USAID, in a very concerted effort, closed all of its ten oldest FOIA requests, appeals and consultations reported pending in its Fiscal Year 2015 Annual FOIA Report.
Additionally, as required by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 (Act) and, in accordance with the Agency’s FOIA Improvement Plan, USAID successfully overhauled its August 1996 FOIA regulations (CFR 22, Part 212), meeting the aggressive deadline of the December 27, 2016 established by the Act.
The Act required agencies to review their FOIA regulations, and no later than 180 days after enactment, directed the head of each agency to issue regulations on various elements of its FOIA program. This was no small feat. Coordination with various internal and external stakeholders, in addition to completing the required public notice and comment period in the Federal Register were huge accomplishments. The updated regulations – which expanded from 19 pages to 69 pages of useful information for the public - reflect USAID’s continuous commitment to transparency and improving its FOIA operations.