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Administrative Operations
Freedom of Information Annual
Report
I. AGENCY: Program Support Center (PSC) & Office of Public
Health and Science (OPHS)
REPORT PREPARED BY: Darlene Christian
TITLE: Freedom of Information Officer, PHS
ADDRESS 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 17A-46, Rockville, Maryland 20857
PHONE NUMBER 301-443-5252
ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR THIS REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB:
http://www.psc.gov/aos/foia
ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF THIS REPORT: Same as above
II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST:
- Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency
components and offices that process FOIA requests:
PHS FOIA OFFICE
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 17A-46
Rockville, Maryland 20857
- Brief description of agency’s response time range(s):
Simple requests, 10 working days from the date of receipt;
complex requests, 60 days; and expedited processing requests, 10 days.
- Brief description of why some requests are not granted:
Documents requested were protected by a FOIA exemption and
therefore not subject to release.
III. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN REPORT:
- Agency-specific acronyms or other terms: Office of Public Health
and Science (OPHS) and Program Support Center (PSC).
- Basic terms (from FOIA UPDATE , Summer 1997):
FOIA/PA request - Freedom of Information/Privacy Act request. A FOIA
request is generally a request for access to records concerning a third
party, an organization, or a particular topic of interest. A Privacy
Act request is a request for records concerning oneself; such requests
are also treated as FOIA requests. (All requests for access to records,
regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are included in this
report).
Initial Request - a request to a federal agency for access to records
under the Freedom of Information Act.
Appeal - a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher
administrative level a full denial or partial denial of access to records
under the Freedom of Information Act, or any other FOIA determination
such as a matter pertaining to fees.
Processed Request or Appeal - a request or appeal for which an agency
has taken a final action on the request or appeal in all respects.
Multi-track processing - a system in which simple requests requiring
relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more
voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other tracks.
Requests in each track are processed on a first-in/first-out basis.
A requester who has an urgent need for records may request expedited
processing (see below).
Expedited processing - an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited
basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for
the records which warrants prioritization of his or her request over
other requests that were made earlier.
Simple request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing
places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the volume and/or
simplicity of the records requested.
Complex request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing
places in a slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records
requested.
Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full response
to a FOIA request
Partial grant - an agency decision to disclose a record in part in response
to a FOIA request, deleting information determined to be exempt under
one or more of the FOIA exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records
in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.
Denial - an agency decision not to release any part of a record or records
in response to a FOIA request because all the information in the requested
records is determined by the agency to be exempt under one or more of
FOIA exemptions or for some procedural reason (such as because no record
is located in response to a FOIA request).
Time Limits - the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for
an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from
proper receipt of a perfected FOIA request).
Perfected request - a FOIA request for records which adequately describes
the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the
agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is
no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees.
Exemption 3 statute - a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure
of a certain type of information and authorizing its withholding under
FOIA subsection (b)(3).
Median number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3,
7, and 14, the median number is 7.
Average number - the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group
of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For example, of
3, 7, and 14, the average number is eight.
IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES:
- List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report
year:
Public Law 104-201, Section 821(b)(m); 42 U.S.C. 253b(m)
- Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each
statute: Unsuccessful contract technical proposal
- Has a court upheld the use of each statute? If so, cite example:
No
V. INITIAL FOIA/PA ACCESS REQUESTS (Include all requests,
3rd or 1st party): (See chart below)
- Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):
- Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year:
228
- Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 577
- Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 518
- Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year:
(This number should match Line VII.B.1.) 287
- Disposition of Initial Requests:
- Number granted in full: 333
- Number granted in part: 5
- Number of full denials: 23
- Number of times each FOIA exemption was used:
Exemption 1 - 0
Exemption 2 - 6
Exemption 3 - 2
Exemption 4 - 0
Exemption 5 - 11
Exemption 6 - 7
Exemption 7 - 8
Exemption 7(A) - 6
Exemption 7(B) - 1
Exemption 7(C) - 1
Exemption 7(D) - 0
Exemption 7(E) - 0
Exemption 7(F) - 0
Exemption 8 - 0
Exemption 9 - 0
- Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 157
a. no records: 72
b. referrals: 12**
c. request withdrawn: 64
d. fee related reason: 6
e. records not reasonably described: 1
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 2
g. not an agency record: 0
h. duplicate request: 3
i. other (specify): 9 (Glomar)
**Referrals are not entered into the tracking system and are not included
in the total number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year.
Referrals are tracked in a separate database.
VI. APPEALS OF INITIAL DENIALS OF FOIA/PA REQUESTS (include
all access requests whether first or third party):
- Numbers of Appeals:
- Number of appeals received during the fiscal year 99
- Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year: 108
- Disposition of Appeals:
- Number completely upheld: 43
- Number partially reversed: 14
- Number completely reversed: 16
- Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
used once per appeal)
Exemption 1 - 0
Exemption 2 - 3
Exemption 3 - 0
Exemption 4 - 11
Exemption 5 - 15
Exemption 6 - 18
Exemption 7 - 7
Exemption 7(A) - 1
Exemption 7(B) - 0
Exemption 7(C) - 4
Exemption 7(D) - 2
Exemption 7(E) - 0
Exemption 7(F) - 0
Exemption 8 - 0
Exemption 9 - 0
- Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 35
- no records: 14
- referrals: 0
- request withdrawn: 15
- fee-related reason: 6
- records not reasonably described: 0
- not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0
- not an agency record: 0
- duplicate request: 0
- other (specify) 0
VII. COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS:
- Median Processing Time for Requests Processed During the Year:
- Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used):
- number of requests processed: 72
- median number of days to process: 10
- Complex Requests:
- number of requests processed: 446
- median number of days to process: 60
- Requests Accorded Expedited Processing:
- number of requests processed: 0
- median number of days to process: 0
- Status of Pending Requests (if multiple tracks are being used, report
for each track as well as totals).
- Number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal year covered
in this report (from Line V.A.4): 287
- Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that
date: Medians vary greatly from OPDIV to OPDIV. 65
VIII. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEARS(S) (Optional):
- Comparisons of numbers of requests received:
- Comparison of numbers of requests processed:
- Comparison of median numbers of days requests were pending as of
end of fiscal year:
- Other narrative statements describing agency efforts to improve timeliness
of FOIA performance and to make records available to the public (e.g.,
backlog-reduction activities; public availability of new categories
of records):
IX. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING:
- Staffing levels:
- Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 2
- Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties
(in total work-years): 1.50
- Total number of personnel (in work years): 3.50
- Total costs (including staff and all resources):
- FOIA processing (including appeals) : $208,343.00
- Litigation-related activities (estimated): $30,906.00
- Total costs : $239,249.00
- Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change)
(optional):
X. FEES: (See chart below)
- Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests:
$6,484.00
- Percentage of total costs: 2.71%
XI. FOIA REGULATIONS (including fee schedule):
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Each FOIA office in HHS has a FOIA Requester Service Center that processes relevant FOIA requests. - AoA - Administration on Aging
- ACF - Administration for Children and Families
- AHRQ - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- CMS - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- FDA - Food and Drug Administration
- HRSA - Health Resources and Services Administration
- IHS - Indian Health Service
- NIH - National Institutes of Health
- OIG - Office of Inspector General
- PSC - Program Support Center
- PHS - Public Health Service
- SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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