Freedom of Information Act Annual Report
October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2001
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Basic Information Regarding Report
-
Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted
with questions about the report.
Denise Smith
FOIA Officer
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 West Summit Hill Drive (ET 5D)
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902-1499
(865) 632-6945
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Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web.
http://www.tva.gov/foia/foia_annual01.htm
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How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form.
Contact Denise Smith at the above address and/or telephone number.
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Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted
with questions about the report.
- How
to Make a FOIA Request
For basic information about how to make a FOIA request, visit our Website at
http://www.tva.gov/foia.
- Names, addresses,
and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices
that receive FOIA requests.
All FOIA requests to TVA should be directed to Ms. Smith at the address given above.
- Brief description
of the agencys response-time ranges.
The median time for responding to all requests in FY 01 was 15 days.
- Brief description
of why some requests are not granted.
The primary reasons for not granting requests for which records were located is that disclosure would result in a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or that the records were protected by the deliberative or attorney client privilege.
- Names, addresses,
and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices
that receive FOIA requests.
- Definitions
of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
-
Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.TVA is Tennessee Valley
Authority
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Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.
- FOIA/PA requestFreedom
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.
- Initial Requesta request
to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom
of Information Act.
- Appeala 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 Appeala
request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final
action on the request or the appeal
in all respects.
- Multi-track processinga
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 processingan
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 requesta 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.
- Complex requesta FOIA
request that an agency using multi-track processing places
in a slower track based on the volume and/or
complexity of records requested.
- Grantan agency decision
to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
- Partial grantan 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 FOIAs exemptions;
or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties,
but to withhold others in whole or in part.
- Denialan 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 FOIAs exemptions,
or for some procedural reason (such as because no record is
located in response to a FOIA request).
- Time limitsthe 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 requesta
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.
- Exemption 3 statutea separate federal statute prohibiting
the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing
its withholding under FOIA § (b) (3).
- Median numberthe middle,
not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the
median number is 7.
- Average numberthe 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.
- FOIA/PA requestFreedom
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.
-
Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.TVA is Tennessee Valley
Authority
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Exemption 3 Statutes
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List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current
fiscal year.
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Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each
statute.
Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended, at41 U.S.C. § 253b(m), prohibits the release or disclosure of an unsuccessful technical, management or cost proposal submitted by a contractor in response to the requirements of a solicitation for a competitive proposal.
- Statement
of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. If so,
then cite example. There were no court challenges to TVAs
determinations to invoke Exemption 3.
-
Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each
statute.
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List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current
fiscal year.
- Initial FOIA/PA
Access Requests
- Numbers of
initial requests.
- Number
of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year 19
- Number
of requests received during current fiscal year
119
- Number
of requests processed during current fiscal year
121
- Number
of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year
17
- Number
of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year 19
- Disposition
of initial requests.
- Number
of total grants 41
- Number
of partial grants 37
- Number
of denials 9
- number
of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
once per request)
(1) Exemption 1 0
(2) Exemption 2 0
(3) Exemption 3 5
(4) Exemption 4 3
(5) Exemption 5 20
(6) Exemption 6 25
(7) Exemption 7(A) 1
(8) Exemption 7(B) 0
(9) Exemption 7(C) 11
(10) Exemption 7(D) 3
(11) Exemption 7(E) 1
(12) Exemption 7(F) 0
(13) Exemption 8 0
(14) Exemption 9 0
- number
of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
once per request)
- Other
reasons for nondisclosure (total) 34
a. no records 17
b. referrals 0
c. request withdrawn 8
d. fee-related reasons 8
e. records not reasonably described 0
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reasons 1
g. not an agency record 0
h duplicate request 0
i. other (specify) 0
- Number
of total grants 41
- Numbers of
initial requests.
- Appeals of
Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
- Number of
appeals.
- Number
of appeals received during fiscal year 6
- Number
of appeals processed during fiscal year 6
- Number
of appeals received during fiscal year 6
- Disposition
of appeals.
- Number
completely upheld 4
- Number
partially reversed 1
- Number
completely reversed 1
- number
of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
once per appeal)
(1) Exemption 1 0
(2) Exemption 2 0
(3) Exemption 3 0
(4) Exemption 4 2
(5) Exemption 5 5
(6) Exemption 6 2
(7) Exemption 7(A) 0
(8) Exemption 7(B) 0
(9) Exemption 7(C) 2
(10) Exemption 7(D) 0
(11) Exemption 7(E) 0
(12) Exemption 7(F) 0
(13) Exemption 8 0
(14) Exemption 9 0
- number
of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
once per appeal)
- Other
reasons for nondisclosure (total)
0
a. no records 0
b. referrals 0
c. request withdrawn 0
d. fee-related reasons 0
e. records not reasonably described 0
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reasons 0
g. not an agency record 0
h duplicate request 0
i. other (specify) 0
- Number
completely upheld 4
- Number of
appeals.
- Compliance
with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests
- Median processing
time for requests processed during the year.
- Track
1
a. number of requests processed 88
b. median number of days to process 10
- Track
2
a. number of requests processed 23
b. median number of days to process 39
- Track
3
a. number of requests processed 10
b. median number of days to process 139
- Requests
accorded expedited processing
a. number of requests processed 0
b. median number of days to process 0
- Track
1
- Status of
pending requests.
- Number
of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year
17
- Median
number of days that such requests were pending
as of that date 10
- Number
of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year
17
- Median processing
time for requests processed during the year.
- Comparisons
with Previous Year(s)
- Comparison
of numbers of requests received
FY 00: 131
FY 01: 119
- Comparison
of numbers of requests processed
FY 00: 149
FY 01: 121
- Comparison
of median numbers of days requests were pending as of end of fiscal
year
44% decrease
- Other statistics
significant to agency
None
- Other narrative
statements describing agency efforts to improve timeliness of FOIA
performance and to make records available to the public (e.g., backlog-reduction
efforts; specification of average number of hours per processed
request; training activities; public availability of new categories
of records)
During FY 01 TVA has maintained the FOIA web site and reading room with current information. TVA is continuously improving the content of the general web site, of which FOIA is a prominent feature, to make more information available to the public. Publication of TVA information on the web site continues to contribute to a reduction in the number of FOIA requests.
- Comparison
of numbers of requests received
- 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)
0
- Total
number of personnel (in work-years)
2
- Number
of full-time FOIA personnel 2
- Total costs
(including staff and all resources).
- FOIA
processing (including appeals)
$159,000
- Litigation-related
activities (estimated)
$0
- Total
costs
$159,000
- Comparison
with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional)
22.6% decrease
- FOIA
processing (including appeals)
$159,000
- Statement
of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance (optional)
None (current resources are adequate)
- Staffing
levels.
- Fees
- Total amount
of fees collected by agency for processing requests
$2,587.81
- Percentage
of total costs 1.6%
- Total amount
of fees collected by agency for processing requests
$2,587.81
- FOIA Regulations
(Including Fee Schedule)
TVAs FOIA regulations are located at 18 C.F.R. Part 1301, and can be accessed
electronically at http://www.tva.gov/foia/foia_regulations.htm.