How long is the FOIA process?

Pursuant to E-FOIA of 1996, agencies have twenty (20) business days to respond to a FOIA request. This period does not begin until the request is actually received and acknowledged by the FOIA Officer. If a request is sent or mailed to the wrong office or sent directly to an EPA employee other than the FOIA Officer, this is considered a misdirected request in which the 20 day response time does not apply and may result in a delayed response. Twenty days to respond means the agency has until the end of the twentieth day to notify the requestor of its decision to release or withhold documents requested. Documents may be provided within a reasonable time afterward. To deal with heavy FOIA workloads, E-FOIA of 1996 has established a multitracking processing system.

The tracks are:

BASIC - 20 days
UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES - Interim response (additional 10 days with prior notification to Requestor)
EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES - agreement with the Requestor that it may take 35 or more days to provide records
EXPEDITE/COMPELLING NEED - certified statement for expedited treatment of request

Requests are automatically placed in the BASIC track- with the exception of expedited requests. Requests for EXPEDITED treatment must be accompanied with a certified statement that the request must be expedited due to imminent threat to life or physical safety, loss of substantial due process rights, or an urgency to inform the public about an actual federal government activity. Your certified reason must be true and correct. If an expedited request is denied, the requestor will be notified immediately and provided with instructions on rights to appeal. Requests are not expedited merely because the requestor is a representative of the news media or the requestor is up against a project due date or court date.

How long is the FOIA process?

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