Agencies are providing most documents online

Most federal agencies have started to open electronic reading rooms and to handle public requests for documents online, but several lag behind in implementing a 1996 law intended to speed the processing of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and to provide electronic versions of documents to the public, according to a report released Wednesday by the General Accounting Office (GAO). The report, requested by Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, the main author of the "e-FOIA" law, Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn. and Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Calif., found that in four categories of FOIA information required to be electronically available, 15 agencies had information available in all categories, but the remaining 10 had only some available. Twenty-three agencies reported that 1.6 million requests were processed within about 20 days or fewer. "Some agencies have jumped into the pool with both feet, but others are still dipping their toes," Leahy said in a statement.