FOIA Wait Times Up 31 Percent at Department of the Navy

The latest request-by-request data from the Department of the Navy shows that as
of the end of December the average number of days unanswered FOIA requests
have been waiting has been climbing, along with the pending backlog. Over the
previous 12 months, FOIA pending cases have risen by 15 percent, while pending
wait times have grown by 31 percent.

As of the end of December, there were 3,341 FOIA requests pending at the
Department of the Navy. This is up from 3,070 three months earlier, and 2,899 at
the end of December 2015.

These unanswered FOIA requests had been waiting an average 432 calendar days
without any response, up from an average wait of 329 days 12 months earlier. See
Figure 1.

Figure 1. Backlog of Unanswered Navy FOIA Requests