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Page 8 August 11, 2016 T he Chief FOIA Officers Council, charged with addressing the most important dif- ficulties in administering FOIA across government, met for the first time July 22 to begin the process of implementing a "release to one is a release to all" standard for federal records. The policy would make agencies release FOIA- processed records to one requester and simultane- ously to the general public by posting them online. Concerns about the policy from both journalists and FOIA officers were addressed at the meeting. Many reporters worry that releasing requested documents to the public would compromise their reporting by allowing others to steal their "scoop." Agency FOIA officers were troubled by the burden of ensuring records are accessible to all and in com- pliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Following enactment of the FOIA Improvement Act, the Obama administration charged the FOIA Officers Council and OMB with implementing the policy and addressing journalists' and agencies' con- cerns by Jan. 1, 2017. At the meeting, Melanie Ann Pustay, director of the Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy, acknowledged journalists' concerns, but said it's her impression that view is not universal. Pustay said, "at the same time there are journal- ists who say, 'Wait a minute, it's taxpayers' money and these are public releases. Isn't it a little ironic for journalists to say they want less transparency?'" As the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has reported, many journalists have sug- gested a delay between the requester receiving the documents and posting for the general public. There is, however, no clear consensus among journalists regarding the policy. Pustay also noted that journalists would be invit- ed to the next meeting in the fall so they could voice their opinions and offer proposals. FOIA officers at the meeting noted that the policy would increase the volume of documents their agen- cies would have to make compliant under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act to ensure that people with disabilities have access to public data. Officers noted that making documents accessible is time- consuming and technologically burdensome. "The administration is asking for more without giving agencies more funding," said the officer. Another FOIA officer, who also declined to be identified, noted that making records 508 compliant would "slow down FOIA processing as a whole" in the agency. The officer suggested centralizing the process by creating an office where all government- processed FOIA requests could be sent to be made 508 compliant. Nikki Gramian, acting director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), and co- chair the FOIA officers council, acknowledged many of the FOIA officers' concerns. "If your FOIA staff is spending a lot of time mak- ing the records compliant, then they don't have time to process the records," Gramian told the Reporters Committee in an interview. "Hopefully while the Chief FOIA Officers Council considers this issue, it should also take into account the amount of staff time that it will take to prepare records for posting and whether there are other staff or resources that can help them with that burden." Last summer, the DOJ launched a proactive dis- closure pilot program, which assessed seven agen- cies' ability to release FOIA-processed records to one requester and simultaneously to the general public by posting them online. The program found, as noted by FOIA officers at the recent Council meet- ing, problems with 508 compliance. Some FOIA experts, however, suggested 508 com- pliance is more easily achievable than some agen- cies assert. Nate Jones, director of the FOIA Project for the National Security Archive, noted that many agencies already excel at disclosing 508 compli- ant records. Jones cited the State Department, Air Force, and NARA as exemplary agencies. "On the one hand, it's good to see that some agen- cies have their act together and can do this with no extra expended resources and time. On the other hand, it's very frustrating that this is not govern- ment-wide and that we know now that only 2 out of 100 agencies are doing this common sense practice," said Jones, who is part of the FOIA Advisory Com- mittee, which met the day before the Council. The committee, which includes federal employees and representatives from the requester community, met to begin the discussion on solutions to 508 compliance. While the Chief FOIA Officers Council has a White House mandate to issue guidelines on proactive disclosure, the FOIA Advisory Committees issues all of its recommendations to the Archivist of the United States. Chief FOIA Officers Council meets for the first time LIKE THE HOOSIER STATE PRESS ASSOCIATION ON FACEBOOK FOR INDUSTRY NEWS, DEADLINES AND UPDATES. By Luis Ferre Sadurni Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

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