016 Report, which will be February 8, 2016. Thus, the general 

reporting period for the Chief FOIA Officer Reports is February 2015 to February 2016.

Name and Title of Agency Chief FOIA Officer:

Ruth Ann Abrams, Assistant Secretary

Section I: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying the President's FOIA Memorandum and the Attorney

General's FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness.

Describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is 

being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. To do so, you should answer the questions 

listed below and then include any additional information you would like to describe how your 

agency is working to apply the presumption of openness.

FOIA Training:

1. Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have 

FOIA responsibilities attend any FOIA training or conference during the 

reporting period such as that provided by the Department of Justice?

Answer: Yes.

2. Provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with 

FOIA responsibilities who attended FOIA training during this reporting period. 

Answer: One hundred percent of the Commission’s FOIA professionals attended 

substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

Yes. Our Chief FOIA Officer attended the FOIA for Attorneys and Access 

Professionals training offered by the Department of Justice on July 14-15, 2015.
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3. OIP has directed agencies to “take steps to ensure that all their FOIA 

professionals attend substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the 

year.” If your response to the previous question is that less than 80% of your 

FOIA professional attended training, please explain your agency’s plan to 

ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training 

during the next reporting year..

Answer: We recognize the importance of having the FOIA professionals attend 

substantive training to keep abreast of best practices and changes in the FOIA 

law, regulations, and guidance from the Department of Justice. The Commission 

will continue to require annual training for the Chief Officer and FOIA 

professionals on staff, and track the FOIA training completed by our agency’s 

FOIA professionals.

Discretionary Disclosures:

4. Does your agency have a distinct process in place to review records for 

discretionary release? If so, please briefly describe this process.

Answer: Yes. The Commission reviews all records for discretionary release with 

the Office of the General Counsel. Once approved by the Office of the General 

Counsel, the FOIA professionals then provide documents or other records 

identified for discretionary release for review by the Chairman and 

Commissioners prior to the release of these records.

5. During the reporting period, did your agency make any discretionary 

releases of information?

Answer: During FY 2015, the Commission received 8 requests. The Commission 

fulfilled or referred all of the requests. None of the requests involved any 

withholding of information. As a result, there were no opportunities to make a 

discretionary release.

6. What exemptions would have covered the material released as a matter of 

discretion?

Answer: Not applicable

7. Provide a narrative description, or some examples of, the types of 

information that your agency released as a matter of discretion.

Answer: Not applicable

8. If your agency was not able to make any discretionary releases of 

information, please explain why.

Answer: During FY 2015, the Commission received 8 requests. The Commission 

fulfilled or referred nearly all of the requests. None of the requests involved any 

withholding of information. As a result, there were no opportunities to make a 

discretionary release.
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Other Initiatives:

9. If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that 

the presumption of openness is being applied, please describe them here.

Answer: The Commission holds periodic public meetings. The meetings are 

publicly broadcast and the audio recordings of these meetings are archived on 

the Commission's website. Technical Conferences are usually webcast and 

archived on the website.

The contents of all dockets, apart from certain items designated as nonpublic by 

submitters, are available for inspection on the Commission's website. The 

nonpublic records are clearly identified on the public website and are usually 

posted in redacted form. The Postal Service and other filers must provide 

specific justification for nonpublic treatment of the items to be designated as 

nonpublic. Any person may petition the Commission for access to specified 

nonpublic records, or else may petition to have the access restrictions lifted 

entirely.

During FY 2015, the Commission completed the development of a redesigned 

public website to make it easier to find and access Commission information and 

records. The development process focused on creating a website that would 

make it easier and more intuitive for the public to find information. The new 

website was launched on January 31, 2015. The Commission publishes copies of 

its annual Congressional Budget Justifications on the public website. The FY 

2016 Congressional Budget Justification was posted on February 4, 2015.

The Commission publishes detailed monthly updates to the Consumer Price 

Index calculations relating to the price cap on Market Dominant postal products. 

This is a valuable resource for the mailing industry and the public.

The Commission publishes a frequently updated summary of Negotiated Service 

Agreements (contracts between the United States Postal Service and private 

companies for special mailing agreements.) and the Mail Classification 

Schedule.
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Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an

Effective System in Place for Responding to Requests

As the Attorney General emphasized in his FOIA Guidelines, "[a]pplication of the proper 

disclosure standard is only one part of ensuring transparency. Open government requires not just a 

presumption of disclosure, but also an effective system for responding to FOIA requests." It is 

essential that agencies effectively manage their FOIA program.

Describe here the steps your agency has taken to ensure that your management of your FOIA 

program is effective and efficient. To do so, answer the questions below and then include any 

additional information that you would like to describe how your agency ensures that your FOIA 

system is efficient and effective.

Processing Procedures:

1. For Fiscal Year 2015, what was the average number of your days your agency reported for 

adjudicating requests for expedited processing?

Answer: Not applicable. The Commission did not receive any requests for expedited 

processing in Fiscal Year 2015.

2. If your agency’s average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was 

above ten calendar days, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that 

requests for expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less.

Answer: Not applicable. The Commission did not receive any requests for expedited 

processing in Fiscal Year 2015.

3. On July 2, 2015, OIP issued new guidance to agencies on the proper procedures to be used 

in the event an agency has reason to inquire whether a requester is still interested in the 

processing of his or her request. Please confirm here that to the extent your agency may have 

had occasion to send a “still interested” inquiry, it has done so in accordance with the new 

guidelines for doing so, including affording requesters thirty working days to respond.

Answer: Not applicable. The Commission did not have any reason to inquire whether a 

requester was still interested in the processing of a request during Fiscal Year 2015. If a 

reason had occurred, the Commission would be sure to utilize the proper procedures issued 

in July 2015.
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Requester Services:

4. Please explain here any steps your agency has taken to strengthen these services to better 

inform requesters about their requests and to prevent or resolve FOIA disputes.

Answer: Once a FOIA request is received, the Commission updates and posts the FOIA 

tracking log so that requesters can see that there request has been received. If the 

Commission has any questions or needs further clarification about the request, a member of 

our FOIA team immediately reaches out to the FOIA requester. The Commission also 

notifies the requester of any charges that apply and offers the requester the option to receive 

the response electronically or via hardcopy.

Other Initiatives:

5. If there are any other steps your agency has undertaken to ensure that your FOIA 

system operates efficiently and effectively, such as conducting self-assessments to find 

greater efficiencies, improving search processes, eliminating redundancy, etc., please 

describe them here.

Answer: The Commission’s FOIA professionals have a weekly meeting scheduled in 

conjunction with other administrative activities to assess workload and response time. 

During these weekly assessments, process improvements are discussed to minimize response 

times and keep response times within the statutory time limits for all requests. Effective 

communication among departments at the Commission and timely response by Commission 

employees to requests for records ensure that the Commission responds to all requests in an 

expeditious manner.
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Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

Both the President and Attorney General focused on the need for agencies to work 

proactively to post information online without waiting for individual requests to be received.

Describe here the steps your agency has taken both to increase the amount of material that is 

available on your agency website, and the usability of such information, including providing 

examples of proactive disclosures.

Posting Material:

1. Describe your agency’s process or system for identifying “frequently requested” records 

required to be posted online under Subsection (a)(2) of the FOIA. For example, does your 

agency monitor its FOIA logs or is there some other system in place to identify these records 

for posting. 

Answer: The Commission hosts a series of periodic public meetings and publicly webcasts 

and archives audio recordings of these meetings, hearings and technical conferences on the 

Commission's website. These are updated on a continual basis. Inquiries from the public or 

the press are examined to determine whether posting Commission records could address 

future inquiries of the same type.

2. Does your agency have a distinct process or system in place to identify records for proactive 

disclosures? If so, please describe your agency’s process or system.

Answer: Yes. Two of the Commission’s operating principles are openness and transparency. 

The entire staff works to identify proactive disclosures. Any identified records are reviewed 

and approved by the General Counsel and the FOIA professionals. Once approved, they are 

posted or released where appropriate. 

3. When making proactive disclosures of records, are your agency’s FOIA professionals 

involved in coding the records for Section 508 compliance or otherwise preparing them for 

posting? If so, provide an estimate of how much time is involved for each of your FOIA 

professionals and your agency overall.

Answer: Yes. The Commission’s FOIA professionals are involved in the preparation of 

records for posting. All released documents are to be made accessible in compliance with 

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

4. Has your agency encountered challenges that make it difficult to post records you otherwise 

would like to post?

Answer: No

5. If so, please briefly explain those challenges?

Answer: N/A
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6. Provide examples of material that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past 

reporting year, including links to the posted materials.

Answer: The Commission has used Twitter and press releases to announce the release of 

work of the Commission, and these announcements typically provide links to the underlying 

documents – https://twitter.com/postalregulator.

7. Did your agency use any means to publicize or highlight important proactive disclosures for 

public awareness? If yes, please describe these efforts.

Answer: The Commission has used Twitter and press releases to publicize or highlight 

proactive disclosures.

Other Initiatives:

8. If there are other steps your agency has taken to increase proactive disclosures, please 

describe them here.

Answer: The Commission publishes:

 Detailed monthly updates to the Consumer Price Index calculations relating to the 

price cap on Market Dominant postal products. This is a valuable resource for the 

mailing industry and the public.

 A statistical tabulation of Negotiated Service Agreements (mailing contracts 

between the Postal Service and private companies).

 A regularly updated Library of Workshare Cost Avoidance Models, which is 

helpful to the mailing industry and the public.

 Materials distributed at Commission-sponsored technical conferences.

 Informative Workpapers filed as part of Commission dockets.

 Mail Classification Schedule
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Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of the President's FOIA Memorandum was the direction to "use modern 

technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government." In addition to 

using the internet to make proactive disclosures, agencies should also be exploring ways to utilize 

technology in responding to requests. Over the past several years agencies have reported widespread 

use of technology in receiving and tracking FOIA requests and preparing agency Annual FOIA 

Reports. For 2015, as we have done over the past years, the questions have been further refined and 

now also address different, more innovative aspects of technology use. 

Making Material Posted Online More Useful:

1. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information 

more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access 

your agency’s website?

Answer: Yes. The Commission provides an online customer service form for members of the 

public to submit comments. In addition, in response to requests from the public, the 

Commission implemented an improved search function for its website. This easier-to-use 

search engine supplements the more complex search system used by frequent users of the 

site. The Commission also requires that all correspondence and legal documents filed with 

the Commission be processed with Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and thus are both 

electronically keyword searchable and more compliant with section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act.

2. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. 

Answer: In response to requests from the public, the Commission implemented an improved 

search function for its website. This easier to use search engine supplements the more 

complex search system used by frequent users of the site. The Commission has also taken 

steps to ensure that most document filings are processed with OCR, and thus are both 

electronically keyword searchable and more compliant with section 508 of the 

Rehabilitation Act.

Other Initiatives:

3. Did your agency successfully post all four quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2015?

Answer: Yes.
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4. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports, with information appearing on 

FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency’s plan for ensuring that such 

reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2016.

Answer: It just came to the Commission’s attention that the quarterly reports for quarters 2-4 

were not retrieved. We were not aware of this until the initial review of this report. Please 

note that in addition to the posting of the quarterly reports on the Commission website, we 

also send the link via email at the end of each quarter. We will continue to post the reports in 

a timely manner and send the information via email and ask that we be notified should you 

not be able to retrieve the report. The Commission is committed to ensuring that our 

reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2016.

5. Do your agency’s FOIA professional use e-mail or other electronic means to communicate 

with requesters whenever feasible?

Answer: Yes.

6. If your agency does not communicate electronically with requests as a default, are there 

limitations or restrictions for the use of such means? If yes, does your agency inform 

requesters about such limitations?

Answer: N/A
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Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to

Requests and Reduce Backlogs

The President and the Attorney General have emphasized the importance of improving 

timeliness in responding to requests. This section addresses both time limits and backlog 

reduction. Backlog reduction is measured both in terms of numbers of backlogged requests or 

appeals and by looking at whether agencies closed their ten oldest requests, appeals, and 

consultations. For the figures required in this Section, please use those contained in the specified 

sections of your agency’s 2014 Annual FOIA Report and, when applicable, your agency’s 2013

Annual FOIA Report.

Simple Track Requests:

1. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests?

Answer: The Commission receives relatively few FOIA requests, and most 

are simple. However, we do track separately the occasional complex 

requests when they are received.

2. If so, for your agency overall, for Fiscal Year 2015, was the average number of 

days to process simple requests twenty working days or fewer?

Answer: Yes

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 

2015 that were placed in your simple track.

Answer: 100% of the requests received and processed in Fiscal Year 2015

were placed in the simple track.

4. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of 

days to process non-expedited requests twenty working days or fewer?

Answer: N/A

The Commission tracks simple and complex requests. 

Backlogged Requests: Refer to Sections XII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, 

entitled, “Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals” shows the numbers of 

any backlogged requests or appeals from the fiscal year. You should refer to these numbers 

from your Annual FOIA Reports for both Fiscal Year 2014 and Fiscal Year 2015 when 

completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2015, did that 

backlog decrease as compared with Fiscal Year 2014?

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests at the end of 

FY 2014 or FY 2015.
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6. If not, explain why and describe the course that contributed to your agency not 

being able to reduce its backlog. When doing so, please indicate if any of the 

following were contributing factors:

 An increase in the number of incoming requests

 A loss of staff

 An increase in the complexity of the requests received. If possible, 

please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex 

requests contributing to your backlog increase.

 Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples 

when possible

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests at the end of 

FY 2014 or FY 2015.

7. If you had a request backlog, please report the percentage of requests that make up 

the backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal 

Year 2015.

 To calculate your agency’s percentage, you must divide the number of 

backlogged requests reported in Section XII.A of your Fiscal Year 2015 

Annual FOIA Report by the number of requests received in Fiscal Year 

2015, which can be found in Section V.A of your Annual FOIA Report. 

Once divided, you can multiply that number by 100 to get the 

percentage.

Answer: N/A

Backlogged Appeals:

8. If you had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2015, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2014?

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests or administrative appeals at 

the end of either FY 2014 or FY 2015.

9. If not, explain why and describe the course that contributed to your agency not 

being able to reduce its backlog. When doing so, please indicate if any of the 

following were contributing factors:

 An increase in the number of incoming requests

 A loss of staff

 An increase in the complexity of the requests received. If possible, 

please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex 

requests contributing to your backlog increase.

 Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples 

when possible

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests or administrative appeals at 

the end of either FY 2014 or FY 2015.
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10. If you had an appeal backlog, please report the percentage of appeals that make up 

the backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 

2015. 

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests or administrative appeals at 

the end of either FY 2014 or FY 2015.

Ten Oldest Requests

11. In Fiscal Year 2015, did your agency close the ten oldest requests that were reported 

pending in your Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending requests at the end of FY 2014.

12. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by 

the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.E of your Fiscal Year 2014 Annual 

FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate 

that. For example, if you only had seven requests listed as part of your "ten oldest" in 

Section VII.E. and you closed two of them, you should note that you closed two out 

of seven “oldest” requests.

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending requests at the end of FY 2014.

13. Of the requests your agency was able to close from your ten oldest, please indicate 

how many of these were closed because the request was withdrawn by the requester. 

If any were closed because the request was withdrawn, did you provide any interim 

responses prior to the withdrawal?

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending requests at the end of FY 2014.

Ten Oldest Appeals

14. In Fiscal Year 2015, did your agency close the ten oldest administrative appeals that 

were reported pending in your Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending administrative appeals at the end of 

FY 2014.

15. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close, as 

well as the number of appeals your agency had in Section VI.C.(5) of your Fiscal 

Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report.

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending administrative appeals as of the end of 

FY 2014.
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Ten Oldest Consultations

16. In Fiscal Year 2015, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were 

reported pending in your Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no any pending consultations as of the end of 

FY 2014.

17. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency did close, as well 

as the number of pending consultations your agency listed in Section XII.C. of your 

Fiscal Year 2014 Annual FOIA Report.

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending consultations as of the end of FY 2014.

Additional Information on Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations & Plans:

18. Briefly explain the obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest 

requests, appeals, and consultations from Fiscal Year 2014.

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests nor appeals from FY 2014.

19. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest requests or appeals 

because you were waiting to hear back from other agencies on consultations 

you sent, please provide the date the request was initially received by your 

agency, the date when your agency sent the consultation, and the date when 

you last contacted the agency where the consultation was pending.

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no backlog of requests nor appeals from FY 2014.

20. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, and 

consultations, please provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close these 

“ten oldest” requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2016.

Answer: N/A

The Commission had no pending requests at the end of FY 2015. 
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Use of FOIA’s Law Enforcement “Exclusions”

In order to increase transparency regarding the use of the FOIA’s statutory law 

enforcement exclusions, which authorize agencies under certain exceptional circumstances to 

“treat the records as not subject to the requirements of [the FOIA],” 5 U.S.C. § 552(c)(1), (2), (3), 

please answer the following questions:

1. Did your agency invoke a statutory exclusion during Fiscal Year 2015?

Answer: No, the Commission did not invoke a statutory exclusion during 

FY 2015.

2. If so, what is the total number of times exclusions were invoked?

Answer: N/A

The Commission invoked no statutory exclusions during FY 2015.

Spotlight on Success

Describe one success story that you would like to highlight as emblematic of your 

agency’s efforts.

Success Story:

In response to requests from the public, the Commission updated its website’s search 

engine capabilities, affording the public an improved search functionality. This easier to 

use search function supplements the more complex search options used by frequent users 

of the site. Part of the mission of the Commission is to provide transparency to the 

public, and proactive disclosure is integral to this mission.

With limited staff resources and a high volume of other duties, the Commission provided 

responses to all simple requests within the statutory deadline of 20 business days. The 

Commission prides itself on the high priority given to responding completely and properly to 

all requests, and how fully, professionally and quickly we respond to FOIA.

Because the Commission publishes most of its records on its website, and clearly identifies 

any proprietary or confidential information, this openness reduces the number of records 

requests sent to the Commission.

This proactive openness by the Commission, we believe, exemplifies the objectives of the law 

and guidance relating to FOIA.