Monday, October 22, 2012

EPA and other Federal Agencies Release FOIAonline a New Freedom of Information Act Portal

Recently, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Commerce have joined forces to release a portal FOIAonline to allow for unified submission of public requests to each agency under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Freedom of Information Act of 1966, Pub. L. No. 89-554, 80 Stat. 383 (codified at 5 U.S.C. §552).  Please note that this system replaces the old EPA FOIA online request form as the EPA's site now directs patrons to FOIAonline.  According to the NARA press release,
FOIAonline (http://FOIAonline.Regulations.gov), formerly known as the FOIA Module, is available as of . . . (October 1). It offers the public one place to submit FOIA requests, track their progress, communicate with the processing agency, search other requests, access previously released responsive documents and file appeals with participating agencies . . . Six Federal agencies now have partnered to develop and deploy FOIAonline along with EPA, including Commerce, NARA, the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and the Merit Systems Protection Board, each of which will deploy on its own schedule.

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