FOIA Public Liaison
Welcome to the FOIA Public Liaison’s (FPL) Corner. The role of the Commission’s FOIA Public Liaison is to:
- assist in reducing delays,
- increase transparency and understanding of the status of requests, and
- assist in the resolution of disputes.
In particular, the Freedom of Information Act mandates that when a request presents “unusual circumstances,” and the Commission advises the requester that the request cannot be processed within the FOIA’s time limits, the requester must be given an opportunity to limit the scope of the request or to arrange an alternative timeframe for processing.
Requesters may seek the FPL’s assistance under varying circumstances. For instance, the FPL may assist if there is a breakdown in communication with the Commission’s FOIA Service Center, if the requester is having trouble obtaining a status update on their request, if there is an unusually long and unexplained delay in processing or if the requester is having trouble submitting an electronic FOIA request. Once a request has been processed and the requester receives the agency’s response, the requester may still seek assistance from the FOIA Public Liaison if the requester disagrees with the agency’s determinations.
Requesters may contact the Commission’s FOIA Public Liaison’s at:
Michael Cole
FOIA Public Liaison
FOIA-Liaison@fmshrc.gov
Additionally, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) also offers FOIA dispute resolution services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies. You may contact OGIS at https://www.archives.gov/ogis for further assistance.
If you are unsure whether a record you are interest in is already publicly available, you may visit the Commission’s FOIA Library to view some of our proactive disclosures, as well as other areas of our website to see what records are available without the need for a FOIA request.