I. Basic Information Regarding Report
A. Person to be contacted with questions about the
report: Patricia M. Riep-Dice, Chief, Freedom of Information Act
Division, C-12/5432, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh
Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4542.
B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide
Web:
http://www.dot.gov/foia/1999annual_foia_report.html
C. Person to be contacted for a copy of the report
in paper form: Patricia M. Riep-Dice, Chief, Freedom of Information
Act Division, C-12/5432, U.S. Department Of Transportation, 400
Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4542.
II. How to Make a FOIA Request
A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all
individual agency components and offices that receive FOIA requests.
Name/Title
Address
Telephone/Facsimile [1]
Patricia M. Riep-Dice, Chief
FOIA Division
Office of the Secretary
C-12/5432
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-4542/(202) 366-8536
Jeffrey W. Davis
FOIA Officer
Office of Inspector General JC-1/9208
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-1971
Commandant
G-SII-2/6106
United States Coast Guard
2100 Second Street, SW
Washington, DC 20593
(202) 267-1086
Valerie Collins, Manager
National FOIA Staff, ARC-40
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20591
(202) 267-3108
Ms. Jean Mahoney, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Alaskan Region, AAL-7
222 West 7th Avenue, #14
Anchorage, AL 99513-7587
(907) 271-5269/(907) 271-2800
Ms. Veronica Bailey, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Central Region, ACE-40
601 East 12th Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
(816) 426-5975/(816) 426-3124
Ms. Mary Antney, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Eastern Region
JFK International Airport
Fitzgerald Federal Building
Jamaica, NY 11430
(718) 553-3398/(718) 995-5663
Ms. Violet Kurylak, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Great Lakes Region, AGL-4
2300 E. Devon Avenue
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847) 294-7825/(847) 294-7184
Ms. Carol Goodsell, FOIA Coordinator
FAA New England Region, ANE-40
12 New England Exec. Park
Burlington, MA 01803
(781) 238-7393/(781) 238-7380
Ms. Connie Coleman-Lacadie, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Northwest Mountain Region, ANM-4
1601 Lind Avenue SW
Renton, WA 98055-4056
(425) 227-2065/(425) 227-1004
Ms. Linda Chatman, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Southern Region, ASO-65D
Post Office Box 20636
Atlanta, GA 39329
(404) 305-5906/(404) 305-5854
Ms. Nancy Reilly, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Southwest Region, ASW-41A
2601 Meacham Boulevard
Ft. Worth, TX 76193-0041
(817) 222-5450/(817) 222-5952
Ms. Carlette Steadman, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Western-Pacific Region, AWP-4
15000 Aviation Boulevard
Hawthorne, CA 90009
(310) 725-3809/(310) 725-6813
Ms. Beth Henson, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute
Office of Aviation Medicine, AAM-3
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
(405) 954-1002/(405) 954-1010
Ms. Maureen Carroll, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Technical Center, ACT-4
Atlantic City International
Airport, NJ 08405
(609) 485-4854/(609) 485-4011
Mr. Doug Burdette, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
Flight Standards Service
Operational Services Branch,, AFS-600
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-6501/(405) 954-4655
Ms. Stacy Flowers, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
Civil Aviation Registry, AFS-700
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-4331/(405) 954-5759
Ms. Margaret Fee, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
Aviation System Standards
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-8926/(405) 954-3436
Ms. Joey Muth, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center,
AMC-2
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-5054/(405) 954-3360
Kathy Ray, FOIA Officer
Federal Highway Administration HAIM-11
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-0534/(202) 366-9380
Dolores Jones, FOIA Officer
Federal Railroad Administration 1120 Vermont
Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 493-6039
Heidi Coleman
Assistant Chief Counsel for
General Law,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
NCC-30/5219
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-1834
Janeise Beckwith, FOIA Officer
Federal Transit Administration TPA-1/9400
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-1217
Edmund Sommer
FOIA Officer
Maritime Administration MAR-224/7221
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-5181
Gail Mayhew, FOIA Coordinator,
Research and Special Programs Administration
DCC-1/8407
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-4353
David Mednick
FOIA Officer
Bureau of Transportation Statistics K-10/3430
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-8871
B. Brief description of the agency's response-time
ranges.
Most components in DOT administer a decentralized
FOIA program. FOIA coordinators and responding program offices
acknowledge receipt of FOIA requests promptly. Response time for
a request varies according to the clarity and complexity of the
request, the volume of documents requested, the number of facilities
assigned to respond to the request and any respective FOIA backlogs.
Response time is facilitated when requesters are specific about
the records they seek, and identify the organization(s) where
the records may be located. FOIA Coordinators and program offices
contact requesters by telephone or in writing to clarify any uncertainties
in a FOIA request, and to resolve any fee issues with the request,
so that they may provide a response as soon as possible.
C. Brief description of why some requests are not
granted.
Reasons why requests may not be granted include:
the request inadequately describes records sought; the request
poses questions rather than seeks documents; the information is
already publicly available; the request should more properly be
answered under another Act, such as the Privacy Act or the Pilot
Records Improvement Act of 1996; or fees for previous requests
have not been paid. Other reasons for not granting requests include:
requested reports were not available at time of request; records
were non-existent; no records were found; records were destroyed;
records revealed investigative techniques, were part of the deliberative
process; constituted a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy, or were duplicate requests.
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the
Report
A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.
DOT -- Department of Transportation
OST -- Office of the Secretary
OIG -- Office of Inspector General
FAA -- Federal Aviation Administration
USCG -- United States Coast Guard
NHTSA -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
FHWA -- Federal Highway Administration
FRA -- Federal Railroad Administration
FTA -- Federal Transit Administration
SLSDC -- Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
MARAD -- Maritime Administration
RSPA -- Research and Special Programs Administration
BTS -- Bureau of Transportation Statistics
FMVSS -- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
IR -- Information Request
PE -- Preliminary Evaluation
EA -- Engineering Analysis
RQ -- Recall Query
SQ -- Service Query
OA -- Office Activity
DP -- Defect Petition
CI -- Compliance Investigation
NCI -- Non-compliance Investigation
Remanded Appeal -- An appeal request, particularly a “no
records” appeal, sent back to the original action office
or forwarded to another office when the requester provides additional
information either clarifying the documents sought or providing
additional search parameters. The action office considers the
request as if it were a new request, responding directly to the
requester. Remanded appeal responses may again be appealed; appeal
rights are provided if the remanded appeal response is a denial,
partial denial or “no records” determination.
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.
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 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 the 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 (non-expedited)
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 exemptions;
or a decision to disclose some records in their entirety, 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 exemptions,
or for some procedural reason (such as no record is located
in response to a FOIA request).
12. Time Limits -- the time period pursuant to
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 numbers in
the group. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number
is 8.
IV. Exemption 3 Statute
List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during
current fiscal year.
1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld
under each statute.
§106 of the Highway Safety Act of 1996, 23
U.S.C. §403 (note) prohibits the disclosure of personal identifiers
contained in reports of crash investigations; the Privacy Act
of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a2 prohibits the disclosure of
personal information contained in a system of records; and the
National Driver Register Act of 1982, 49 U.S.C. §30305(c)(1)
authorizes disclosure of personal information about problem drivers
only to individuals and entities specifically authorized to receive
such information under the Act.
28 U.S.C. §1651 All Writs Act - A complaint
filed under seal.2
41 U.S.C. § 423(a) - Prohibits disclosure of
procurement information.
46 U.S.C. § 7319 - Prohibits release of all
information contained in files maintained on each merchant mariner
document issued.
49 U.S.C. 20109 - Names of individuals providing
information to the Federal Railroad Administration related to
violations of the railroad safety laws and regulations.
49 U.S.C. §31143(b) - Identification of motor
carrier safety complainants.
49 U.S.C. §40115 - Information harmful to the
position of the United States in international aviation negotiations,
or harmful to any air carrier in foreign air transportation.
49 U.S.C §40119(b) - Sensitive aviation security
information.
49 U.S.C. § 46311 – Information from
air carrier records.
2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use
of each statute.
There are no instances where a court has reviewed
an exemption 3 statute applied by the Department.
V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests
A. Numbers of Initial Requests.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding
fiscal year: 2,7333
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 20,923
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year:
20,247
4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year:
3,414
B. Disposition of initial requests.
1. Number of total grants: 12,670
2. Number of partial grants: 2,340
3. Number of denials: 716
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used
(counting each exemption once per request).
(1) Exemption 1 8
(2) Exemption 2 59
(3) Exemption 3 164
(4) Exemption 4 324
(5) Exemption 5 502
(6) Exemption 6 876
(7) Exemption 7(A) 148
(8) Exemption 7(B) 11
(9) Exemption 7(C) 464
(10) Exemption 7(D) 84
(11) Exemption 7(E) 11
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 4,774
a. No records 2,774
b. Referrals 354
c. Request withdrawn; 737
d. Fee-related reason 147
e. Records not reasonably described 339
f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 197
g. Not an agency record 105
h. Duplicate reques 44
i. Available from other source 38
j. Other (Specify)
Non-possession 37
Privacy Act request 2
The FAA has a substantial number of requests
“withdrawn” when requesters learn that they can
readily obtain the same information outside the FOIA program.
The FAA has many “not a proper FOIA request”
determinations that result from requests that are properly
answered under the Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996.
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
A. Number of appeals.4
1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year:
190
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 218
B. Disposition of appeals.
1. Number completely upheld: 1075
2. Number partially reversed: 37
3. Number completely reversed: 16
a. number of times each FOIA exemption used:
(1) Exemption 2 6
(2) Exemption 3 9
(3) Exemption 4 28
(4) Exemption 5 46
(5) Exemption 6 60
(6) Exemption 7(A) 4
(7) Exemption 7(C) 17
(8) Exemption 7(D) 5
(9) Exemption 7(E) 3
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total):
a. No records 45
b. Request withdrawn 1
c. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 36
d. Duplicate request 1
e. Other (specify)
Remanded appeals 15
Processed as original FOIA requests 4
Fee-related issue 1
No answer to initial request 6
VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending
Requests6
A. Median processing time for requests processed
during the year.
1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks used).7
a. Number of requests processed: 10,914
b. Median number of days to process: 168
2. Complex requests (specify for any and all tracks
used).
a. Number of requests processed: 4,261
b. Median number of days to process: 45
3. Requests accorded expedited processing.
a. Number of requests processed: 29
b. Median number of days to process: 6
4. Requests not using multi-track processing.
a. Number of requests processed: 3,656
b. Median number of days to process: 6
B. Status of pending requests.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of current
fiscal year: 3,414
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as
of that date: 40
VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year(s)(optional)
A. Comparison of numbers of requests received: FY
1998--data was not collected.
B. Comparison of numbers of requests processed:
FY 1998--data was not collected.
C. Comparison of median number of days requests
were pending at the end of fiscal year: FY 1998--data was not
collected.
D. Other statistics significant to agency--we have
nothing to report.
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).
With a limited budget, we take advantage of every
training opportunity that is offered at no cost and meets the
needs of the FOIA Division. On-the-job training is provided to
junior staff. Docketed records are maintained on the DOT web site
and are often requested under FOIA. Decisions concerning disadvantaged
business enterprises are requested under FOIA and are available
on our web site.
Implementation of a national FOIA tracking system
in FY 1998 facilitates the tracking of FOIA requests throughout
the FAA for accurate, timely responses. The FAA continues to increase
the types and volume of information available to the public on
the Internet. Two popular examples are an on-line guide to FAA
publications and publicly available safety database information.
NHTSA has put a significant amount of information
on the world wide web. As a result, many requesters obtain desired
information themselves, without the need to file a FOIA request.
In addition, when requests for this information are received,
it takes less time for agency staff to search for and review the
information.
With the implementation of the Electronic FOIA Data
System, the public has easy access to the RSPA Website, which
is linked to the program office websites, for retrieval of information.
The Website has publications, enforcement documents, contracts,
training activities and other frequently requested information.
The Electronic FOIA Data System has significantly reduced the
number of FOIA backlogs and has decreased the number of man hours
used to conduct computer and manual searches through records and
files. The system is continually updated with pertinent information.
Information pertaining to FTA Credit Card Holders
has now been placed on the Internet for the public's use. The
FTA's FOIA Annual Report for FY97 is on the Internet and the FY
98 Report is being placed on the Internet. Information on the
FOIA Guidelines is on the Internet. The public can now e-mail
their FOIA request in on the Internet.
The OIG places public audit reports on the Internet.
Additionally, news media and press inquires are being processed
by OIG's Communications Office. Therefore, there are fewer FOIA
requests from the news media and the press.
The USCG is in the process of developing a FOIA
Imaging System (FIS). The FIS is an image-enabled workflow system
that images FOIA requests and responses, and automates the workflow
management process associated with these functions. In addition,
it provides for the additional requirements unique to FOIA requests,
such as collection of reasons for denial, redaction of exempt
information in responsive documents, collection of cost data,
and collection of denial appeal data for the FOIA Annual Report
among other reports. While the FIS will initially be limited to
the central FOIA office, it may be expanded to include other units.
The central USCG FOIA office remands appeals to
the original processor for reconsideration when it determines
that the original processor failed to follow procedures. This
improves the quality and timeliness of responses, while preserving
requesters' appeal rights.
Two additional billets have been added to the USCG
FOIA staff.
Not all DOT components maintain an electronic tracking
system. Thus, the act of compiling FOIA statistical information
is more labor intensive for some components. However, in the future,
the Department plans to encourage those components that do not
track FOIA requests electronically to implement an electronic
tracking system. This would require additional resources. Finally,
OST has created a DOT FOIA web site which links to web sites of
all agency components. Hopefully, information at these sites will
be helpful to the public.
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
A. Staffing levels.
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 32
2. No. of personnel with part-time/occasional
FOIA duties (in total work years): 150.2
3. Total number of personnel (in total work years):
182.2
B. Total costs (including staff and all resources).
1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $7,003,081.00
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $406,612.00
3. Total costs: $7,409,693.00
X. Fees
A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for
processing requests: $266,540.36
B. Percentage of total costs: 4%
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
Attached is a copy of the Department of Transportation
FOIA Regulations, 49 CFR Part 7, Public Availability of Information.
Footnotes
[1]
If one number appears, it represents the office telephone number.
2 This statute was incorrectly cited as
an Exemption 3 statute. We will correct this error.
3 The number of requests pending at the
end of the Fiscal year 1998 has been readjusted.
4 The number of appeals processed is larger
than the number of appeals received because there were appeals pending
from the previous fiscal year.
5 These are remanded appeals.
6 The FAA national FOIA Staff administers
a decentralized FOIA program. FOIA requests are answered by the
headquarters/region/center program area with responsibility for
the requested records. If requested records involve several regions
and/or program areas (e.g. fight standards, air traffic, aircraft
certification), the agency may opt to have each program area responded
separately, or to develop a consolidated response. For the annual
report, each request is counted once, regardless of the number of
responses provided. The number of days to process is computed from
the longest completion date by a region or program area responding
to a portion of the request.
7 OST, OIG, FAA, and RSPA used multi-track
processing.
8 Median days are primarily based on calendar
days as reported by most of the Department with the exception of
the FAA which reported working days.
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