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Report on Improving Agency Disclosure of Information 

Prepared Pursuant to Executive Order 13392 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

 June 13, 2006 

A. Characterize overall nature of agency's FOIA operations (degree of 

detail optional), with optional reference to areas preliminarily considered 

for agency review. (Agencies may also describe any particular FOIA 

challenges that they face.) 

 The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) works diligently to 

process the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2004), requests it 

receives from the general public. The Commission has been successful in preventing a 

backlog of FOIA cases. For fiscal year 2004, the Commission received 192 FOIA 

requests, all of which were responded to in a timely manner. However, five requests 

were voluminous1

 and were completed on a rolling basis in fiscal year 2005. In fiscal 

year 2005, the Commission received 118 FOIA requests, which were also responded to in 

a timely manner. Nine of these requests were voluminous or involved matters relating to 

two pending proceedings and were not completed in fiscal year 2005. As of May 2006, 

one of these nine requests has been completed. Eight are still pending: two of the 

requests are suspended at the request of the requester and one of the requests is 

voluminous and is being responded to on a rolling basis. The remaining five requests 

relate to issues concerning an Annual Report of Major Electric utilities (Form No.1’s), 

which the Commission is addressing in ongoing proceedings in Docket Nos. AC05-58-

000 and AC05-59-000. Hence, staff must await the Commission’s decision in these 

proceedings before they are able to make a determination with respect to the five Form 

No. 1 requests. 

 The Commission’s FOIA operation is managed by the Office of External Affairs 

(OEA), in which the Chief FOIA Officer and FOIA Public Liaison are located. The 

agency’s staff involved in FOIA compliance consist of the following: (1) administrative 

and program management staff in OEA, who take delivery of all FOIA requests and 

handle matters relating to appropriate FOIA administration and program implementation; 

(2) legal staff in the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), who carryout legal activities 

associated with administering the FOIA, such as reviewing requested documents and 

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 A “voluminous” request seeks records that are complex and/or pertain to a large 

quantity of documents that require a significant search and/or review. 
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making determinations with respect to the disclosure of the requested information, 

applying FOIA exemptions, and processing FOIA Appeals; and (3) technical staff 

designated from various program offices “non-FOIA personnel”2

, generally, personnel 

who perform document searches for records that are responsive to FOIA requests and 

those who must coordinate with FOIA personnel to make a determination of the 

sensitivity of any record and its appropriateness for release. 

 The review conducted by the Commission staff in response to Executive Order 

13392 revealed that, although this agency has almost no backlog of FOIA requests and 

has an excellent track record for addressing those requests within the statutory deadlines, 

there are nevertheless some improvements that can be made by the Commission. The 

improvements that have been identified are discussed in detail in this report. 

All of the identified improvements will be completed or initiated by the end of 

October 2006. However, to provide continuous improvement of the FOIA process at 

FERC, the Chief FOIA Officer has organized the Commission personnel most heavily 

involved in the FOIA process into a “FOIA Team.” This Team will meet every two 

months (bi-monthly) beginning on June 20, 2006. At each meeting, the FOIA Public 

Liaison will provide metrics for the proceeding two months, including the number of 

FOIA requests, whether any responses are beyond the deadline or threatening to go 

beyond the deadline, and whether submissions to the agency are being properly labeled as 

“public.” The Team will also review whether the number of non-FOIA personnel who 

are responsible for searches and identification of exempt information is adequate to 

maintain timely responses. The FOIA Team will continue to evaluate the efficient use of 

Commission staff and on-going training requirements in order to meet the goals of the 

Executive Order and the anticipated increase in voluminous Liquefied Natural Gas 

(LNG) and transmission project filings. 

B. List all areas selected for review 

1. Affirmative disclosure under subsection (a) (2). 

2. Overall FOIA Web site improvement. 

3. Automated tracking capabilities. 

4. Acknowledgment letters. 

5. Process by which necessary cooperation is obtained from agency program personnel. 

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 The term “non-FOIA personnel” is used in the same context as defined in FOIA 

Update, Vol. XVI, No. 3, at 1. The term refers to any Commission program office staff 

whose cooperation is often essential to the completion of the FOIA’s administrative 

process and whose lack of timely assistance could cause significant delays in complying 

with FOIA requests”. 
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6. Additional training needed (formal and/or on-the-job). 

7. Recycling of improvement information gleaned from FOIA Requester Service Center. 

8. Improvement for processing outstanding requests identified in the review. 

C. Include narrative statement summarizing results of review

 

 In compliance with Executive Order 13392, the Chief FOIA Officer in 

consultation with the FOIA Public Liaison and other relevant staff, including legal staff 

in OGC, undertook a review of the agency’s current FOIA operations. As a result of the 

review, it was established that improvements can be made in the agency’s FOIA 

operations with regard to the following areas, as explained below. In addition, the review 

created an awareness of the value of periodic meetings of a FOIA Team, comprised of the 

FOIA personnel in OEA and OGC General Administrative Law Section, and the key nonFOIA personnel in each of the Commission’s applicable program offices, including those 

non-FOIA personnel responsible for completing FOIA searches. It was decided that the 

FOIA Team would meet bi-monthly. 

1. Affirmative disclosure under subsection (a) (2)

The Commission has an established policy for posting on its “eLibrary” website 

all documents filed and all final documents or orders, including press releases and the 

commissioners’ formal statements, issued with respect to all proceedings before the 

Commission or other actions taken by the Commission, including staff studies and 

reports. Documents that are not exempt under FOIA are routinely posted in “eLibrary” 

as “public” or made available through the public reference room. Pursuant to 

Commission policy, letters from constituents sent to the Commission by Members of 

Congress that relate to contested proceedings before the Commission are redacted to 

remove personal identifying information before being placed in the dockets as “public.” 

Constituents letters not related to docketed proceedings are posted in the eLibrary as 

“non-public.” Areas of improvements are suggested in the Commission’s plan, (see

page 6 et seq.). 

As a result of the review, FOIA staff concluded that the Commission should 

continue its policy of posting FOIA released materials as “public” in the eLibrary and on 

the Commission’s website. In addition, the review indicated the need to establish a 

process to ensure that all FOIA released material is properly posted in the eLibrary as 

“public.”
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2. Overall FOIA Web site improvement

 The review revealed that the Commission should continue its practice of 

periodically updating its FOIA website. The FOIA website will be updated: (1) to 

include information detailing the agency’s FOIA Requester Service Center; (2) to remove 

and/or update existing information; and (3) to rearrange items on the website to enhance 

the overall clarity of the web pages, thereby making them easier to navigate and more 

user-friendly. 

3. Automated tracking capabilities

 Staff needs to complete the design of the FOIA database system, make it 

accessible to all FOIA operations staff, and to ultimately integrate the database into the 

Commission-wide Activity Tracking Management System (ATMS). This system, which 

is targeted to become fully operational in June 2007, will be invaluable to the FOIA staff 

in general and particularly to the FOIA Service Center. 

4. Acknowledgment letters

 In addition to responding to requester’s inquiries concerning their pending 

requests, staff needs to ensure that all requesters are provided with written 

communications acknowledging receipt of their FOIA requests. 

5. Process by which necessary cooperation is obtained from agency program personnel

 Continuous emphasis on cooperation between the agency’s FOIA administration 

staff and non-FOIA personnel will continue to result in timely, accurate and thorough 

office searches for records responsive to FOIA requests. 

6. Additional training (formal and/or on-the-job)

 To increase the capabilities of the agency non-FOIA personnel and to ensure 

quality searches, thereby maintaining efficient processing times for FOIA requests, newly 

assigned non-FOIA personnel will continue to be scheduled to receive FOIA training. In 

addition, existing FOIA staff will continue to be scheduled for appropriate supplemental 

training to stay current on substantive, procedural and administrative matters relating to 

the FOIA. 
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7. Recycling of improvement information gleaned from FOIA Requester Service Center

 

 The Commission will establish a systematic process for recognizing and adopting, 

where appropriate, feedback from customers through the Service Center or to the Public 

Liaison. 

8. Improvement for processing outstanding requests identified in the review

 The agency’s FOIA administration staff will make every effort to diligently work 

with the program offices to ensure that office searches are completed timely and that 

responses are written and sent to requesters within the 20-working day time frame. 

D. List all areas chosen as improvement areas for agency plan 

 To ensure more citizen-centered and results-oriented FOIA operations, staff seeks 

improvement in the areas of: 

1. Affirmative disclosure under subsection (a) (2). 

2. Overall FOIA Web site improvement. 

3. Automated tracking capabilities. 

4. Acknowledgment letters. 

5. Process by which necessary cooperation is obtained from agency program personnel. 

6. Additional training needed (formal and/or on-the-job). 

7. Recycling of improvement information gleaned from FOIA Requester Service Center. 

8. Improvement for processing outstanding requests identified in the review. 
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E. For each improvement area provide:

1. Name: Affirmative disclosure under subsection (a)(2). 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

 The goal is to ensure that documents that should be made publicly available are, in 

fact, properly filed with the Commission as public documents. 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Provide guidance to the public and assist those submitting information to the 

Commission on what should be filed as public information. 

(2) Where practicable, non-FOIA personnel will review submissions to determine 

whether the information is properly labeled and filed. 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

This goal will be accomplished by June 30, 2006. However, review of the policy 

will be ongoing, as set forth below: 

(1) At the Commission FOIA Team’s June 20, 2006 meeting, staff will review and 

establish internal procedures designed to systematically assess the accuracy of selfdesignation of submittals by applicants, and the proper posting of those submittals. 

(2) At the Commission FOIA Team’s June 20, 2006 meeting, staff will evaluate the 

availability of sufficient non-FOIA personnel, including alternates. Such evaluation will 

continue, as necessary, at future bi-monthly FOIA Team meetings. 

Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

A measure of success of the first goal will be a running assessment by the Chief 

FOIA Officer as to whether the procedures have: 

(1) Succeeded in reducing FOIA requests related to project documents. 
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(2) Resulted in fewer self-designations being reversed by Commission staff. 

(3) Ensure that no documents being filed as “non-public” should be filed as “public.” 
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2. Name: Overall FOIA Web Site improvement 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

 

The Commission’s goal is to ensure the Commission’s FOIA website is userfriendly and provides requesters with the most accurate up-to-date information related to 

FOIA.

 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Rearrange existing links and add additional links on the website to enhance the 

overall clarity of the website and to improve overall navigability. 

(2) Rearrange the website to ensure that the frequently used links are easily located. 

(3) Promptly remove or update all information currently on the website. 

(4) Update FOIA website to include information regarding the FOIA Public Liaison, 

Public Service Center, and Chief FOIA Officer. 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

This goal will be accomplished by July 30, 2006, as set forth below. However, 

updates to the website will be ongoing as needed: 

(1) Website revised by 6/30/06. 

(2) Update website to include information concerning the FOIA Public Liaison, Service 

Center, and Chief FOIA Officer was completed on 5/18/06. 
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Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

The success of this goal can be measured by the frequency of calls to the Service 

Center concerning requester’s inability to locate information on the Commission’s FOIA 

website. 
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3. Name: Automated tracking capabilities 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

The Commission’s goal is to use suitable information technology (IT) to enable 

the FOIA Service Center staff to readily provide requesters with information about the 

status of their requests as well as appropriate information concerning the agency’s 

response. 

 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Continue working with assigned IT staff in the development of an efficient system 

designed specifically to meet the tracking needs of the FOIA administration staff as well 

as the Service Center staff. 

(2) Seek input in the design of the system from all appropriate FOIA staff concerning the 

capabilities of the system and its usability. 

(3) Provide training for appropriate FOIA staff to ensure effective use of the system. 

(4) Assign appropriate “rights” to the system to FOIA staff. 

(5) Request modifications to the system as warranted to increase its effectiveness in 

providing information to better serve citizens.

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

This goal will be accomplished by June 2007. However, after June 2007, 

adjustments will be ongoing as warranted, as set forth below: 

(1) Three phases for accomplishment of this goal: stage 1 - initial development design 

lasting through 6/30/06; stage 2 – modifications permissible until 4/2007 – nearing 

proposed time for integration with agency wide IT ; and stage 3 – integration into 

agency-wide ATMS technology slated for 6/2007. 

(2) Staff input currently through 6/23/2006. 

(3) Training completed by 7/30/06. 
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(4) Completion of assignment “rights” 6/30/06. 

(5) Modification to the system will be ongoing. 

Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

The success of the IT will be measured through informal consultations with FOIA 

personnel and discussed during the bi-monthly FOIA Team meetings. The FOIA staff 

will gauge the efficiency of the system in tracking information necessary to provide 

requesters with the status of their FOIA requests and/or the response. 
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4. Name: Acknowledgment Letters 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

 

The goal is to continue to provide the requesters, through a more structured 

process, information regarding the status and processing of all FOIA requests.

 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Update templates of form acknowledgment letters for prompt acknowledgment of 

receipt of requests to requesters. 

(2) Set a deadline for sending an acknowledgement letter to a requester within two 

business days from the date of receipt of a FOIA request. 

(3) Assign primary and alternate FOIA staff to be responsible for the acknowledgment 

communications. 

(4) Send an acknowledgement letter via fax or regular mail only if the requester did not 

provide an e-mail address. 

(5) Review the effectiveness of the acknowledgement letter process at each bi-monthly 

FOIA Team meeting. 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

This goal will be accomplished by June 30, 2006, as set forth below: 

(1) Templates and procedures agreed to by 6/20/06. 

(2) Deadline confirmed for sending acknowledgments by 6/20/06. 

(3) Staff assignments will be made to meet the staffing requirements by 6/20/06. 

(4) Full implementation of new procedures for sending acknowledgements (via email, fax 

or regular) will be made by 6/20/06. 

(5) Review of the effectiveness of the acknowledgment letter process will be made at the 

8/06 meeting and continue at each bi-monthly meeting thereafter. 
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Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

The success of this goal can be measured by comparing the number of requests 

received against the number of acknowledgement letters sent, minus the number of 

requests withdrawn before acknowledgement could be sent (within 2 business days of 

receipt of a request). 
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5. Name: Process by which necessary cooperation is obtained from 

agency “program personnel” 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

The goal is to have the appropriate program offices continue to emphasize the 

importance of completing accurate, thorough and timely searches for documents that are 

responsive to FOIA requests and, when necessary, to have an appropriate subject matter 

expert in the program office provide essential advice to the FOIA staff concerning the 

technical and/or sensitive nature of the particular information and its appropriateness for 

release. 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

 

(1) The Commission Chairman will direct appropriate program office managers to 

appoint sufficient non-FOIA personnel, including alternates and technical subject-matter 

experts, and to emphasize the importance of continuing to provide essential and timely 

FOIA assistance to the FOIA administration and legal staff. 

(2) Provide a review and/or guidance to appropriate non-FOIA personnel on the proper 

completion of the FOIA search memorandum to prevent unnecessary delays in 

processing. 

(3) Under the directions of OGC General and Administration Law Section, training will 

be provided to non-FOIA personnel and other pertinent staff, including appropriate 

program office managers, on the requirements of FOIA, with an emphasis on timely 

processing of the requested information. 

(4) Clarify the FOIA search memorandum to make it clear that non-FOIA personnel must 

provide recommendations to FOIA staff regarding the sensitivity of records and their 

appropriateness for disclosure. 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

 

 This goal will be accomplished by October 2006, as set forth below. However, 

reassessments of the goal will be ongoing at the bi-monthly FOIA Team meetings. 

(1) Meeting to be conducted on 6/20/2006, to evaluate the need to assign additional nonFOIA personnel and subject matter experts in appropriate program offices. 
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(2) Chairman to direct appropriate program office directors to assign additional nonFOIA personnel, as needed, by 7/31/06. 

(3) Improvements to FOIA search memorandum discussed and agreed to at 6/20/2006 

meeting. 

(4) Training classes for non-FOIA personnel to be scheduled by 7/31/06. 

Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

 In most instances, office searches for responsive documents are essential for the 

legal staff to respond within the statutory time frame to FOIA requests. Hence, 

measurement of this objective will be expressed as the number of days required by the 

search staff to complete their task for each request. This information will be added to the 

FOIA Search Memorandum. These data will be discussed at each bi-monthly FOIA 

Team meeting and adjustments and admonishments made as necessary. The data will be 

considered in the context of the number of requests identified as pending after expiration 

of statutory time period (20-working days) for a response. 
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6. Name: Additional training needed 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

The goal is for FOIA staff to stay current on substantive, procedural and 

administrative matters concerning the FOIA, and also to periodically provide a forum for 

the exchange of ideas and information useful in dealing with problems that commonly 

arise in administering the FOIA. 

 List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Identify training opportunities for FOIA staff to increase efficiency and customer 

service. 

(2) Seek approval for courses as determined to be needed. 

3) Staff attends training course(s). 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

 This goal will be accomplished by February 5, 2007, as set forth below. However, 

training will be ongoing as necessary. 

(1) Initial training needs identified by 9/29/06 – with periodic reassessments by the FOIA 

Team. 

(2) Time and location for initial course(s), if needed, established by 10/13/06. 

(3) Approval for initial training by 10/31/06. 

(4) Actual training commenced no later than 2/2/07 – ongoing as warranted.

Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

Success in meeting this goal will be measured by completion of all the steps listed 

above. 
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7. Name: Recycling of improvement information gleaned from FOIA 

Requester Service Center 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

The Commission will establish a systematic process for recognizing and adopting, 

where appropriate, feedback from customers through the Service Center or the Public 

Liaison. 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Public Liaison will prepare for each bi-monthly meeting of the Commission FOIA 

Team a report of all feedback items received since the last meeting of the team. 

(2) Public Liaison will provide a briefing on the status of implementing the feedback 

items adopted at the previous meeting. The briefing will also include all suggestions 

made by Commission staff during the preceding period. 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

 

This goal will be accomplished initially by June 28, 2006. 

(1) The first Public Liaison report on feedback items will be due at the first formal bimonthly FOIA Team meeting, June 20, 2006 and will continue at future bi-monthly 

meetings. 

(2) The first Public Liaison briefing on the status of implementing the feedback items will 

be due at the June 20, 2006 FOIA Team meeting and will continue at bi-monthly 

meetings. 

 Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

 The Public Liaison will keep a record of the number of feedback items the Service 

Center or the Public Liaison received, as well as any other feedback received from 

Commission staff, and include the numbers and the most significant items in the annual 

FOIA report. 
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8. Name: Improvement for processing outstanding requests identified 

in the review 

Brief statement of goal(s)/objective(s) (i.e., improvement(s) sought to be 

made) 

In order to ensure the promptest possible response to requesters, we will make 

every effort to diligently work with the program offices to ensure that office searches are 

completed timely and that responses are written and sent to requesters within the 20-

working day time frame. Specifically, regarding the eight outstanding FOIA requests 

mentioned in paragraph A, five of the requests were completed and closed on September 

7, 2006. We plan to complete the remaining three requests as discussed below. 

List of all distinct steps planned to be taken 

(1) Two requests which are pending at the request of the requester will be closed out by 

December 29, 2006, by sending the requester final responses and bills. The requester 

will be informed that he can file a new request(s) for additional information if he sees the 

need to do so in the future. 

(2) The one remaining request will be closed out by October 31, 2006. A final written 

response informing the requester there are no additional responsive documents will be 

finalized and mailed to the requester. 

Time milestones (in relation to specific timetables and outcomes) 

 This goal will be accomplished by December 29, 2006. 

(1) As discussed above, five of the requests were completed and closed on 

September 7, 2006. 

(2) Two requests which are pending at the request of the requester will be closed out by 

December 29, 2006, by sending the requester final responses and bills. 

(3) The one additional request will be closed out by October 2, 2006. A final written 

response informing the requester there are no additional responsive documents will be 

finalized and mailed to the requester. 
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Means of measurement of success (e.g., quantitative assessment of 

backlog reduction expressed in numbers of pending requests, 

percentages, or working days) 

The success of this goal will be measured by whether the three outstanding 

requests are completed and closed by the milestones dates as set forth above. 
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F. For the entire plan, group the improvement areas into the following 

time periods: 

1. Areas anticipated to be completed by December 31, 2006 

(1) Affirmative disclosure under subsection (a)(2) (ongoing). 

(2) Overall FOIA Web Site improvement. 

(3) Automated tracking capabilities. 

(4) Acknowledgment letters. 

(5) Process by which necessary cooperation is obtained from agency “program 

personnel” (ongoing). 

(6) Additional training needed (ongoing). 

(7) Recycling of improvement information gleaned from FOIA Requester Service Center. 

(ongoing). 

8. Improvement for processing outstanding requests identified in the review.

2. Areas anticipated to be completed by December 31, 2007 

(1) Continues. 

(2) Continues. 

(3) Ongoing. 

(4) Ongoing. 

(5) Ongoing. 

(6) Ongoing as warranted. 

(7) Continues. 

3. Areas anticipated to be completed after December 31, 2007

(1) Continues. 

(2) Continues. 

(3) Ongoing 

(4) Ongoing. 

(5) Ongoing. 

(6) Ongoing as warranted. 

(7) Continues.