FOIA established a legal right of access to government records and information, on the basis of the principles of openness and accountability in government. Before the act, an individual seeking access to federal records had faced the burden of establishing a right to examine them. FOIA also established a “right to know” standard for access, instead of a “need to know,” and shifted the burden of proof from the individual to the government agency seeking to deny access. FOIA was originally enacted in 1966 and has been amended several times, most recently in 2002. Citizens are requesting an ever-increasing amount of information from the federal government, as reflected in a steadily increasing number of FOIA requests. In fiscal year 2003, over 3 million requests were received by federal agencies, an increase of 36 percent over the previous year. Further, the number of requests closed was also more than 3 million, an increase of 34 percent compared with the previous year. The number of requests closed is, in part, an indicator of the responsiveness of agencies in providing the public with requested information and shows that agencies are taking steps to respond to the increasing FOIA workload. FOIA provides the public with access to government information either through “affirmative agency disclosure”—publishing information in the Federal Register or making it available in reading rooms—or in response to public requests for disclosure. Public requests for disclosure of records are the best known type of FOIA disclosure. Any member of the public may request access to information held by federal agencies, without showing a need or reason for seeking the information. Agencies may deny access to material (e.g., by withholding records or redacting information) only if it falls within any of nine statutory categories of exemptions. There are also FOIA exclusions for specific, sensitive records held by law enforcement agencies. In addition, agencies have a statutory requirement to meet certain time frames for determining whether to comply with requests, making determinations with respect to appeals of adverse determinations, and determining whether to provide expedited processing of requests. Requesters are entitled to know the reasons for denials, to appeal denials, and to challenge them in court. Under the act, agencies are required to submit annual reports on their FOIA activities to the Attorney General. The Department of Justice oversees agencies’ compliance with FOIA and is the primary source of policy guidance for agencies. Justice’s specific requirements under the act are to make agencies’ annual FOIA reports available through a single electronic access point and notify Congress as to their availability; in consultation with OMB, develop guidelines for the required agency reports, so that all reports use common terminology and follow a similar format; and submit an annual report on FOIA statistics and the efforts undertaken by Justice to encourage agency compliance. In addition, FOIA requires OMB to issue guidelines to “provide for a uniform schedule of fees for all agencies.” Agencies are required to conform to the OMB fee guidelines. Further, in 1987, the Department of Justice issued guidelines on waiving fees when FOIA requests are determined to be in the public interest. Under the guidelines, requests for waivers or reduction of fees are considered on a case-by-case basis, taking into account both the public interest and the requester’s commercial interests. Some FOIA requests are relatively simple to process, such as requests for specific pieces of information that the requester sends directly to the appropriate office. Other requests require more extensive processing, depending on the complexity of the request, the volume of information involved, the need for the agency FOIA office to work with offices that have relevant subject-matter expertise to find and obtain information, the need for a FOIA officer to review and redact information in the responsive material, the need to communicate with the requester about the scope of the request, and the need to communicate with the requester about the fees that will be charged for fulfilling the request (or whether fees will be waived). FOIA processing, especially review of classified, sensitive, or privacy-related material, can be labor-intensive. DOE’s process typically begins when the agency’s headquarters FOIA office receives a written request (fax, letter, e-mail, or electronic form on DOE’s Web site). From that point, the request goes through several phases, which include acknowledgment of the request, fee determination and identification of office with relevant subject matter expertise, search and retrieval of records, preparation of records for release, and issuing of the final response to the requester. Initial processing is focused on ensuring that the request is a proper FOIA request and that all relevant information has been obtained from the requester. From here, an acknowledgment letter informs the requester that the department received the request and also provides the requester with a tracking number. FOIA officials then review the case to determine which office may have responsive records and make an initial determination about fees and, if a fee waiver has been requested, whether it is to be granted. After the appropriate office has located responsive records, a determination is made about what, if any, information is exempt from public release and should be redacted from records planned to be released, which would result in a “partial grant” of requested information. Finally, the agency assembles the responsive records to be released and provides them to the requester. Figure 1 depicts the FOIA process at DOE Headquarters. From the receipt of the request until a final decision is made about the release or withholding of documents, DOE has a number of opportunities to communicate with requesters. As recorded in DOE’s FOIA case files, the types of communications included acknowledgment letters, which informed requesters that DOE received interim letters, which provided requesters with additional information pertaining to their request and may have requested additional information to clarify the request; final letters, which provided requesters with the final outcome of their oral communications, which were made typically via telephone and provided clarification and additional information about how the request was being handled; and e-mail messages, which also provided clarification and additional information about DOE’s handling of the request. Aside from very minor variations, the FOIA process at the Albuquerque and Richland field offices is essentially the same. The FOIA offices at each site receive requests centrally and assign them to appropriate offices with subject-matter expertise for action. Agency determinations about fees and fee waivers are complex decisions that include determining (1) the requester’s fee category, (2) whether a fee waiver is to be granted, and (3) the actual fees to be charged. FOIA stipulates three types of fee categories for requesters: (1) commercial; (2) educational, noncommercial scientific institution, and representative of the news media; and (3) other. Further, fees can be charged for three types of FOIA-related activities—search, duplication, and review—depending on the requester’s fee category. In addition, in certain situations fees may not be charged to a requester, as, for example, when a fee waiver is granted or when the applicable fees are below a certain threshold. Commercial users can be charged for the broadest range of FOIA-related activities, including document search, review, and duplication. Commercial use is defined in the OMB fee schedule guidelines as “a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is being made.” The second category exempts search and review fees for documents sought for noncommercial use by educational or noncommercial scientific institutions, and for representatives of the news media. The third category of fees, which applies to all requesters who do not fall within either of the other two categories, allows for “reasonable” charges for document search and duplication. Table 1 shows the FOIA-related activities for which agencies can charge by fee category, as stipulated in the act. Although the act generally requires that requesters pay fees for their requests to be processed, in certain circumstances, fees are not to be charged. For example, as stipulated in the act, fees may not be charged when the government’s cost of collecting and processing the fee is likely to equal or exceed the amount of the fee itself. Further, under certain circumstances, the act requires an agency to furnish documents without charge, or at reduced charges. This is commonly referred to as the FOIA fee waiver. An agency must provide a fee waiver if two conditions are met: disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, and disclosure of the information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Under the act and guidance, when these requirements are both satisfied, based upon information supplied by a requester or otherwise made known to the agency, the fee waiver or reduction is to be granted by the FOIA officer. Where one or both of these requirements is not satisfied, a fee waiver is not warranted. As these criteria suggest, fee waivers are to be granted on a case-by-case basis. Individuals who receive fee waivers in some cases may not necessarily receive them in other cases. In fiscal year 2004, DOE reported receiving 2,289 new FOIA cases and closing 2,440. In 76 percent (1848 of 2440) of the closed cases, DOE provided some or all requested records to the requesters. Of all new cases received across the department, headquarters, Albuquerque, and Richland—the sites selected for our review—received 31 percent (705 of 2,289). Specifically, headquarters received 431 cases, Albuquerque received 152 cases, and Richland received 122 cases. In approximately 5 percent (35 of 705) of the cases at these three sites, requesters were charged a fee; 86 percent (30 of 35) of these cases involved commercial requesters. In total, the three sites charged about $4,700 in fees.