ML24003A757

2024 Chief FOIA Officer Report Final

ML24003A757
Person / Time
Issue date:	01/11/2024
From:	NRC/OCIO/DIME/FLICB
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Colbert L
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Download: ML24003A757 (13)

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2025 Chief FOIA Officer Report Scott Flanders, Chief FOIA Officer Contents Section I: FOIA Leadership and Applying the Presumption of Openness........................ 3 A. Leadership Support for FOIA................................................................................... 3 B. Presumption of Openness....................................................................................... 3 Section II: Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration............................................ 4 A. FOIA Training........................................................................................................... 4 B. Outreach.................................................................................................................. 7 C. Other Initiatives....................................................................................................... 8 Section III: Proactive Disclosures.................................................................................. 10 Section IV: Steps Take to Greater Utilize Technology.................................................... 13 Section V: Steps Taken to Remove Barriers to Access, Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests, and Reduce Backlogs.......................................................... 16 A. Remove Barriers to Access................................................................................... 16 B. Timeliness.............................................................................................................. 17 C. Backlogs................................................................................................................ 18 Backlogged Requests............................................................................................. 18 Backlogged Appeals............................................................................................... 19 D. Backlog Reduction Plans....................................................................................... 20 E. Reducing the Age of Requests, Appeals, and Consultations................................ 21 Ten Oldest Requests.............................................................................................. 21 Ten Oldest Appeals................................................................................................. 21 Ten Oldest Consultations........................................................................................ 22 Additional Information Regarding Ten Oldest.......................................................... 22 F. Additional Information about FOIA Processing....................................................... 23 Section I: FOIA Leadership and Applying the Presumption of Openness The guiding principle underlying the Attorney Generals 2022 FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness. The Guidelines also highlight the importance of agency leadership in ensuring effective Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) administration. Please answer the following questions about FOIA leadership at your agency and describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA.

A. Leadership Support for FOIA

1. The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at least at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1)

(2018). Is your agencys Chief FOIA Officer at or above this level?

Yes.

2. Please provide the name and title of your agencys Chief FOIA Officer.

Scott Flanders, Chief Information Officer.

3. What steps has your agency taken to incorporate FOIA into its core mission? For example, has your agency incorporated FOIA milestones into its strategic plan?

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has a longstanding practice of conducting its regulatory responsibilities in an open and transparent manner, consistent with the NRCs approach to Open Government. In that way, the NRC has incorporated into its organizational values, Integrity, Service, Openness, Commitment, Cooperation, Excellence and Respect (ISOCCER). Transparency is included in ISOCCER. Additionally, FOIA has been added to the strategic plan, under goal 2, as a contributing program to continue to foster a healthy organization.

B. Presumption of Openness

4. The Attorney Generals 2022 FOIA Guidelines provides that agencies should confirm in response letters to FOIA requesters that they have considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records and applying FOIA exemptions. Does your agency provide such confirmation in its response letters?

Yes. The NRC utilizes two standard forms (NRC Forms 464 Part I and Part II, as applicable) to respond to FOIA requests. Part II is utilized when information is withheld pursuant to one or more of the FOIA exemptions and includes the following statement: Records subject to the request are being withheld in their entirety or in part under the FOIA exemption(s) as indicated below (5 U.S.C.

552(b)), after taking into consideration the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records and applying these FOIA exemptions. As such, the NRC confirms in every response where information has been withheld that it has considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing records applying exemptions.

5. In some circumstances, agencies may respond to a requester that it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of requested records if acknowledging the existence of records would harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption. This is commonly referred to as a Glomar response. If your agency tracks Glomar responses, please provide:

the number of times your agency issued a full or partial Glomar response during Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 (separate full and partial if possible);

the number of times a Glomar response was issued by exemption during FY2024 (e.g., Exemption 7(C)-20 times, Exemption 1-5 times).

The NRC tracks these responses in FOIAXpress. During the reporting period, the NRC did not issue any full or partial Glomar response.

6. OptionalIf there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied, please describe them here.

N/A.

Section II: Ensuring Fair and Effective FOIA Administration The Attorney Generals 2022 FOIA Guidelines provides that [e]nsuring fair and effective FOIA administration requires... proper training, and a full understanding of FOIA obligations by the entire agency workforce. The Guidelines reinforce longstanding guidance to work with FOIA requesters in a spirit of cooperation. The Attorney General also urge[s] agency Chief FOIA Officers to undertake comprehensive review of all aspects of their agencys FOIA administration as part of ensuring fair and effective FOIA administration.

A. FOIA Training

1. The FOIA directs agency Chief FOIA Officers to ensure that FOIA training is offered to agency personnel. See 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(j)(2)(F). Please describe the efforts your agency has undertaken to ensure proper FOIA training is made available and used by agency personnel.

The NRC offers virtual annual FOIA training to all agency personnel, and a FOIA Coordinator training that covers FOIA best practices and procedures at the NRC.

Further, all staff have access to on-demand training modules through the agencys web-based training application. The NRC also offers ad hoc training and outreach events. Marketing for the two virtual FOIA training sessions includes an agencywide email campaign, and a banner placed on the internal NRC home page.

The NRCs 2024 Annual FOIA Training included prominent speakers from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC), and the NRCs Office of the General Counsel. This years topics were in line with the NRCs Office of the Chief Information Officers mission to manage information, enhance information access and strengthen the agencys FOIA performance.

2. Did your FOIA professionals or the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities attend substantive FOIA training during the reporting period such as that provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ)?

Yes.

3. If yes, please provide a brief description of the type of training attended or conducted and the topics covered.

Conducted Annual FOIA Training o Topics covered:

Interviewed a FOIA requester and discussed things the requester should consider when submitting a FOIA request, the customer service experience, and the requesters thoughts on transparency Records management (RM): good RM hygiene, records retention, and ADAMS (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System), the NRCs official recordkeeping system Guest speaker from FERC discussed how to process records containing Critical Energy/Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII)

Guest speaker from the NRCs Office of the General Counsel provided an overview of FOIA exemption 4 following the U.S.

Supreme Courts decision in Food Mktg. Inst. v. Argus Leader Media, discussed preparation of foreseeable harm statements, and provided a refresher on FOIA exemption 6 applicability Discussion on the FOIA process at the NRC Conducted FOIA Coordinator Training o Topics covered:

Identification of the roles and responsibilities of Senior Management FOIA Officials and FOIA Coordinators at the NRC Reviewed NRCs FOIA guidance documents Discussed how to execute fee estimates and search taskings Attended Advanced FOIA Training (DOJ) o Topics covered:

The FOIAs personal privacy exemptions Provided an overview of various FOIA procedural requirements and the FOIAs requirements to make information available proactively to the public Attended Annual FOIA Report Refresher and Quarterly Report Training (DOJ) o Topics covered:

Addressed requirements for completing and submitting agencies Annual and Quarterly FOIA Reports Attended Administrative Appeals, FOIA Compliance, and Customer Service (DOJ) o Topics covered:

FOIA administrative appeal process Discussed how agency FOIA professionals can help their agency accurately report about its FOIA administration Provided an overview of the Office of Government Information Services with a focus on providing good customer service Attended FOIAXpress Electronic Document Review (EDR) Workshop o Topics covered:

How to utilize EDR

4. Please provide an estimate of the percentage of your FOIA professionals and staff with FOIA responsibilities who attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

100%.

5. OIP has directed agencies to take steps to ensure that all of their FOIA professionals attend substantive FOIA training at least once throughout the year. If your response to the previous question is that less than 80% of your FOIA professionals attended training, please explain your agencys plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training during the next reporting year.

N/A.

6. Describe any efforts your agency has undertaken to inform non-FOIA professionals of their obligations under the FOIA. In particular, please describe how often and in what formats your agency provides FOIA training or briefings to non-FOIA staff; and if senior leaders at your agency received a briefing on your agencys FOIA resources, obligations and expectations during the FOIA process?

The NRC undertakes substantial efforts to inform non-FOIA professionals of their obligations under FOIA. This is accomplished through conducting annual FOIA training and including new-hire FOIA training into the required agency onboarding training modules. The annual training event is open to all agency employees, and it is heavily promoted.

B. Outreach

7. As part of the standard request process, do your FOIA professionals proactively contact requesters concerning complex or voluminous requests in an effort to clarify or narrow the scope of the request so requesters can receive responses more quickly?

Please describe any such outreach or dialogue and, if applicable, any specific examples.

Yes. We proactively provide opportunities to requesters to clarify or narrow the scope of their requests in our acknowledgment letter. We also provide opportunities during the fee estimate stage; and we actively reach out to requesters to set up conference calls to discuss the scope of their request.

8. Outside of the standard request process or routine FOIA Liaison or FOIA Requester Service Center interactions, did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, with the requester community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA? For example, did you proactively contact frequent requesters, host FOIA-related conference calls with open government groups, or provide FOIA training to members of the public? Please describe any such outreach or dialogue and, if applicable, any specific examples of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agencys FOIA administration.

During the annual training event, we conducted a 30-minute question and answer session with one of our frequent FOIA requesters. We discussed openness, transparency, good customer service and requester expectations. The session was well-received by agency personnel and leadership. As a result, the NRC staff is incorporating some of the requesters suggestions, as they relate to how publicly available documents are listed in interim and final responses. The goal is to make it easier for the requester to locate documents in our public repository (ADAMS).

9. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about the services provided by the agencys FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an estimate of the number of times requesters sought assistance from your agencys FOIA Public Liaison during Fiscal Year 2024 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number for the agency overall).

The NRC FOIA Public Liaison was contacted two times during FY2024.

C. Other Initiatives

10. Has your agency evaluated the allocation of agency personnel resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands? If so, please describe what changes your agency has or will implement.

The NRC hired one additional full-time FOIA staff to begin work in FY2024. This increased the NRCs full-time FOIA staff from three to four. We also backfilled one full-time Government Information Specialist position that was vacated at the beginning of FY2024.

In FY2024 Q2, the NRC onboarded a FOIA professional to serve as the FOIA Officer. During FY2023 this responsibility was occupied by personnel serving in an acting capacity.

To help lower the NRC backlog, we hired two full-time contract FOIA processing support staff. The NRC FOIA program continues to utilize innovative ways to grow its team of FOIA professionals increasing its staff from five to 10 during FY2024.

11. How does your agency use data or processing metrics to ensure efficient management of your FOIA workload? For example, case management reports, staff processing statistics, etc. In addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used.

The NRC has internal quarterly metrics on how timely its program and regional offices respond to requests from the agencys FOIA program. The NRC tracks the timeliness of fee estimate and search taskings to these offices. For fee estimates, the offices should respond within four days of the tasking. For search requests, the offices should respond within 10 days of tasking. At the end of each quarter, we run a report to examine whether the offices were compliant with the time limits. The results of the report are shared with agency leadership.

Additionally, the FOIA staff workload is monitored in FOIAXpress using ad hoc reporting that can assist with statistical analysis and provide a snapshot of the NRCs FOIA process. This data has been used to identify bottlenecks within certain program offices and areas where our internal FOIA processes can be improved.

12. The Federal FOIA Advisory Committee, comprised of agency representatives and members of the public, was created to foster dialogue between agencies and the requester community, solicit public comments, and develop recommendations for improving FOIA administration. Since 2020, the FOIA Advisory Committee has issued a number of recommendations. Please answer the below questions:

Is your agency familiar with the FOIA Advisory Committee and its recommendations?

Has your agency implemented any of its recommendations or found them to be helpful? If so, which ones?

Yes, the agency is familiar with the FOIA Advisory Committee, and its recommendations and the agency has implemented prior Committee recommendations. For example, in response to recommendation 2022-03, the NRC has posted information on its website about Glomar responses: Glomar:

Neither Confirm Nor Deny the Existence of Records.

In response to recommendation 2022-10, the NRC posts Portable Document Format (PDF) searchable logs on its website for incoming and closed FOIA requests.

In response to recommendation 2022-13, the NRC has streamlined its process for individuals seeking verification and copies of their reactor operator license. Now, these individuals may submit a FOIA request.

13. OptionalIf there are any other initiatives undertaken by your agency to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration, please describe them here.

The NRC undertook initiatives during this reporting period to ensure fair and effective FOIA administration by reviewing and changing its correspondence template language to promote consistency, implementing IT-assisted email searches to increase effectiveness, and providing training and guidance on FOIA-related roles and responsibilities to improve overall FOIA administration.

The NRC has a longstanding history of standardizing the information that is included in its determination letters into a Form 464. This form provides additional context and information than what is required in an initial determination letter (e.g., the NRC search process and categories of records withheld). We have found that requesters are less likely to appeal by providing information to the requester in this standardized, easy to read format with additional specificity.

More specifically, during the Fiscal Year, the NRC FOIA office:

Revised correspondence templates to be clearer and more concise.

Standardization of the templates also reduces the possibility of errors.

Piloted enterprise-based email searches utilizing eDiscovery Content Searches. This change will eventually move the NRC away from custodial email searches. An advancement, this pilot helped to close an influx of FOIA requests (500+ requests) the agency received that ordinarily would require individual coordination with each custodian and increased processing times.

Piloted Microsoft Purview to assist with the management and accessibility of electronic records. This software allows staff to use machine learning tools to conduct enterprise-wide Boolean and keyword searches, and technology-assisted search language to manage and streamline document production, which has proven to reduce the agencys human burden of performing manual searches.

Distinguished FOIA best practices through training and information sharing. The training sessions included an overview of FOIA; identified various roles and responsibilities of NRC staff with integral roles in the process. The sessions provided guidance and addressed responsibilities in numerous areas within the agency, such as the intranet, management directives, and desk guides.

Section III: Proactive Disclosures The Attorney Generals 2022 FOIA Guidelines emphasize that proactive disclosure of information is... fundamental to the faithful application of the FOIA. The Guidelines direct agencies to post records online quickly and systematically in advance of any public request and reiterate that agencies should post records in the most useful, searchable, and open formats possible.

1. Please describe what steps your agency takes to identify, track, and post (a)(2) proactive disclosures.

The NRC maintains a robust recordkeeping repository that contains collections of publicly available documents in its web-based ADAMS system. This system contains agency records dating back to 1999. It also provides the public access to official agency records (non-sensitive), in addition to records in the agencys Publicly Available Records System Library and Public Legacy Library. Examples of records maintained in ADAMS include publicly available regulatory guides, NUREG-series reports, inspection reports, Commission documents, correspondence, and other regulatory and technical documents written by NRC staff, contractors, and licensees. Moreover, ADAMS documents are provided in Adobe PDF. ADAMS permits full-text searching and enables users to view document images, download files, and print locally. Lastly, new documents become accessible on the day they are published and are released periodically throughout the day.

2. Does your agency post logs of its FOIA requests?

If so, what information is contained in the logs?

Are they posted in CSV format? If not, what format are they posted in?

Please provide a link to the page where any FOIA logs are posted. If applicable, please provide component links.

Yes, the NRC posts logs of its FOIA requests consisting of an index of incoming requests from FY2010 to the present. The index contains a chronological listing of Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act (FOIA/PA) requests submitted to the NRC during each month of a Fiscal Year. These listings include the subject, requesters name, requesters organization, request description and reference number of each request. The index is keyword searchable.

The NRC also posts an index of closed FOIA requests from 1998 to the present.

This index includes the data available in the incoming request index, in addition to the closed and received date for the FOIA request. If the request included information that the agency made publicly available, there is a link within the index that directs the user to ADAMS, the NRCs public record repository, to download the PDFs responsive to that request. The index is also keyword searchable.

The indexes are not CSV formatted. Since the indexes are part of the NRCs public-facing web page, the format would be considered HTML. The hyperlinks for the incoming and closed indexes are:

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/recent-request.html https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/closed-request.html

3. Provide examples of any material (with links) that your agency has proactively disclosed during the past reporting year, including records that have been requested and released three or more times in accordance with 5 U.S.C. §552(a)(2)(D).

The NRC has a longstanding policy of conducting its regulatory responsibilities in an open and transparent manner and actively makes records publicly available, without waiting for a FOIA request. The NRC has made available to the public at ML072770468, Guidance for Determining the Public Availability of Documents.

The NRC Management Directive 3.4, Release of Information to the Public, at ML080310417, provides policy guidance on proactive disclosures of agency information of interest to the public, when no request for information has been made under the FOIA. The policy statement found within MD 3.4 reads, The U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission makes as much information as possible available to the public relating to its health and safety mission, in accordance with its legal responsibilities to protect specific types of information. It is the intent of NRC to routinely make information publicly available that is anticipated to be of interest to the public to make it unnecessary for persons to file a request for the information under the FOIA. This directive requires review of Commission Decision Documents (SECY papers [SECYs], Commission memoranda [COMs],

and staff requirements memoranda [SRMs]) for mandatory release under the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) and (a)(2).

The NRC routinely released non-sensitive records to the public in ADAMS in an accessible electronic format. https://adams.nrc.gov/wba/

- NRC regulatory guides: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/reg-guides/

- Office of the Inspector General reports: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/insp-gen/

- Commission documents: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/recent/2017/

- Quarterly generic issues: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/generic-issues/quarterly/index.html

- Congressional testimony: https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/congress-docs/congress-testimony/

- Nuclear Reactor Information - https://www.nrc.gov/reactors.html

4. Please provide a link (or component links, if applicable) where your agency routinely posts its frequently requested records.

The agency posts its frequently requested records at the following link:

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html

5. Beyond posting new material, is your agency taking steps to make the posted information more useful to the public, especially to the community of individuals who regularly access your agencys website? If yes, please provide examples of such improvements, such as steps taken to post information in open and machine-readable formats. If not taking steps to make posted information more useful, please explain why.

Yes. Recently, the NRC made the following improvements to information posted online making the search process more user-friendly: the addition of docket numbers in the ADAMS profile, a revised Public Meeting Notice System entry form requiring the docket number field to be completed, and a user-friendly search feature that enables submitters to select the applicable docket number.

6. Does your proactive disclosure process or system involve any collaboration with agency staff outside the FOIA office, such as IT or data personnel? If so, describe this interaction.

Yes, as part of the NRCs proactive disclosure process, the NRC FOIA Team often collaborates with the NRCs Digitization, Processing, and Records Branch, as well as the NRCs Technical Library and its Public Document Room.

7. OptionalPlease describe the best practices used to improve proactive disclosures and any challenges your agency faces in this area.

In line with the agencys commitment to transparency, the NRC uses sound RM processes and procedures to ensure that information of interest to the public is proactively disclosed and made available in ADAMS. In FY2024 the NRC posted and made publicly available 27,863 records in ADAMS.

Section IV: Steps Take to Greater Utilize Technology A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information available to the public and to gain efficiency in FOIA processing. The Attorney Generals 2022 FOIA Guidelines emphasizes the importance of making FOIA websites easily navigable and complying with the FOIA.gov interoperability requirements. Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is using technology to improve its FOIA administration and the public's access to information.

1. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA-related technological capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands?

Yes. Throughout the reporting period and as a result of an influx of FOIA requests that required custodial email searches, we have routinely met with internal stakeholders to review and discuss FOIA-related technology that is available at the agency.

2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency uses to support your FOIA program.

During this reporting period, we began using the following tools:

Shared Microsoft Teams Channels to promote collaboration, file sharing, and open communication.

Power BI Strategic Planning Application Dashboard to track and visualize FOIA metrics, as they relate to the NRCs overall performance indicators and agency priorities.

FedPass Portfolio Project Management Application to track FOIA-related projects on a weekly basis and provide insight to management on progress and potential challenges.

Microsoft Purview to assist with deduplicating email records and streamlining the email search process.

3. Does your agency currently use any technology to automate record processing? For example, does your agency use machine learning, predictive coding, technology-assisted review or similar tools to conduct searches or make redactions? If so, please describe and, if possible, estimate how much time and financial resources are saved since implementing the technology.

The NRC currently uses Active Navigation to analyze and manage the digital file environment for ADAMS. Active Navigation supports electronic management of unstructured data and records in the M365 environment and shared drives for the agency. The software has machine learning and predictive coding features.

The NRC also engaged in a pilot of Microsoft Purview to use machine learning tools to conduct enterprise-wide Boolean and keyword searches, in addition to technology-assisted search language to manage and streamline document production. This tool reduces the agencys human burden of performing manual searches.

Furthermore, the agencys FOIA office uses FOIAXpress for processing FOIA responses. A component of this software is the EDR function. It deduplicates large volumes of records. The EDR component also identifies the representative document from sets of contained e-mail chains among the reviewed records.

FOIAXpress also contains an Artificial Intelligence feature that is capable of machine learning and predictive coding by setting up templates with the Artificial Intelligence license for each user. The NRC plans to utilize this feature in FY2025.

Finally, FOIAXpress possesses a Find and Redact feature (a type of technology-assisted review) that allows the FOIA staff to search responsive records for keywords or specific types of information such as phone numbers or Social Security Numbers.

4. OIP issued guidance in 2017 encouraging agencies to regularly review their FOIA websites to ensure that they contain essential resources and are informative and user-friendly. Has your agency reviewed its FOIA website(s) during the reporting period to ensure it addresses the elements noted in the guidance?

Yes, each year the NRC routinely reviews and updates the internal and public-facing FOIA websites after the submission of the Annual FOIA Report to DOJ.

5. Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2024 appear on FOIA.gov?

Yes, the agency posted all four quarterly reports for FY2024 on FOIA.gov.

6. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports on FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agencys plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2025.

N/A.

7. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires all agencies to post the raw statistical data used to compile their Annual FOIA Reports. Please provide the link to this posting for your agencys Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agencys Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report.

The NRCs Annual FOIA Report for FY2023 may be found at:

https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/annual-reports/

8. In February 2019, DOJ and the Office of Management and Budget issued joint Guidance establishing interoperability standards to receive requests from the National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov. Are all components of your agency in compliance with the guidance?

Yes, the NRC follows the guidance establishing interoperability standards.

9. OptionalPlease describe the best practices used in greater utilizing technology and any challenges your agency faces in this area.

N/A.

Section V: Steps Taken to Remove Barriers to Access, Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests, and Reduce Backlogs The Attorney Generals 2022 FOIA Guidelines instruct agencies to remove barriers to requesting and accessing government records and to reduce FOIA processing backlogs. Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is removing barriers to access, improving timeliness in responding to requests, and reducing FOIA backlogs.

A. Remove Barriers to Access

1. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first-party requested records, outside of the typical FOIA or Privacy Act process?

Yes.

2. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please indicate why not. Please also indicate if you do not know.

The NRC provides individuals with the opportunity to request Radiation Worker Dose History through an alternative means, separate from FOIA. NRC employees are also provided with access to their time and labor records and their performance-related documents (e.g., appraisals, elements and standards) outside of FOIA or the Privacy Act.

3. Please describe any other steps your agency has taken to remove barriers to accessing government information.

Whenever possible, the NRC proactively posts publicly available records in ADAMS, the agencys official record repository. The records are 508 compliant and searchable. Links to public FOIA responses are also posted in the FOIA Reading Room. Additionally, included in the NRCs Public Access Link (https://foia.nrc-gateway.gov/app/Home.aspx) is direct access to the public-facing ADAMS page allowing requesters to search for records before submitting a FOIA request.

B. Timeliness

4. For Fiscal Year 2024, what was the average number of days your agency reported for adjudicating requests for expedited processing? Please see Section VIII.A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report.

The average number of days is one day.

5. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was above 10 calendar days, according to Section VIII.A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2024 Annual FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests for expedited processing are adjudicated within 10 calendar days or less.

N/A.

6. Does your agency utilize a separate track for simple requests?

Yes.

7. If your agency uses a separate track for simple requests, according to Annual FOIA Report Section VII.A, was the agency overall average number of days to process simple requests 20 working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2024?

The average number of days to process simple requests is 20.42 days.

8. If not, did the simple track average processing time decrease compared to the previous Fiscal Year?

N/A.

9. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2024 that were placed in your simple track. Please use the following calculation based on the data from your Annual FOIA Report: (processed simple requests from Section VII.C.1) divided by (requests processed from Section V.A.) x 100.

60 % ((277 divided by 461) X 100).

10. If your agency does not track simple requests separately, was the average number of days to process all non-expedited requests 20 working days or fewer?

N/A.

C. Backlogs Backlogged Requests

11. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2024, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.2, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2023?

The backlog for FY2024 increased by one request to 97 requests.

12. If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.1, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2024 than it did during Fiscal Year 2023?

Yes. The agency processed 206 requests in FY2023 and 461 requests in FY2024.

This is an increase of 255 requests.

13. If your agencys request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2024, please explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:

An increase in the number of incoming requests.

A loss of staff.

An increase in the complexity of the requests received (if possible, please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog increase)

Litigation Any other reasonsplease briefly describe or provide examples when possible The NRC experienced a significant increase in the number of incoming requests.

In addition, the NRC had legacy staffing challenges. Many of these challenges have been addressed over the last few months of the reporting period and the agency continues to address the remaining challenges.

14. If you had a request backlog, please report the percentage of requests that make up the backlog out of the total number of requests received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2024. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged requests from Section XII.A) divided by (requests received from Section V.A) x 100. This number can be greater than 100%. If your agency has no request backlog, please answer with N/A.

14.6% ((97 divided by 664) X100).

Backlogged Appeals

15. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2024, according to Section XII.E.2 of the Annual FOIA Report, did that backlog decrease as compared with the backlog reported at the end of Fiscal Year 2023?

No. The backlog increased by two appeals. The NRC had two backlogged appeals in FY2023 and four backlogged appeals in FY2024.

16. If not, according to section XII.E.1 of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2024 than it did during Fiscal Year 2023?

No. During FY2023, we processed seven appeals and as compared to, six appeals in FY2024.

17. If your agencys appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2024, please explain why and describe the causes that contributed to your agency not being able to reduce its backlog. When doing so, please also indicate if any of the following were contributing factors:

An increase in the number of incoming appeals A loss of staff An increase in the complexity of the requests received (if possible, please provide examples or briefly describe the types of complex requests contributing to your backlog increase)

Litigation Any other reasonsplease briefly describe or provide examples when possible The NRC experienced a significant increase in the number of incoming requests.

In addition, the NRC had legacy staffing challenges. Many of these challenges have been addressed over the last few months of the reporting period and the agency continues to address the remaining challenges.

18. If you had an appeal backlog please report the percentage of appeals that make up the backlog out of the total number of appeals received by your agency in Fiscal Year 2024. Please use the following calculation based on data from your Annual FOIA Report: (backlogged appeals from Section XII.A) divided by (appeals received from Section VI.A) x 100. This number can be greater than 100%. If your agency did not receive any appeals in Fiscal Year 2024 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

50% ((4 divided by 8) X 100).

D. Backlog Reduction Plans

19. In the 2024 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2023 was asked to provide a plan for achieving backlog reduction in the year ahead. Did your agency implement a backlog reduction plan last year? If so, describe your agencys efforts in implementing this plan and note if your agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2024?

No.

20. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2024, please explain your agencys plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2025.

N/A.

E. Reducing the Age of Requests, Appeals, and Consultations Ten Oldest Requests

21. In Fiscal Year 2024, did your agency close the 10 oldest pending perfected requests that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report?

No.

22. If no, please provide the number of these requests your agency was able to close by the end of the Fiscal Year, as listed in Section VII.E of your Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than 10 total oldest requests to close, please indicate that.

One out of 10.

23. Beyond work on the 10 oldest requests, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending requests.

The NRC is committed to reducing the overall age of its pending requests. During the reporting period, the NRC hired three FOIA Specialists. In addition, the FOIA Team met with agency offices to better understand their process in response to being tasked with identifying fee estimates, records, and disclosure recommendations. We will continue to work with staff to ensure they better understand the FOIA and the importance of adhering to assigned response times and prioritizing FOIA activities.

Ten Oldest Appeals

24. In Fiscal Year 2024, did your agency close the 10 oldest appeals that were reported pending in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report?

No.

25. If no, please provide the number of these appeals your agency was able to close by the end of the Fiscal Year, as listed in Section VII.C.(5) of your Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than 10 total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that.

Zero of four.

26. Beyond work on the 10 oldest appeals, please describe any steps your agency took to reduce the overall age of your pending appeals.

The NRC continues to take steps to reduce the overall age of its pending appeals through more communication with its program offices to better understand their process in response to being tasked with identifying fee estimates, searching for records, and developing foreseeable harms statements and disclosure recommendations. We will continue to work with staff to ensure they better understand the FOIA and the importance of adhering to assigned response times and prioritizing FOIA activities.

Ten Oldest Consultations

27. In Fiscal Year 2024, did your agency close the 10 oldest consultations that were reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report?

N/A.

28. If no, please provide the number of these consultations your agency was able to close by the end of the Fiscal Year, as listed in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2023 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than 10 total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that.

N/A.

Additional Information Regarding Ten Oldest

29. If your agency did not close its 10 oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, please explain why and provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those 10 oldest requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2025.

The NRC encountered staff turnover during FY2024. There were three vacancies; those vacancies were filled. For FY2025, the NRC is placing focused attention on the oldest 10 requests and appeals by assessing what is pending, coordinating with the relevant program offices, and underscoring the importance of prioritizing all concurrence reviews which are required prior to disclosing interim and final responses.

F. Additional Information about FOIA Processing

30. Were any requests at your agency the subject of FOIA litigation during the reporting period? If so, please describe the impact on your agencys overall FOIA request processing and backlog. If possible, please indicate:

The number and nature of requests subject to litigation Common causes leading to litigation Any other information to illustrate the impact of litigation on your overall FOIA administration N/A.