REPORT OF THE FEDERAL LABOR
RELATIONS AUTHORITY,
INCLUDING THE AUTHORITY, THE GENERAL COUNSEL,
AND
THE FEDERAL SERVICE IMPASSES PANEL
PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS -- FOR
THE PERIOD
OCTOBER 1, 2005 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 2006
This report of the Authority, the General Counsel of the Federal Labor
Relations Authority, and the Federal Service Impasses Panel with regard to
public information requests during the period October 1, 2005 through September
30, 2006 is made in accordance with § 552(e) of Title 5, United States Code, 5
U.S.C. § 552(e) (2000), as amended by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act
Amendments of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-231, 110
Stat. 3048-3054 (codified at 5 U.S.C.§ 552 (2000)).
I. Basic Information Regarding This Report
A. FLRA contact person for questions about the FLRA's Annual FOIA Report for
Fiscal Year 2006(10/1/05-9/30/06): Jill Crumpacker, Executive Director, Federal
Labor Relations Authority, Suite 300, 1400 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.
20424, Tel: 202-218-7945; FAX: 202-482-6635.
B. Electronic address for this report on the FLRA's World Wide Web site:
http://www.flra.gov/reports/foia2006.html.
C. How to obtain a paper copy of this report: download it from the FLRA's
web site (see I.B. above) or request it from the FLRA contact person (see I.A.
above).
II. How to Make a FOIA Request
B. During FY 06, the FLRA response time for FOIA requests generally ranged
from one day to 82 working days.
C. Like all federal agencies, the FLRA is required under the FOIA to
disclose records upon receiving a written request for them, except for those
records that are protected from disclosure by the nine exemptions and three
exclusions of the FOIA. The FLRA, for example, will not grant requests for
documents the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion
of personal privacy (see V.B.3. below).
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
A. Agency-specific acronyms and other terms
- FLRA -- Federal Labor
Relations Authority
- FY -- Fiscal Year
- FOIA -- Freedom of Information
Act (5 U.S.C. § 552)
- PA -- Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. §
552a)
B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology
- 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.)
- Initial Request -- a request
to the FLRA for access to records under the FOIA.
- Appeal -- a request to the
FLRA asking that it review at a higher administrative level a full denial or
partial denial of a FOIA request, or any other FOIA determination such as a
matter pertaining to fees.
- Processed Request or Appeal
-- a request or appeal for which the FLRA has taken a final action on the
request or the appeal in all respects.
- Multi-track Processing -- a
system in which simple requests requiring 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. Note: The FLRA does not have multi-track
processing as it generally responds to requests on a timely basis and does
not have any FOIA backlog. A requester who has an urgent need for records
may request expedited processing (see III.B.6. directly below).
- Expedited Processing -- the
FLRA will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester has
shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records that warrants
prioritization of his or her request over other requests that were made
earlier.
- 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. As noted
above, the FLRA does not have multi-track processing.
- 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. As noted above,
the FLRA does not have multi-track processing.
- Grant -- an FLRA decision to
disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
- Partial Grant -- an FLRA
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.
- Denial -- an FLRA 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
FLRA 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).
- 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 (see III.B.13. below).
- "Perfected" Request
-- an FOIA request for records that adequately describes the records sought,
that has been received by the FLRA component in possession of the records,
and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable
fees.
- 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).
- Median Number -- the middle,
not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
- 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.
- Working Days -- days except
Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays. The FLRA's response times in
Part VII below are given in median working days.
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes
The FLRA did not rely on an Exemption 3 statutes during the fiscal year
covered by this report (FY 06).
V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests
A. Numbers of initial requests
- Number of requests pending as
of the end of the preceding fiscal year (FY 05): 12
- Number of requests received
during FY 06: 79
- Number of requests processed
during FY 06: 77
- Number of requests pending as
of the end of FY 06: 14
B. Disposition of initial requests
- Number of total grants: 42
- Number of partial grants: 4
- Number of denials: 5
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used
(counting each exemption once per request)
(1)
Exemption 1: 0
(2) Exemption 2: 1
(3) Exemption 3: 0
(4) Exemption 4: 0
(5) Exemption 5: 8
(6)
Exemption 6: 0
(7) Exemption 7(A): 4
(8) Exemption 7(B): 0
(9) Exemption 7(C): 6
(10) Exemption 7(D): 7
(11) Exemption 7(E): 0
(12) Exemption 7(F): 0
(13) Exemption 8: 0
(14) Exemption 9: 0
- Other reasons for
nondisclosure (total): 26
a. No
records: 9
b. Referrals: 11
c. Request withdrawn: 3
d. Fee-related reason: 2
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): 1 (admin.
closed)
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
A. Numbers of appeals
- Number of appeals received
during FY 06: 1
- Number of appeals processed
during FY 06: 1
B. Disposition of appeals
- Number of responses to initial
requests completely upheld: 0
- Number of responses to initial
requests partially reversed: 1
- Number of responses to initial
requests completely reversed: 0
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: 0
(5) Exemption 5: 1
(6) Exemption 6: 0
(7) Exemption 7(A): 0
(8) Exemption 7(B): 0
(9) Exemption 7(C): 1
(10) Exemption 7(D): 1
(11) Exemption 7(E): 0
(12) Exemption 7(F): 0
(13) Exemption 8: 0
(14) Exemption 9: 0
- 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. Median processing time for requests processed during FY 06
- Total for all requests (note:
the FLRA does not have multi-track processing)
a. Number
of requests processed: 77
b. Median number of working days to
process: 9
- Requests accorded expedited
processing
a. Number
of requests processed: 0
b. Median number of working days to
process: 0
B. Status of pending requests
- Number of requests pending as
of the end of FY 06: 14
- Median number of working days
that such requests were pending as of that date: 367
VIII. Expedited Processing Requests
There were no requests for expedited processing pending at the beginning of
FY 06, and none were received during the year. Accordingly, no such
requests were granted.
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
A. Staffing levels
- Number of full-time FOIA
personnel: 0
- Number of personnel with
part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in estimated total work-years): .0747
- Total number of personnel (in
estimated work-years): .0747
B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)
- FOIA processing (estimated --
including appeals): $8,274.21
- Litigation-related activities
(estimated): $0
- Total costs (estimated): $8,274.21
X. Fees
A. Total amount of fees collected by the FLRA for processing requests: $547.53
B. Percentage of total estimated costs: 7%
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
The FLRA's FOIA regulations, including the fee schedule, are codified at 5
C.F.R. pt. 241
XII. Development And Implementation of
FLRA’s Improvement Plan Under Executive Order 13392
The FLRA has completed a mandatory FOIA training on Executive Order 13392
which was held on Wednesday, December 13, 2006. The training is listed as
one of the six improvement areas selected by the FLRA in its improvement plan
issued pursuant to Executive Order 13392. The training focused on two areas of FOIA practice:
first, an introduction to Executive Order 13392; and second, a review of
developments in FOIA case law. The
training was completed within the time period targeted in the Authority’s
plan. Other areas targeted for
improvement by December 31, 2007 are the redesign of the FLRA website; the
upgrade of FOIA case-tracking; and the customer feedback survey.
After 2007, the FLRA plans to revise its regulations and the current fee
assessment among its components.