State Department rewrites its FOIA and public-access-to-information rules
The Department of State revised its public-access-to-information regulations at 22 CFR part 171, effective October 21, 2026 (FR Doc. 2026-19223), reflecting organizational and procedural changes and the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016. Electronic FOIA and Privacy Act requests for the Information Access Programs Directorate and the Directorate for Passport Services are accepted only via FOIA.gov or the Department's FOIA website. The rule simplifies procedures for describing records sought and points requesters to current component contact information.