Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

Freedom of Information Act Improvement Plan

Executive Order 13392

A.Board FOIA Operations

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (Board) was created by Congress in 1989 as

an independent agency within the Executive Branch to identify the nature and consequences of

potential threats to public health and safety at the Department of Energy's defense nuclear

facilities . As of December 31, 2005, the Board employed 87 full-time staff including the fulltime Board members. The Board's organic statute is found at 42 U .S .C 2286; its Internet website

is www.dnfsb.gov; and its Freedom of Information Act Rule is found at 10 C .F.R. Part 1703 .

Pursuant to Executive Order 13,392, we reviewed the Board's Freedom of Information

Act (FOIA) policies and procedures to identify problem areas and formulate solutions that will

enhance customer service and assure prompt response times to FOIA requests. The Board

currently has no backlog of requests . Throughout its 16 year history, it has never had a backlog.

The Board receives an average of 25 requests per year and in 2005, 33 requests were received

and processed . However, thus far in 2006, only four requests have been received .

B.Areas Selected for Review

1 . Board FOIA Web Page and Public Access to Information

2 . Board Responsiveness to FOIA Requests

C.Results of Review

1 . Board FOIA Web Page and Public Access to Information

We reviewed our FOIA page to verify that it was easily located on the Board website's

main page, and that all relevant FOIA information and documents were current and up to date .

The agency website (www.dnfsb .gov) includes :

a. Link to FOIA from the agency home page

b. Board Rule 20 CFR Part 173, Public Information and Requests

c. FOIA Fee Schedule, updated annually

d. Links to FOIA Annual Reports - 1998 through 2005

e . Link to Frequently Requested Information

f. Log of every FOIA request received from January 2001 to Present

g . Link to Department of Justice FOIA Page

h. Board Policy Statement on Access to Public Documents

All FOIA documents and information on the website were determined to be current and
up to date, with the exception of the most recent Chief FOIA Officer designation memorandum,

which had not yet been posted to replace an out of date one on the web page . This was

immediately corrected .

Public access to Board documents on the website has been significantly improved

through the upgrade of a search engine which has increased the speed and simplicity of searches .

The range of Board information available on the website is broad, and includes, but is not limited

to, Annual and Special Reports to Congress (1991-Present), Strategic Plans and Performance

Reports to Congress(1999-Present), Weekly Site Representative Reports (1996-Present),

Correspondence (2000-Present), and all Recommendations . The website also provides a biweekly listing of all public documents received from the Department of Energy as part of our

oversight responsibility . Those documents are made available to the public through procedures

detailed on the website .

The Board has always championed public access to information . We will continue to

make every effort to provide information to the public as promptly as possible, consistent with

legal requirements to protect information affecting the common defense and national security of

the United States. Public hearings and meetings conducted by the Board are video streamed live

via a link on the main page of our website, and a video recording of each meeting is made

available on our website for 90 days following the event . The complete written transcript of each

public hearing or meeting is provided to the public free of charge upon request . All publicly

releasable information received from the Department of Energy in the course of our oversight

activities is made available to anyone who requests it .

2 . Board Responsiveness to FOIA Requests

Upon review of the current FOIA organizational structure and the Board internal

procedures for handling FOIA requests, we have determined that no changes were necessary to

the system. Over the past five years, the Board's median processing time has averaged about six

days. In FY 2005 the median number of days to process a request was five . No uncompleted

requests are currently in the system . Our response to FOIA requests appears to be well within

acceptable guidelines .

D.Areas selected for Improvement

1 . Board FOIA Web Page and Public Access to Information

The Board website will be carefully reviewed on a quarterly basis to assure that

information posted is accurate, current and complete . Each review will include a consideration

of opportunities for improvement .

Each FOIA request received will be carefully monitored as a potential recurring request,

and when so identified, that information will be posted on our FOIA web page under "Frequently

Requested Information," where other such relevant information is already posted.
E.

Time line for completion

Review of the Board web page will be completed by October 15, 2006 . Successive

reviews will be completed by the end of each quarter . Opportunities to improve the methods by

which the Board provides the public with access to information will be pursued aggressively on a

continuing basis .

Date :

October 6 , 2006

Brian Grosner

Chief FOIA Officer