I. AGENCY: National Institutes of Health

REPORT PREPARED BY: Susan Cornell

TITLE - Freedom of Information Officer

ADDRESS: Bldg. 31, Rm. 2B39, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892

PHONE NUMBER: 301-496-5633

ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB:
http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/foia/annualreport/annrpt98.htm

ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF REPORT:
Freedom of Information Office
Building 31, Room 2B39
9000 Rockville Pike,
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST:

(See http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/foia/index.htm)

A. Names, addresses and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that process FOIA requests:

NIH FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COORDINATORS
(all addresses are 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD, 20892 unless otherwise noted)

IC	BLDG	ROOM	PHONE
NCI	31	10A34	301-496-2999
NHGRI	38A	615	301-402-0733
NINR	45	3AN-12	301-594-6869
NCRR	6705 Rockledge Dr Bethesda, MD 20817	5146	301-435-0888
NEI	31	6A32	301-496-5248
NHLBI	31	5A08	301-496-9737
NIA	31	5C27	301-496-1752
NIAAA	Willco 6000 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	400	301-443-5726
NIAID	31	7A50	301-496-5717
NIAMS	45	5AS-49F	301-594-3535
NICHD	31	2A32	301-496-5133
NIDA	Parklawn 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857	10A39	301-443-1124
NIDCD	Executive Plaza South 6120 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	400B4	301-402-2239
NIDDK	31	9A-47	301-496-2978
NIDR	31	5B49	301-594-7560
NIEHS	Mail Drop EC-102-06, Box 12233 Research Triangle Pk, North Carolina, 27709		919-541-3411
NIGMS	45	2AN-5OD	301-594-3586
NIMH	Parklawn 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857	7-99	301-443-4536
NINDS	Federal 7550 Wisconsin Ave. Bethesda, MD 20892	1004-B	301-496-9231
NLM	38A	2S10	301-496-6308
CC	10	1C255	301-496-2563
CIT	12A	3025	301-496-6203
OFM	1	B1-28	301-496-8934
CPM	6011 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	529K	301-496-0462
OCM	6011 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	6E01	301-496-4487
CSR	6701 Rockledge Dr. Bethesda, MD 20817	3176	301-435-0691
FIC	31	B2C29	301-496-4625
OAM	31	5B-58A	301-496-1712
OER	1	252	301-402-1058
OMA	6011 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	601	301-496-5586
OPRR	6100 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	3B01	301-496-8101
ORDA	6000 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	302	301-496-9838
ORS	31	3C34	301-402-1661
OTT	6011 Executive Blvd Rockville, MD 20852	325	301-496-7056 (X260)

B. Brief description of agency's response time range(s): Response time ranges from three weeks to several months depending on complexity of request.

C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted: Requests are not granted if the information requested falls within one of the statutes enumerated exemptions, the information requested falls under the jurisdiction of another DHHS component (such requests are forwarded); or if no documents exist which are responsive to the request.

III. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN REPORT:

A.   Agency specific terms or acronyms:

NCI	National Cancer Institute
NHGRI	National Human Genome Research Institute
NINR	National Institute of Nursing Research
NCRR	National Center for Research Resources
NEI	National Eye Institute
NHLBI	National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
NIA	National Institute on Aging
NIAAA	National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
NIAID	National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIAMS	National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
NICHD	National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
NIDA	National Institute of Drug Abuse
NIDCD	National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
NIDDK	National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
NIDR	National Institute of Dental Research
NIEHS	National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
NIGMS	National Institute of General Medical Sciences
NIMH	National Institute of Mental Health
NINDS	National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
NLM	National Library of Medicine
CC	Clinical Center
CSR	Center for Scientific Review
OFM	Office of Financial Management
OPM	Office of Procurement Management
OCM	Office of Contracts Management
CSR	Center for Scientific Review
FIC	Fogerty International Center
OAM	Office of Alternative Medicine
OER	Office of Extramural Research
OMA	Office of Management Assessment
OPRR	Office for Protection of Research Risks
ORDA	Office of Recombinant DNA
ORS	Office of Research Services
OTT	Office of Technology Transfer

B. Basic terms: Description can be found on the DHHS website, see http://www.hhs.gov/foia/

IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES:

A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report year: 41 U.S.C. 253b(m) (West Supp. 1998): prohibits the release of technical proposals not set forth or incorporated by reference in a contract with a federal agency.
1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute: NIH withheld copies of three technical proposals submitted by unsuccessful offerors in response to Requests For Proposals.

2. Has a court upheld the use of each statute? No.

V. INITIAL FOIA ACCESS REQUESTS (Include all requests, 3rd or 1st party):

A. Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):
1. Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year: 675

2. Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 1,238

3. Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 1,100

4. Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year: 813^*

B. Disposition of Initial Requests:
1. Number granted in full or in part: 881

2. Number granted in part: Included in above number

3. Number of full and partial denials: 36

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used:


Exemption 1:	0
Exemption 2:	0
Exemption 3:	4
Exemption 4:	12
Exemption 5:	20
Exemption 6	22
Exemption 7:	2
Exemption 8:	0
Exemption 9:	0


 
4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 183

a.	no records: 82
b.	referrals: 13
c.	request withdrawn: 72
d.	fee-related reason: 7
e.	records not reasonably described: 9
f.	not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0
g.	not an agency record: 6
h.	duplicate request: 10
i.	other (specify): 0




 

A. Numbers of Appeals:

1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year: 19

2. Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year: 19

B. Disposition of Appeals:
1. Number completely upheld: 9

2. Number partially reversed: 0

3. Number completely reversed: 0

4. Number still pending at end of fiscal year: 10

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption used once per appeal).

Exemption 1: 0

Exemption 2: 0

Exemption 3: 0

Exemption 4: 1

Exemption 5: 2

Exemption 6: 2

Exemption 7: 0

Exemption 7(A): 0

Exemption 7(B): 0

Exemption 7 (C): 0

Exemption 7(D): 0

Exemption 7(E): 0

Exemption 7(F): 0

Exemption 8: 0

Exemption 9: 0


 

5. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 0

a.	no records: 0
b.	referrals: 0
c.	request withdrawn: 0
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.	constructive denial: 4

VII. COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS:

A. Median Processing Time for Requests Processed During the Year.
1. Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used): Multiple tracks were not used
a. number of requests processed: N.A
b. median number of days to process: N.A

2. Complex Requests (specify for any and all tracks used):.
a. number of requests processed: unavailable
b. median number of days to process: unavailable

3. Requests Accorded Expedited Processing: 0
a. number of requests processed: N.A.
b. median number of days to process: N.A.

B. Status of Pending Requests (if multiple tracks are being used, report for each track as well as totals).

1. Number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal year: 813

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: 183

VIII. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEARS(S) (Optional):

IX. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING:
A. Staffing levels:

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 5

2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years): 13.60

3. Total number of personnel (in work years): 18.60

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources):

1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $533,466.50

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $8,690.47

3. Total costs: $542,156.97

4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change)(optional): Unavailable

X. FEES:
A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $21,763.92

B. Percentage of total costs: 67 percent

XI. FOIA REGULATIONS (including fee schedule): See 45 C.F.R. Part 5 or http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/foia/cfr45.htm