Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

2022 Chief FOIA Officer Report

Margaret McCloskey Shanks, Deputy Secretary and Chief FOIA Officer for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), hereby submits the Chief FOIA Officer Report on behalf of the Board.

Section I: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness

The guiding principle underlying DOJ's FOIA Guidelines is the presumption of openness.

Please answer the following questions in order to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is being applied to all decisions involving the FOIA. You may also include any additional information that illustrates how your agency is working to apply the presumption of openness.

A. FOIA Leadership

1. The FOIA requires each agency to designate a Chief FOIA Officer who is a senior official at the Assistant Secretary or equivalent level. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(j)(1) (2018). Is your agency's Chief FOIA Officer at this level?

Yes

2. Please provide the name and title of your agency's Chief FOIA Officer.

Margaret McCloskey Shanks, Deputy Secretary of the Board

B. FOIA Training

3. 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 Board incorporated the Office of Information Policy's (OIP) FOIA training modules into the Board's internal training application, which is accessible by all Board staff. Employees with responsibility for administering the FOIA must meet specific performance standards, which include taking substantive FOIA training and require demonstrating appropriate subject matter expertise.

4. 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?

Yes

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

Board FOIA professionals attended virtual training provided by OIP on the following topics:

• Best Practices FOIA Administration During the Pandemic – offered strategies to overcome current challenges;
• Continuing FOIA Education – discussed policy and legal developments in FOIA administration, including recent court decisions;
• Exemption 4 and Exemption 5 Workshop – provided overview of exemption requirements and processes; and
• Advanced FOIA Training – discussed topics such as procedural requirements, personal privacy exemptions, and proactive disclosures.

Board FOIA professionals also attended the following programs provided by the American Society of Access Professionals:

• 14^th Annual National Training Conference – provided information and guidance on numerous FOIA topics, including FOIA exemptions, redaction practices, records management, and reasonable searches, and included panel discussions with requesters about FOIA in the COVID environment;
• Privacy Remediation – described information security threats and vulnerabilities, practices to promote a secure environment for Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and processes for responding to breaches and mitigating loss of PII; and
• FOIA and Privacy Interface – discussed interplay between the PA and the FOIA in processing requests and identified common issues, as well as differences, between the laws.

6. 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.

All (100%) of the Board's FOIA professionals with responsibility for administering the Board's FOIA program attended substantive FOIA training during this reporting period.

7. 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 agency's plan to ensure that all FOIA professionals receive or attend substantive FOIA training during the next reporting year.

N/A

8. Did the personnel at your agency who have FOIA responsibilities attend training in federal records management during this reporting period?

Yes, the Board's FOIA professionals with responsibility for administering the Board's FOIA program attended federal records management training during this reporting period.

C. Outreach

9. Did your FOIA professionals engage in any outreach or dialogue, outside of the standard request process, with the requester community or open government groups regarding your administration of the FOIA? Please describe any such outreach or dialogue, and, if applicable, any specific examples of how this dialogue has led to improvements in your agency's FOIA administration.

No, the Board's FOIA professionals did not engage in outreach or dialogue outside of the standard request process; however, the Board's FOIA Public Liaison and other FOIA professionals regularly communicate with FOIA requesters by email and telephone regarding the Board's FOIA processes. These communications improve the Board's FOIA administration by assisting requesters with submitting more targeted requests, which enables the Board to provide requesters with the information they are seeking in a more timely manner.

D. Other Initiatives

10. 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 agency's FOIA resources, obligation and expectations during the FOIA process.

The Board's FOIA professionals published an article on the Board's internal website during Sunshine Week reminding all Board employees of their responsibilities under FOIA. The article highlighted, among other things, the importance of transparency in fostering accountability and the benefits of proactively disclosing information, such as by posting it on the Board's public website. As previously discussed in response to Question 3, the Board has incorporated OIP's FOIA training modules into the Board's internal training application, which is accessible by all Board staff. In addition, the Board's Chief FOIA Officer and FOIA Public Liaison have briefed senior leaders about the Board's FOIA staffing and technology resources and regularly assist Board staff in understanding and executing their responsibilities under the FOIA.

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

The Board is committed to promoting transparency and openness by providing information in a manner that is readily and easily accessible by the public. The Board has undertaken a number of initiatives to further these objectives. For example, the Board has redesigned and updated several webpages to make the information more readily accessible to the public. The Board often provides information in multiple formats to accommodate different user preferences. In addition, the Board also assesses emerging and innovative communication formats and channels, such as both live streaming and on-demand viewing of speeches and conferences. For more specific examples, see responses to questions in Section III of this report.

Section II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency Has an Effective System in Place for Responding to Requests

DOJ's FOIA Guidelines emphasize that "[a]pplication of the proper disclosure standard is only one part of ensuring transparency. Open government requires not just a presumption of disclosure, but also an effective system for responding to FOIA requests." It is essential that agencies effectively manage their FOIA program.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the management of your FOIA program is effective and efficient. You should also include any additional information that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

1. For Fiscal Year 2021, 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 2021 Annual FOIA Report.

The Board adjudicated requests for expedited processing in an average of eight days.

2. If your agency's average number of days to adjudicate requests for expedited processing was above ten calendar days, according to Section VIII.A. of your agency's Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report, please describe the steps your agency will take to ensure that requests for expedited processing are adjudicated within ten calendar days or less.

N/A

3. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 required all agencies to update their FOIA regulations within 180 days. In 2016, OIP issued Guidance for Agency FOIA Regulations and the accompanying Template for Agency FOIA Regulations to assist agencies in updating their regulations in accordance with the statute. Has your agency updated its FOIA regulations in accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016? If not, what is your agency's plan to update your regulations?

Yes, the Board updated its FOIA regulations within the 180-day statutory deadline in accordance with the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016.

4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) generally document your agency's internal processes for administering the FOIA beyond your FOIA regulations and FOIA Reference Guide. As noted in OIP's guidance, having SOPs can improve the consistency and quality of an agency's FOIA process. SOPs can also serve as a significant resource for incoming FOIA professionals and a way to preserve much of the agency's institutional knowledge on administering the FOIA from how to handle requests from start-to-finish, to identifying and making proactive disclosures, to maintaining a FOIA website. Does your agency have up-to-date internal SOPs for your FOIA administration?

Yes, the Board has up-to-date internal SOPs for FOIA administration.

5. If not, please provide a timeline for when your agency plans to develop or update its SOPs.

N/A

6. Has your agency established alternative means of access to first-party requested records outside of the FOIA process?

Yes, the Board has established alternative means of access to first-party requested records outside of the FOIA process.

7. If yes, please provide examples. If no, please explain if such opportunities exist at your agency and whether there are any challenges in establishing alternative means of access.

Although the Board does not frequently receive first-party requests, first-party requesters can submit requests electronically to the Board's online portal or by mailing requests to the Board's address.

8. Did your agency conduct a self-assessment of its FOIA administration during the reporting period? If so, please describe the self-assessment methods used, such as analyzing Annual Report or raw data, using active workflows and track management, reviewing and updating processing procedures, etc. In addition, please specifically highlight any data analysis methods or technologies used to assess your agency's FOIA program.

The Board conducted a self-assessment of its FOIA administration by analyzing quarterly and annual reporting data, as well as raw data. The Board also revised its SOPs to reflect new processing procedures and workflows instituted as a result of implementing a new case management system.

9. The FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 requires additional notification to requesters about the services provided by the agency's FOIA Public Liaison. Please provide an estimate of the number of times requesters sought assistance from your agency's FOIA Public Liaison during FY 2021 (please provide a total number or an estimate of the number).

FOIA requesters sought assistance from the Board's FOIA Public Liaison approximately ten times during FY 2021.

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

Yes, the Board reviewed its FOIA-related staffing capabilities to identify additional resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands.

11. Optional -- Please describe:

• Best practices used to ensure that your FOIA system operates efficiently and effectively
• Any challenges your agency faces in this area

To ensure that the Board's FOIA program operates efficiently and effectively, the Board's Chief FOIA Officer and the Board's FOIA Public Liaison regularly review the status of pending FOIA requests and take steps to mitigate delays in processing requests. They have also successfully advocated for an additional full-time FOIA professional and new case management software to facilitate processing requests in a timely manner. In addition, the Board revised the job descriptions and expanded the career ladders for all FOIA professionals in order to hire and retain more experienced staff.

Section III: Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures

The Department of Justice has long focused on the need for agencies to work proactively to post information online without waiting for individual requests to be received.

Please answer the following questions to describe the steps your agency has taken to increase the amount of material that is available on your agency websites. In addition to the questions below, you should also describe any additional steps taken by your agency to make and improve proactive disclosures of information.

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

The Board's FOIA Public Liaison works with staff from other Board divisions to identify records of public importance to proactively post in the Board's electronic FOIA reading room. In addition, the Board's Information Disclosure Section has dedicated one FOIA professional to periodically review the Board's FOIA logs and identify, track, and post records for proactive disclosures.

2. Provide examples of material 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). Please include links to these materials as well.

As previously stated in Section I, the Board is committed to promoting transparency and openness by providing information of public interest in a variety of easily accessible formats to meet a broad range of user preferences. The items described below have been proactively disclosed on the Board's public website.

• To maximize timeliness of information available to the public, the Board live streamed a variety of events and activities, including eight Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) press conferences and one open Board meeting, which were also recorded and made available for on-demand viewing.
• To increase public accessibility, the Board posts information in a wide variety of formats to meet different user preferences.
  • Speeches provided via live stream and, subsequently, for on-demand viewing, along with a copy of full text (full list of speeches by Federal Reserve officials is also available), include:
    • Federal Reserve Independence: Foundations and Responsibilities;
    • Engagement, Research and Policy: Integrating Indigenous Voices into Economic Inclusion at the Federal Reserve;
    • Flexible Average Inflation Targeting and Prospects for U.S. Monetary Policy;
    • Federal Inclusion and Economic Challenges in the Shadow of the Pandemic: A Conversation with Tribal Leaders;
    • Monetary Policy in the Time of COVID;
    • Outlooks, Outcomes, and Prospects for U.S. Monetary Policy;
    • Community Development; and
    • Building Economic Resilience in Communities.
  • Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Officials made available via live stream and, subsequently, on demand, and a link to access transcripts of Congressional hearings, include:
    • Coronavirus and CARES Act;
    • The Federal Reserve's Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic;
    • Supervision and Regulation;
    • The End of LIBOR: Transitioning to an Alternative Interest Rate Calculation for Mortgages, Student Loans, Business Borrowing, and Other Financial Products; and
    • Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress.
• In accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(2)(D), the Board proactively posted frequently requested records and other items of broad public interest in the FOIA electronic reading room, such as:
  • Banking applications and related materials for
    • U.S. Bancorp / MUFG Union Bank;
    • Citizens Financial Group, Inc. / Investors Bancorp, Inc.;
    • M&T Bank Corporation / People's United Financial Inc.; and
    • Huntington Bancshares / TCF;
  • Chair Powell's public calendar;
  • Letters which address significant policy and procedural matters, such as Supervision and Regulation and Consumer Affairs; and
  • Formal enforcement actions against entities supervised by the Federal Reserve.

• The Board also produced many publications of public interest on various topics, including:
  • Reports to Congress Pursuant to Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act in Response to COVID-19, which concerns the lending facilities established by the Board;
  • Supervision and Regulation Report, which informs the public about the Board's supervisory and regulatory policies and actions, as well as current banking conditions;
  • Financial Stability Report, which summarizes the Board's framework for assessing resilience of the U.S. financial system and presents the Board's current assessment;
  • Federal Reserve Balance Sheet Report, which provides a snapshot of Federal Reserve actions and activity in managing its balance sheet, including balance sheet trends, assets, and liabilities;
  • Monetary Policy Report, which discusses monetary policy and economic developments and prospects for the future;
  • Cybersecurity and Financial System Resilience Report, which describes measures the Board has taken to strengthen cybersecurity in the financial services sector;
  • Consumer & Community Context: The Pandemic's Early Effects on Consumers and Communities, which analyzes how consumers, communities, and community development organizations are responding to the pandemic;
  • Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test 2021: Supervisory Stress Test Methodology, which provides details about the models developed or selected by the Federal Reserve for use in the supervisory stress test;
  • Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review, which assesses whether the largest bank holding companies operating in the U.S. have sufficient capital to continue operations throughout times of economic and financial stress;
  • Beige Book, which summarizes information on the current economic conditions by Federal Reserve District;
  • Office of Minority and Women Inclusion Report, which outlines activities, successes, and challenges pertaining to minorities and women; and
  • Federal Reserve Bulletin Legal Developments, which contains topical research and analysis and quarterly legal developments concerning financial institution applications.

• To answer questions of importance by members of the public, the Board updated its frequently asked questions page to address Are U.S. Coins in Short Supply? and What is a Central Bank Digital Currency? Is the Federal Reserve moving toward adopting a digital dollar?

• To ensure that both domestic and foreign supervisors of supervised financial institutions are prepared for the global effort to transition away from LIBOR, the Board has a webpage dedicated to the transition. The webpage includes useful information, such as, a Presentation by former Vice Chair for Supervision Quarles on LIBOR at the Financial Stability Oversight Council Meeting, SR Letters, speeches, and testimonies.

3. Does your agency disseminate common types of material outside of FOIA, including in online databases where the public may access them? If yes, please provide examples and, if applicable, statutory authority.

The Board provided interactive data visualizations to disseminate information of public interest, such as:

• Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1), which provides data on transactions and levels of financial assets and liabilities, full balance sheets, integrated macroeconomic accounts, and supplemental details, including:
  • Household Balance Sheet, which include assets, liabilities, and net worth;
  • Changes in Net Worth for households and nonprofit organizations, which consist of transactions, revaluations, and other volume changes; and
  • Debt of Nonfinancial Sections, which includes debt securities, such as commercial paper, as well as loans, such as depository institution loans.
• Distributional Financial Accounts, which provides quarterly estimates of the distribution of a comprehensive measure of U.S. household wealth, including:
  • Distribution of Household Wealth, which explores the level and share of aggregate U.S. wealth held by various subgroups of the U.S. population; and
  • Components of Wealth Across Groups, which compares the composition of wealth, assets, and debts across subgroups.

4. 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 agency's website?

Yes

5. If yes, please provide examples of such improvements. In particular, please describe steps your agency is taking to post information in open, machine-readable, and machine-actionable formats, to the extent feasible. If not posting in open formats, please explain why and note any challenges.

Board personnel and contractors use software to post information in open, machine-readable, and machine-actionable formats.

• The Board published its latest edition of The Fed Explained: What the Central Bank Does, which is the Board's flagship guide to educating the public about the Federal Reserve and now includes content reflecting the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;
• The Board redesigned and updated information concerning the Federal Reserve's work related to economic disparities to increase public awareness concerning the considerable time and attention the Board devotes to analyzing income, wealth, employment and other disparities for demographic groups. The Board provides easily accessible links to important information, including:
  • Data Products, such as a Survey of Consumer Finances which collects information about family income, net worth, balance sheet components, credit use, and other financial outcomes;
  • Federal Reserve System Data and Initiatives, which includes a 2021 Report on Firms Owned by People of Color;
  • Monetary Policy Report Boxes, which includes analysis of the uneven recovery in labor force participation;
  • Links to research and conferences conducted by the Board and the Federal Reserve System as well as testimony, speeches, and outreach;
  • Minority Depository Institutions information;
  • Community Development; and
  • Fair Lending Supervision and the Community Reinvestment Act.

• The Board redesigned and updated information supporting responsible innovation, both by the firms the Board regulates directly and in the financial market broadly, to serve as a resource for stakeholders interested in engaging with innovation-related matters. The Board provides links to useful information, including:
  • Community Bank Resources, such as Community Bank Access to Innovation through Partnerships, which describes the landscape of community bank partnerships with fintechs, and Conducting Due Diligence on Financial Technology Companies: A Guide for Community Banks, which assists banks with performing due diligence on prospective partnerships with fintech companies;
  • Supervisory Information related to fintech and innovation work; and
  • Research papers, speeches and publications, recordings of past events, and other resources relevant to fintech and innovation-related topics.
• The Board updated various statistical release reports, such as:
  • H.2, which provides information on actions of the Board, its staff, and the Federal Reserve Banks;
  • H.3, which provides information about aggregate reserves of depository institutions and the monetary base;
  • H.4.1, which provides information on factors affecting reserve balances;
  • H.6, which provides information about money stock measures; and
  • H.8, which provides information about assets and liabilities of commercial banks in the United States.
• The Board published additional research on a wide range of economic topics through FEDS Working Papers, IFDP Working Papers, and FEDS Notes.

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

As discussed in response to Question 1 in Section III, the Board's FOIA Public Liaison collaborates with staff in other Board divisions, such as Legal, to identify records that are likely to be frequently requested by members of the public. Those records are posted in the Board's electronic reading room on the FOIA webpage.

7. Optional -- Please describe:

• Best practices used to improve proactive disclosures
• Any challenges your agency faces in this area

As is evident from the discussion above, Board staff dedicate significant resources to identifying and proactively disclosing a broad range of information concerning the Board's actions, activities, and decisions. In addition, as noted in response to Question 1 in Section III, the Board's Information Disclosure Section designated one FOIA professional to identify, track, and post records for proactive disclosure.

Section IV: Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology

A key component of FOIA administration is using technology to make information more accessible. In addition to using the internet to make proactive disclosures, agencies should also be exploring ways to utilize technology in responding to requests.

Please answer the following questions to describe how your agency is utilizing technology to improve its FOIA administration and the public's access to information. You should also include any additional information that describes your agency's efforts in this area.

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

Yes, the Board reviewed its FOIA-related technology capabilities to identify resources needed to respond to current and anticipated FOIA demands.

2. Please briefly describe any new types of technology your agency began using during the reporting period to support your FOIA program.

The Board transitioned to from a dated, internally developed and supported platform to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software that streamlines and automates the entire processing cycle of FOIA requests. The software is fully interoperable with DOJ's National FOIA Portal on FOIA.gov, so requests submitted via the portal are automatically ingested into the Board's system.

3. 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

4. Did all four of your agency's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2021 appear on your agency's website and on FOIA.gov?

All four of the Board's quarterly reports for Fiscal Year 2021 appear on FOIA.gov.

5. If your agency did not successfully post all quarterly reports, with information appearing on FOIA.gov, please explain why and provide your agency's plan for ensuring that such reporting is successful in Fiscal Year 2022.

N/A

6. 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 agency's Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report and, if available, for your agency's Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report.

2020 Report: https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/annrept_2020.htm

2020 Raw Data: https://www.federalreserve.gov/foia/annualreports.htm

7. Optional -- Please describe:

• Best practices used in greater utilizing technology
• Any challenges your agency faces in this area.

The Board uses robust software to assist in maintaining and archiving records needed to process FOIA requests. In addition, the Board's electronic recordkeeping system, known as FIRMA, currently maintains over 5 million documents, increasing in volume by about 750,000 documents each year.

Section V: Steps Taken to Improve Timeliness in Responding to Requests and Reducing Backlogs

The Department of Justice has emphasized the importance of improving timeliness in responding to requests. This section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report addresses both time limits and backlog reduction. Backlog reduction is measured both in terms of numbers of backlogged requests or appeals and by looking at whether agencies closed their ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations.

For the figures required in this Section, please use the numbers contained in the specified sections of your agency's FY 2020 and 2021 Annual FOIA Reports.

A. Simple Track

Section VII.A. of your agency's Annual FOIA Report, entitled "FOIA Requests – Response Time for All Processed Requests," includes figures that show your agency's average response times for processed requests. For agencies utilizing a multi-track system to process requests, there is a category for "simple" requests, which are those requests that are placed in the agency's fastest (non-expedited) track, based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.

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

Yes, the Board uses simple, complex, and expedited tracks to process requests.

2. 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 twenty working days or fewer in Fiscal Year 2021?

Yes, the average number of days to process a simple request was eight.

3. Please provide the percentage of requests processed by your agency in Fiscal Year 2021 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.

Twenty-nine percent of FOIA requests processed by the Board were placed in the simple track.

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

N/A

B. Backlogs

When answering these questions, please refer to your Fiscal Year 2021 Annual FOIA Report, Sections XII.D-E, which compare the numbers of requests and appeals received, processed, and backlogged between Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021.

BACKLOGGED REQUESTS

5. If your agency had a backlog of requests at the close of Fiscal Year 2021, 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 2020?

No

6. If not, according to Annual FOIA Report Section XII.D.1, did your agency process more requests during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 2020?

Yes

7. If your agency's request backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, 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.
• Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions.
• Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible.

The Board's request backlog remained the same during Fiscal Year 2021 compared to the request backlog during Fiscal Year 2020 although there was an increase in the number of incoming requests.

8. 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 2021. Please use the following calculation based on the 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."

The percentage of requests that make up the backlog out of the total number of requests received is less than three percent.

BACKLOGGED APPEALS

9. If your agency had a backlog of appeals at the close of Fiscal Year 2021, 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 2020?

Yes

10. If not, according to Section XII.E.1 of the Annual FOIA Report, did your agency process more appeals during Fiscal Year 2021 than it did during Fiscal Year 2020?

N/A

11. If your agency's appeal backlog increased during Fiscal Year 2021, 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.
• Impact of COVID-19 and workplace and safety precautions.
• Any other reasons – please briefly describe or provide examples when possible.

N/A

12. 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 2021. Please use the following calculation based on the 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 2021 and/or has no appeal backlog, please answer with "N/A."

The percentage of appeals that make up the backlog out of the total number of appeals received is five percent.

C. Backlog Reduction Plans

13. In the 2021 guidelines for Chief FOIA Officer Reports, any agency with a backlog of over 1000 requests in Fiscal Year 2020 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 agency's efforts in implementing this plan and note if your agency was able to achieve backlog reduction in Fiscal Year 2021?

N/A

14. If your agency had a backlog of more than 1,000 requests in Fiscal Year 2021, please explain your agency's plan to reduce this backlog during Fiscal Year 2022. In particular, please also detail how your agency developed and plans to execute your backlog reduction plans.

N/A

D. Status of Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations

Section VII.E., entitled "Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Requests," Section VI.C.(5), entitled "Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals," and Section XII.C., entitled "Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency," show the ten oldest pending requests, appeals, and consultations. You should refer to these numbers from your Annual FOIA Reports for both Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021 when completing this section of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

OLDEST REQUESTS

15. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest pending perfected requests that were reported in Section VII.E. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report?

No

16. 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 2020 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest requests to close, please indicate that.

The Board closed eight of the ten oldest requests listed in the Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report by the end of the fiscal year.

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

To reduce the overall age of pending requests, the Board processed similar requests concurrently and contacted requesters about accepting previously released records that were substantially similar to the requested records.

TEN OLDEST APPEALS

18. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest appeals that were reported pending in Section VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report?

Yes

19. 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 VI.C.5 of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest appeals to close, please indicate that.

N/A

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

The Board dedicated significant resources to processing appeals in a timely manner.

TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS

21. In Fiscal Year 2021, did your agency close the ten oldest consultations that were reported pending in Section XII.C. of your Fiscal Year 2020 Annual FOIA Report?

Yes

22. 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 2020 Annual FOIA Report. If you had less than ten total oldest consultations to close, please indicate that.

The Board had less than ten total consultations to close by the end of the fiscal year.

E. Additional Information on Ten Oldest Requests, Appeals, and Consultations Plans

23. Briefly explain any obstacles your agency faced in closing its ten oldest requests, appeals, and consultations from Fiscal Year 2020.

The Board did not close two of the ten oldest requests from Fiscal Year 2020 due to the nature and complexity of the subject matter of those requests.

24. If your agency was unable to close any of its ten oldest requests because you were waiting to hear back from other agencies on consultations you sent, please provide the date the request was initially received by your agency, the date when your agency sent the consultation, and the date when you last contacted the agency where the consultation was pending.

N/A

25. If your agency did not close its ten oldest pending requests, appeals, or consultations, please provide a plan describing how your agency intends to close those "ten oldest" requests, appeals, and consultations during Fiscal Year 2022.

The Board will dedicate additional resources to closing the two "ten oldest" pending requests.

F. Success Stories

Out of all the activities undertaken by your agency since March 2021 to increase transparency and improve FOIA administration, please briefly describe here at least one success story that you would like to highlight as emblematic of your agency's efforts. The success story can come from any one of the five key areas, but should not be something that you have reported in a prior year. As noted above, these agency success stories will be highlighted during Sunshine Week by OIP. To facilitate this process, all agencies should use bullets to describe their success story and limit their text to a half page. The success story is designed to be a quick summary of key achievements. A complete description of all your efforts will be contained in the body of your Chief FOIA Officer Report.

The Board has focused considerable attention and dedicated significant resources to increasing transparency and improving public engagement concerning Board activities and actions. The Board's commitment to furthering these objectives is evident by the following examples:

• Live-streamed eight FOMC press conferences and one open Board meeting.
• Live-streamed events such as,
  • Chair Powell's Message on Developments in the U.S. Payments System;
  • FedListens: Perspectives on the Pandemic Recovery;
  • Conversations with the Chair: A Virtual Teacher and Student Town Hall Meeting;
  • Exploring Careers in Economics; and
  • College Fed Challenge Winner.
• Published 85 economic research papers and 49 economic notes from Finance and Economics Discussion Series and from International Finance Discussion Papers.
• Featured research webinars on a variety of topics by Board economists with discussion by an external expert.
• Answered 11,200 emails received through the public website.
• Issued approximately 178 press releases, including approximately 14 orders on banking applications, and published approximately 66 speeches.
• Promoted open engagement with the public on social media platforms from October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021, such as,
  • Facebook posts reached 1,056,340 Facebook users;
  • Twitter account had 58 million impressions;
  • LinkedIn account had 1,899,292 impressions;
  • YouTube account had 773,137 views; and
  • FedResearch Twitter account had 2,047,653 impressions.