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CHIEF FOIA OFFICER REPORT

High-Volume Agencies

2020

(Reporting period - March 2019 to March 2020)

Stacey Demps-Barrett, Esq.

Chief FOIA Officer

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 the 

Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. Is your agency’s Chief FOIA Officer at this level? 

Answer: Yes. The FOIA program is the responsibility of our Office of the General Counsel 

(“OGC”). I, FMSHRC’s Chief FOIA Officer, am an Assistant General Counsel in OGC, and I 

administer the FOIA program under the authority of the General Counsel Michael McCord.

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

Answer: Stacey Demps-Barrett, Attorney-Advisor or Assistant General Counsel, Office of the 

General Counsel

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: Overall, we attended four trainings. They are as follows:

• On March 18, our Assistant FOIA Officer, FOIA Public Liaison, and our Chief FOIA 

Officer attended the rescheduled Advanced Freedom of Information Act Seminar. The 

topics covered included new OIP guidance and resources, Privacy Act/FOIA Interface, 

advanced considerations for exemptions 6 & 7c, advanced procedural requirements, case 

law development, and advanced litigation considerations.
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• On April 16-17, the Assistant FOIA Officer attended the Freedom of Information Act for 

Attorneys and Access Professionals held. The topics covered included procedural issues 

like processing time, fees and fee waivers overview, exemption 4 and related case law 

updates, EO 12600/submitter notice, and case law updates and definitions related to the 

privacy exemptions.

• On April 24, the Chief FOIA Officer attended the Continuing Freedom of Information Act 

Education training held. The topics covered included hot topics and new OIP guidance 

and resources, “Ask the Director,” advanced litigation considerations, and case law

development.

• On July 23-24, the FOIA Public Liaison attended the Freedom of Information Act for 

Attorneys and Access Professionals. The topics covered included procedural requirements, 

exemptions overview, litigation considerations, exemptions 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, achieving 

transparency through proactive disclosures, fees, fee waivers, FOIA/Privacy Act Interface, 

and FOIA Appeals and dispute resolution.

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%.

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: N/A.

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: No.

D. Other Initiatives

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

under the FOIA. 

Answer: We provide FOIA training to all FMSHRC staff, including all new hires within their 

first 60 days. We held our last agency-wide FOIA training for all support staff in September 

2018, as well as a FOIA training for Administrative Law Judges, Commissioners, and upper 

management in November 2018. On April 10, 2019, we trained our new Commissioners on the 

agency’s FOIA responsibilities, how the FOIA works, and the role they will play in 

administering the FOIA program. We also conducted new hire training several times this year 

as part of the onboarding process for new employees. Finally, posted on our agency’s intranet 
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is a list of “Frequently Asked FOIA Questions” and a memorandum explaining to FMSHRC’s 

non-FOIA professionals how to recognize a FOIA request, the agency’s obligations under the 

FOIA, and how we must handle FOIA requests under various scenarios.

9. 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: In addition to posting all FY Quarterly reports, Annual FOIA reports, Chief FOIA 

Officer reports, and FOIA Logs on our agency’s website at http://www.fmshrc.gov/foia, 

viewers can access all Commission and Administrative Law Judges’ orders and decisions 

(http://www.fmshrc.gov/decisions), all audio recordings of recent Commission decisional 

meetings and oral arguments (http://www.fmshrc.gov/meetings-arguments), a list of the 

Commission’s current appellate docket (http://www.fmshrc.gov/content/cases-review), and all 

reports submitted to Congress (http://www.fmshrc.gov/reports-budget-submissions). Also, 

FMSHRC’s case reporter has been digitized and made available in PDF format on the website. 

This digitized reporter, in which all substantive trial and appellate decisions and dispositive 

orders are issued, covers all cases from the agency’s inception to the present and can be found 

at http://www.fmshrc.gov/decisions/bluebook.

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 that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

1. For Fiscal Year 2019, 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 2019 Annual 

FOIA Report.

Answer: One day.

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. 

Answer: N/A.

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. 

Answer: No.
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• 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.

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 2019 (please provide a 

total number or an estimate of the number).

Answer: Zero times.

5. Optional -- Please describe: Best practices used to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently 

and effectively and 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. 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: 

1. Audio recordings of oral arguments and public meetings: http://www.fmshrc.gov/meetingsarguments. 

2. Congressional Reports: http://www.fmshrc.gov/reports-budget-submissions.

3. Pending appellate docket information: http://www.fmshrc.gov/content/cases-review.

2. 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.

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

Answer: In recent years, FMSHRC re-designed its website to make it more user-friendly. The 

site is easier to navigate as the material is more clearly laid out and organized into simpler 

categories. All documents are accessible in plain text and PDF format. The site now contains 

enhanced search capabilities for FMSHRC decisions. In addition, the site contains a PDF 

version of each volume of the agency’s official reporter publishing all substantive agency 

decisions and orders. Since then, FHSMRC has continued to consider and devise new ways to 

improve the website experience for our visitors. In the meantime, we do our best to keep the 

website updated and running smoothly.
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4. Optional -- Please describe: Best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any challenges 

your agency faces in this area 

Answer: We have requested that the head of each department identify documents that may be 

appropriate for proactive disclosure. In the meantime, if we are aware of certain documents 

that we believe are suitable for proactive disclosure, we touch base with the relevant 

department head to notify them of our intent to publish. 

The challenge we face as an agency is that we already routinely proactively disclose the 

documents that are appropriate for this initiative. Therefore, unless a major action has been 

taken in a case of significant interest to the public, we rarely have new documents suitable for 

proactive disclosure. It makes carrying out this initiative challenging at times.

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 or exploring any new technology to facilitate efficiency in its FOIA 

administration that you have not previously reported? If so, please describe the type of technology. 

Answer: No. Not at this time.

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. Our FOIA homepage is in compliance with the key information and resources 

requirements discussed in the 2017 Guidance. We also make updates to the site as needed 

throughout the year.

3. Did your agency successfully post all four quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2019?

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 2020.

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 

2018 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2019 Annual FOIA Report. 

Answer: The link for the FY 2018 report is https://www.fmshrc.gov/content/2018-annual-foiareport. The link for the FY 2019 report is not yet available.
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6. Optional -- Please describe: Best practices used in greater utilizing technology and any challenges your 

agency faces in this area.

Answer: We rely heavily on email as our primary mode of communication. This makes 

receiving and responding to requests quicker and more efficient. We will also be completely 

paperless by March 1, 2020. We expect this to result in greater efficiency in our program. The 

main challenge faced by our agency is our lack of access to more sophisticated technology, 

which is largely due to our small size and commensurate budget.

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 2019 Annual FOIA Report and, when applicable, your agency’s 2018 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.

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

Answer: Yes.

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 2019?

Answer: Yes.

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2019 that were 

placed in your simple track. 

Answer: 86%.

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 2018 and Fiscal 

Year 2019 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.
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BACKLOGGED REQUESTS

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2019, did that backlog decrease as 

compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2018? 

Answer: FMSHRC did not have a backlog at the end of FY 2018 or FY 2019.

6. If not, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2019 than it did during Fiscal Year 

2018?

Answer: No.

7. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2019, 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.

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

Answer: N/A.

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 2019. If your agency has no request 

backlog, please answer with “N/A.”

Answer: N/A.

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

9. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2019, did that backlog decrease as 

compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2018? 

Answer: N/A.

10. If not, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2019 than it did during Fiscal Year 

2018?

Answer: N/A.

11. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2019, 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.
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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 2019. If your agency did not receive 

any appeals in Fiscal Year 2019 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

Answer: N/A.

C. Backlog Reduction Plans

13. In the 2019 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 1000 

requests in Fiscal Year 2018 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 2019? 

Answer: N/A.

14. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2019, what is your agency’s 

plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2020? 

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 2018 and Fiscal 

Year 2019 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

OLDEST REQUESTS

15. In Fiscal Year 2019, did your agency close the ten oldest requests that were reported pending in your 

Fiscal Year 2018 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: 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 2018 Annual FOIA Report. If you had fewer 

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

Answer: 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. 

Answer: N/A.

TEN OLDEST APPEALS

18. In Fiscal Year 2019, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending in your 

Fiscal Year 2018 Annual FOIA Report?
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Answer: FMSHRC did not have any appeals to close from FY 2018.

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 VII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2018 Annual FOIA Report. If you had fewer 

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

Answer: N/A.

20. 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

21. In Fiscal Year 2019, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported pending in 

your Fiscal Year 2018 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: FMSHRC did not have any consultations during FY 2018. 

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 2018 Annual FOIA Report. If you had 

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

Answer: 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 2019.

Answer: 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, 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.

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 2020. 

Answer: N/A.

F. Success Stories

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2019 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 
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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: In 2018, our FOIA team put together and held two separate and comprehensive FOIA

trainings for our support staff and our upper management teams. The trainings, which 

emphasized the importance of transparency in FOIA, consisted of colorful and fun training 

slides, real examples of issues faced by FMSHRC’s FOIA teams, specific issues the target 

groups are likely to face, as well as Trivia games at the close of the trainings, which tested the 

staff’s FOIA knowledge in a fun way. A scaled back version of each training was used for the 

new hire trainings in 2019, and they will serve as our model internal trainings moving forward. 

The trainings have been well received and described as very informative.