I. Basic Information Regarding Report:
A. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person to contact with questions about the report.
B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web.
C. How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form.
II. How to Make a FOIA Request:
Agencies may either include descriptions here or provide them by cross-reference to their FOIA reference guides (which should be electronically linked for convenient electronic reference purposes).
A. Name, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that receive FOIA requests.
B. Brief description of the agency's response time ranges.
C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted.
III. Definition of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report (to be included in each report):
A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.
B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.
1. FOIA/PA REQUEST - FOIA/Privacy Act (PA) 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 PA 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 partial denial of access to records under the FOIA, or any other FOIA determinations, such as a matter pertaining to fees.
4. PROCESSED REQUEST OR APPEAL - a request or an 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 rack 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 require 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 a slower track based on the volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.
8. COMPLEX 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.
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 FOIA for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily, 20 working days, excluding Federal holidays, 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 numbers in the Group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes
A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during current fiscal year.
1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute.
2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. If so, then cite example.
V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests
This should include all access requests, whether first-party or third party. Both large and small agencies should provide information in the format presented below. Agencies may additionally use chart forms for breakdown by multiple agency components.
A. Numbers of initial requests - total of the numbers in Lines 1 and 2, minus the number in Line 3, should equal the number in Line 4.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year __________
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year __________
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year __________
4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year __________
B. Disposition of initial requests.
1. Number of total grants __________
2. Number of partial grants __________
3. Number of denials __________
a. number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request)
(1) Exemption 1 __________
(2) Exemption 2 __________
(3) Exemption 3 __________
(4) Exemption 4 __________
(5) Exemption 5 __________
(6) Exemption 6 __________
(7) Exemption 7(A) ___________
(8) Exemption 7(B) ___________
(9) Exemption 7(C) ___________
(10) Exemption 7(D) __________
(11) Exemption 7(E) __________
(12) Exemption 7(F) __________
(13) Exemption 8 __________
(14) Exemption 9 __________
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) __________
a. no records __________
b. referrals ___________
c. requests withdrawn __________
d. fee-related reason __________
e. records not reasonably described __________
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason ___________
g. not an agency record __________
h. duplicate request __________
i. other (specify) __________
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA Requests
This section is completed by DOC Office of the General Counsel. This should include all access requests, whether first-party or third-party. Both large and small agencies should provide the information in the format presented below. Agencies may additionally use chart format for breakdown by multiple agency components, if applicable.
A. Number of appeals.
1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year __________
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year ___________
B. Disposition of appeals.
1. Number completely upheld ___________
2. Number partially reversed __________
3. Number completely reversed __________
a. number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per appeal)
(1) Exemption 1 __________
(2) Exemption 2 __________
(3) Exemption 3 __________
(4) Exemption 4 __________
(5) Exemption 5 __________
(6) Exemption 6 __________
(7) Exemption 7(A) __________
(8) Exemption 7(B) __________
(9) Exemption 7(C) __________
(10) Exemption 7(D) __________
(11) Exemption 7(E) __________
(12) Exemption 7(F) __________
(13) Exemption 8 __________
(14) Exemption 9 __________
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) __________
a. no records __________
b. referrals __________
c. request withdrawn __________
d. fee-related reason __________
e. records not reasonably described __________
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason __________
g. not an agency record __________
h. duplicate request __________
i. other (specify) __________
VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests
If an agency believes that "average time" is a better measure of its performance, it should include that, as well. Both large and small agencies should provide information in the format presented below. Agencies should count days from the time at which a request is "perfected". They should report separately each track of a multi-track system, as well as an "expedited processing track," and may report any other type of request at their option.
A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year.
1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks are used).
a. number of requests processed __________
b. median number of days to process __________
2. Complex requests (specify for any and all tracks used).
a. number of requests processed __________
b. median number of days to process __________
3. Requests accorded expedited processing.
a. number of requests processed __________
B. Status of pending requests - Agencies using multiple tracks may provide numbers for each track, as well as totals.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year (Enter this number from Line V.A.4 ) __________
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of this
date __________
VIII. Comparison with Previous Years (OPTIONAL)
Agencies should state comparisons both in total numbers and in percentage of change. Note that the agency's annual report for 1997 covers a PARTIAL calendar year.
A. Comparison of numbers of requests received __________
B. Comparison of numbers of requests processed __________
C. Comparison of median numbers of days requests were pending as of end of fiscal year __________
D. Other statistics significant to agency __________
E. 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) __________
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
Both large and small agencies should provide information in the format presented below. Agencies may additionally use chart format for breakdown by multiple agency components.
A. Staffing levels.
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel __________
2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years) __________
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years)
B. Total costs (including staff an all resources).
1. FOIA processing (including appeals) __________
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) __________
3. Total costs __________
4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change)(optional) __________
C. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance __________
X. Fees
This includes charges for search, review, document duplication, and any other direct costs permitted under agency regulations.
A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests __________
B. Percentage of total costs __________
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
Agencies should provide electronic linking for availability in electronic
form and attach copy in paper form.
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