LITIGATION

» Access to Courts and Court Remedies

» Campaign Finance and Election Laws

» Constitutional Rights and Requirements

» Health, Safety, and the Environment

» Open Government and Open Courts

» Representing Consumers

» Workers' Rights

Currently Featured Topics

Government Transparency
Consumer Justice
First Amendment
 Health, Safety and the Environment

Additional Resources

About Us
Case List
Recent News Alerts
Recent Publications

SUPREME COURT
ASSISTANCE PROJECT

Read about our work helping lawyers
with cases in the Supreme Court.

 

 

11/16/2001

Agency FOIA Workloads & Backlogs
Fiscal Year 2000

Sorted by number of requests received

 

Notes

Agency

Received FY 00

Processed FY 00

Pending FY 00

Backlog as
a percentage of
yearly processing

Median number of days
that requests pending
at end of year
have been awaiting response
1 Veterans 1,239,844 1,230,554 37,655 3.1% 15
2 SSA 262,450 258,342 27,087 10.5% n/a
DOJ 235,042 235,090 33,085 14.1% various
6 USDA 140,239 139,503 2,615 1.9% 30
4 DOD 97,266 96,479 11,309 11.7% 87

5

 HHS 61,971 60,060 18,685 31.1% 153
Treasury 46,854 45,111 6,826 15.1% various
DOL 22,469 22,505 906 4.0% 36
DOT 19,750 19,280 3,853 20.0% 30
EPA 15,906 14,837 9,841 66.3% 517
CPSC 13,138 13,157 175 1.3% 175
NARA 9,187 9,311 1,745 18.7% 378.5
DOI 5,161 4,966 791 15.9% 36
3 CIA 3,820 4,490 2,294 51.1% 473.5-145.5
State 3,611 3,070 5,782 188.3% 839
6 HUD 3,408 2,878 1,022 35.5% 262
SBA 3,126 3,088 117 3.8% various
DOE 2,935 2,649 1,000 37.8% 2,090
3 SEC 2,875 2,854 151 5.3% 9-43
OPM 2,716 2,716 17 0.6% 23
DOC 2,035 2,026 268 13.2% 26
NASA 1,740 1,652 187 11.3% 69
Education 1,633 1,695 298 17.6% 150
GSA 1,545 1,502 81 5.4% 25
FTC 1,320 1,388 71 5.1% 32
FDIC 800 850 66 7.8% 29
3 NRC 376 377 52 13.8% 28-53
AID 251 228 111 48.7% 59
FEMA 230 196 34 17.3% 50
NSF 192 184 5 2.7% 25
Source: Agencies' Annual Reports on FOIA Activities for FY2000

various - These agencies did not report a single median for pending requests, but different medians for requests pending at agency components.

Notes

1 Beginning in fiscal year 1999, the Department of Veterans Affairs began including within its tally of FOIA requests first-party requests for medical records from veterans who visit a facility or otherwise submit a "Release of Information" request. In the first year that the Department count these requests as FOIA requests, the Department's total number of FOIA requests increased 447%. Other agencies do not include first-party requests for medical records in their tally of FOIA requests.
2. A large portion of Social Security Administration requests received and processed are attributed to requests copies of applications for SS numbers, driven by genealogists and the growing number of commercial internet sites that are "advertising" the availability of this information from the SSA.
3. Agencies report two medians for requests pending requests according to the track in which the requests have been placed.
4. FY00 report gives 11,630 as number pending but columns sum to 11,309.
5. Agency reported median of medians reported by multiple components.
6. Number as pending at end of year in section on status of pending requests does not match number reported under initial requests section of report.

Questions? contact foia@citizen.org

 


Copyright © 2013 Public Citizen. All rights reserved. This Web site is shared by Public Citizen Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation.
  Learn More about the distinction between these two components of Public Citizen.


Public Citizen, Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation

 

Together, two separate corporate entities called Public Citizen, Inc. and Public Citizen Foundation, Inc., form Public Citizen. Both entities are part of the same overall organization, and this Web site refers to the two organizations collectively as Public Citizen.

Although the work of the two components overlaps, some activities are done by one component and not the other. The primary distinction is with respect to lobbying activity. Public Citizen, Inc., an IRS § 501(c)(4) entity, lobbies Congress to advance Public Citizen’s mission of protecting public health and safety, advancing government transparency, and urging corporate accountability. Public Citizen Foundation, however, is an IRS § 501(c)(3) organization. Accordingly, its ability to engage in lobbying is limited by federal law, but it may receive donations that are tax-deductible by the contributor. Public Citizen Inc. does most of the lobbying activity discussed on the Public Citizen Web site. Public Citizen Foundation performs most of the litigation and education activities discussed on the Web site.

You may make a contribution to Public Citizen, Inc., Public Citizen Foundation, or both. Contributions to both organizations are used to support our public interest work. However, each Public Citizen component will use only the funds contributed directly to it to carry out the activities it conducts as part of Public Citizen’s mission. Only gifts to the Foundation are tax-deductible. Individuals who want to join Public Citizen should make a contribution to Public Citizen, Inc., which will not be tax deductible.

 

To become a member of Public Citizen, click here.
To become a member and make an additional tax-deductible donation to Public Citizen Foundation, click here.