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Home > Electronic Reading Room > FOIA and Privacy Act > Annual FOIA Reports > 2002
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report Fiscal
Year 2002
Basic Information Regarding Report
Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted with questions about the report.
Carol Ann Reed
Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer
Mail Stop T-6 D8
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
Telephone: 301-415-7169 Fax: 301-415-5130
Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html
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How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form.
Contact the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Public Document Room (PDR)
located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),
Rockville, MD 20852-2738, telephone 301-415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209, E-mail
PDR@NRC.GOV or by fax at 301-415-3548.
The mailing address is U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Public Document
Room, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
How to Make a FOIA Request
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Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency
components and offices that receive FOIA requests.
Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer
Mail Stop T-6 D8
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
Telephone: 301-415-7169 Fax: 301-415-5130
E-mail: FOIA@NRC.GOV
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Brief description of agency's response-time ranges.
57% within 4 weeks
73% within 6 weeks
83% within 8 weeks
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Brief description of why some requests are not granted.
To protect privacy (43%)
To prevent compromise of a pending investigation or proceeding (9%)
To protect the agency's pre-decisional deliberative process or attorney-client
privilege, or attorney work products (22%)
To protect proprietary information (9%).
Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
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Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.
Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.
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FOIA/PA request -- Freedom of Information Act/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.)
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Initial Request -- a request to a federal agency for access to records
under the Freedom of Information Act.
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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.
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Processed Request or Appeal -- a request or appeal for which an agency
has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all respects.
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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).
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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.
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Simple request -- a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track
processing places in its fastest (nonexpedited) track based on the
volume and/or simplicity of records requested.
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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.
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Grant -- an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response
to a FOIA request.
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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's exemptions; or a decision
to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others
in whole or in part.
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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 the FOIA's exemptions, or for some procedural
reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA
request).
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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 or agency component in possession of the records, and
for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable
fees.
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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).
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Median number -- the middle, not average, number. For example, of
3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
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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 8.
Exemption 3 Statutes
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List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current
fiscal year.
1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under
each statute.
- 41 U.S.C. §253b(m)(1) Contractor Proposals
- 42 U.S.C. §2167, Unclassified Safeguards Information
2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute.
If so, then cite example.
- 41 U.S.C.§253b(m)(1) - No
- 42 U.S.C. ยง2167 - Va. Sunshine Alliance v. NRC, 509 F. Supp. 863 (D.D.C.
1981), aff'd, 669 F.2d 788 (D.C. Cir. 1981).
V. |
Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests |
A. Numbers of initial requests |
1. Number of requests
pending as of end of preceding fiscal year
(09/30/01) |
47 |
2. Number of requests
received during current fiscal year |
434 |
3. Number of requests processed
during current fiscal year |
426 |
4. Number of requests pending as
of end of current fiscal year
(09/30/02) |
55 |
B. Disposition of initial requests. |
1. Number of total
grants |
175 |
2. Number of partial grants |
110 |
3. Number of denials |
10 |
a. number of times each FOIA exemption
used (counting each exemption once per
request) |
(1) Exemption 1 |
0 |
(2) Exemption 2 |
17 |
(3) Exemption 3 |
7 |
(4) Exemption 4 |
17 |
(5) Exemption 5 |
42 |
(6) Exemption 6 |
37 |
(7) Exemption 7(A) |
17 |
(8) Exemption 7(B) |
0 |
(9) Exemption 7(C) |
44 |
(10) Exemption 7(D) |
0 |
(11) Exemption 7(E) |
8 |
(12) Exemption 7(F) |
0 |
(13) Exemption 8 |
0 |
(14) Exemption 9 |
0 |
4. Other reasons for
nondisclosure (total) |
131 |
a. no records |
71 |
b. referrals |
0 |
c. requests withdrawn |
34 |
d. fee-related reason |
15 |
e. records not reasonably
described |
1 |
f. not a proper FOIA
request for some other reason |
4 |
g. not an agency record |
0 |
h. duplicate request |
1 |
i. other (neither confirm
nor deny, unpaid fees to another agency,
wrong agency) |
5 |
VI. |
Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA
Requests
A. Number of appeals. |
1. Number of appeals
received during fiscal year |
11 |
2. Number of appeals
processed during fiscal year |
15 |
B. Disposition of appeals. |
1. Number completely
upheld |
7 |
2. Number partially
reversed |
3 |
3. Number completely
reversed |
0 |
a. number of times each FOIA exemption
used (counting each exemption once per
appeal) |
(1) Exemption 1 |
0 |
(2) Exemption 2 |
1 |
(3) Exemption 3 |
0 |
(4) Exemption 4 |
2 |
(5) Exemption 5 |
2 |
(6) Exemption 6 |
1 |
(7) Exemption 7(A) |
0 |
(8) Exemption 7(B) |
0 |
(9) Exemption 7(C) |
1 |
(10) Exemption 7(D) |
0 |
(11) Exemption 7(E) |
1 |
(12) Exemption 7(F) |
0 |
(13) Exemption 8 |
0 |
(14) Exemption 9 |
0 |
4. Other reasons for
nondisclosure (total) |
5 |
a. no records |
2 |
b. referrals |
0 |
c. requests withdrawn |
1 |
d. fee-related reason |
0 |
e. records not reasonably
described |
0 |
f. not a proper FOIA
request for some other reason |
0 |
g. not an agency record |
0 |
h. duplicate request |
0 |
i. other (unpaid fees
to other agency) |
2 |
VII. |
Compliance with Time Limits/Status of
Pending Requests
FY 2002 median day calculations are based on working days. |
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A. |
Median processing time for requests
processed during the year. |
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1. Simple requests (Track A). |
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a. |
number of requests processed |
403 |
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b. |
median number of days to process |
14 |
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2. Complex requests (Track B & C). |
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a. |
number of requests processed |
14 |
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b. |
median number of days to process |
25 |
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3. Requests accorded expedited processing. |
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a. |
number of requests processed |
9 |
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b. |
median number of days to process |
23 |
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B. |
Status of pending requests. |
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1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal
year: 55 |
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Track A 47 |
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Track B 8 |
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2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: |
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Track A 22 |
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Track B 218 |
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VIII. |
Comparisons with Previous Year(s)
Calculations are based on working days. |
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FY 01 |
FY 02 |
% Change FY 01 to FY 02 |
|
A. |
Number of requests received |
379 |
434 |
15% |
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B. |
Number of requests processed |
384 |
426 |
11% |
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C. |
Median number of days requests were pending as of end of fiscal
year |
25 |
28 |
12% |
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D. |
Other statistics significant to agency |
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Expedited Processing - Received |
10 |
18 |
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Granted |
1 |
9 |
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E. |
Other agency efforts to improve timeliness of FOIA
performance and to make records available to the public: |
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List of FOIA requests by subject that were completed during
the year placed on the FOIA page of the NRC Web site. |
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Training on the FOIA process was provided to various staff
offices with emphasis placed on specific office needs. |
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Several internal agency service levels are used to enhance
the agency's processing timeliness. Reports showing the status of open
cases are provided to offices in an effort to heighten management awareness
of pending cases. |
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In addition to providing general public access to material
released under the FOIA, in FY 02 the NRC placed over 89,465 of its official
agency records in its Agencywide Documents Acess
and Management System (ADAMS). These documents are available
electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or
from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of ADAMS. ADAMS is
accessible from the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html
(the Electronic Reading Room). This extensive voluntary release program
has resulted in 2.7 million documents being made publicly available either
in paper, microfiche or electronically. |
IX. |
Costs/FOIA Staffing |
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A. |
Staffing levels. |
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1. |
Number of full-time FOIA personnel |
6 |
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2. |
Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total
work-years) |
6 |
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3. |
Total number of personnel (in work-years) |
12 |
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B. |
Total costs (including staff and all resources). |
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1. |
FOIA processing (including appeals) |
$ 1,273,026 |
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2. |
Litigation-related activities (estimated) |
$ 00 |
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3. |
Total costs |
$ 1,273,026 |
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4. |
Comparison with previous year(s): FY 01 |
$ 1,246,803
(2.1% increase) |
X. |
Fees |
|
A. |
Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing
requests |
$40,559 |
|
B. |
Percentage of total costs |
3.2% |
XI. |
FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule) |
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10
CFR Part 9 |
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Fee Schedule (2002) |
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Search and Review: |
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SES/Commissioners (ES-4) |
$76.82/hr |
$ 1.28/min |
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Professional (GG-13/6) |
$42.94/hr |
$0 .72/min |
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Clerical (GG-7/7) |
$20.94/hr |
$0 .35/min |
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Duplication: |
$.20 per page |
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Minimum fee: |
$15.00
(No fee will be charged unless total fee is equal to or greater than $15.00) |
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