Environmental Protection Agency

Most recent quarterly backlog

1,691

End of FY2026 Q2 (Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026)

Latest annual report

2,234

End of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

18-year change

+41%

FY2008 → FY2025 (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2025)

Annual backlog, FY2008–FY2025

Pending requests at end of each fiscal year (Oct 1, 2007 – Sept 30, 2025). Federal fiscal year runs Oct 1 – Sept 30, named for the year it ends.

FY08: 1,584

FY10: 1,835

FY12: 1,953

FY14: 2,508

FY16: 2,054

FY18: 3,730

FY20: 2,321

FY22: 1,945

FY24: 2,211

FY25: 2,234

Dashed verticals mark presidential inaugurations.

A note on the figures. Annual and quarterly numbers don’t mean the same thing.

Annual report

Window: full fiscal year, Oct 1 through Sept 30.
Coverage: intended for every reporting agency; the current FY2025 bulk release contains 117 agency-overall reports.
Detail: received, processed, pending, exemption counts (b1–b9), ten oldest, personnel, costs.
“Pending” means: every request still open at year-end, regardless of age.
Freshness: six to nine months after fiscal year end. Latest published is FY2025.

Quarterly report

Window: three months. The latest quarter is shown in the sitewide freshness banner.
Coverage: larger agencies only. About 95 filed before the Trump 2 reporting cliff. DHS filed through FY2025 Q3, then stopped.
Detail: received, processed, backlogged. Three numbers only.
“Backlogged” means:perfected requests open more than 20 working days. Stricter than annual “pending.”
Freshness: usually about six weeks after quarter end.

Why we keep them on separate views.The two “pending” counts use different denominators, so plotting them on a single continuous timeline would misrepresent the underlying change. Within each series, comparisons are clean — quarter-over-quarter, year-over-year. Across series, only the direction of change is comparable, not the magnitude.

Recent quarterly activity

Last 22 quarters of received, processed, and backlog. Most recent: FY2026 Q2 (Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026).

Backlog

1,691

Received per quarter

1,413

Processed per quarter

1,767

10 oldest pending requests, end of FY2025 (Sept 30, 2025)

Agencies report days pending in working days, counted from the day the request was received; the years column converts to calendar years. The longer this list runs, the more litigation-ripe the agency’s backlog.

Rank	Date received	Working days pending	Years pending
#1	2016-06-16	2,327	9.3
#2	2017-02-06	2,168	8.6
#3	2017-03-15	2,142	8.5
#4	2017-03-15	2,142	8.5
#5	2017-03-29	2,132	8.5
#6	2017-04-04	2,128	8.5
#7	2017-04-06	2,127	8.5
#8	2017-04-14	2,120	8.5
#9	2017-06-13	2,079	8.3
#10	2017-08-02	2,044	8.2

Exemption invocations, FY2025 (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

How often each FOIA exemption (b1–b9) was invoked when redacting or denying records. Exemption 5 (deliberative process, attorney-client) is highlighted — it’s the most-fought exemption in FOIA litigation.

FOIA staffing, FY2025 (Oct 1, 2024 – Sept 30, 2025)

Full-time employees

195

Equivalent FTE

18.9

Total FTE

213.9

Annual report history

FY	Received	Processed	Pending end
FY2025	8,651	8,628	2,234
FY2024	7,551	7,134	2,211
FY2023	6,588	6,777	1,767
FY2022	6,636	6,630	1,945
FY2021	6,485	6,943	1,900
FY2020	6,891	7,665	2,321
FY2019	8,869	9,525	3,095
FY2018	11,364	10,442	3,730
FY2017	11,518	10,802	2,795
FY2016	10,403	10,498	2,054
FY2015	10,910	11,278	2,140
FY2014	10,470	10,130	2,508
FY2013	9,951	9,131	2,168
FY2012	9,689	9,259	1,953
FY2011	10,123	10,435	1,523
FY2010	10,409	10,071	1,835
FY2009	10,317	10,404	1,497
FY2008	11,492	11,635	1,584

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