FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
ANNUAL REPORT
FOIA Data Submission Form for Treasury Bureaus
Fiscal Year 2007
(Oct. 1, 2006-Sept. 30, 2007)
Note: Bureau reporting
begins at item II-B. Those sections marked “Not for bureaus” will be answered
by the Departmental Disclosure Office in the combined report.
I. and II - A. (Not for bureaus.)
II. B. Brief Description of
your bureau’s response-time ranges.
[This
is a narrative statement of the time ranges that are reported in section VII.]
The response time for FOIA requests ranged from one day to 15 days.
C.
Brief description why some requests are not granted.
[This
is a short summary of the data that is reported at section V-B.]
The most common reason why requests for records could not be granted was because records requested contained information of a personal privacy nature, pursuant to Title 5, U.S.C., Section 552(b)(6).
III. Definition of terms and acronyms used in this
report.
A. List your agency-specific acronyms or terms. Follow
format given in Attachment A. N/A
B. Basic Terms [This has already been done by the
Department of Justice (DOJ).]
IV.
Exemption 3 Statutes.
A.
List of Exemption 3 statutes
relied on by agency during fiscal year. N/A
1.
Brief description of type(s) of
information withheld under each statute.
2.
Statement of whether a court has
upheld the use of each statute. If so, then cite example. [See page 556 of
DOJ's paper copy of the FOIA case list for resource, or on line at
http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/cl-tofc.html. List all statutes used during this
reporting year. Follow DOJ format in placing the information in columns:
Statute/Rule; Type of Information Withheld; Case Citation. See attached sample
(Attachment B).]
V. FOIA/PA Access Requests. Include all
access requests, whether first-party or third-party. (First-party--a
request for one's own records, Third-party--all other requests.)
A. Number of
initial requests. Total of the numbers in lines 1 and 2, minus the number in
line 3, should equal the number in line 4.
1.
Number of requests pending as of
end of preceding fiscal year (FY06): _8_
(Take # of requests from line
V.A. #4 of previous fiscal year's report)
2.
Number of requests received
during current reporting period: _70_
3.
Number of requests processed
during current reporting period: _74_
(Total # of requests in 1 and 2 above that were closed in current fiscal year)
4.
Number of requests pending at the end of current reporting period: _4_
(Above items 1 + 2 - 3 = line 4) (Also enter this number in section
VII. B. 1.)
B. Disposition of initial requests. (Total
number of dispositions B1 + B2 + B3 + B4 = A3)
1.
Number of total grants: _31_
2.
Number of partial grants: _17_ (the
same as partial withheld)
3.
Number of denials: _0_
a.
Number of times each FOIA
exemption used (counting each exemption
once per request):
(b)(1) _____
(b)(6) __13__ (b)(7)(E) _____
(b)(2) __2__
(b)(7)(A) (b)(7)(F) _____
(b)(3) _____
(b)(7)(B) _____ (b)(8) _____
(b)(4) __2__
(b)(7)(C) _____ (b)(9) _____
(b)(5) __7__
(b)(7)(D) _____
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): _26_
a.
no records _11_ (no records found
that were responsive to the request)
b.
referrals __1__ (a request
forwarded, in total, to another Treasury bureau or another agency for response)
c.
withdrawn _2_ (requester withdrew
the request)
d. fee-related __1__ (nonpayment of estimated fees,
or previously owed fees)
e. records not reasonably described __1___ (requests
which do not adequately describe the records sought)
f.
not a proper FOIA request for
some other reason __4__ (for example, requester sought answers to questions)
g.
not an agency record _____ (not
the type of record maintained by Treasury)
h.
duplicate request _____ (more
than one request from the same requester which was received by the agency or
forwarded from other sources)
i. other (specify) _6_ (requests that were not
processed for other reasons) Proper proof of identity requested but not received.
VI. Appeals of initial denials of FOIA/PA requests. Again, include all access requests,
whether First-party--a request for
one's own records or Third-party--all other requests.
A. Number of appeals.
1.
Number of appeals received during the current reporting period: __0__
2. Number of appeals processed (closed) during the current reporting period: __0__
B.
Disposition of appeals. N/A
1. Number completely upheld: _____ (requester's appeal denied)
2. Number partially reversed: _____ (requester's appeal partially
granted and partially denied)
3. Number completely reversed: _____ (requester's appeal granted)
a.
number of times each FOIA
exemption used (counting each exemption once per appeal):
(b)(1) _____ (b)(6)
_____ (b)(7)(E) _____
(b)(2) _____ (b)(7)(A)
_____ (b)(7)(F) _____
(b)(3) _____ (b)(7)(B)
_____ (b)(8) _____
(b)(4) _____ (b)(7)(C)
_____ (b)(9) _____
(b)(5) _____ (b)(7)(D) _____
4.
Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): __0__
(Remember,
this pertains to appeals and therefore the numbers reported will most likely be
low to zero.)
a. no records _____ (no records found that were
responsive to the request)
b. referrals _____ (a request forwarded in total, to
another Treasury bureau or another agency for response)
c. withdrawn _____ (requester withdrew the request)
d. fee-related _____ (nonpayment of estimated fees,
or previously owed fees)
e. records not reasonably described _____ (requests
which do not adequately describe the records sought)
f. not a proper request/appeal for some other reason
_____ (for example, requester sought answers to questions)
g. not an agency record _____ (not the type of
record maintained by Treasury)
h. duplicate request _____ (more than one request
from the same requester, which was received by the agency or forwarded from
other sources)
i. other (specify) _____ (requests that were not
processed for other reasons)
VII.
Compliance with Time
Limits/Status of Pending Requests.
(Please note that there are two median
times that are reported in this section: (1) median time for processing
completed requests and (2) median number of days that pending requests were in
pending status. Days reported should be “working days” as opposed to
“calendar days.”)
A. Median time for processing requests.
You
should count days from the time at which a request is “perfected.” You may
separately report each track of a multi-track system (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). The following are examples for obtaining the
“median” number: Given seven requests completed during the fiscal year, aged
10, 25, 35, 65, 75, 80 and 400 days from date of perfection to date of
completion, the total number of requests completed during the fiscal year would
be seven and the median age of the completed requests would be 65 days. If
there were six pending cases aged 10, 20, 30, 50, 120 and 200 days from date of
perfection to date of completion, the total number of requests completed would
be six and the median age would be 40 days (the average of the two middle
numbers).
1. Simple Requests (report only if multi-track
processing is used. If not used, report as “N/A”). (Simple request--a
FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fast
track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested).
Requests approved for expedited processing are not included here. N/A
a.
Number of "simple
requests" processed (closed): _____
b.
Median number of days to process
"simple requests": _____
2. Complex Requests (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).
a.
Number of "complex requests" processed (closed): _74_
b.
Median number of days to process "complex requests": __15__
3.
Requests for expedited processing. N/A
a.
number of expedited requests processed (closed): _____
b.
median number of days to process expedited requests: _____
B. Status of
pending requests (bureaus using multiple tracks may provide number for each
track, as well as total).
1.
Number of requests pending at end of current reporting period: __4__
(Enter
the number from section V.A.4.)
2.
Median number of days that such
requests were pending as of that
date: _185__
VIII.
Comparisons with Previous
Years.
IX.
Costs/FOIA Staffing.
A. Staffing levels.
In completing this part regarding staffing levels related to FOIA/PA
matters, you should be careful to pay full attention to Line 2 as well as Line
1. Line 1 simply asks for the number of personnel who are involved in FOIA/PA
matters full-time. Line 2 asks for the number of personnel who have only
part-time or occasional FOIA duties (even if merely sporadic), expressed in
total numbers of work-years. For example, if your bureau had four employees
working full-time on FOIA matters and three employees with part-time FOIA
responsibilities, it would simply specify "4" on Line l.
To
complete Line 2, however, you would have to determine, and then total, the
individual work-year percentages for the three employees working on FOIA
matters only part-time. If the first employee devoted an estimated 10 percent
of her time to the FOIA, the second employee 30% of his time, and the third
employee 15% of her time, then that would total 55% of a work-year. So for Line
2, you would enter ".55 work-years." Your entry for Line 3
would be "4.55 work-years." You will arrive at a figure for Line 3
by adding the number in Line 1 to the number (which could be zero) in Line 2.
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: __1__
2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties: __0__
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): __1__
B.
Total costs (staff and resources
combined).
In
filling out this part, you are asked to provide three figures, based upon your
bureau's best ability to calculate the costs of your FOIA activities. Line 1
seeks the total costs of FOIA-processing activities, including appeals. In
completing it, you are asked to include the costs of your bureau's staffs
"and all resources" that are devoted to these activities. To arrive
at a comprehensive figure for this, your bureau must do its best to estimate
the costs of these resources -- which may include such items as photocopying,
postage, data-processing services, and other items of overhead that are
reasonably allocable to your bureau's FOIA operations.
For
Line 2, bureaus are likewise asked to provide estimates of the costs of their
litigation-related FOIA activities. Such estimates should take into account
the full range of the bureau's efforts that are undertaken in support of a FOIA
litigation case, including attorney coordination with declarants, additional
subject-matter experts, and other bureau program personnel.
1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $ 99,532
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $ __0__
3. Total Costs: $ 99,532
4. Comparison with previous years. (Not required).
C.
Statement of additional
resources needed for FOIA compliance (Optional).
If
a continual FOIA backlog exists in your bureau because of a lack of FOIA
resources, you are encouraged to include a statement here.
X. Fees.
A.
Total fees collected FY 2006: $ __619__
B.
Percentage of total costs: __.62__%
XI.
FOIA Regulations.
XII.
Report on FOIA Executive
Order Implementation
A.
Description of
supplement/modification of agency improvement plan if applicable N/A
B.
Report on agency implementation
of its plan, including its performance in meeting milestones, with respect to
each improvement area
The United States Mint does not maintain a large backlog and are continuing in our efforts to work with our offices to erase the backlog we have in FY 2008.
C.
Identification and discussion of
any deficiency in meeting plan milestones, if applicable N/A
D.
Additional narrative statement
regarding other executive order related activities – optional
E.
Concise descriptions of FOIA
exemptions
(b)(2)
– “Low” and “High” – Internal matters of a relatively trivial matter and more substantial internal matters
(b)(4)
– Business submitter information of a confidential/financial matter.
(b)(5)
- Information relative to the deliberative process privilege that is
predecisional in nature.
(b)(6)
– Personal privacy.
F.
Additional Stats:
a.
Time range of requests pending,
by date of request (or, where applicable, by date of referral from another
agency)
2001 – August 31, September 21, November 7
2003 – July 31, November 26
2004 – March 3, April 20, April 23, June 22
2005 – June 23
(Note: All of the above are pending appeals.)
b.
Time range of consultations
pending with other agencies, by date of initial interagency communication N/A
G.
Improvement Plan attached