Technical and “clarifying” updates to the information availability rules followed by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-setting committee were proposed by the agency Wednesday.
According to the Fed, the proposal updates the procedures for requesting access to documents that are records of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which the Fed noted authorizes release of information from the committee.
Specifically, the Fed said, the amendments clarify and update the FOMC’s regulations implementing the FOIA by streamlining its regulations and incorporating guidance provided from the Department of Justice (DOJ). The guidance contains the rules that agencies follow in processing requests for records under the FOIA. That guidance was last updated in early 2017, according to the date stamp on the document related to the guidance on the DOJ website.
The proposal also incorporates formatting and language from the Federal Reserve Board’s revisions to its own FOIA procedures, which are effective Oct. 15, the Fed said.
Comments are due within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register.