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Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

2021 Chief FOIA Officer Report

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 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 the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) 

(2018). Is your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer at this level?

Yes. The Agency’s General Counsel serves as Chief FOIA Officer. 

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

Sarah Cudahy, General Counsel. 

B. FOIA Training

3. 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 in personnel. 

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) issues quarterly updates to all FMCS 

personnel with FOIA training, tips, and best practices. OGC meets with FMCS 

personnel regarding FOIA concerns associated with a virtual environment and 

issues memoranda and best practices throughout the year. These efforts, as well 

as briefing supervisors and senior leadership, keep personnel informed of their 

duties and responsibilities pertaining to the FOIA. 

4. 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, see below. 

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

conducted and the topics covered. 
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Members of the FOIA Team attended the following trainings during the previous 

year:

- DOJ OIP Training: The Freedom of Information Act for Attorneys and Access 

Professionals

- DOJ OIP Training: Virtual Annual FOIA Report Training

- DOJ OIP Training: Virtual Procedural Requirements and Fees Training

- DOJ OIP: Executive Briefing FOIA training

- DOJ OIP: Chief FOIA Officer Council Meeting

- AINS : FOIAxpress and FOIA processing training 

- 2020 Federal Privacy Summit

- 2021 Federal Privacy Council: Privacy Bootcamp (8 weeks)- covered the 

Privacy Act and Exemption 6. 

6. Provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professional and staff with 

FOIA responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this 

reporting period. 

100% of the FMCS FOIA processing staff attended FOIA training. 

7. 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 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. 

This is not applicable to FMCS. 

8. Did the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities attend 

training in federal records management during this reporting period?

Yes. 

C. Outreach

9. 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. 

The FMCS FOIA staff attended the Office of Government Information Services 

Annual Open Meeting. 

D. Other Initiatives
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10. 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 briefing 

to non-FOIA staff. 

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) issues quarterly updates to all FMCS 

personnel with FOIA training, tips, and best practices. Throughout the year, OGC 

meets with FMCS personnel regarding FOIA concerns associated with a virtual 

environment and issues memoranda and best practices. These efforts, as well as 

briefing supervisors and senior leadership, keep personnel informed of their 

duties and responsibilities pertaining to the FOIA.

11. 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.

FMCS updated the FOIA regulations and has implemented a new, virtual reading 

room through FOIAxpress’s Public Access Link (PAL). 

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 2021, 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 2021 Annual FOIA Report. 

For Fiscal Year 2021, FMCS did not have any expedited processing requests. 

2. 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 2021 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. 

This is not applicable to FMCS as we did not have any expedited processing 

requests in FY 2021. 
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3. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 required all agencies to update their FOIA 

regulations within 180 days. In 2016, OIP issued Guidance for Agency FOIA 

Regulations and the accompanying Template for Agency FOIA Regulations to 

assist agencies in updating their regulations in accordance with the 

statute. Has your agency updated its FOIA regulations in accordance with the 

FOIA Improvement Act of 2016? If not, what is your agency's plan to update 

your regulations?

Yes, FMCS’s FOIA regulations were updated in accordance with the FOIA 

Improvement Act of 2016. 

4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) generally document your agency’s 

internal processes for administering the FOIA beyond your FOIA regulations 

and FOIA Reference Guide. As noted in OIP’s guidance, having SOPs can 

improve the consistency and quality of an agency’s FOIA process. SOPs can 

also serve as a significant resource for incoming FOIA professionals and a way 

to preserve much of the agency’s institutional knowledge on administering the 

FOIA from how to handle requests from start-to-finish, to identifying and 

making proactive disclosures, to maintaining a FOIA website. Does your agency 

have up-to-date internal SOPs for your FOIA administration?

Yes. 

5. If not, please provide a timeline for when your agency plans to develop or 

update its SOPs.

This is not applicable to FMCS. 

6. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first-party 

requested records outside of the FOIA process?

No. 

7. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please explain if such opportunities exist 

at your agency and whether there are any challenges in establishing alternative 

means of access.

This is not applicable to FMCS. 

8. Did your agency conduct a self-assessment of its FOIA administration during 

the reporting period? If so, please describe the self-assessment methods used, 

such as analyzing Annual Report or raw data, using active workflows and track 

management, reviewing and updating processing procedures, etc. In addition, 

please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used to 

assess your agency's FOIA program.
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FMCS implemented a new, electronic FOIA filing system, FOIAxpress with a 

public access portal. FOIA staff reviewed incoming requests and trends during 

weekly FOIA meetings. The FOIA staff reviewed raw data and the previous 

Annual Report to focus on improving response times for simple requests. 

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 FY 2021 (please 

provide a total number or an estimate of the number). 

The FOIA Public Liaison was contacted in connection with approximately two 

FOIA requests in FY 2021. 

10. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related staffing capabilities to identify 

resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?

Yes. 

11. Optional -- Please describe:

• Best practices used to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently 

and effectively

o Using the electronic filing system and Public Access Link has improved 

our ability to communicate with requesters and to timely provide 

documents. 

• Any challenges your agency faces in this area.

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

proactive disclosures. 

We regularly review FOIA requests to see which materials are repeatedly 

requested. 

2. Provide examples of any material that your agency has proactively disclosed 

during the past reporting year, including records that have been requested and 
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released three or more times in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D). Please 

include links to these materials as well.

We publish the F-7 report on our public facing website. Requests for F-7 are our 

most common FOIA requests: https://www.fmcs.gov/resources/documents-anddata/.

3. Does your agency disseminate common types of material outside of FOIA, 

including in online databases where the public may access them? If yes, please 

provide examples and, if applicable, statutory authority.

In accordance with 29 U.S.C. § 172, FMCS provides information about various 

types of conflict resolution located here: 

https://www.fmcs.gov/resources/documents-and-data/. 

4. 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. Through the new electronic database’s reading room, we are able to provide 

easier access to these documents to individuals who commonly file FOIA 

requests. We also created a link on the FOIA public-facing webpage to assist 

individuals looking for FOIA reports. 

5. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. In particular, please 

describe steps your agency is taking to post information in open, machinereadable, and machine-actionable formats, to the extent feasible. If not 

posting in open formats, please explain why and note any challenges.

FMCS recently added a link to the FMCS FOIA reports to assist requesters: 

https://www.fmcs.gov/foia/.

6. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration 

with agency staff outside the FOIA office? If so, describe this interaction.

Yes, the FOIA staff meets with the Information Technology department to 

discuss which reports should be produced and published on the public-facing 

website. 

7. Optional -- Please describe:

• Best practices used to improve proactive disclosures

• Any challenges your agency faces in this area 

Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology
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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 describes your agency's efforts in this area.

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

resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?

Yes. FMCS implemented an electronic FOIA processing system in FY 2021. 

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

during the reporting period to support your FOIA program. 

FMCS began using an electronic filing system in FY 2021 for FOIA requests 

complete with a Public Access Link that permits requesters to track all FOIA 

requests filed across the federal government with one account. Documents are

easily received and sent through the Public Access function of the new electronic 

FOIA filing system. 

3. 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?

Yes. 

4. Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2021 appear on 

your agency's website and on FOIA.gov?

Yes. 

5. 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 2022.

This is not applicable to FMCS. 

6. 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 2020 Annual FOIA Report and, 

if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report. 
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https://www.fmcs.gov/foia/.

7. Optional -- Please describe:

• Best practices used in greater utilizing technology

• Any challenges your agency faces in this area

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 FY 2020 and 2021 Annual FOIA Reports.

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.

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

Yes. 

2. 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 2021?

No, 28.4 days. 

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

Year 2021 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. 

94.7%
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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?

No, 28.4 days. 

B. Backlogs

When answering these questions, please refer to your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA 

Report, Sections XII.D-E, which compare the numbers of requests and appeals 

received, processed, and backlogged between Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.

BACKLOGGED REQUESTS

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2021, 

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 2020?

We did not have a backlog either year. 

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

process more requests during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 

2020?

N/A

7. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, 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.

• Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions

• Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when 

possible.

FMCS did not have a backlog either year. 

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 2021. Please use the following calculation based on data 
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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.”

N/A

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

9. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2021, 

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 

2020? 

FMCS did not have a backlog of appeals in FY 2021. 

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

process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 

2020?

N/A

11. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, 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.

• Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions.

• Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when 

possible.

FMCS did not have an appeal backlog in FY 2021 or FY 2020. 

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 2021. 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 2021 

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

C. Backlog Reduction Plans

13. In the 2021 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a 

backlog of over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2020 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 2021?

N/A

14. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2021, 

please explain your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 

2022. In particular, please also detail how your agency developed and plans to 

execute your backlog reduction plans.

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 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021 when completing this section of 

your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

OLDEST REQUESTS

15. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected 

requests that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual 

FOIA Report?

Yes.

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 

2020 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest requests to 

close, please indicate that.

N/A.

17. Beyond work on the ten oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency 

took to reduce the overall age of your pending requests.
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FMCS implemented an electronic filing system to better process and track FOIA 

requests. 

TEN OLDEST APPEALS

18. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were 

reported pending in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA 

Report?

N/A

19. 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 VI.C.(5) of your Fiscal 

Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest appeals to 

close, please indicate that.

FMCS had fewer than ten total oldest appeals. 

20. Beyond work on the ten oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency 

took to reduce the overall age of your pending appeals.

FMCS did not have any pending appeals. 

TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

21. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that 

were reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA 

Report?

N/A

22. 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 2020 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest 

consultations to close, please indicate that.

N/A

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

23. Briefly explain any obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest 

requests, appeals, and consultations from Fiscal Year 2020.

N/A

24. 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, 
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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.

N/A

25. 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 

2022.

N/A

F. Success Stories

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2021 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 but should not 

be something that you have reported in a prior year. 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.

After receiving one large FOIA request, FMCS offices across the country worked 

together to create a central repository for collecting 8(g) Healthcare Notices. 

Together with field supervisors and IT staff, FOIA personnel worked to create a 

library for these notices where field offices upload notices enabling FOIA 

personnel to quickly respond to FOIA requests for these documents. FOIA 

personnel worked closely with supervisors to create best practices for storing 

documents and creating naming conventions resulting in a more efficient FOIA 

process.