U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) Fiscal Year 2003

Annual Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Report

I. Basic Information Regarding this Report

    A. OGE contact person for questions about OGE’s annual FOIA report for Fiscal Year 2003 (10/1/02-9/30/03): William E. Gressman, OGE FOIA Officer, Office of Government Ethics, Suite 500, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20005-3917, Tel: 202-482-9245; TDD: 202-482-9293; FAX: 202-482-9237; E-mail: usoge@oge.gov.

    B. Electronic address for this report: http://www.usoge.gov, OGE’s Internet Web site, under the About OGE, Electronic Freedom of Information section.

    C. How to obtain a paper copy of this report: download it from OGE’s Web site (see part I.B. above) or request it from the OGE contact person (see part I.A. above).

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

    FOIA requests for access to OGE records can be made verbally or preferably in writing by mail, FAX or E-mail addressed to the OGE FOIA Officer, at the address, telephone numbers and E-mail address indicated in part I.A. above. Requests must reasonably describe the records as to which access is sought, can address the willingness to pay any applicable fees and should otherwise comply with OGE’s FOIA regulations (see part XI below). OGE normally responds to requests within 20 working days and provides access to responsive records unless one of the FOIA exemptions or exclusions applies.

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in this Report

    A. Agency-specific acronyms and other terms:

    1. FOIA -- Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552).

    2. FY -- Fiscal Year.

    3. OGE -- Office of Government Ethics.

    4. PA -- Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a).

    B. Basic terms:

    1. FOIA/PA Request -- Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act request. A FOIA request is generally a request for disclosure of records concerning a third party, an organization or a particular topic of interest. A Privacy Act request is a request for records covered by that Act concerning oneself; such requests are also treated as FOIA requests. (All requests for records, regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are included in this report.)

    2. Initial Request -- a request to OGE for records under the Freedom of Information Act.

    3. Appeal -- a request to OGE 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.

    4. Processed Request or Appeal -- a request or appeal for which OGE 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. Note: OGE does not have multi-track processing as it generally responds to requests on a timely basis and doesn’t have any FOIA backlog. A requester who has an urgent need for records may request expedited processing. (See part III.B.6. directly below.)

    6. Expedited Processing -- OGE 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 a Federal agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (nonexpedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of records requested. As noted, OGE does not have multi-track processing.

    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. Again, as noted, OGE does not have multi-track processing.

    9. Grant -- an OGE decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.

    10. Partial Grant -- an OGE decision to disclose a record or records 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 OGE decision not to release any part of a record or records in response to a FOIA request because the information in all the requested records is determined by OGE 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 Freedom of Information Act for a Federal agency, including OGE, to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a “perfected” FOIA request -- see part III.B.13. & 17. below). Note: the OGE response times in part VII below are, in accordance with Justice Department guidance, given in working days.

    13. “Perfected” Request -- a FOIA request for records which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by OGE’s FOIA office (for OGE 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), which is “Exemption 3.”

    15. Median Number -- the middle, not average number. For example, of 3, 7 and 14, the median number is 7. In part VII below, OGE’s response times are given in median calendar days.

    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.

    17. Working Days -- days excepting Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays. As noted, OGE’s response times in part VII below are given in median working days.

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

    A. List of FOIA Exemption 3 statutes relied on by OGE during Fiscal Year 2003 (10/1/02-9/30/03): Section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (EGA), 5 U.S.C. appendix, § 105.

    1. Brief description of types of information withheld under each statute:

    This statutory provision provides that Standard Form 278 Public Financial Disclosure Reports may be released only after a requester gives certain identifying information and receives a notice of prohibited uses under the EGA. The OGE Form 201 is used for this purpose. The SF 278 reports are only available to the public under this special EGA access procedure; they are exempt from regular FOIA release.

    2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute:

    The use of section 105 of the EGA has been upheld in Church of Scientology of Texas v. Internal Revenue Service, 816 F. Supp. 1138, 1152 (W.D. Tex. 1993), appeal dismissed per stipulation, No. 93-8431 (5th Cir. Oct. 21, 1993).

V. Initial FOIA/PA Requests

    A. Numbers of initial requests

    1. Number of requests pending as of the end of the preceding fiscal year (FY 2002): 4.

    2. Number of requests received during the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): 40.

    3. Number of requests processed during FY 2003: 37.

    4. Number of requests pending as of the end of FY 2003: 7.

    B. Disposition of initial requests

    1. Number of total grants: 9.

    2. Number of partial grants: 11.

    3. Number of (total) denials: 3.

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

       (1) Exemption 1: 0.

       (2) Exemption 2: 2.

       (3) Exemption 3: 1.

       (4) Exemption 4: 3.

       (5) Exemption 5: 7.

       (6) Exemption 6: 10.

       (7) Exemption 7(A): 1.

       (8) Exemption 7(B): 0.

       (9) Exemption 7(C): 1.

      (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 in whole or in part (total): 14.

       a. No records: 9.

       b. Referrals: 0.

       c. Request withdrawn: 0.

       d. Fee-related reason: 0.

       e. Records not reasonably described: 2.

       f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 3.

       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 pending as of the end of the preceding fiscal year (FY 2002): 0.

    2. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): 2.

    3. Number of appeals processed during FY 2003: 1.

    4. Number of appeals pending as of the end of FY 2003: 1.

    B. Disposition of appeals

    1. Number of initial determinations completely upheld: 1.

    2. Number of initial determinations partially reversed: 0.

    3. Number of initial determinations 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: 1.

       (7) Exemption 7(A): 0.

       (8) Exemption 7(B): 0.

       (9) Exemption 7(C): 0.

      (11) Exemption 7(E): 0.

      (12) Exemption 7(F): 0.

      (13) Exemption 8: 0.

      (14) Exemption 9: 0.

    4. Other reasons for nondisclosure in whole or in part (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 2003

    1. Total for all requests:

       a. Number of requests processed: 37.

       b. Median number of working days to process: 15.

    2. Requests accorded expedited processing:

       a. Number of requests processed: 0.

       b. Median number of working days to process: N/A.

    B. Status of pending requests as of the end of FY 2003

    1. Number of requests pending as of the end of FY 2003 (9/30/03): 7.

    2. Median number of working days that such requests were pending as of that date: 30.

VIII. Comparisons with Preceding Year/Other Significant Statistics

    A. Comparison of numbers of requests received

    1. Number of requests received during the preceding fiscal year (FY 2002): 58.

    2. Number of requests received during the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): 40.

    3. Percentage change: -31.0%.

    B. Comparison of numbers of requests processed

    1. Number of requests processed during the preceding fiscal year (FY 2002): 57.

    2. Number of requests processed during the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): 37.

    3. Percentage change: -35.1%.

    C. Comparison of median numbers of working days requests were pending as of the end of the fiscal year (carry-over requests)

    1. Median number of working days requests were pending as of the end of the preceding fiscal year (FY 2002): 3.

    2. Median number of working days requests were pending as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): 30.

    3. Percentage change: +900.0%.

    D. Other significant statistics

    1. Number of requests for expedited processing received during the fiscal year covered by this report (FY 2003): 2.

    2. Number of such requests granted during FY 2003: 0.

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

    A. Staffing levels

    1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel during the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): 0.

    2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in estimated total work-years) during FY 2003: 0.45.

    3. Total number of personnel (in estimated work-years) during FY 2003: 0.45.

    B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)

    1. FOIA processing (estimated -- including requests and appeals) during fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): $27,500.

    2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) during FY 2003: $17,500.

    3. Total costs (estimated) during FY 2003: $45,000.

    4. Comparison of total costs:

       a. Total costs (estimated) during the preceding fiscal year (FY 2002): $30,000.

       b. Total costs (estimated) during the fiscal year covered by this annual report (FY 2003): $45,000.

       c. Percentage change: +50.0%.

X. Fees

    A. Total amount of fees collected by OGE for processing requests: $0.00.

    B. Percentage of total estimated costs: 0%.

XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

    OGE’s FOIA regulations, including the fee schedule, are codified at 5 C.F.R. part 2604.