DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

CHIEF FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 

OFFICER REPORT

March 2018

“We provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, 

rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on sound 

public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.”
 

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents............................................. 2

Executive Summary......................................... 3

Section I:............................................................ 5

Section II: .......................................................... 9

Section III:....................................................... 12

Section IV:....................................................... 18

Section V: ........................................................ 19
 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The United States Department of Agriculture (“Department”) was founded by President 

Abraham Lincoln in 1862 and was quickly coined “The People’s Department.” At the time, 

more than half of all American either lived or worked on farms, compared with the two percent 

today. Despite this decrease, the Department is still fulfilling Lincoln’s vision of touching the 

lives of every American through its mission to provide leadership on food, agriculture, natural 

resources and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and 

efficient management. 

To successfully accomplish its mission, the Department operates more than 300 programs 

through an extensive network of Federal, State, and local cooperators. These programs affect 

every American, every day, by providing a safe and stable food supply, nutrition assistance, 

renewable energy, rural economic development, care for forest and conservation lands, and 

global opportunities for farm and forest products. These programs also hold the answers to 

pressing global issues like the need for renewable energy, increasing crop yields to combat 

hunger, protecting the food supply, and optimizing internal trade. 

The Department’s success is dependent on several core values. Among them is transparency.

Central to the Department’s effort to increase transparency is its Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) program. The Department’s Acting Chief Information Officer, Mr. Gary Washington 

provides program oversight for all of the Department’s FOIA offices at the agency and mission 

area. These offices all collaborate throughout the year to process the tens of thousands of FOIA 

requests received at the Department. 

The Department’s FOIA program is led by the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s (OCIO)

Department FOIA Office (DFO). The DFO provides day-to-day coordination and oversight and 

ensures statutory compliance with the FOIA. The DFO also processes FOIA requests, 

consultations, and appeals on behalf of the Office of the Secretary (OSEC) and Departmental 

Management. 

In Fiscal Year 2017, the Department processed approximately 94% of the 25,461 FOIA requests

received. Of these received requests, about 84% were processed in less than twenty working 

days. Additionally, many of the Department’s components made substantial progress on 

reducing their request backlog. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) had a 20%

reduction, the Forest Service (FS) a 32% reduction, Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) a 

53.9% reduction, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) a 8% reduction, the Office 

of the Inspector General a 12% reduction, Rural Development a 41.4% reduction, the Research, 

Education and Economics (REE) a 25% reduction, and the Risk Management Agency (RMA) a 

12.5% reduction. 
 

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This report encompasses the efforts of the following agencies, offices, and mission areas:

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)1

Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

Departmental Management (DM)

Office of the Administrative Law Judges (OALJ)

Office of Advocacy and Outreach (OAO)

Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) 

Office of the Executive Secretariat (OES)

Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Coordination (OHSEC)

Office of Human Resource Management (OHRM)

Office of Operations (OO)

Office of Procurement & Property Management (OPPM)

Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU)

Food, Nutrition & Consumer Services (FNCS)

Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS)

Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

Forest Service (FS)

Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards (GIPSA)

National Appeals Division (NAD)

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Office of Budget & Program Analysis (OBPA)

Office of Communications (OC)

Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO)

National Finance Center (NFC)

Office for the Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights (OASCR)

Office of the General Counsel (OGC)

Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs (MRFSP) 

International Affairs, Food Assistance, and Farm and Rural Programs 

Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) 

General Law and Research (GLRD)

Civil Rights, Labor and Employment Law

Office of Ethics (OE)

Office of the Secretary (OSEC)

Office of Inspector General (OIG)

Research, Education and Economics (REE)

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) 

Economic Research Service (ERS) 

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) 

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

Risk Management Agency (RMA)

Rural Development (RD) 

1 On September 7, 2017, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the realignment of a number of offices within the USDA. The Grain 

Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) and several program areas from the Farm Service Agency (FSA) joined the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to help us better meet the needs of farmers, ranchers, and producers, while providing improved customer 

service and maximize efficiency.
 

5 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Section I: Steps Taken 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 substantive FOIA training or conference during the reporting 

period such as that provided by the Department of Justice?

Yes. USDA’s FOIA professionals participated in substantive FOIA training and conferences 

during the reporting period hosted by the Department, the Department’s Office of General 

Counsel, General Law and Research Division (OGC-GLRD), the Department of Justice, Office 

of Information Policy (DOJ-OIP), the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the 

American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP), the Graduate School USA, AINS Inc., and 

USDA’s various components. 

2. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted 

and the topics covered.

DFO: The DFO continued to promote its online training FOIA for FOIA Professionals in the 

Department’s online training repository in addition to the suite of online courses offered by the 

DOJ-OIP. The DFO also upon request provided training to several components on issues such as 

the application of Exemptions 4 and 5, assessing fees, and how to conduct an adequate search.

DOJ-OIP: USDA’s FOIA professionals also attended the following training programs provided 

by the DOJ-OIP:

• Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act

• The Freedom of Information Act for Attorneys and Access Professionals 

• Advanced Freedom of Information Act Seminar 

• Best Practices: Collaborating for Results

• Best Practices: Self Assessments and Improving FOIA Processes

OGC-GLRD: The OGC-GLRD provided classroom instruction to APHIS’ FOIA professionals 

on a variety of issues to include procedural issues and application of Exemptions 4, 5 and 6 as 

part of phase two of its continued Business Process Improvement plan. 

RD: The FOIA professionals in RD’s Washington, D.C.; office provided training to its state 

FOIA professionals. An overview of the topics covered are included below. 
 

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Other External Training Courses and Conferences: USDA’s FOIA professionals also 

participated in the following external training courses and conferences:

• ASAP: 10th Annual National Training Conference 

• ASAP: 2017 FOIA-Privacy Training Workshop (Chicago) 

• OGIS: Dispute Resolution Skills for FOIA Professionals

• USA Graduate School: Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts

• AINS: FOIAXpress User Conference & Technology Summit 2017 

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

responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

Approximately 90% of USDA’s FOIA professionals participated in either one or more 

substantive FOIA training courses. 

4. OIP has directed agencies to “take steps to ensure that all of 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 professionals 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. 

Not applicable. More than 80% of our FOIA professionals participated in substantive FOIA 

training courses facilitated by the Department, OGC-GLRD, DOJ-OIP, OGIS, ASAP, USA 

Graduate School, AINS Inc., and various USDA components. 

Outreach: 

5. Did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue with the requester 

community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA?

Yes. In an effort to improve dialogue and transparency, the Acting Undersecretary for Food 

Safety and FSIS’ Management Council meets monthly with its stakeholders to discuss items of 

interest. Recurring agenda items include updates from the Office of Food Safety, updates on the 

Public Health Information System, updates on illness outbreak investigations and lab methods, 
 

7 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

upcoming policy notices, issuances and directives. FSIS also presents on a topic of mutual 

interest like the New Poultry Inspection Systems, social media and digital outreach initiatives, 

and establishment specific data and postings. At the conclusion of each meeting, participants are 

encouraged to submit both agenda items and questions for upcoming meetings via their assigned 

FSIS liaison. Participation and attendance varies, but will typically include approximately 5-15 

consumer stakeholder representatives and 15-25 industry representatives.

Other components have advised that they regularly engage in dialogue with requesters on issues 

like record keeping practices, search capabilities, and overall FOIA practices as this does in fact 

greatly assist with the formulation and processing of future requests. 

Other Initiatives:

6. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of 

their obligations under the FOIA.

DFO Outreach: The DFO provided several one hour training sessions to component 

management teams with the hope participants will share with their employees the importance of 

timely returning records and following up to inquiries from its component’s FOIA professionals. 

Component Outreach: Several USDA components reported providing training to non-FOIA 

professionals. For example, APHIS implemented a quarterly training program for its record 

custodians. This program was led by the APHIS FOIA Director in coordination with the APHIS 

FOIA Liaison and provided participants more than sixteen hours of training on the FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016, instruction on how to properly utilize the SharePoint for returning 

records to APHIS’ FOIA professionals, requirements for conducting a search to include usage of 

the FOIA search form, and an explanation of why the grade and step of a record custodian and 

the total number of hours to perform a search is needed to complete a fee assessment. 

The FS-WO also provided multiple training sessions for its record custodians. These sessions 

emphasized the importance of the timely return of records, proactive disclosures, some common 

questions typically raised by FOIA professionals during their review of the records, and points of 

contact to reach out to should questions arise. A few slides from some of those sessions are 

included on the next page. 
 

8 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Additionally, some of our components like the ASCR, FSA and OGC incorporate FOIA training 

for records custodians as part of their onboarding process for new hires.
 

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

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

Yes. USDA submitted for formal clearance its revisions to USDA’s current regulations codified 

at 7 C.F.R. Part 1 Subpart A and last revised on July 28, 2000 that implement the FOIA. The 

revisions are modeled, in part, after the template published by the DOJ-OIP and will streamline 

USDA’s FOIA processing procedures but, most importantly, incorporate both administrative and 

procedural changes brought about by the OPEN Government Act of 2007 and the FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016, like the designation of a FOIA Public Liaison, the requirement for 

written notice by USDA to extend the time limits for processing, codification of the “foreseeable 

harm” standard, the extended window for requesters to file an appeal. The regulations will also 

ensure the presumption of openness when responding to FOIAs. 

Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an Effective System in Place for 

Responding to Requests

Processing Procedures:

1. For Fiscal Year 2017, what was the average number of days your agency reported for 

adjudicating requests for expedited processing?

USDA’s average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing is 11. 65 

calendar days. 

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.

The DFO will continue on a quarterly basis to remind component FOIA Officers to review 

entries in the enterprise wide FOIA tracking database to ensure FOIA professionals, particularly 

those performing FOIA functions as a collateral duty are correctly inputting data regarding the 

adjudication of requests for expedited processing. The DFO will also continue to reiterate to 

component FOIA officers at its monthly FOIA Council meetings the importance of meeting the 

ten calendar day deadline. 

3. During the reporting period, did your agency conduct a self-assessment of its FOIA 

program? If so, please describe the methods used, such as reviewing Annual Report data, 

using active workflows and track management, reviewing and updating processing 

procedures, etc.

Yes. The DFO regularly conducts self-assessments of the Department’s FOIA program, by 

reviewing both quarterly and the Annual FOIA report submissions, reviewing components 

internal operating procedures and providing recommendations, reviewing feedback from 

frequent requesters, as well as feedback from FOIA professionals. 
 

10 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

APHIS continued work on its Business Process Improvement (BPI) plan. In Fiscal Year 2015, 

the BPI leaders provided a total of twenty-seven recommendations. In Fiscal Year 2017, APHIS 

completed its implementation of those recommendations. Among other items, APHIS developed 

a checklist of tasks for FOIA professionals processing requests, provided FOIA 101 training to 

record custodians, transitioned to the use of a SharePoint site to automate and receive records 

form the program offices, and trained staff on the available e-discovery software. 

The FS’ Region 2 Office invited FOIA professionals from the FS-WO and Region 5 to review its 

FOIA program and make recommendations for efficiencies and improved compliance. Since the 

review and implementation of some of the recommendations, Region 2 is pleased to report that it 

has successfully reduced its backlog.

Lastly, RD completed an internal Management Control Review (MCR) audit of its existing 

FOIA processes and procedures. MCR audits are conducted every two to three years and 

includes most of the same items contained in DOJ-OIP’s FOIA Self-Assessment Toolkit 

published in September 2017. No significant findings were identified in the audit. 

4. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about 

the services provided by the agency’s FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an estimate of 

the number of times requesters sought assistance from your agency’s FOIA Public Liaison 

during FY 2017 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number).

Component/

Mission 

Area Estimated Number of Times Requesters Sought Assistance from 

the Component’s FOIA Public Liaison

AMS 0

APHIS 50

ASCR 0

FAS 0

FNCS 0

FSA 3

FSIS 12

FS 12

GIPSA 1

NAD 0

NRCS 12

OBPA 0

OCFO 0

OGC 1

OIG 1

DFO 1
 

11 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

RD 4

REE 3

RMA 0

5. If possible, please provide an estimate of the average number of pages that your agency 

processes for each request.

Component/

Mission 

Area Estimated Number of Pages a 

Component Processes Per Request 

AMS 1,000 – 5,000 pages 

APHIS 500 – 1,000 pages

ASCR 320 pages 

FAS 270 pages 

FNCS 42 pages

FSA 1,000 pages 

FSIS 1,000 pages

FS 20,000 – 85,000

GIPSA 1,000 pages

NAD 100 pages

NRCS 100 pages 

OBPA 20 pages 

OCFO 100 pages

OGC 10,450 pages 

OIG 1,000 pages 

DFO 10,000 – 20,000 pages 

RD 1,500 – 3,000 pages

REE 48 pages

RMA 500 pages

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

system operates efficiently and effectively, such as improving search processes, eliminating 

redundancy, etc., please describe them here. 

Yes. APHIS led an initiative to improve the way FOIA records are returned to its FOIA 

professionals. This initiative required APHIS record custodians to utilize a SharePoint site to 

deliver records to FOIA professionals. To date, the programs have returned records for +400 

FOIA requests while lessening the need for email server space, PII vulnerabilities, and more 

efficient tracking of returned records 

Additionally, USDA’s CloudVault has allowed the FS-WO to move large files from program 

offices to FOIA professionals, and has been used frequently to securely deliver large responses 
 

12 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

to FOIA requesters. Other components, like the DFO and REE are currently using an ad hoc 

transfer web app, to share large files with employees and FOIA requesters. 

 

Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

Posting Material:

1. Provide examples of material that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past 

reporting year, including links to the posted material.

A few examples of proactive disclosures are included in the chart below. 

Component/

Mission 

Area Examples of Proactive Disclosures 

AMS AMS disclosed settlement agreements in disputes involving violations of the 

Organic Food Protection Act, reports on internal reviews conducted by our 

enforcement division, and a log of incoming requests received by our FOIA 

office. All of these records are available online. 

ASCR • No Fear Data: https://www.usda.gov/nofear/

• USDA Civil Rights Agencies & Offices: https://www.ascr.usda.gov/usdacivil-rights-agencies-and-offices

• EEO Counselor List: https://www.ascr.usda.gov/eeo-counselors

• USDA Civil Rights Directives and Regulation: 

https://www.ascr.usda.gov/directives-and-regulations

FNCS FNCS posts program data, research reports, and information on benefits:

• http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-programsnap

• http://www.fns.usda.gov/ops/research-and-analysis

• http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-programsnap

In FY 17, FNCS started posting Final Agency Decisions:

https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/retailer-sanctions-final-agency-decisions-fads

FNCS also posted to the public important information pertaining to court case 

that resulted in many FOIA requests:

https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap-retailer-data

FSIS FSIS proactively disclose data regarding import refusals due to consumer and 

stakeholder interest. These records are linked in the FSIS FOIA Reading Room 

and available on the FSIS website under Data Collection and Reports:

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/data-collection-andreports/data/fsis-datasets

FS • https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/cibola/home/?cid=FSEPRD521529
 

13 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/tongass/landmanagement/planning

• https://srs.fs.usda.gov/forestfutures/data/

• https://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/new-publications/

• https://forestthreats.org/

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/srsfia/program_information/September%202017.p

df

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/srsfia/

• https://www.srs.fs.fed.us/

NRCS NRCS conducts soil surveys and publishes this information at:

https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm. 

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) page includes 

information on the program:

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eq

ip/. This same page also identifies regional and national initiatives that 

producers may want to enroll in. 

OBPA OBPA’s primary documents of public interest are USDA’s Annual Budget 

documents and USDA’s Shutdown Plans. USDA’s Annual Budget documents 

are posted every year on OBPA’s website. USDA’s Shutdown Plans are 

updated and posted when events require their release. 

• https://www.obpa.usda.gov/index.html

• https://usdasearch.usda.gov/search/docs?affiliate=usda&dc=166&query=Sh

utdown+Plans

REE ARS posts the 5‐year Action Plans for its National Programs on its web site at

https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/programs/. By March 2018, ARS anticipates 

posting Action Plans for the following National Programs:

• Human Nutrition (NP #107),

• Pasture, Forage and Rangeland Systems (NP #215), and

• Agricultural System Competitiveness and Sustainability (NP #216).

In addition, every ARS National Program posts its Annual Report along with 

the Annual Reports for the supporting research projects to their respective 

National Program web page. ARS also will be posting its Annual Report on 

Science to https://www.ars.usda.gov/docs/plans‐reports/.

ARS posts executive summaries of Institutional Animal Care and Use 

Committee’s (IACUC) meeting minutes on each animal research location’s 

website. In addition, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) 

post results of unannounced inspections from ARS locations. Reports are 

posted here:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/sa_awa/awainspection-and-annual-reports.

The results of ERS research are freely available on the agency website, 
 

14 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

provided in a variety of forms and formats. In Fiscal Year 2017, ERS produced 

approximately 240 research reports and Outlook reports (see publications at 

https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/), and over 75 new/updated data products 

(see data sets at https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/). 

NASS posts notices in the Federal Register, to give the public time to comment 

on the planned upcoming surveys. The Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) provides oversight working closely with NASS on the statistical 

Agricultural Estimates program and the Census of Agriculture program. One 

of the latest Federal Register notices NASS posted the intent to conduct surveys 

to collect important data for the Pollinator Health Initiative.

NASS maintains a Web based official schedule made available to the public 

online for the Agricultural Statistics Board report releases, including county 

estimates. The information provides transparency and equal access to all 

NASS releases and reports annually on a calendar year basis. NASS has 

another tool, Quick Stats Lite, which queries the Quick Stats database and 

presents data in a streamlined format that data users had requested. An 

Application Programming Interface (API) continues to allow developers to 

write applications that directly access data online in the Quick Stats database 

and should further enhance the usefulness of these data. 

• Report Release Calendar: www.nass.usda.gov/Publications

• County Estimates Data Release Schedule: 

www.nass.usda.gov/Data_and_Statistics

• Quick Stats Lite: Quick Stats API

NIFA launched a grants modernization initiative to streamline the agency’s 

grant application and award process. This business transformation initiative 

resulted in increased efficiency and reduced costs (in system maintenance and 

staff time) for NIFA grantees and staff. NIFA is using ezFedGrants, to support 

this initiative.

RMA Crop Insurance Data, Bulletins and Handbooks. The link to information 

browser is: https://www.rma.usda.gov/tools/. Also, you can receive email 

updates for the Summary of Business Reports and Data. The link for that is: 

https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDARMA/subscriber/new.

RD RD has proactively disclosed approximately 2,150 records. Below are a few of 

the links to records released:

• https://www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/usda-invests-ruralelectric-infrastructure

• https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2017/05/10/usda-awards-firstloans-rural-energy-savings-program

• https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2017/11/17/usda-invests-more1-billion-improve-health-care-rural-areas
 

15 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

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

for public awareness? If yes, please describe those efforts. 

Yes. USDA continues to use various tools to highlight important proactive disclosures for public 

awareness. Just recently, OSEC identified its seven strategic goals for Fiscal Years 2018-2022 via 

YouTube. OSEC also continues to use its Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to distribute 

information from the USDA website to its users automatically. To use it, the public only needs a 

RSS reader such as My MSN, My Yahoo, or Firefox Browser. 

The FS’ Southern Research Station (FS-SRS) also uses innovated approaches such as webinars, 

conferences, and twitter to share information with the interested public. Also, new publications, 

technical reports, and other types of media and public announcements are featured at the FS-SRS 

external website which makes it easier for the public to stay abreast of developments. The 

CompassLive blog posted at the site features the latest information on the work FS-SRS is doing 

across the thirteen southern states and spotlights new and archived journal articles, general

technical reports and other publications of interest. The CompassLive is also keeping the public 

informed about scientific topics of high interest in the scientific community.

ERS highlights the results of research across the agency website, such as on Topic pages, in the 

Newsroom, in FAQs, and on Staff Bio pages. Information is also synthesized in the popular 

Amber Waves online magazine, and occasionally in USDA blogs, as appropriate. In all cases, 

information/products are leveraged/cross-referenced and cited in related topics, related reports, 

related data, related Amber Waves articles, and others.

ERS also advertises its new and updated material on its Calendar of Releases. It is also 

distributed daily in the agency Twitter feed, to subscribers to the weekly ERS email notification 

service, and when appropriate to the USDA Facebook. 

3. 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?

Yes. USDA is taking steps to make posted information more useful to the public. 

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

Yes. FSIS has been working closely with the Office of Public Health Science and the Office of 

Data Integration and Food Protection to not only improve the quality of data releases but also 

ensure that it is digestible for anyone viewing it. To assist with this initiative, these three FSIS 

components established a technical team to field questions regarding the data posted. This same 

team also hopes to create in the very near future a data dictionary to assist those reviewing FSIS’ 

data. 

ARS launched a newly designed website that improves access to information about ARS 

research. The new site features mobile responsiveness allowing users to better navigate and 

view information on both mobile and desktop devices. ARS maintains scientific information 

stemming from research conducted by nearly 2,000 Federal scientists researching animal and 
 

16 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

crop health, human nutrition, food safety, and natural resources. The ARS website features more 

than 300,000 dynamic pages.

ERS is continually evolving its website and content to meet users’ needs, to expand its reach, and 

to improve customer satisfaction. For example, the ERS website’s new device-agnostic design 

provides fast, mobile-friendly pages that automatically adapt to PCs, tablets, and smartphones—

without having to pinch or expand—ensuring the website is available anywhere, anytime, from 

any device.

ERS offers data visualizations via interactive charts, maps, and graphs to more effectively 

deliver data in ways that are more meaningful, useful, and easier for customers to use.

ERS’s daily Charts of Note provides easily digestible research highlights, sent by email to 

subscribers and posted to the website. Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials provides 

the basics of food, farming, and rural America via a series of charts and maps covering key 

information about the farm and food sectors, including agricultural markets and trade, farm 

income, food prices and consumption, food security, rural economies, and the interaction of 

agriculture and natural resources. 

ERS also continued to expand the use of webinars to more directly connect to customers at the 

time of release of new research and data. As part of the ERS Insights Webinar Series, ERS 

presented 11 webinars in FY2017 on topics including farm income, rural America, and food 

security. These webinars both inform ERS audiences about complex topics in an easy-tounderstand format, and also allow participants to ask ERS economic experts questions.

Lastly, ERS provided web content APIs (Application Programming Interface) for web content, 

offering digital professionals dynamic access to and a machine-readable option for accessing 

publications, charts, and other website content; programming tools (“widgets” pre-built off the 

APIs) that enable digital professionals to easily embed charts from the ERS webpage (such as the 

popular daily Charts of Note) into their websites/projects; and APIs for select data and 

geospatial/mapping applications, enabling researchers and developers to build applications using 

ERS data and processes for additional insights.

NASS continues to keep abreast of information needs through a variety of means, including 

hosting data user and advisory committees meetings, attending industry meetings, and 

sponsoring outreach activities. Even though most NASS reports consist of specific data series, 

improvements to reports and databases are constantly being made in terms of additional data 

breakouts, improved coverage, and improved timeliness. Special reports or additional categories 

within existing reports are added to best summarize the constantly changing character of 

agriculture. 

NASS has started working on phase two of its data visualization project. The primary goal of 

this project is to better communicate information clearly and efficiently to users via statistical 

graphics, plots, information graphics, tables, and charts. Our goal is to makes complex data more 

accessible, understandable and usable for customers. Over the next few years NASS will 

continue to use this as a base to expand our data visualization products and services.
 

17 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Using its media subscription services in FY2017 to date, NASS maintained media lists for states 

and key commodities and distributed 29 news releases and Agricultural Statistics Board (ASB) 

notices to hundreds of interested media outlets and to thousands of data users through 

subscription services.

NASS continues to use email subscription lists and social media tools such as Twitter, the USDA 

Blog, USDA Facebook page and USDA YouTube channel to notify the public about all data 

products available from NASS and to create two way conversation with our customers. Our email subscribers to NASS national reports totaling 19,608, up from just under 19,000 last year; 

Twitter followers 31,290, up from approximately 28,000 last year; and national media 

distribution list of nearly 2,500.

In FY2017, NASS increased its Twitter following to more than 31,290 followers by sending 

1,751 tweets on interesting and timely topics, including graph, chart and map data visualizations. 

NASS’ tweets were seen 5.2 million times on Twitter and achieved a potential reach of more 

than 117.9 million Twitter users. NASS continued its monthly #StatChat series on Twitter with 8 

#StatChats during the year, inviting Twitter users to ask questions directly to NASS 

representatives following major report releases. 

NASS also contributed ten blogs to USDA’s blog and Facebook page, down from the previous 

year but in alignment with a departmental hiatus and new guidelines of one post per month. We 

also contributed to posts by sister agencies. Importantly, NASS created video PSA’s and 

testimonial videos distributing via the USDA’s YouTube channel to promote census, the value of 

NASS data and key surveys. These videos were cross promoted via traditional news releases and 

multiple social platforms.

The ezFedGrants Grants and Agreements Systems went live in November 2016. NIFA is using 

the system to process all FY2017 and future capacity awards for eligible institutions. 

Competitive grant programs will not use ezFedGrants until a later date, although the long-term 

goal is for NIFA to manage all of its grant programs in ezFedGrants. 

5. If there are any other steps your agency has taken to improve proactive disclosures, 

please describe them here. For example, has your agency engaged requesters in 

determining how and what to post? Has your agency used web analytics to inform your 

proactive disclosures?

Yes. USDA’s digital team worked diligently alongside a team of contractors to launch a 

redesign of its website. Since its launch, USDA has welcomed over one million visitors to its 

new site and has already received positive feedback via multiple portals. 

Through the redesign, USDA was able to introduce new design elements from the U.S. Federal 

Web Design Standards that help make the site more intuitive. USDA’s primary goals for the 

redesign included highlighting more social and engaging information based off web analytics; 

making better use of real estate on our homepage; enhancing our site search to help the public 
 

18 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

find information faster; improving the site’s architecture; and implementing responsive design 

across the entire site to provide a better viewing experience from any device. 

Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

1. Has your agency identified any best practices to leverage technology to facilitate overall 

FOIA efficiency, such as improving record search capabilities, utilizing document sharing 

platforms for consultations and referrals, or employing software that can sort and deduplicate documents? If yes please describe the best practices, the types of technology used 

and the impact on your agency’s processing.

Yes. In Fiscal Year 2013, the DFO purchased an e-discovery platform to complement the 

Department’s existing enterprise-wide tracking database. The platform allows the Department’s

FOIA professionals to substantially reduce their processing time as it allows users to list and 

identify documents and sources, identify duplicate and near duplicate documents and mails, 

ensure that redactions are consistent across released documents, search, categorize and rank 

documents for ease of review, and quickly cull voluminous records. This past reporting period, 

the DFO’s Program Manger continued to host training sessions for FOIA professionals to ensure 

the continued use of this platform for large volume requests and litigation. Due to the limitation 

on licenses for this platform, some FOIA professionals like those in APHIS and the FS-WO have 

opted to use and provide training for other e-discovery platforms currently employed within their 

component. Regardless of the platform used, FOIA professionals have reported that usage 

significantly reduced review times. 

Several components also reported utilizing a document sharing platform for records retrievals. 

For example, APHIS is currently using SharePoint to automate and retrieve records from its 

program offices. To date, the programs have returned records for +400 FOIA requests while 

lessening the need for email server space, PII vulnerabilities, and more efficient tracking of 

returned records. Prior to the deployment of SharePoint, APHIS was receiving more than 75+ 

emails or packages from custodians each week that required multiple steps (e.g., logging to the 

appropriate case file and separation of files) before being processed by a FOIA professional. 

2. Did your agency successfully post all four quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2017?

 

Yes. USDA successfully posted all four of its quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2016. 

3. 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 2017.

Not applicable. USDA successfully posted all four of its quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2017. 
 

19 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

4. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires all agencies to post the raw statistical data 

used to compile their Annual FOIA Reports. Please provide the link to this posting for 

your agency’s Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s 

Fiscal Year 2017 Annual FOIA Report. 

The raw statistical data for Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017 will be available at 

https://www.dm.usda.gov/foia/reading.htm#reports no later than March 9, 2018. 

5. If there are any other steps your agency has taken to improve use of technology in FOIA, 

please describe them here. 

Yes. The DFO’s Program Manager in coordination with the vendor for the Department’s

enterprise wide FOIA tracking database held multiple webinars to assist FOIA professionals with 

all features of the database to include logging, sending correspondence, records review, deduplication of records, reports, and retention. 

Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests and Reducing 

Backlogs

Simple Track: Section VII.A of your agency’s Annual FOIA Report, entitled “FOIA 

Requests – Response Time for All Processed Requests,” includes figures that show your 

agency’s average response times for processed requests. For agencies utilizing a multi-track 

system to process requests, there is a category for “simple” requests, which are those 

requests that are placed in the agency’s fastest (non-expedited) track, based on the low 

volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.

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

Yes. USDA utilizes a separate track for simple requests. 

2. If so, for your agency overall in Fiscal Year 2017, was the average number of days to 

process simple requests twenty working days or fewer?

Yes. In Fiscal Year 2017, the average number of days to process a simple request was 11.09

days. 

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2017

that were placed in your simple track.

The percentage of requests processed by USDA in Fiscal Year 2017 that were placed in the 

simple track is 92.7%.

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

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

Not applicable. USDA tracks simple requests separately. 
 

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Backlogs

Section 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 Years 2016 and Fiscal Year 2017 when completing this section of your Chief 

FOIA Officer Report.

BACKLOGGED REQUESTS

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2017, did that 

backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2016? 

No. The overall number of backlogged requests increased by 58.8% in Fiscal Year 2016. 

Number of Backlogged 

Requests

as of End of the Fiscal Year 

from

Previous Annual Report

Number of Backlogged 

Requests

as of End of the Fiscal 

Year from

Current Annual Report

USDA

OVERALL 1,493 2,371

6. If not, explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being 

able reduce its backlog. When doing so, please also 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.

Based on APHIS’ commitment to being transparent, remaining responsive to its stakeholders’ 

informational needs, and maintaining the privacy rights of individuals, the component is 

implementing actions to remove records it posts on APHIS’ website involving the Horse 

Protection Act (HPA) and the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) that contain personal information 

covered by the Privacy and Freedom of Information Acts or guidance from the U.S. Department 

of Justice regarding them. These records include inspection reports, research facility annual 

reports, regulatory correspondence (such as official warnings), lists of regulated entities, and 

enforcement records (such as pre-litigation settlement agreements and administrative complaints) 

that have not received final adjudication. In the interim, those seeking information from APHIS 

regarding inspection reports, research facility annual reports, regulatory correspondence, and 

enforcement records were directed to submit FOIA requests for that information. This in turn led 

to an influx of FOIAs and contributed significantly to the Department’s overall backlog. 
 

21 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

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 2017.

The percentage of requests that make up the backlog is 9.31%.

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

8. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2017, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2016? 

No. The overall number of backlogged appeals increased by 11.9 % in Fiscal Year 2017. 

Number of Backlogged 

Appeals as of End of the 

Fiscal Year from Previous 

Annual Report 

Number of Backlogged Appeals as 

of End of the Fiscal Year from 

Current Annual Report 

USDA

OVERALL 521 583

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

able to reduce backlog. When doing so, please also 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.

Most of USDA’s backlog appeals originate in FNCS. This upcoming fiscal, this component will 

continue partnering with the Department and the OGC-GLRD to streamline the legal sufficiency 

review process for appeals as required by the Department’s FOIA regulations. FNCS also 

recently completed work on an amendment to the existing rule which will tighten FNCS 

administrative sanction process and ultimately reduce the need for Supplemental Nutrition 

Assistance Program (SNAP) violators to appeal FNCS initial FOIA responses. Under the 

existing rule, FOIA requests can currently hold a FNCS administrative determination in 

abeyance while the request is processed. The amended rule will codify FNCS procedure which 

seeks to separate the FOIA request from the administrative sanction process, allowing 

administrative determinations to be made in a timely manner.

 

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 2017. If 

your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2017 and/or has no appeal backlog, 

please answer with “N/A.”
 

22 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

The percentage of appeals that make up the backlog out of the total number of appeals received 

by USDA in Fiscal Year 2017 is 167.05%.

Backlog Reduction Plans:

11. In the 2017 guidelines for the Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of 

over 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2015 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog 

reduction in the year ahead. Did your agency implement a backlog reduction plan last 

year? If so, describe your agency’s efforts in implementing this plan and note if your 

agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2017?

Yes. The Department did implement a backlog reduction plan in Fiscal Year 2017. 

Unfortunately, do to unforeseen litigation and vacancies in multiple components, approximately 

50% of the components were unable to realize reductions this reporting period. 

 

12. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2016, what is 

your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2018?

USDA is committed to reducing its backlog during FY2018. Each component with a backlog 

will be required to report progress to the DFO on a monthly basis, more specifically, confirm (1) 

items received for the component have been properly logged; (2) program offices are timely 

returning records; and (3) workloads for FOIA professionals are evenly distributed. 

Status of Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations:

Section VII.E, entitled “Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Requests,” Section VI.C.(5), 

entitled “Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals,” and Section XII.C., entitled 

“Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies 

and Pending at Your Agency,” show the ten oldest pending requests, appeals, and 

consultations. You should refer to these numbers from your Annual FOIA Reports for both 

Fiscal Year 2016 and Fiscal Year 2017 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer 

Report.

TEN OLDEST REQUESTS

13. In Fiscal Year 2017, did your agency close the ten oldest requests that were reported 

pending in your Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report?

No. USDA did not close its ten oldest requests reported pending in the Fiscal Year 2015 Annual 

FOIA Report. 

14. 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 2016 Annual FOIA 

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

23 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

USDA successfully closed eight out of its ten oldest requests. 

15. 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?

None of the eight requests were withdrawn by the requester. 

TEN OLDEST APPEALS

16. In Fiscal Year 2017, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported 

pending in your Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report?

No. USDA did not close its ten oldest appeals reported pending in the Fiscal Year 2016 Annual 

FOIA Report. 

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

end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section VII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA 

Report. If you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that. 

USDA closed seven of its ten oldest appeals. 

TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

18. In Fiscal Year 2017, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were 

reported pending in your Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA Report?

No. USDA did not close its ten oldest consultations. 

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

the end of the fiscal year, as listed in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2016 Annual FOIA 

Report. If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that. 

USDA closed a total of six consultations reported in Fiscal Year 2016.

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

20. Briefly explain any obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest requests, 

appeals, and consultations from Fiscal Year 2017.

A major obstacle continues to be the lack of human resources to process the growing number of 

multi-agency requests, complex appeals, and large consultations. 
 

24 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

21. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest requests 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.

Not applicable. USDA was not unable to close any of its ten oldest requests because it was 

waiting to hear back from other agencies. 

22. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, 

please provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those “ten oldest” 

requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2017.

USDA remains committed to closing these items. In FY2017, the Department intends to 

continue monitoring progress on a monthly basis, providing tips on effective FOIA management,

and providing substantive FOIA training in an effort to ensure closure. 

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2017 to increase 

transparency and improve FOIA administration, please briefly describe here at least one 

success story that you would like to highlight as emblematic of your agency’s efforts. The 

success story can come from any one of the five key areas. As noted above, these agency 

success stories will be highlighted during Sunshine Week by OIP. To facilitate this process, 

all agencies should use bullets to describe their success story and limit their text to a half 

page. The success story is designed to be a quick summary of key achievements. A complete 

description of all your efforts will be contained in the body of your Chief FOIA Officer 

Report.

 In Fiscal Year 2017, the Department processed approximately 94% of the 25,461 FOIA 

request received. Of these received requests, about 84% were processed in less than twenty 

working days. Additionally, many of the Department’s components made substantial 

progress on reducing their request backlog. The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) had 

a 20% reduction, the Forest Service (FS) a 32% reduction, Food Safety & Inspection Service 

(FSIS) a 53.9% reduction, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) a 8% 

reduction, the Office of the Inspector General a 12% reduction, Rural Development a 41.4% 

reduction, the Research, Education and Economics (REE) a 25% reduction, and the Risk 

Management Agency (RMA) a 12.5% reduction.

 NIFA completed its first successful year of processing non-competitive grants in the new 

USDA ezFedGrants (eFG) Grants and Agreements System. The agency processed 522 

awards along with 457 amendments. The payments to its grantees represented more than 

$720,000,000 of vital funds. For several years, NIFA has been working steadily to 

modernize and ease its grants process for the benefit of its grantees. In FY2018 NIFA will 

focus its efforts on refining the functionalities needed to make non-competitive grants 

processing more efficient and build a stronger foundation to enable competitive grant 

processing. Much work is needed to make competitive processing a possibility. NIFA will 

introduce functionality in phases over the next few years.
 

25 | USDA 2018 Chief FOIA Officer Report

 USDA’s National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (FoodAPS) is the first 

nationally representative survey of American households to collect unique and 

comprehensive data about household food purchases and acquisitions. ERS has developed a 

unique database from a survey on food purchases and acquisitions by U.S. households –

USDA’s National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey FoodAPS. Originally, 

to protect individual survey respondents’ privacy, access to the data had been restricted to 

researchers from academic institutions and government agencies. Now, a public version of 

FoodAPS masks identities of survey respondents to enable access by all interested parties to 

the valuable data for research and planning. FoodAPS is designed to fill a critical knowledge 

gap in support of evidence-based approach to Federal food assistance policies and programs. 

The data are being used to address a range of questions such as where households acquire 

food in a typical week, which foods they acquire, how much they pay for the food and how 

the acquired foods match recommendations for a healthy diet.