SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) established the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee (Committee) to foster dialogue between the Administration and the requester community, solicit public comments, and develop recommendations for improving the FOIA process. Committee members represent a wide variety of stakeholders in the FOIA community, inside and outside of government, and the Committee serves as a deliberative body to advise the Archivist of the United States on improvements to FOIA administration. The Committee's work helps the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) fulfill the directive in FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(h)(2)(C), that the OGIS within NARA “identify procedures and methods for improving compliance” with FOIA. The Committee is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 1001-1014.

II. Charter and Membership Appointment Terms

NARA initially chartered the Committee on May 20, 2014. NARA determined that renewing the Committee is in the public interest.

III. Committee Membership

The 2026-2028 FOIA Advisory Committee will consist of no more than 20 individuals who will include a range of Government and non-Government representatives. Members are selected in accordance with the charter. Considerations when making appointments will include geographic breadth; various sizes of companies or organizations to be represented; and representation from a variety of fields of business and industry, academic institutions, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders in accordance with the charter.

Government members will include, at a minimum: Three FOIA professionals from Cabinet-level Departments; three FOIA professionals from non-Cabinet agencies; the director of the Department of Justice's Office of Information Policy (OIP) or the OIP Director's designee; and the Director of OGIS or the OGIS Director's designee.

Non-Governmental members will include, at a minimum: Two individuals representing the interests of non-Governmental organizations that advocate on FOIA matters; one individual representing the interests of FOIA requesters who qualify for the “all other” FOIA requester fee category; one individual representing the interests of requesters who qualify for the “news media” FOIA requester fee category; one individual representing the interests of requesters who qualify for the “commercial” FOIA requester fee category; one individual representing the interests of historians and history-related organizations; and one individual representing the interests of academia.

IV. Committee Members' Responsibilities

All Committee members are expected to attend a minimum of 10 public meetings during the two-year Committee term. Meetings will be held virtually with some in-person meetings possible. All Committee members are expected to volunteer for one or more working subcommittees that will meet at various times during the two-year term. Meeting notices will be published in the Federal Register .

V. Nomination Information

All nominations for Committee membership must include the following information:

1. If you are self-nominating: Your name, title, relevant contact information (including telephone and email address), and the representative role for which you wish to be considered;

2. If you are nominating another individual: The nominee's name, title, and relevant contact information, and the Committee position for which you are submitting the nominee;

3. For both self-nominations and nominations by other individuals: (a) A short paragraph or biography about the nominee (fewer than 250 words), summarizing their resumé or otherwise highlighting the contributions the nominee would bring to the Committee; and (b) the nominee's resumé or curriculum vitae.

Nominations selected for appointment to the Committee will be notified in writing prior to the first Committee meeting of the seventh term. Meeting notices will be published in the Federal Register .

91 FR 58471