The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) has published updated rules it proposes to issue
to amend its rules under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) primarily to effectuate various provisions under the 1996 Electronic FOIA Amendments. (I'm guessing that if the proposed amendments to the FOIA pass soon, FMCS will get around to changing these rules in about 2020).
FMCS had previously issued proposed rules in 1999, but never finalized them. According to FMCS, the proposed revisions include a new response time for FOIA requests, procedures for requesting expedited processing, the availability of certain public information on FMCS's Web site, and express inclusion of electronic records and automated searches along with paper records and manual
searches. In addition, FMCS's proposed amendments would update its fee schedule. FMCS is also updating the names and addresses of the various offices within the agency responsible for FOIA related activities. The proposed rules can be found here. (Please note the time for comments have now expired.)
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