BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
ANNUAL REPORT
FISCAL YEAR 2001
I. Basic Information Regarding Report
A. Point of Contact:
Sandra J. Dunham
FOIA and Privacy Act Officer
Broadcasting Board of Governors
330 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 3349
Washington, DC 20237
Telephone: (202) 260-4404 FAX: (202) 260-4394
B. Electronic address for report: This report is also available on the BBG=s web site at http://www.ibb.gov/foia/ann_report.cfm
C. Paper copies of report: Paper copies can be requested from the person/address listed above.
II. How to Make a FOIA Request
A. Agency component that receives FOIA requests: Freedom
of Information Act requests must be made in writing and submitted by mail
to the Broadcasting Board of Governors=
FOIA Officer, 330 Independence Avenue, SW, Room 3349, Washington, DC 20237. AFreedom of Information Act
Request@ should be
written on the outside of the envelope
as well as the letter. Requesters may also FAX their requests to the
number listed above.
B. Agency response-time ranges: The response time to respond to FOIA requests ranged from 2 days to 8 months depending on the complexity of the request.
C. Why some requests are not granted: Requests for records may not be granted for the following reasons: 1) the documents have been transferred to the ownership of the National Archives and Records Administration; 2) the requested records contain predecisional information that if released would cause harm to the BBG=s decision-making processes; 3) portions of records contain personal and/or proprietary information; 4) records contain information compiled for law enforcement purposes; or 5) the requester asked for information specifically prohibited from disclosure by other statutes.
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
A. Agency‑specific acronyms:
BBG-- Broadcasting Board of Governors
B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology:
1. 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.)
2. Initial Request ‑‑ a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. Grant ‑‑ an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
10. 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.
11. 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).
12. 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).
13. "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.
14. Exemption 3 statute ‑‑ a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of a certain type of information and authorizing its with holding under FOIA subsection (b)(3).
15. Median number ‑‑ the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
16. 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.
17. Days ‑‑ the number of calendar days used to compute calculations.
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes
A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current fiscal year.
1. 22 USC 1461 - Ban on domestic dissemination of program materials prepared for audiences abroad. This ban was upheld in 2 court cases. Essential Information, Inc. Et al., v United States Information Agency, CA No. 96-1194, 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22027 (D.D.C. Nov. 27, 1996) and Gartner v. United States Information Agency, 726 F. Supp 1183 (S.D.Iowa 1989).
V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests
A. Numbers of initial requests.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year - 0
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year - 131
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year - 130
4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year - 1
(Enter this number also in Line VII.B.1.)
B. Disposition of initial requests.
1. Number of total grants - 31
2. Number of partial grants - 16
3. Number of denials - 26
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (each exemption once per request)
(1) Exemption 1 - 1
(2) Exemption 2 - 7
(3) Exemption 3 - 31
(4) Exemption 4 - 1
(5) Exemption 5 - 1
(6) Exemption 6 - 11
(7) Exemption 7(A) - 0
(8) Exemption 7(B) - 0
(9) Exemption 7(C) - 0
(10) Exemption 7(D) - 0
(11) Exemption 7(E) - 0
(12) Exemption 7(F) - 0
(13) Exemption 8 - 0
(14) Exemption 9 - 0
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) - 57
a. no records - 8
b. referrals - 0
c. request withdrawn - 2
d. fee‑related reason - 2
e. records not reasonably described - 4
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason - 0
g. not an agency record - 40
h. duplicate request - 0
i. other (specify) - 1 (public record)
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
A. Numbers of appeals.
1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year - 4
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year - 4
B. Disposition of appeals.
1. Number completely upheld - 0
2. Number partially reversed - 0
3. Number completely reversed - 1
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (each exemption once per appeal)
(1) Exemption 1 - 0
(2) Exemption 2 - 0
(3) Exemption 3 - 0
(4) Exemption 4 - 0
(5) Exemption 5 - 0
(6) Exemption 6 - 1
(7) Exemption 7(A) - 0
(8) Exemption 7(B) - 0
(9) Exemption 7(C) - 0
(10) Exemption 7(D) - 0
(11) Exemption 7(E) - 0
(12) Exemption 7(F) - 0
(13) Exemption 8 - 0
(14) Exemption 9 - 0
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total)
a. no records - 0
b. referrals - 0
c. request withdrawn - 3
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 (specify) - 0
VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests
A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year.
1. Requests (the BBG does not use a multi-track system).
a. number of requests processed - 130
b. median number of days to process - 12.3 calendar days
2. Requests accorded expedited processing.
a. number of requests processed - 0
b. median number of days to process - 0
B. Status of pending requests.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year - 1
(Enter this number from Line V.A.4.)
2. Median number of days such requests were pending as of that date - 33.5 calendar days
VIII. Costs/FOIA Staffing
A. Staffing levels.
1. Number of full‑time FOIA personnel 0
2. Number of personnel with part‑time/occasional FOIA duties - A.40 work-years@
3. Total number of personnel (in work‑years) - A.40 work-years@
B. Total costs (including staff and all resources).
1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $ 28,260.00
2. Litigation‑related activities (estimated) $0
3. Total costs $ 28,260.00
IX. Fees
A.. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests - $406.00
B. Percentage of total costs - .01
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
To obtain the Broadcasting Board of Governor=s FOIA/Provacy Act regulations, go to http://www.ibb.bov/foia/Read_Room.cfm