National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

2024 CHIEF FOIA OFFICER REPORT 

 
Mr. Marc Etkind

Chief FOIA Officer

Associate Administrator

Office of Communications 

SECTION I: FOIA LEADERSHIP AND APPLYING PRESUMPTION OF OPENNESS 

The guiding principle underlying the Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines is the 

presumption of openness. The Guidelines also highlight the importance of agency leadership in 

ensuring effective FOIA administration. Please answer the following questions about FOIA 

leadership at your agency and describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the 

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

A. Leadership Support for FOIA 

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. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) (2018). 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: Marc Etkind, Associate Administrator for the Office of Communications 

3. What steps has your agency taken to incorporate FOIA into its core mission? For example, 

has your agency incorporated FOIA milestones into its strategic plan? 

ANSWER: The Freedom of Information Act Office is part of the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Office of Communications (OCOMM). OCOMM handles 

corporate, Agency-wide communications for NASA and is accountable for managing the 

planning, development, and implementation of communications events, activities, and products 

for stakeholders, including the general public. It provides for the widest practicable and 

appropriate dissemination of information to news media and the general public concerning the 

objectives, methods, and results of NASA programs. OCOMM is responsible for planning, 

organizing, directing, and coordinating Agency-wide communications activities for all facets of 

NASA’s mission, programs, activities, and functions for the Agency’s workforce, media, and the 

general public. The scope of the Agency’s communications entails a broad, diverse, and 

integrated set of efforts, including news and media engagement, digital services and products 

(including Web, multimedia, and social media), non-technical publications, and exhibits, as well 

as speaking and public engagement activities and events. 

B. Presumption of Openness 
4. The Attorney General’s 2022 FOIA Guidelines provides that “agencies should confirm in 

response letters to FOIA requesters that they have considered the foreseeable harm standard 

when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions.” Does your agency provide such 

confirmation in its response letters? 

ANSWER: Yes. 

5. In some circumstances, agencies may respond to a requester that it can neither confirm nor 

deny the existence of requested records if acknowledging the existence of records would harm an 

interested protected by a FOIA exemption. This is commonly referred to as a Glomar response. 

If your agency tracks Glomar responses, please provide: 

 the number of times your agency issued a full or partial Glomar response (separate full 

and partial if possible); 

 the number of times a Glomar response was issued by exemption (e.g., Exemption 7(C) – 

20 times, Exemption 1 – 5 times). 

ANSWER: Full Glomar, Exemption 6 – 1 time. 

6. If your agency does not track the use of Glomar responses, are you planning to track this 

information in the future? 

ANSWER: N/A 

6. Optional -- 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 National Aeronautics and Space Act mandates that NASA disseminate to the 

public as much information as possible concerning its missions and scientific findings. Please see 

answer to question number 3 above regarding OCOMM’s mission to meet this mandate. 

Section II – Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration 

The Attorney General’s FOIA Guidelines provide that “[e]nsuring fair and effective FOIA 

administration requires . . . proper training, and a full understanding of FOIA obligations by the 

entire agency workforce.” The Guidelines reinforce longstanding guidance to “work with FOIA 

requesters in a spirit of cooperation.” The Attorney General also “urge[s] agency Chief FOIA 

Officers to undertake comprehensive review of all aspects of their agency’s FOIA 

administration” as part of ensuring fair and effective FOIA administration. 

A. FOIA Training 

1. The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered to 

agency personnel. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(j)(2)(F). Please describe the efforts your agency has 

undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by agency personnel. 
ANSWER: The NASA Principal Agency FOIA Officer receives training information from the 

American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP) and the Department of Justice Office of 

Information Policy (OIP), then distributes that information to NASA FOIA staff so they can sign 

up to attend the offered training. 

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

attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period, such as that provided by the 

Department of Justice? 

ANSWER: Yes 

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

topics covered. 

ANSWER: NASA FOIA staff registered for FOIA training offered by the Department of Justice. 

NASA staff attended the following such training during this reporting period: 

‐ 10/04/2023, Virtual Annual/Quarterly FOIA Report Training; 

‐ 07/11/2023, Virtual Privacy Consideration; 

‐ 06/21/2023, Virtual Exemption 4 & 5 Workshop; 

‐ 06/06/2023, Virtual Exemption 1 & 7 Workshop; 

‐ 05/17/2023, Virtual Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service; 

‐ 05/10/2023, Virtual Litigation Workshop; 

‐ 05/03/2023, Virtual Procedural Requirements and Fees; and 

‐ 04/04/2023, Virtual Introduction to the Freedom of Information Act; 

In addition, the Principal Agency FOIA Officer held quarterly TEAMS meetings with NASA’s 

FOIA professionals to discuss any new guidance issued by OIP, any recent case law or requests 

remanded on administrative appeal affecting the handling of NASA FOIA cases, and ways to 

improve NASA’s FOIA processes to comply with these factors. 

4. Please 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 NASA’s FOIA staff attended virtual DOJ FOIA training during this 

reporting period. Furthermore, 80% of staff attended the quarterly meetings in which some sort 

of training was held by the Principal Agency FOIA Officer as explained in the previous 

response. 

5. 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: N/A 

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

obligations under the FOIA. In particular, please describe how often and in what formats your 

agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff; and if senior leaders at your 

agency received a briefing on your agency’s FOIA resources, obligations, and expectations 

during the FOIA process? 

ANSWER: The Office of General Counsel makes a presentation about FOIA at the agency’s 

New Employee Orientation Training sessions for new employees. Additionally, on an annual 

basis, the Principal Agency FOIA Officer provides training sessions for NASA Program Offices. 

In 2023, the Principal Agency FOIA Officer provided six (6) training sessions for program 

offices at NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers. NASA’s FOIA website also has links to 

resources and training videos from DOJ on FOIA.gov. The Principal Agency FOIA Officer 

routinely refers employees to this material. Examples of videos the FOIA office provides to its 

non-FOIA professionals are: DOJ Executive Briefing on FOIA (with DOJ video), and FOIA.gov 

– Frequently Asked Questions (with DOJ videos). Links to the DOJ resources and videos are 

also available on NASA’s FOIA website.

B. Outreach

7. As part of the standard request process, do your FOIA professionals proactively contact 

requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope 

of the request so requesters can receive responses more quickly? Please describe any such 

outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples. 

ANSWER: Yes, the FOIA specialists always reach out to requesters to discuss any aspect of the 

FOIA request that is voluminous or unclear and/or discuss the FOIA process to better serve the 

requester and provide the best quality customer service possible. 

8. Outside of the standard request process or routine FOIA Liaison or FOIA Requester Service 

Center interactions, did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, with the 

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

For example, did you proactively contact frequent requesters, host FOIA-related conference calls 

with open government groups, or provide FOIA training to members of the public? 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: No. While the FOIA office does not have any outreach outside of the standard FOIA 

processes, NASA has a strong and robust OCOMM with Public Affairs Officers embedded in all 

NASA programs to answer all inquiries received from the media related to NASA programs and 

missions. 

OCOMM handles corporate, Agency-wide communications for NASA and is accountable for 

managing the planning, development, and implementation of communications events, activities, 

and products for stakeholders, including the general public. The office provides for the widest 
practicable and appropriate dissemination of information to news media and the general public 

concerning the objectives, methods, and results of NASA programs. The office is responsible for 

planning, organizing, directing, and coordinating Agency-wide communications activities for all 

facets of NASA’s mission, programs, activities, and functions for the Agency’s workforce, 

media, and the general public. The scope of the Agency’s communications entails a broad, 

diverse, and integrated set of efforts, including news and media engagement, digital services and 

products (including Web, multimedia, and social media), non-technical publications, and 

exhibits, as well as speaking and public engagement activities and events. The office works to 

promote effective NASA communications by ensuring synergy and strategic focus and working 

collaboratively with the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, the Office of 

STEM Engagement, and other Agency organizations, as appropriate. 

NASA also has a Public Inquiry unit that answers thousands of inquiries from the public via 

mail, email, or phone calls. The customer service that NASA’s OCOMM 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. 

9. 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 

Fiscal Year 2022 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number). 

ANSWER: NASA’s FOIA Public Liaison received only 4 requests for assistance and/or disputes 

from requesters regarding their FOIA requests during this reporting period. All disputes were 

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

NASA’s OGC or OGIS.We believe that the decrease in calls for assistance from NASA’s FOIA 

Public Liaison indicates the level of customer service offered by NASA FOIA processors to 

ensure requesters receive timely assistance and continual status updates on their requests. 

C. Other Initiatives

10. Has your agency evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond to 

current and anticipated FOIA demands? If so, please describe what changes your agency has or 

will implement. 

ANSWER: The FOIA office is currently utilizing a rotational detailee to assist with FOIA tasks. 

This rotational opportunity allows the FOIA office to leverage the experience of personnel from 

another area of the agency, and helps to balance some of the FOIA workload between FOIA 

personnel and the detailee. It also provides the detailee an opportunity to gain experience and 

deeper understanding of the FOIA and agency FOIA practices which, at the end of the rotatation, 

he/she can apply to any FOIA tasks that may arise at his/her employing office. 

11. How does your agency use data or processing metrics to ensure efficient management of your 

FOIA workload? For example, case management reports, staff processing statistics, etc. In 

addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used. 
ANSWER: On a weekly basis, the Principle Agency FOIA Officer conducts assessments of 

NASA’s pending cases and provides a report to the agency’s Chief FOIA Officer and other 

management officials. This report provides a snapshot of each FOIA processor’s workload and 

what needs to be done either by the Principal Agency FOIA Officer or management to assist with 

resolving complex issues that are holding up the completion of a request. It also allows the 

Principal Agency FOIA Officer to measure each analyst’s workload and implement an 

assignment process that factors in request complexity, as well as each analyst’s caseload and 

proficiency for more equitable division of the FOIA workload. 

12. Optional -- If there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure fair and 

effective FOIA administration, please describe them here. 

ANSWER: N/A 

SECTION III: PROACTIVE DISCLOSURES 

The Attorney General’s FOIA Guidelines emphasize that “proactive disclosure of information is 

. . . fundamental to the faithful application of the FOIA.” The Guidelines direct agencies to post 

“records online quickly and systematically in advance of any public request” and reiterate that 

agencies should post records “in the most useful, searchable, and open formats possible.” 

1. Please describe what steps your agency takes to identify, track, and post (a)(2) proactive 

disclosures. 

ANSWER: NASA has one of the most robust communications programs that uses social media 

to disseminate information of interest to the public. NASA’s OCOMM routinely releases 

information to the public, especially information that has the potential to generate significant 

media, public interest, or other inquiries. 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. OCOMM’s Public Inquiries Office, which receives 

thousands of requests for information from members of the public, also regularly revises its 

website to provide direct links to material of interest to the public. 

2. How long after identifying a record for proactive disclosure does it take your agency to post 

it? 

ANSWER: NASA does not track this information, particularly with respect to material posted 

by other NASA offices. As described in response to question 1 above, documents are regularly 

posted to the website by NASA’s Mission Directorates and its program offices, and NASA’s 

OCOMM regularly disseminates information of interest to the public. Information is proactively 

published on NASA’s websites and/or via social media nearly daily. 

With respect to posting records processed under FOIA, although the NASA FOIA Office has the 

ability to post to the agency website immediately upon identification, the biggest challenge we 

face is the remediation of records under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794d), 
as amended in 1998. NASA uses contractors for this service, and because of the vast amount of 

information NASA constantly posts on its website, there is a queue for 508 remediation services 

before FOIA records may be posted to the web. The time it takes for a record to move through 

this queue depends on the workload of the contractors, and the complexity of the record 

undergoing 508 remediation.

3. Does your agency post logs of its FOIA requests? 

 If so, what information is contained in the logs? 

 Are they posted in CSV format? If not, what format are they posted in? 

ANSWER: NASA posts logs of its FOIA requests at the end of each fiscal year. Each log is 

posted in XLSX format and contains information about every FOIA request closed during that 

fiscal year. Specifically, the information available in each log contains the following: request 

number, request type (i.e., FOIA request), the organization the requester is affiliated with (if 

any), a description of the request, the final disposition of the request and any exemptions cited, 

and the date the request was closed. 

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

reporting year, including records that have been requested and released three or more times in 

accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D). Please include links to these materials as well. 

ANSWER: NASA has a vast amount of information posted on its many websites by its Mission 

Directorates and program officials. The FOIA office proactively posts the SmartPay Card 

Holder’s list, FOIA logs, and any requests that have been requested 3 times or more. 

The list for SmartPay Card Holders can be accessed by visiting the NASA Shared Services 

Center (NSSC) FOIA reading room at: 

https://searchpub.nssc.nasa.gov/servlet/sm.web.Fetch?rhid=1000&did=1761572&type=released. 

The FOIA Logs can be accessed by visitng the NASA Headquarters FOIA reading room at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/foia/nasa-e-libraries/headquarters-foia-library/. 

 

5. 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. As explained above, NASA posts a vast amount of information for the 

scientific community, researchers, students, media requesters, vendors, and others interested in 

NASA’s new or historical events and published information which is continually updated. 

 

NASA has a statutory mandate to post as much information concerning its missions and 

scientific findings as possible. A few examples of data that the FOIA office routinely provides 

the public to view without the need to submit a FOIA request are: 
NASA’s Technical Reports Server (NTRS) – NTRS is managed by NASA’s Scientific and 

Technical Information unit (STI). This database provides access to NASA metadata records, fulltext online documents, images, and videos. The types of information included in this database 

are conference papers, journal articles, meeting papers, patents, research reports, images, movies, 

and technical videos – scientific and technical information (STI) created or funded by NASA. 

The STI group complies with the Space Act’s requirement to disseminate federally funded scientific, 

technical information to the widest audience practicable. 

NASA Space Act Agreements – NASA has the ability to enter into special agreements, called 

Space Act Agreements, to further the aims of the agency. 

NASA History Office – The NASA History Office publishes a quarterly newsletter, as well as an 

array of books (in both print and digital formats), conducts oral history interviews, provides 

internships and fellowships, and assists the public in finding information on aeronautical and 

space history.

Johnson Space Center History Office – Includes many records related to the Apollo mission era 

and other space flight history, images, and videos. 

NASA Office of Inspector General – Full-text reports, audits, memoranda, testimony, etc.

Management and Policy Documents – Provides a list of links to scanned documents that are vital 

to understanding how NASA functions and its role in the federal government. 

NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) – Provides full-text of NASA Policy 

Directives (NPDs) and NASA Procedural Directives (NPRs) by date and by name. 

NASA Image Library – Consolidates imagery and videos in one searchable location. Users can 

download content in multiple sizes and resolutions and see the metadata associated with images, 

including EXIF/camera data on many images. 

6. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. In particular, please describe steps 

your agency is taking to post information in open, machine-readable, and machine-actionable 

formats, to the extent feasible. If not posting in open formats, please explain why and note any 

challenges. 

ANSWER: All of NASA’s Mission Directorates continually update their public websites with 

new information. NASA is a leader among federal agencies in providing open data to citizens 

and has a robust infrastructure for internet-facing open data management. NASA has cataloged a 

comprehensive data inventory, available at https://data.nasa.gov/, which is also pushed to 

data.gov on set time schedules and allows the public to search datasets from NASA and other 

agencies. The number of NASA datasets continues to grow as the Agency implements the 

Evidence-Based Policymaking Act under the purview of the NASA Data Governance Council. 

With the goal to make NASA data as interoperable as possible, NASA deployed 

https://api.nasa.gov/, which provides machine-readable access to data, and https://code.nasa.gov/

to offer computer code in multiple languages to assist application development. NASA’s events 

can be viewed at https://www.nasa.gov/ by clicking on any topics of interest using the navigation 

to view the latest events and information available to the public. While the examples are far too 

many to provide in this response, all of NASA Mission Directorates post their latest scientific 
news, past projects, podcasts, grant award announcements, publications, and final reports on 

research results for the public or researchers at their respective websites.

7. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff 

outside the FOIA office, such as IT or data personnel? If so, describe this interaction. 

ANSWER: Yes, see response to question 6 above. 

8. Optional -- Please describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any 

challenges your agency faces in this area. 

ANSWER: For best practices, please see response to question 6 above. One challenge the FOIA 

office faces is the remediation of records under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 

794d), as amended in 1998. NASA uses contractors for this service. Again, because of the vast 

amount of information NASA posts on its various websites, in order to ready FOIA records for 

web posting, there is a queue time for 508 remediation services before records may be posted to 

the web. 

SECTION IV: STEPS TAKEN TO GREATER UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY 

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

the public and to gain efficiency in FOIA processing. The Attorney General’s FOIA Guidelines 

emphasize the importance of making FOIA websites easily navigable and complying with the 

FOIA.gov interoperability requirements. Please answer the following questions to describe how 

your agency is using technology to improve its FOIA administration and the public’s access to 

information. 

1. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources 

needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands? 

ANSWER: Yes. NASA uses FOIAXpress to track its FOIA workflow. We also use SharePoint 

to store our FOIA request files which allow all relevant personnel to collaborate on records 

received and processed in response to FOIA requests. In addition, NASA uses Box.com to 

securely share larger volumes of records with external stakeholders during the records review 

process, and with requesters once the review process is complete. Further, NASA uses its Office 

of Information Technology to conduct FOIA searches of employee and Capstone official email 

accounts. This has greatly helped to streamline the administration of our FOIA program. NASA 

also uses Adobe Acrobat Pro to redact records, and has several licenses for EverMap 

AutoPortfolio which is an Acrobat plug-in that enables FOIA processors to organize and identify 

duplicate email trails. It has helped the FOIA Office to manage and process requests for 

voluminous emails more efficiently. 

2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency began using during the 

reporting period to support your FOIA program. 
ANSWER: N/A

3. Does your agency currently use any technology to automate record processing? For example, 

does your agency use machine learning, predictive coding, technology assisted review or similar 

tools to conduct searches or make redactions? If so, please describe and, if possible, estimate 

how much time and financial resources are saved since implementing the technology. 

ANSWER: No. The NASA FOIA Office does not have any new technology to automate record 

processing. However, Acrobat Pro has a function that allows users to search for text (such as 

words, short phrases, names, telephone numbers, email addresses, etc.), and “teach” the software 

to redact such text within a document. 

Additionally, as previously noted the FOIA office utilizes EverMap AutoPortfolio which helps to 

automate several functions used to manage and process large batches of emails. It helps to 

convert email files into pdf, keeping attachments with their parent email, and uses metadata to 

identify duplicate and near-duplicate email chains. The de-duplication function does not always 

catch all near-duplicate records; however, the software allows for batch re-naming records 

according to set parameters (for instance, emails can be renamed using a naming convention 

such as date_timestamp_subject) which allows FOIA processors to more easily identify any 

near-duplicate emails the software may have missed. This also helps to organize emails so they 

can be more easily processed.

4. 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. 

5. Did all four of your agency’s quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2023 appear on FOIA.gov? 

ANSWER: Yes.

6. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports on FOIA.gov, please explain why 

and provide your agency’s plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2023. 

ANSWER: N/A

7. 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 2022 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2023 

Annual FOIA Report. 

ANSWER: NASA’s Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, including the raw 

data for each, can be accessed at the following website: https://www.nasa.gov/foia/foiareports/annual-foia-report/. 
8. In February 2019, DOJ and OMB issued joint Guidance establishing interoperability standards 

to receive requests from the National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov. Are all components of your 

agency in compliance with the guidance? 

ANSWER: Yes.

9. Optional -- Please describe the best practices used in greater utilizing technology and any 

challenges your agency faces in this area. 

ANSWER: N/A

SECTION V: STEPS TAKEN TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO ACCESS, IMPROVE 

TIMELINESS IN RESPONDING TO REQUESTS, AND REDUCE BACKLOGS

The Attorney General’s FOIA Guidelines instruct agencies “to remove barriers to requesting and 

accessing government records and to reduce FOIA processing backlogs.” Please answer the 

following questions to describe how your agency is removing barriers to access, improving 

timeliness in responding to requests, and reducing FOIA backlogs. 

A. Remove Barriers to Access 

1. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first-party requested records 

outside of the FOIA process? 

ANSWER: No 

2. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please indicate why not. Please also indicate if you do 

not know. 

ANSWER: NASA receives a nominal number of requests from requesters seeking their own 

records. Therefore, for these types of requests, NASA simply reviews the records and processes 

them under both the FOIA and Privacy Act to provide the widest possible access. 

3. Please describe any other steps your agency has taken to remove barriers to accessing 

government information. 

ANSWER: N/A 

B. Timeliness 

4. For Fiscal Year 2023, 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 2023 Annual FOIA Report. 
ANSWER: 9.02

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

above ten calendar days, according to Section VIII.A. of your agency’s Fiscal Year 2023 Annual 

FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests for 

expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less. 

ANSWER: N/A 

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

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

requests.

7. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA Report 

section VII.A, was the agency overall average number of days to process simple requests twenty 

working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2023? 

ANSWER: Yes. The agency overall average number of days to process simple requests was 7.61 

working days in Fiscal Year 2023. 

8. If not, did the simple track average processing time decrease compared to the previous Fiscal 

Year? 

ANSWER: N/A 

9. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2023 that 

were placed in your simple track. Please use the following calculation based on the data from 

your Annual FOIA Report: (processed simple requests from Section VII.C.1) divided by 

(requests processed from Section V.A.) x 100. 

ANSWER: 41%

10. 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.

C. Backlogs 

Backlogged Requests 
11. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2023, according to 

Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.2, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog 

reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2022? 

ANSWER: Yes. NASA’s backlog was 38 at the end of FY 2022, and 32 at the end of FY 2023.

12. If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.1, did your agency process more 

requests during Fiscal Year 2023 than it did during Fiscal Year 2022? 

ANSWER: N/A; however, NASA did process more requests during Fiscal Year 2023 than it did 

during Fiscal Year 2022. NASA processed 982 requests in FY 2022, and 1,003 requests in FY 

2023.

13. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2023, 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 

 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) 

 Litigation 

 Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible 

ANSWER: N/A 

14. 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 2023. Please 

use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged 

requests from Section XII.A) divided by (requests received from Section V.A) x 100. This 

number can be greater than 100%. If your agency has no request backlog, please answer with 

“N/A.” 

ANSWER: 3.2%

Backlogged Appeals

15. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2023, according to 

Section XII.E.2 of the Annual FOIA Report, did that backlog decrease as compared with the 

backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2022? 

ANSWER: No. NASA had a backlog of 6 appeals at the end of FY 2022, and 7 at the end of FY 

2023.
16. If not, according to section XII.E.1 of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process 

more appeals during Fiscal Year 2023 than it did during Fiscal Year 2022? 

ANSWER: Yes. NASA processed 11 appeals during Fiscal Year 2022, and 14 appeals during 

Fiscal Year 2023.

17. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2023, 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) 

 Litigation 

 Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible 

ANSWER: The number of FOIA appeals received by NASA during Fiscal Year 2023 increased 

significantly as compared to Fiscal Year 2022. The 17 appeals received in Fiscal Year 2023 

represent an increase of over 100% as compared to the 8 appeals received in Fiscal Year 2022.1

 

These FOIA appeals are reviewed by attorney advisors within NASA’s Office of the General 

Counsel (OGC), who advise on FOIA matters and a variety of other legal matters. During Fiscal 

Year 2023, in reviewing appeals, OGC noted an increase in the complexity of some of the 

requests and appeals. For instance, OGC reviewed multiple appeals pertaining to voluminous and 

highly technical records. Review of these time-intensive appeals, coupled with competing 

demands for attorney time and an overall increase in the numer of appeals received, caused a 

backlog of appeals for this reporting year.

18. 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 2023. Please 

use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged 

appeals from Section XII.A) divided by (appeals received from Section VI.A) x 100. This 

number can be greater than 100%. If your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 

2023 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A." 

ANSWER: 41%

D. Backlog Reduction Plans 

19. In the 2023 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 

1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2022 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 

1

 NASA reported an overall total of 9 appeals during Fiscal Year 2022; however, one was for NASA’s Office of the 

Inspector General which processes its own appeals. The 8 referenced appeals are for those reviewed by NASA’s 

Office of the General Counsel. 
your agency’s efforts in implementing this plan and note if your agency was able to achieve 

backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2023? 

ANSWER: NASA did not implement a backlog reduction plan last year because its backlog in 

Fiscal Year 2023 was less than 1,000 requests.

20. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2023, please explain 

your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2024. 

ANSWER: N/A 

E. Reducing the Age of Requests, Appeals, and Consultations 

Ten Oldest Requests 

21. In Fiscal Year 2023, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that 

were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report? 

ANSWER: No. 

22. 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 2022 Annual FOIA Report. If 

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

ANSWER: NASA closed 7 of the 10 FOIA requests reported as pending at the end of FY 2022. 

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

the overall age of your pending requests. 

ANSWER: The Principle Agency FOIA Officer works to reduce the age of pending requests by 

re-distributing pending cases from FOIA specialists experiencing heavy work volumes to other 

FOIA specialists with lesser caseloads. However, due to the receipt of several very complex 

FOIA requests with voluminous records, NASA faced challenges reducing the overall age of 

some of its pending requests. 

Ten Oldest Appeals 

24. In Fiscal Year 2023, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending 

in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report? 

ANSWER: No. 
25. 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 SectionVII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report. If 

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

ANSWER: NASA closed 4 of the 6 FOIA appeals reported as pending at the end of FY 2022. 

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

the overall age of your pending appeals. 

ANSWER: As indicated in response to question 17 above in this section, NASA’s OGC reviews 

FOIA appeals. NASA OGC has and will continue to look for ways to gain efficiencies in its 

FOIA appeal review process in order to provide thorough and accurate reviews in the most 

timely manner possible. 

Ten Oldest Consultations 

27. In Fiscal Year 2023, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported 

pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2022 Annual FOIA Report? 

ANSWER: During FY 2023 NASA closed the 1 consultation that was pending at the end of FY 

2022. 

28. 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 2022 Annual FOIA Report. 

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

ANSWER: N/A 

Additional Information Regarding Ten Oldest 

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

explain why and provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those “ten oldest” 

requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2024. 

ANSWER: One of the biggest challenges NASA faces is that the nature of its work is 

inherently collaborative with other agencies, state/local governments, international partners, and 

companies. Thus, records responsive to NASA FOIA requests frequently require extensive 

consultations with numerous other stakeholders. These FOIA requests are extremely time 

consuming and pose a great challenge to NASA, especially when voluminous records are 

involved. The Principle Agency FOIA officer reviews and meets with FOIA 

analysts about their FOIA cases to discuss strategies to improve the FOIA program, reduce 

the FOIA backlog, and speed up the processing of requests. This also sometimes requires 

additional discussions with FOIA requesters to explain the challenges faced by FOIA analysts in 
processing a backlogged request. Sometimes these discussions help requesters to narrow the 

scope of their requests or agree to the records NASA produced for interim releases. NASA plans 

to continue this process to close some of its pending requests. 

F. Additional Information about FOIA Processing 

30. Were any requests at your agency the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting period? 

If so, please describe the impact on your agency’s overall FOIA request processing and backlog. 

If possible, please indicate: 

 The number and nature of requests subject to litigation 

 Common causes leading to litigation 

 Any other information to illustrate the impact of litigation on your overall FOIA 

administration 

ANSWER: No.