Annual Reports

 

Fiscal Year 1998 Freedom of Information Act Annual Report
Overseas Private Investment Corporation

 

I. Basic Information Regarding the Report

A. For information concerning this report you may contact Laura A. Naide, OPIC FOIA Director, or Eli H. Landy, FOIA Counsel, by telephone, at (202) 336-8426 and (202) 336-8418, respectively. Alternatively, you may write to either of the officials listed above at the following address:

Overseas Private Investment Corporation
1100 New York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20527.

B. You may access this report from OPIC's website, at http://www.opic.gov.

C. You may obtain a copy of this annual report in paper form by contacting one of the officials identified above.

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

A. You may mail your FOIA request to Laura A. Naide at the address identified above. Alternatively, you may fax your request to Ms. Naide at (202) 408-0297. If you submit your request by facsimile, you need not mail a follow-up letter.

B.  OPIC makes every effort to respond to FOIA requests within the statutory 20-day timeframe. Many requests are answered within one or two days. However, responses to requests for project documents (requiring interaction with business submitters often located overseas and extensive review of the documents) generally require significantly more time. In addition, OPIC's response may be delayed by a need to obtain clarification from a requester on the scope or topic of the request.

C.   OPIC's FOIA policy favors disclosure to the fullest extent possible without compromising its program effectiveness or internal deliberative process, or causing substantial competitive harm to the business submitters from whom information was obtained. However, when disclosure has not been possible without causing one of the harms identified above, OPIC has not granted the requests.

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.  

1. OPIC - the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

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 FOIA.

3.   Appeal - a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a full denial or a partial denial of access to records under the FOIA, 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 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 (i.e., no record is located in response to a FOIA request).

12. Time limits - the time period in the FOIA 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 withholding 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 number in the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

OPIC did not deny any records under FOIA subsection (b)(3) during the current fiscal year.

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

A. Numbers of initial requests.  

1. Number of requests pending as of the end of the preceding fiscal year: 4

2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 39

3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year: 41

4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 2

B. Disposition of initial requests:  

1. Number of total grants: 21

2. Number of partial grants: 8

3. Number of denials: 1

(a) number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request)

(1) Exemption 1: 0

(2) Exemption 2: 0

(3) Exemption 3: 0

(4) Exemption 4: 9

(5) Exemption 5: 2

(6) Exemption 6: 0

(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): 7

a. no records: 4

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

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Numbers of appeals.  

1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 2

2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 2

B. Disposition of appeals.  

1. Number completely upheld: 1

2. Number partially reversed: 0

3. Number completely reversed: 1

a.   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: 1

(5) Exemption 5: 0

(6) Exemption 6: 0

(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): 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. other (specify): 0

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

A.   

1.   Median processing time for requests processed during the year (Note: Due to its FOIA volume, OPIC does not utilize multi-track processing).

a. number of requests processed: 41

b. median number of days to process: 26

2.   Requests accorded expedited processing: 0

B. Status of pending requests.  

1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 2

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: 1

VIII. Comparison with Previous Year (Optional):

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing.

A. Staffing levels  

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 2

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

3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): 2.2

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

1. FOIA processing (including appeals):

a. personnel costs: $135,720.88

b. duplication costs: $478.40

c. mailing costs (first class mail, certified mail with return receipt, Federal Express): $ 77.44

d. fax costs: $16.40

e. cost of supplies (copy paper, legal pads, file folders, redacting tape, post-it tabs, markers, etc.): $150

f. litigation costs: these costs are not itemized, but are reflected as 10% of the personnel and other costs identified above.

Total: $136,443.12

X. Fees

A. Total amount collected by OPIC: $431.75  

B. Percentage of total costs: less than one percent.  

XI. FOIA Regulations

OPIC's FOIA regulations are accessible on OPIC's website address, http://www.opic.gov.  OPIC is in the process of revising its current FOIA regulations to reflect the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, and expects to submit its notice of proposed rulemaking to the Federal Register during the current quarter. Attached is a paper copy of OPIC's current FOIA regulations.