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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

2019 CHIEF FOIA OFFICER REPORT 
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Ms. Bettina Inclan

Chief FOIA Officer

Associate Administrator

Office of Communications

High-Volume Agencies Receiving More Than 50 Requests in FY18

Content of 2019 Chief FOIA Officer Reports

Section 1: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness.

Please answer the following questions in order to describe the steps your agency has taken to 

ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. 

You may also include any additional information that illustrates how your agency is working to 

apply the presumption of openness.

A. FOIA Leadership

1. The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at 

least at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. Is your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer at or 

above this level? 

ANSWER: Yes.

2. Please provide the name and title of your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer. 

ANSWER: Ms. Bettina Inclan, Associate Administrator for the Office of Communications

B. FOIA Training

3. 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?

ANSWER: Yes.

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

topics covered.

ANSWER: The staff attended either one or all of the following trainings offered by DOJ: 

The Freedom of Information Act for Attorneys and Access Professionals

Advanced Freedom of Information Act Seminar
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Continuing FOIA Education

In addition, the Principal Agency FOIA Officer holds monthly video conferencing (ViTS 

meetings) with the NASA FOIA professionals. At these meetings discussions on recent 

guidance issued by DOJ and/or recent case law issued by courts or remand on Administrative 

Appeals are discussed and ways to improve processes to comply with said guidance/court 

decision/administrative appeals. The NASA OGC and Principal FOIA Officer also held a 

training session for the staff and others about the intersection of FOIA and Privacy Act and how 

to processes cases of the type. 

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

responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

ANSWER: 100% of staff have attended the DOJ trainings mentioned above and/or agency’s 

ViTS meetings NASA holds for its FOIA Staff. 

6. 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.

ANSWER: All FOIA professionals have attended either DOJ trainings and/or in-house training.

C. Outreach

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

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

describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples of how this 

dialogue has led to improvements in your agency’s FOIA administration.

ANSWER: NASA’s FOIA professionals routinely engage in dialogue with requesters. The 

Principal FOIA Officer also attends all Chief FOIA Officer’s Counsel meeting and has engaged 

with the requester community during these meetings to discuss NASA’s experiences, best 

practices, and/or possible initiatives that can increase transparency. Additionally, NASA has a 

strong and robust Communications Office with Public Affairs Officers embedded in all NASA 

programs that answer all inquiries they receive from the media related to NASA 

programs/mission. NASA also has a Public Inquiry unit that answer questions it receives from 

the public via mail, email, or phone calls. The customer service NASA provides to the public in 

response to any inquiry is an essential part of the agency’s open government activities. These 

services are key activities that help reduce the number of FOIA requests NASA receives. 

D. Other Initiatives

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

obligations under the FOIA. In 2016, the Department publicized FOIA-related performance 
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standards for employees that have any role in administering the FOIA, including non-FOIA 

professionals. Please also indicate whether your agency has considered including FOIA-related 

performance standards in employee work plans for employees who have any role in 

administering the FOIA.

ANSWER: NASA’s Principal Agency FOIA officer has conducted two training sessions for 

NASA employees at its Headquarter Building. Additionally, the Principal Agency FOIA Officer 

provides monthly updates to the NASA Chief FOIA Officer and all Center Directors who have 

FOIA duties under their portfolio. NASA’s Office of General Counsel also held a FOIA session 

during its annual meeting in 2018 for all of NASA attorneys. 

All NASA FOIA professionals have FOIA performance standards in their Performance plans. 

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 FOIA unit has partnered with officials responsible for maintaining and updating 

the public interface of NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) site to add any non-public 

reports that were/are requested under FOIA so that others interested in the same publication can 

gain access without submitting a FOIA request for the same report. This site is part of NASA’s 

Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program that was established to support the 

objectives of NASA’s missions and research. The program acquires, processes, archives, 

announces, and disseminates NASA STI of critical importance to the agency and the nation. The 

NTRS’ collection includes over a million bibliographic records and a growing number of fulltext documents. 

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

in Place for Responding to Requests

DOJ’s FOIA Guidelines emphasize that “[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.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that 

the management of your FOIA program is effective and efficient. You should also include any 

additional information that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

1. For Fiscal Year 2018, what was the average number of days your agency reported for 

adjudicating requests for expedited processing? Please see Section VIII.A of your agency's 

Fiscal Year 2018 Annual FOIA Report.

ANSWER: 10.26

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. 
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ANSWER: Provide more training to NASA FOIA professionals to adjudicate requests for 

Expedited processing within the ten calendar days of receiving the request.

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. 

• Note: In September 2017, OIP released a FOIA Self-Assessment Toolkit 

as a resource for agencies conducting a self-assessment of their FOIA 

program. The Toolkit is available on OIP’s website for all agencies to use.

ANSWER: NASA conducts monthly assessments of its pending cases and provides a report of 

its 10 oldest cases to the agency’s Chief FOIA Officer and other management officials. When a 

request is reported on several monthly reports, the Principal Agency FOIA officer takes steps to 

find out where the bottlenecks are and assists to get the case processed/reviewed in a more timely 

fashion. 

Last year, the Acting Chief FOIA Officer took steps to consolidate the program where FOIA 

officers located at NASA Centers would report their FOIA duties to the Principal Agency FOIA 

Officer in Washington, D.C. This process has helped distribute the assignment of pending cases 

at one center that is experiencing a heavy load to other centers with lesser case load. 

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 2018 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number).

ANSWER: NASA’s Principal Agency FOIA Officer received a total of 4 requests for assistance 

and/or disputes in response to agency’s final response. All 4 requests/disputes were responded 

and resolved without further issues being raised to agency’s administrative appeal’s unit at 

NASA’s OGC or OGIS. 

5. Please describe the best practices used to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently 

and effectively and any challenges your agency faces in this area. 

ANSWER: NASA Principal Agency FOIA Officer instituted a policy to maintain and process 

all of its files in a digital manner. A FOIA SharePoint was created in April 2018. All case files 

created after April 2018 are kept electronically in the SharePoint by FY. The SharePoint is 

accessible by all FOIA professionals throughout NASA offices/centers that process FOIA 

requests, and attorneys that review FOIA cases files for legal review prior to release. The 

agency’s administrative appeals’ unit was also granted access for ease of review of agency’s 

FOIA appeals. This process made the processing, review, and the appeals process very efficient. 
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Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

The Department of Justice has long focused on the need for agencies to work proactively to post 

information online without waiting for individual requests to be received.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to increase the 

amount of material that is available on your agency websites. In addition to the questions below, 

you should also describe any additional steps taken by your agency to make and improve 

proactive disclosures of information.

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

reporting year, including links to the posted material

ANSWER: The agency proactively posts requests for agency’s SmartPay Card Holder’s list and 

FOIA logs for each Fiscal Year. The list for SmartPay Card Holders can be accessed on 

agency’s FOIA reading for its NSSC center at: 

https://searchpub.nssc.nasa.gov/servlet/sm.web.Fetch/NASA_Cardholders_-_2-4-

2014.pdf?rhid=1000&did=1761572&type=released. 

The FOIA Logs can be accessed on agency’s FOIA reading room at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/FOIA/elibrary

Also, as explained in prior sections, any requests the FOIA unit processed for technical reports 

that could not be located on the NASA Technical Report Server were sent to this office to be 

posted on its public server side for access to other interested individuals without the need of 

submitting a new request. 

Additionally, NASA’s program offices routinely post documents related to their missions on 

their websites. The Office of the Inspector General also posts reviews, reports, report 

announcements. 

2. Please describe how your agency identifies records that have been requested and released 

three or more times (and are therefore required to be proactively disclosed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 

552(a)(2)(D)). 

ANSWER: The FOIA professionals use the search function of our database where we 

summarize the description of records being sought to identify other past FOIA requests for 

documents that were previously requested. Additionally, the FOIA officer that processes a 

particular center’s records would know if records were previously processed due to her/his 

institutional knowledge in processing the records. 

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?

ANSWER: Yes. 
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4. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements.

ANSWER: NASA has one of the most robust use of social media to disseminate information of 

interest to the public. Our program offices regularly post documents related to mission updates, 

launches, etc., and this information is further publicized through tweets, program-sponsored 

events, interviews, etc. The Public Inquiries Office regularly revises its website to provide direct 

links to material of interest to the public.

5. Please describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any challenges 

your agency faces in this area. 

ANSWER: As explained in prior sections, NASA’s website and officials use of social media is 

a key factor in proactive disclosure of mission information. The links and information are 

regularly updated on NASA’s website to provide the most current information of interest to the 

public. Public Affairs Officers also provide additional information/links if they believe 

something may become of interest to the public. Also, as explained in Section D (Other 

Initiatives), the FOIA unit submits non-public scientific publications posted on NASA’s 

Technical Report Server (NTRS). Some of the challenges NASA FOIA unit faces is making 

processed records 508 complaint. 

Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information more 

accessible. In addition to using the internet to make proactive disclosures, agencies should also 

be exploring ways to utilize technology in responding to requests. 

Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is utilizing technology to 

improve its FOIA administration and the public's access to information. You should also include 

any additional information that that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

1. Is your agency leveraging technology to facilitate efficiency in conducting searches, including 

searches for emails? If so, please describe the type of technology used. If not, please explain 

why and please describe the typical search process used instead. 

ANSWER: Yes. NASA’s Office of Information Technology conducts searches for the FOIA 

unit when the request concerns Capstone officials’ records/emails. One area that NASA is 

studying is the cost and use of de-duplication software. 

2. OIP issued guidance in 2017 encouraging agencies to regularly review their FOIA websites to 

ensure that they contain essential resources and are informative and user-friendly. Has your 

agency reviewed its FOIA website(s) during the reporting period to ensure it addresses the 

elements noted in the guidance? 

ANSWER: Yes.
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3. Did your agency successfully post all four quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2018?

ANSWER: Yes

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 2019.

ANSWER: N/A

5. 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 2017 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2018 

Annual FOIA Report. 

ANSWER: https://www.nasa.gov/FOIA/annual-reports.html

6. Please describe the best practices used in greater utilizing technology and any challenges your 

agency faces in this area. 

ANSWER: One challenge is de-duplicating emails. NASA FOIA unit is studying the use of deduplication software(s) to learn how well the software(s) can function and costs associated with 

their purchase.

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

Reducing Backlogs

The Department of Justice has emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in responding 

to requests. This section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report 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 the numbers contained in the specified 

sections of your agency’s 2018 Annual FOIA Report and, when applicable, your agency’s 2017 

Annual FOIA Report.

A. 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.
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1. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests? If your agency uses a multitrack system beyond simple, complex, and expedited to process requests, please describe the 

tracks you use and how they promote efficiency. 

ANSWER: Yes NASA utilizes multi-track system and has a separate track for simple requests. 

2. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, was the agency overall average 

number of days to process simple requests twenty working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2018?

ANSWER: Yes.

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2018 that 

were placed in your simple track. 

ANSWER: 38%

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? 

ANSWER: N/A

B. 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 

Year 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 2018, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2017? 

ANSWER: No.

6. If not, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2018 than it did during 

Fiscal Year 2017?

ANSWER: No.

7. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2018, please explain why and 

describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to 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.
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• 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: NASA had several staff leave (either retired or took another job) which contributed 

to the increase in its backlog. 

8. 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 2018. If your agency 

has no request backlog, please answer with “N/A.”

ANSWER: 3 percent

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

9. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2018, did that backlog 

decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2017? 

ANSWER: NASA successfully processed all of its appeals in FY 2018 including those carried 

over from FY 2017. 

10. If not, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2018 than it did during 

Fiscal Year 2017?

ANSWER: N/A

11. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2018, please explain why and 

describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When 

doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:

• An increase in the number of incoming appeals.

• 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

12. 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 2018. If your 
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agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2018 and/or has no appeal backlog, please 

answer with "N/A."

ANSWER: N/A

C. Backlog Reduction Plans

13. In the 2018 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 

1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2017 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog reduction in 

the year ahead. Did you 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 2018? 

ANSWER: The backlog of cases carried over from FY 2017 to FY 2018 was 11 cases. NASA 

successfully closed all of these cases in 2018. 

14. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2018, what is your 

agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2019? 

ANSWER: N/A

D. Status of 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.

OLDEST REQUESTS

15. In Fiscal Year 2018, did your agency close the ten oldest requests that were reported pending 

in your Fiscal Year 2017 Annual FOIA Report?

ANSWER: Yes, 10/10 were closed in 2018

16. 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 2017 Annual FOIA Report. If 

you had fewer than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that. 

ANSWER:

17. 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 
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closed because the request was withdrawn, did you provide any interim responses prior to the 

withdrawal?

ANSWER: N/A

18. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took to 

reduce the overall age of your pending requests. 

ANSWER: NASA’s backlog increased due to a loss of FOIA personnel; an increase in the 

complexity of requests, as well an increase in the number of requests associated with contracts, 

to include all modifications to the contracts that contain a high volume of records. 

TEN OLDEST APPEALS

19. In Fiscal Year 2018, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending 

in your Fiscal Year 2017 Annual FOIA Report?

ANSWER: Yes, 7/10 oldest appeals were closed in 2018.

20. 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 2017 Annual FOIA Report. If 

you had fewer than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that. 

ANSWER: N/A

21. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce 

the overall age of your pending appeals. 

ANSWER: N/A

TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

22. In Fiscal Year 2018, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported 

pending in your Fiscal Year 2017 Annual FOIA Report?

ANSWER: Yes, 1/1 of oldest consultation was closed in 2018.

23. 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 2017 Annual FOIA Report. 

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

ANSWER: NASA processed 7 consultations during FY 2018.
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E. Additional Information on Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and 

Consultations & Plans

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

and consultations from Fiscal Year 2018.

ANSWER: NASA closed its 10 oldest cases carried over to 2018. However, at the end of FY 

2018, NASA reported 27 cases in its backlog that is pending at the start of FY 2019. As 

explained above, NASA experienced loss of personnel last year that was remedied at the end of 

first quarter of FY 2019.

25. 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. 

ANSWER: N/A

26. 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 2018. 

ANSWER: N/A

F. Success Stories

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2018 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, OIP will highlight these agency success stories 

during Sunshine Week. 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.

ANSWER: The creation of a SharePoint platform to store, process, and access FOIA case files 

in a digital manner provided great efficiencies in processing of our records and allowed other 

FOIA officers to easily assist when back up was requested or necessary by another center. 

NASA recognized the need to consolidate FOIA business processes in order to achieve continual 

success in the program. FOIA Officers are now either located in Headquarters or are matrixed to 

Headquarters which has made the oversight of business processes easier. FOIA points of contact 

are appointed at each Center within the Office of Communications when a FOIA officer leaves 

the center and the position is filled at Headquarters to assist FOIA Officers in obtaining 

documents responsive to requests from the centers.