FOIA establishes 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 Before the act (originally enacted in 1966), the government required individuals to demonstrate “a need to know” before granting the right to examine federal records. FOIA established a “right to know” standard, under which an organization or any member of the public could receive access to information held by federal agencies without demonstrating a need or reason. The “right to know” standard shifted the burden of proof from the individual to government agencies and required agencies to provide proper justification when denying requests for access to records. FOIA provides the public with access to government information either through “affirmative agency disclosure”—publishing information in the Federal Register or on the Internet or making it available in reading rooms—or in response to public requests for disclosure. Public requests for records are the best known type of disclosure, and require agencies to promptly provide records in any readily producible form or format specified by the requester. Not all information held by the government is subject to FOIA. The act prescribes nine specific categories of information that can be exempt from disclosure, including, but not limited to, trade secrets and certain confidential commercial or financial information, certain personnel and medical files, and certain law enforcement records. When agencies deny all or part of a request, the act requires that agencies notify requesters of the reasons for the adverse determination and grants requesters the right to appeal the decision. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is the primary source of FOIA oversight and policy guidance for agencies. Within the department, the Office of Information and Privacy (OIP) has lead responsibility for providing guidance and support to federal agencies on FOIA issues. OIP issues a guide addressing various aspects of the act and conducts a variety of related training programs for personnel across the government. On December 14, 2005, the President issued Executive Order 13392, setting forth a policy of citizen-centered and results-oriented FOIA administration. The order directed agencies to provide requesters with courteous and appropriate service, as well as ways to learn about the FOIA process, the status of their requests, and the public availability of other agency records. The order also instructed agencies to process requests efficiently, achieve measurable process improvements (including a reduction in the backlog of overdue requests), and reform programs that did not produce appropriate results. A major focus of the order was for agency plans to include specific actions to eliminate or reduce any backlog of overdue requests. To carry out this policy, the order required, among other things, that agency heads designate Chief FOIA Officers to oversee their programs. The officers were directed to review their operations and develop improvement plans to ensure that administration of the act was in accordance with applicable law, as well as with the policy set forth in the order. By June 2006, agencies were to submit reports that included the results of their reviews and copies of their improvement plans. In April 2006, OIP posted guidance to assist federal agencies in implementing the order’s requirements for reviews and improvement plans. The guidance suggested several potential areas that agencies might consider when conducting their reviews, such as enhanced training, centralization of administration, automation of request tracking, automation of electronic records dissemination, and improved records redaction. In order to extend the backlog reduction efforts beyond the time frame of the executive order, in September 2007, OIP posted guidance to agencies on submitting backlog reduction goals for fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010. Any agency that had a request or appeal pending beyond the statutory time limit at the end of fiscal year 2007 was to establish backlog reduction goals for fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010. In addition, in June 2008, OIP posted guidance requiring all agencies that had not made progress in reducing their backlogs over the previous 2 years to prepare backlog reduction plans. On December 31, 2007, the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007 (OPEN Government Act) was enacted. This law amended FOIA by, among other things, addressing the time limits for agencies to act on requests, requiring agencies to designate chief FOIA officers, requiring that agencies assign a tracking number to each request requiring more than 10 days to process, and requiring agencies to establish a telephone line or Internet service that requesters could use to determine the status of their request. Although the specific procedures for handling requests vary among agencies, the major phases in the process are similar across the government: receiving the request, logging and scoping the request, searching for and retrieving potentially responsive records, preparing records for release, performing a final review, and releasing records to the requester. Figure 1 depicts the process, from the receipt of a request through the release of records. The process begins when an agency receives (whether by mail, phone, fax, or over the Internet) a request for federal records. A staff member logs the request in the agency’s tracking system, and then reviews the request to determine its scope, estimates fees, and provides an initial response to the requester. Next, the staff searches for responsive records, which may include searching for records at multiple locations and program offices. After they are located, the records are reviewed to confirm that they are within the scope of the request. The staff then prepares records by removing any nonreleasable information based upon the statutory exemptions—a process known as redaction. Once records have been prepared, the staff calculates any applicable fees for research time and reproduction costs. After redaction and fee calculation, the staff submits the records for a final review, possibly by the agency’s general counsel. If records pass this final review, the agency generates a response letter summarizing actions regarding the request and releases the records to the requester. Some 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 may require more extensive processing, depending on their complexity, the volume of information involved, whether the agency FOIA office is required to work with offices with relevant subject-matter expertise to find and obtain information, the requirement for a FOIA officer to review and redact information in the responsive material, the requirement to communicate with the requester about the scope of the request, and the requirement to communicate with the requester about the fees that will be charged for fulfilling the request (or whether fees will be waived). The organizational structure of an agency’s program can affect its processing procedures. While some agencies centralize processing in one main office, others receive and process requests at the division or field office level. The structure influences how and where requests are received by the agency, how an agency searches for responsive records, the availability of relevant subject matter experts, and how an agency monitors the status of requests. Established in 2003, DHS is responsible for leading the effort to secure the United States by preventing and deterring terrorist attacks and protecting against, and responding to, threats and hazards to the nation. To accomplish its mission, DHS incorporated 22 separate federal agencies and organizations, including FEMA (formerly an independent agency) and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (formerly part of DOJ). Several of these agencies remained separate component agencies within DHS, while others were reorganized into new DHS components. The functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, for example, were divided among three DHS components: CBP, ICE, and USCIS. FOIA processing is implemented separately within each of the major DHS component agencies. At the department level, the Privacy Office coordinates agencywide implementation by developing policy, performing oversight of component operations, providing training, and preparing the annual FOIA report. The Privacy Office also processes requests related to DHS headquarters operations. However, all other processing of requests is handled by agency components, which staff and operate their own offices. FOIA officers within these components are responsible for managing and implementing their respective operations, as well as defining their administrative structures. The scale and performance of FOIA processing vary across the department. The components with the largest reported number of pending cases at the end of fiscal year 2007 included CBP, FEMA, ICE, TSA, USCIS, USSS, and the United States Coast Guard. These components are also among those to have received and processed the largest number of requests in fiscal year 2007. In response to Executive Order 13392, DHS and its major components have taken steps to enhance the department’s program. DHS developed an improvement plan that included goals focused on eliminating its backlog of overdue requests, implementing enhanced training requirements, and deploying advanced technology. In addition, the DHS Privacy Office initiated several actions to ensure policy compliance and provide oversight of individual components, such as developing a departmentwide handbook, completing file reviews at each component, monitoring monthly data processing statistics, and instituting training for affected employees. As a result, several of the components have reported decreasing their backlogs of overdue requests. Specifically, three components reported achieving large reductions in their backlogs. In January 2007, DHS submitted an improvement plan that focused on eliminating the backlog of overdue requests, enhancing education and training, and implementing technological advancements. In order to formulate its plan and specific goals, DHS surveyed each component and office on specific issues relating to FOIA operations, such as staffing levels, electronic processing capabilities, training opportunities and requirements, and impediments other than staffing that contribute to backlogs. To reduce its backlog, DHS established goals that included hiring additional personnel, implementing operational improvements at USCIS, meeting with an important requester group (the American Immigration Lawyers Association) to discuss file processing and customer service enhancements, and establishing a monitoring program under which all components submitted weekly and monthly data to the Chief FOIA Officer.