2023 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Harrel Pettway, General Counsel and Chief FOIA Officer

March 2022 - March 2023

SECTION I: FOIA LEADERSHIP AND APPLYING THE PRESUMPTION OF OPENNESS

The guiding principle underlying the Attorney General’s 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: Harrel Pettway, General Counsel

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 FDIC FOIA/Privacy Act Group (FOIA Group) successfully implemented its 

FOIA Software Modernization Project, which resulted in a new FOIA/Privacy Act request case 

management and processing system (FOIA case management system) built on an e-discovery 

platform; this project was classified as an FDIC agency-wide Performance Goal. In addition, the 

FOIA Group is currently in the process of creating standard operating procedures (SOP) specific 

to the FDIC’s FOIA/Privacy Act program. We believe these forthcoming SOPs will be a 

coveted resource to preserve institutional FOIA knowledge and serve as a go-to resource for new 

FOIA hires. Finally, the FDIC is currently exploring the opportunity to offer agency-wide FOIA 

training so that every employee at the FDIC understands the basics and importance of the FOIA.

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. With respect to these responses, please answer the below questions: 

a. In addition to tracking the asserted exemption, does your agency specifically track 

whether a request involved a Glomar response? 

Answer: Yes

b. If yes, please provide: 

i. the number of times your agency issued a full or partial Glomar response 

(separate full and partial if possible);

 Answer: One (1) time

ii. the number of times a Glomar response was issued by exemption (e.g., 

Exemption 7(C) – 20 times, Exemption 1 – 5 times). 

 Answer: Exemption 7(C) – One (1) time; Exemption 7(E) – One (1) time 

c. If your agency does not track the use of Glomar responses, what would your agency need 

to do to track in the future? If possible, please describe the resources and time involved. 

 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: In compliance with NARA’s 2016-18 FOIA Advisory Committee’s “Final Report and 

Recommendations,” the FOIA Group staff are disclosing the FOIA Logs quarterly and disclosing

the Chairman’s Calendars on a regular basis upon receipt. Also, as described in more detail 

herein, during this reporting period, the FOIA Group implemented a new FOIA case 

management system built on an e-discovery platform. This system assists the FOIA Group with 

identifying and tracking frequently requested records for posting and provides FDIC divisions 

and offices with the ability to maintain and input their own (a)(2) postings. We are looking 

forward in the next reporting period to fully implement the above-mentioned capabilities into 

FOIA Group operations. 

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 FDIC provides and promotes two substantive FOIA trainings for agency 

personnel on the FDIC intranet (FDIC Learning Experience) from the Department of Justice’s 

(DOJ) Office of Information Policy (OIP) e-Learning modules: “FOIA Training for All 

Employees” and “FOIA Training for Professionals.” Additionally, the FOIA Group supervisor 

regularly gives briefings on the FOIA to incoming FDIC staff, such as new Legal Division 

employees. She has also conducted training during this reporting period for various FDIC 

offices and divisions, including the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of Minority and 

Women Inclusion, the Legal Division’s Professional Liability Unit, and the Division of 

Resolutions and Receiverships. Upon request, the FOIA Group provides informal briefings on 

the FOIA throughout the year to all agency offices and divisions. The FOIA Group also 

provides bi-weekly training for our FOIA Program Office Coordinators, who do not work in the 

FOIA Group, on how to use different features of the new FOIA case management system. The 

FOIA Coordinators are given an opportunity to ask both system-related questions, as well as 

substantive FOIA-related questions that they may have during each training session.

Finally, the FOIA Group has recently instituted bi-annual training seminars for our FOIA 

Coordinators, the first of which will take place on February 7, 2023. These trainings will consist 

of both substantive FOIA issues and administrative procedures. 

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: FOIA training taken by FDIC FOIA professionals or staff with FOIA responsibilities 

consisted of virtual training provided by DOJ OIP, to include the following topics: “Continuing 

FOIA Education,” “Privacy Considerations,” “Exemption 4 and Exemption 5,” and “Litigation 

Seminar.”

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% 
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 Supervisor of the FOIA Group continues to give presentations to incoming 

employees, including new Legal Division employees, on FOIA basics and their role in the FOIA 

process. She has also conducted training during this reporting period for various FDIC offices 

and divisions, including the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of Minority and Women 

Inclusion, the Legal Division’s Professional Liability Unit, and the Division of Resolutions and 

Receiverships. Senior leaders of these various offices and divisions have attended these training 

sessions. Upon request, the FOIA Group provides informal briefings on the FOIA throughout 

the year to all agency offices and divisions. Additionally, two DOJ OIP e-Learning modules, 

“FOIA Training for All Employees” and “FOIA Training for Professionals,” are available online 

to all employees through the FDIC Learning Experience. As mentioned above, the FOIA Group 

provides bi-weekly training for our FOIA Program Office Coordinators, who do not work in the 

FOIA Group, on how to use different features of the new FOIA case management system. 

Finally, as noted above, the FOIA Group has recently instituted bi-annual training seminars for 

our FOIA Coordinators, the first of which will take place on February 7, 2023. 

B. Outreach

7. Did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, outside of the standard 

request process, 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: The FOIA Group engaged in outreach with the requester community or open 

government groups this past year by posting on our FOIA webpage guidance regarding the 

FDIC’s implementation and transition to a new FOIA case management system. Additionally, 

all of the FOIA Group staff frequently communicate with requesters, as needed, concerning 

particular FOIA requests to ensure that the FDIC is processing its FOIA requests as accurately, 

thoroughly, and timely as possible. 

8. 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. When the FOIA Group receives requests that do not comply with the FOIA or 

our regulations, such as requests that are not reasonably described or overbroad, we make every 

effort to contact requesters and provide them an opportunity to clarify and refine their request in 

order for it to be further processed. 

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: Requesters sought assistance from the FDIC’s FOIA Public Liaison 35 times during 

this reporting period.

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: Yes. Earlier this year, the FDIC filled a staffing gap by hiring a new Senior Attorney

in the FOIA Group. We have also utilized the resources available through the FDIC’s Honors 

Attorney Program. We have hosted three Honors Attorneys who rotated through the FOIA 

Group and worked on both technical and legal matters, and these attorneys have been a great 

asset to our program. Going forward, the FOIA Group is assessing whether it may need 

additional support at the Government Information Specialist (GIS) level to ensure adequate 

staffing due to the continued increase in the number of requests received each year and the 

volume of documents responsive to each request.

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: With the implementation of our new FOIA case management system, the FOIA Group 

is now able to create and review various types of reports and analytics pertaining to all requests. 

For example, FOIA staff can quickly identify all requests asking for expedited processing, all 

overdue requests, and requests assigned to certain program offices. Additionally, the new system 

allows data to be presented in pie charts and graphs, which allows management to quickly review 

the workload of each GIS, the age of requests, and the status of requests, among other things. 

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

effective FOIA administration, please describe them here.
Answer: In order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness, the FOIA Group produces regular 

reports for its senior management in order to monitor the timely and proper processing of 

requests. Additionally, the FOIA Group staff works closely with the FDIC case management 

system’s support staff to resolve any glitches or connectivity issues that may occur with the new 

system.

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: At this time, the FOIA Group manually identifies and tracks our own (a)(2) postings 

throughout the year. While drafting the FOIA Annual Report, the FOIA Group reaches out to 

each of the FDIC’s divisions and offices to get an accounting of their yearly (a)(2) postings. 

However, during this reporting period, the FDIC implemented a new FOIA case management 

system to assist the FOIA Group with identifying and tracking frequently requested records for 

posting and to allow FDIC FOIA Program Office Coordinators to maintain and input their own 

(a)(2) postings. In the next reporting period, we look forward to having fully implemented these

capabilities. 

2. 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: 

Information posted on the FDIC’s website during the reporting period includes: 

Two letters to members of the FDIC Board of Directors: 

https://www.fdic.gov/foia/files/fdicboardgovernanceandbylaws.pdf

Updated section to the Formal and Informal Enforcement Actions Manual: 

https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/enforcement-actions/index.html 

Updated sections to the Risk Management Manual of Examination Policies: 

https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/safety/manual/ 

Updated sections to the Trust Examination Manual: 

https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/trustmanual/ 

Sixty new Financial Institution Letters through December 13, 2022: 

https://www.fdic.gov/news/financial-institution-letters/index.html 
Quarterly Banking Profiles through September 30, 2022: 

https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/quarterly-banking-profile/index.html 

FDIC Consumer News through December 2022: 

https://www.fdic.gov/resources/consumers/consumer-news/consumer-news-list.html 

Documents considered at FDIC Board of Director’s open meetings through December 13, 2022: 

https://www.fdic.gov/news/board-matters/index.html 

FDIC Chairman’s Calendars:

Monthly through March 2022 

https://www.fdic.gov/foia/chairmanschedule.html 

FDIC FOIA Logs:

Fiscal Year 2022 Quarters 2, 3 and 4; Fiscal Year 2023 Quarter 1 

https://www.fdic.gov/foia/readingroom.html 

3. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information 

more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your 

agency’s website?

Answer: Yes, the FDIC has taken steps to make information posted on its website more useful 

to the public. 

4. 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: The FDIC web specialists periodically review and ensure the FDIC’s FOIA webpages, 

including its Reading Room, are easily navigable. The FDIC does have several open, machinereadable databases on its website that are very useful to the public. Examples of these are 

BankFind (the searchable FDIC Institution Directory), Institution Financial Reports, and Deposit 

Market Share Reports. These can be found at https://www.fdic.gov/resources/data-tools/ 

5. 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: The FOIA Group collaborates with the FDIC web specialists when making proactive 

disclosures. The web specialists work with the FOIA Group staff to make sure the documents 

are 508 compliant and post them to the appropriate location in our FOIA Reading Room. The 

other FDIC divisions post their own proactive disclosures and keep the FOIA Group updated for 

reporting purposes. 
6. Optional -- Please describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any 

challenges your agency faces in this area. 

Answer: The FDIC continues to actively strive to become even more transparent, and we are 

not aware of any challenges to this effort. In the next reporting period, we look forward to 

having fully implemented our new FOIA case management system’s enhanced analytics, 

reporting, and automation capabilities, which will make it easier for the FOIA Group to identify 

frequently requested records for proactive disclosure. 

SECTION IV: STEPS TAKE 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, over the past year, the FOIA Group has worked to seamlessly implement the 

successful transition from our legacy system to our new FOIA case management system. Before

and during this time of transition, the FOIA Group worked on the development, testing, training, 

and fine tuning of the new system. As noted above, the new system was the result of 

implementing the FDIC’s FOIA Software Modernization Project, which was classified as an 

FDIC agency-wide Performance Goal and we met this Goal. 

2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency uses to support your FOIA 

program. 

Answer: During this reporting period, the FDIC implemented a new FOIA case management 

system built on an e-discovery platform. The FOIA Group benefits greatly from this new system 

due to its: (1) ability to handle large volumes of data, (2) deduplication features, (3) enhanced 

automatic redaction functions, (4) customizable workflows and layouts, and (5) improved 

analytics and reporting capabilities. Our new system also enables users to upload and process 

records that may be responsive to a request in a much more effective and efficient manner. In 

December 2022, we successfully deployed the ability for FOIA requesters to provide identity 

verification seamlessly through our FOIA case management system via Login.gov. When 

requests are submitted through the portal, requesters are able to securely verify their identity 

without sending personal information through unsecure means. The FDIC was one of the first 

agencies to implement this secure identity system for FOIA purposes. 

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: The FDIC implemented a new FOIA case management system built on an e-discovery 

platform. During the uploading and ingesting of records, the e-discovery component of our 

system allows users to automate portions of the redaction process. For example, the system 

provides the capability to redact records using methods such as: (1) copying redactions from 

similar requests, (2) copying redactions from established redaction templates, (3) automatically 

redacting text based on keyword searches, and (4) redacting text based on established keyword 

lists. Users can also save a redacted document as a template that can be used to redact other 

similar documents. Another feature of the system that helps streamline the processing of records 

is the capability to attach redacted records from other requests to new requests that are seeking 

the same records. Because the FDIC has not had sufficient time to track metrics on the benefits 

of our new system, we are currently unable to provide an estimate of how much time and 

financial resources have been saved since implementing the technology.

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: The FDIC web specialists periodically review and ensure the proper functioning of the 

FDIC’s FOIA website, including that its Reading Room is easily navigable. The FDIC’s Annual 

Webpage Review, which included a review of our FOIA website, was completed in December 

2022 and did not identify any areas of concern. 

5. Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2022 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 2021 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency’s Fiscal Year 2022 

Annual FOIA Report. 

Answer: https://www.fdic.gov/foia/reports.html 

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: The FOIA Group has developed and is continuing to develop, as the need arises, 

succinct reference guides that are used as training materials for our new FOIA case management 

system. Additionally, we have developed and are continuing to develop SOPs to provide quick 

and streamlined instructions for using the system. The FOIA Group also provides bi-weekly 

training to our FOIA Program Office Coordinators on how to use different features of the 

system. The FOIA Coordinators are given an opportunity to ask questions during each training 

session.

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. The FDIC receives many FOIA requests from customers of both active and 

inactive banks. These requests are usually processed under both the FOIA and Privacy Act. 

Additionally, we receive first-party requests for Office of Inspector General records, security 

background investigations, and personnel files. Because these frequently requested records are 

protected under the Privacy Act, the FDIC cannot use alternative means of access outside of the 

FOIA/Privacy Act process. 

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

not know. 

Answer: There are no opportunities at this time to develop alternative means of access. The 

FOIA Group is the most experienced FDIC staff to work with these records. 

B. Timeliness

3. For Fiscal Year 2022, 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 2022 Annual FOIA Report. 
Answer: The FDIC’s average number of days for adjudicating requests for expedited processing 

was 6.44 days for Fiscal Year 2022. 

4. 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 2022 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 

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

Answer: Yes

6. 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 2022?

Answer: Yes, the average number of days to process simple track requests was 15.21 days in 

Fiscal Year 2022.

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

Year?

Answer: N/A

8. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2022 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: 43.8% of requests processed by the FDIC in Fiscal Year 2022 were placed in the 

simple track (220 out of 502).

9. 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

10. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2022, 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 2021?
Answer: Yes, the FDIC’s Fiscal Year 2022 backlog (8) decreased compared with our backlog 

reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2021 (24). 

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

requests during Fiscal Year 2022 than it did during Fiscal Year 2021?

Answer: N/A 

12. If your agency’s request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2022, 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

Answer: N/A 

13. 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 2022. 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: The percentage of requests received in Fiscal Year 2022 that make up the backlog 

reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2022 is 1.62% (8 out of 494).

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

14. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2022, 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 2021?

Answer: Yes, the FDIC’s Fiscal Year 2022 backlog of appeals (0) decreased compared with our 

backlog appeal reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2021 (1).

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

more appeals during Fiscal Year 2022 than it did during Fiscal Year 2021?

Answer: N/A 
16. If your agency’s appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2022, 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

Answer: N/A 

17. 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 2022. 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 

2022 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

Answer: N/A

D. Backlog Reduction Plans

18. In the 2022 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 

1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2021 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 2022?

Answer: N/A

19. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2022, please explain 

your agency’s plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2023.

Answer: N/A 

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

TEN OLDEST REQUESTS

20. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that 

were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: No 
21. 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 2021 Annual FOIA Report. If 

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

Answer: Eight (8)

22. 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

23. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending 

in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: Yes

24. 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 2021 Annual FOIA Report. If 

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

Answer: N/A

25. 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

26. In Fiscal Year 2022, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported 

pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report?

Answer: Yes

27. 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 2021 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
28. 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 2023.

Answer: We were unable to close two of our ten oldest requests (Answer 21) primarily due to 

resource challenges and the need for consultation from another agency. Since the end of Fiscal 

Year 2022, we closed one of the above-noted ten oldest requests from Fiscal Year 2021 and now 

only have one remaining. With regard to that remaining request, we continue to communicate

with the agency that has substantial interest in the requested information, and we plan to resolve 

this request as efficiently as possible. 

F. Additional Information about FOIA Processing

29. 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, and any other information to illustrate the impact of 

litigation on your overall FOIA administration.

Answer: Yes, the FDIC had one FOIA request that became the subject of litigation during the 

reporting period. This matter did not heavily impact the FDIC’s overall processing and backlog

and the case has been dismissed. 

30. How many requests during Fiscal Year 2022 involved unusual circumstances as defined by 

the FOIA? (This information is available in your agency’s FY22 raw data).

Answer: The FDIC had 87 requests that involved unusual circumstances during Fiscal Year 

2022.