HHS Fiscal Year 2008 Freedom of Information Annual Report

Contents

• I. Agency:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
• II. How to Make a FOIA Request
• III. Acronyms, Definitions, and Exemptions
• IV.   Exemption 3 Statutes
• V. FOIA Request
• VI.   Administrative Appeals of Initial Determinations of FOI Requests
• VII.  FOIA Requests:  Response Time for Processed and Pending Requests
• VIII. Requests FOE Expedited Processing and Requests for Fee Waver
• IX.  FOIA Personnel and Costs
• X.  Fees Collected for Processing Requests
• XI. FOIA Regulations
• XII. Backlogs, Consultations, and Comparisons

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I.  Agency:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Report Prepared by:  Robert Eckert
Title:  Director, Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Division, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, HHS
Address:  330 C Street, S.W., Room 2221, Washington D.C. 20201
Phone Number:  (202) 690-7453

Electronic Address for this Report on the World Wide Web:  http://www.hhs.gov/foia/08anlrpt.html

** Copies of the annual reports of a number of individual HHS Operating Divisions can be found by contacting the responsible component shown in Section II below, or by locating a FOIA link at the following Web sites:

Administration on Aging (AOA): http://www.aoa.gov/
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): http://www.ahrq.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): http://www.cdc.gov
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): http://www.cms.gov
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): http://www.fda.gov
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): http://www.hrsa.gov/
Indian Health Service (IHS): http://www.ihs.gov
National Institute of Health (NIH): http://www.nih.gov/
Office of Inspector General (OIG):  http://oig.hhs.gov/foia/
Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS): www.psc.gov/aos/foia/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: www.samhsa.gov/foia/

Address for Paper copy of this Report:

Health and Human Services (HHS)
Freedom of Information Officer
Mary E. Switzer Building, Room 2221
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201

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II. How to Make a FOIA Request

Please see HHS Guide to Information Resources at: www.hhs.gov/about/infoguid.html#foia  

A.  HHS and OPDIV Freedom of Information Officers/FOIA Requester Service Centers

Health and Human Services (HHS) Freedom of Information Officer Mary E. Switzer Building, Room 2221 330 C Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 Phone: 202-690-7453 Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Freedom of Information Officer 901 D Street, S.W. 7th Floor West Aerospace Building Washington, D.C. 20447 Phone: 202-401-9215 Administration on Aging (AOA) Freedom of Information Officer Washington, D.C. 20201 Phone: 202-357-3540 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Freedom of Information Officer North Building, Room N2-20-06 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, Maryland 21244 Phone: 410-786-5353 Office of Inspector General (OIG) Freedom of Information Officer Cohen Building, Suite 1062 330 Independence Ave, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20201 Phone: 202-619-2541 Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) Freedom of Information Officer Room 17-A-46, Parklawn Building 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, MD 20857 Phone: 301-443-5252 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Freedom of Information Officer 540 Gaither Road The Eisenberg Building, Room 2222 Rockville, Maryland 20850 Phone: 301-427-1866

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Freedom of Information Officer 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., Building 16, Room D-54 Atlanta, Georgia 30333 Phone: 404-639-7270 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Freedom of Information Officer Parklawn Building, Room 6-30 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, Maryland 20857 Phone: 301-827-6567 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Freedom of Information Officer Parklawn Building, Room 14-15 5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, Maryland 20857 Phone: 301-443-3376 Indian Health Service (IHS) Freedom of Information Officer 12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 450 Twinbrook II, Metro Plaza Building Rockville, Maryland 20857 Phone: 301-443-1116 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Freedom of Information Officer Building 31, Room 5B35 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892 Phone:  301-496-5633 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Freedom of Information Officer 1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 8-1042 Rockville, Maryland 20857 Phone: 240-276-2137

B. Brief description of why some requests are not granted: 
Documents requested were protected by an exemption and release would have caused harm to the interest protected by the exemption.

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III. Acronyms, Definitions, and Exemptions

1.  Agency-specific acronyms or other terms:

HHS - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
OPDIVs - Operating Divisions of HHS
OS - Office of the Secretary, HHS
OASPA - Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, HHS
AoA - Administration on Aging
ACF - Administration for Children and Families
AHRQ - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
ATSDR - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
FDA - Food and Drug Administration
HRSA - Health Resources and Services Administration
IHS - Indian Health Service
NIH - National Institutes of Health
OIG – Office of the Inspector General
OPHS - Office of Public Health and Science
PHS - Public Health Service
PRO - Professional Review Organization
PSC - Program Support Center
SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

2.  Basic terms (from FOIA UPDATE, Summer 1997):

a.  Administrative Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by the agency at the initial request level.

b.  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.

c.  Backlog – the number of requests or administrative appeals that are pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time period for a response.

d.   Component – for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a “component” is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their annual report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.

e.  Consultation – the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because that agency has an interest in the document.  Once the agency in receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it responds back to the agency that forwarded it.  That Agency, in turn, will then respond to the FOIA requester.

f.   Exemption 3 Statute – a federal statute that exempts information from disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under subsection (b)(3) of the FOIA.  

g.  FOIA Request – a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal agency for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a “third-party” request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of interest. FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters seeking records concerning themselves (i.e., “first-party” requests) when those requesters are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as non-U.S. citizens.  Moreover, because all first-party requesters should be afforded the benefit of both the access provisions of the FOIA as well as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA requests also include any first-party requests where an agency determines that it must search beyond its Privacy Act “systems of records” or where a Privacy Act exemption applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford the greatest possible access.  All requests which require the agency to utilize the FOIA in responding to the requester are included in this Report.  Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency for processing and direct response to the requester.  It does not, however, include records for which the agency has received a consultation from another agency.  (Consultations are reported separately in Section XII of this Report.)

h.   Full Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.

i.    Full Denial - an agency decision not to release any records in response to a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their entireties under one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a procedural reason, such as when no records could be located.

j.   Median Number - Median Number – the middle, not average, number.  For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

k.  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 granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track. Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis.

i. Expedited Processing – an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester satisfies the requirements for expedited processing as set forth in the statute and in agency regulations.  

ii.   Simple Request – a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested. 

iii.  Complex Request – a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the high volume and/or complexity of the records requested.

l.   Partial Grant/Partial Denial – in response to a FOIA request, an agency decision to disclose portions of the records and to withhold other portions that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a portion of the request for a procedural reason. 

m.  Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal – a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects. 

n.  Perfected Request – a request for records which reasonably describes such records and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.             

o.  Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal – a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final action in all respects.          

p.  Range in Number of Days – the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals. 

q.  Time Limits – the time period in the statute for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty working days from receipt of a perfected FOIA request).

3.   Concise descriptions of the nine FOIA exemptions:

a.   Exemption 1: classified national defense and foreign relations information

b.   Exemption 2: internal agency rules and practices

c.   Exemption 3: information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law

d.   Exemption 4: trade secrets and other confidential business information

e.    Exemption 5: inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges

f.    Exemption 6: information involving matters of personal privacy

g.   Exemption 7: records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records

(A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,
(B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,
(C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,
(D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source,
(E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or
(F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual

h.    Exemption 8: information relating to the supervision of financial institutions

i.     Exemption 9: geological information on wells

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IV.   Exemption 3 Statutes

Statute	Type of Information Withheld	Case Citation	Number of Times Relied upon per Component	Total Number of Times Relied upon by Agency
42 U.S.C. § 262a	Select Agent Information		OIG - 1 CDC - 12	13
41 U.S.C. § 253b(m)	Technical proposal not incorporated into a final contract	Hornbostel v. U.S. Dep’t. of Interior, 305 F.Supp.2d 21 (D.D.C. 2003)	AHRQ - 2 CMS - 5 NIH – 1 CDC – 6 PSC - 5	19
42 U.S.C. § 242m(d) (Public Health Service Act § 308(d))	Identifiable  information for certain research and statistical activities.		CDC - 3	3
35 U.S.C. § 122	Information contained in a pending or otherwise non-issued patent application	Irons and Sears v. Dann, 606 F. 2d 1215 (D.C. Cir 1979; Leeds v. Quigg, 720 F. Supp. 193 (D.D.C.1989)	NIH-1	1
5 U.S.C. App 4 § 107(a)(2)	OGE Form 450 (Confidential Financial Disclosure Report)	Meyerhoff v. U.S. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 958 F.2d 1498 (9th Cir. 1992)	NIH-1 CDC - 1 FDA – 3	5
42 U.S.C. § 300aa12(d)(4)(A)	Records presented to a Special Master in court proceedings under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act.	Poling ex rel. Poling v. Secretary of HHS, No. 02-1466V, 2008 WL 1883059 (Fed. Cl. Apr. 10, 2008)	HRSA – 1	1
21 U.S.C. § 415(a)(4)	Food Registration Documents			38

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V. FOIA Requests

A.  Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):   

1. Number of requests pending as of start of fiscal year:	27,754
2. Number of requests received in fiscal year:	58,299
3. Number of requests processed in fiscal year:	66,583
4. Number of requests pending as of end of fiscal year:	19,470

Received, Processed and Pending FOIA Requests

1	Number of Requests Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Received in Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Processed in Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Pending as of End of Fiscal Year
OS 2	1,124	882	1,320	686
ACF	374	328	146	556
AOA	0	15	14	1
CMS	7,945	43,792	41,260	10,477
OIG 2	0	124	109	15
OPHS	159	465	328	296
AHRQ	7	61	63	5
CDC	404	1,539	1,357	586
FDA 3	17,484	9,432	20,348	6,568
HRSA	26	305	303	28
IHS	36	77	64	49
NIH	170	1,146	1,164	152
SAMHSA	25	133	107	51
PHS Total	18,311	13,158	23,734	7,735
HHS Total	27,754	58,299	66,583	19,470

¹ Excluding Privacy Act requests per new Dept. of Justice guidance.
² The OIG, heretofore serviced exclusively by the OS FRSC, established OIG FRSC on May 19, 2008.
³ The increase of 26 FDA FOIA requests was the result of improved counting through enhanced reporting tools, and re-opening FOIA cases which had previously been closed.

B. (1)  Disposition of FOIA Requests:  66,583

1. Number of full grants:	46,818
2. Number of partial grants:	776
3. Number of full denials based on Exemptions:	1,824
4. Number of Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions:
a. No records:	4,737
b. Referrals:	1,349
c. Request withdrawn:	7,697
d. Fee-related reason:	292
e. Records not reasonably described:	133
f. Improper FOIA request for some other reason:	934
g. Not an agency record:	36
h. Duplicate request:	414
i. Other (specify):	1,573

Disposition of all FOIA Requests – All Processed Requests

	Number of Full Grants	Number of Partial Grants /Partial Denials	Number of Full Denials Based on Exemptions	Number of Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions									TOTAL
				No Records	All Records Referred to Another Component or Agency	Request Withdrawn	Fee-Related Reason	Records not Reasonably Described	Improper FOIA Request for Other Reason	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request	Other *Explain in chart below”
OS	202	92	40	227	692	35	2	4	16	5	5	0	1,320
ACF	51	95	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	146
AOA	2	5	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	14
CMS	33,669	63	1,624	3,088	515	807	106	94	711	0	3	580	41,260
OIG	21	9	7	25	25	8	1	0	7	3	2	1	109
OPHS	132	48	12	38	19	61	0	3	7	0	8	0	328
AHRQ	36	4	2	8	5	3	0	1	0	2	2	0	63
CDC	304	181	37	382	42	48	20	4	10	9	11	309	1,357
FDA	11,373	91	79	825	21	6,583	125	16	179	7	378	671	20,348
HRSA	272	11	0	1	6	7	0	0	4	1	1	0	303
IHS	3	38	6	2	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	11	64
NIH	738	57	17	129	24	141	37	11	0	8	2	0	1,164
SAMHSA	15	82	0	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	107
PHS Total	12,873	512	153	1,391	117	6,847	183	35	200	28	404	991	23,734
HHS Total	46,818	776	1,824	4,737	1,349	7,697	292	133	934	36	414	1,573	66,583

B. (2)   Disposition of FOIA Requests – Other

Disposition of FOIA Requests – “Other” Reasons for “Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions” from Section V B (1) Chart

Component	Description of “Other” Reasons for Denials from Chart B (1) & Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied upon	TOTAL
OS	N/A	0
ACF	N/A	0
AOA	Incorrectly Routed/ Cancelled	1
CMS	Administratively closed, requester did not respond/express continued interest in the records request Agency contractors denied access under the FOIA	574 6
OIG	Records on OIG Website	1
OPHS	N/A	0
AHRQ	N/A	0
CDC	Administratively closed, requester did not respond/express continued interest in the records request	309
FDA	Records on FDA Website	671
HRSA	N/A	0
IHS	Administratively closed, requester did not respond/express continued interest in the records request	11
NIH	N/A	0
SAMHSA	N/A	0
PHS Total	N/A	993
HHS Total	N/A	1,573

B. (3)   Disposition of FOIA Requests - Number of times exemptions applied

Exemption 1:	0
Exemption 2:	70
Exemption 3:	82
Exemption 4:	470
Exemption 5:	234
Exemption 6:	2,879
Exemption 7(A):	100
Exemption 7(B):	1
Exemption 7(C):	81
Exemption 7(D):	7
Exemption 7(E):	5
Exemption 7(F):	0
Exemption 8:	0
Exemption 9:	0

Disposition of FOIA Requests – Number of Times Exemptions Applied

	Ex. 1	Ex. 2	Ex. 3	Ex. 4	Ex. 5	Ex. 6	Ex. 7(A)	Ex. 7(B)	Ex. 7(C)	Ex. 7(D)	Ex. 7(E)	Ex. 7(F)	Ex. 8	Ex. 9
OS	0	16	2	15	43	61	33	1	40	2	2	0	0	0
ACF	0	1	0	80	19	835	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AOA	0	0	0	5	2	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CMS	0	2	5	11	15	1,671	1	0	11	0	0	0	0	0
OIG	0	4	1	4	3	8	8	0	7	0	2	0	0	0
OPHS	0	3	5	13	13	37	3	0	13	0	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	0	0	2	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CDC	0	40	22	111	74	106	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0
FDA	0	3	41	108	20	28	47	0	4	4	1	0	0	0
HRSA	0	0	1	5	5	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
IHS	0	0	0	21	10	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NIH	0	1	3	16	24	38	1	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA	0	0	0	76	5	82	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PHS Total	0	47	74	355	152	299	58	0	23	5	1	0	0	0
HHS Total	0	70	82	470	234	2,879	100	1	81	7	5	0	0	0

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VI.   Administrative Appeals of Initial Determinations of FOI Requests

A.  Received, Processed and Pending Administrative Appeals

1.  Number of  appeals pending as of start of Fiscal Year	644
2.  Number of appeals received in Fiscal Year:	199
3.  Number of appeals processed in Fiscal Year:	370
4.  Number appeals pending as of end of Fiscal Year:	463

Received, Processed and Pending Appeals

	Number of Appeals Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Received in Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Processed in Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Pending as of End of Fiscal Year
OS	250	163	97	316
CMS	384	36	273	147
HHS Total	634	199	370	463

B.  Disposition of Administrative Appeals – All Processed Appeals: 370    

1. Number affirmed on appeal:	22
2. Number partially affirmed and partially reversed/remanded on appeal:	5
3. Number completely reversed/remanded on appeal:	11
4. Number of appeals closed for other reasons:	332

Disposition of Processed Appeals

	Number Affirmed on Appeal	Number Partially Affirmed & Partially Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Number Completely Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Number of Appeals Closed for Other Reasons	TOTAL
OS	22	4	8	63	97
CMS	0	1	3	269	273
HHS Total	22	5	11	332	370

C. (1) Reasons for denial on Appeal – Number of Times Exemptions applied

Exemption 1:	0
Exemption 2:	0
Exemption 3:	0
Exemption 4:	2
Exemption 5:	2
Exemption 6:	3
Exemption 7(A):	2
Exemption 7(B):	0
Exemption 7(C):	1
Exemption 7(D):	0
Exemption 7(E):	0
Exemption 7(F):	0
Exemption 8:	0
Exemption 9:	0

	Ex. 1	Ex. 2	Ex. 3	Ex. 4	Ex. 5	Ex. 6	Ex. 7(A)	Ex. 7(B)	Ex. 7(C)	Ex. 7(D)	Ex. 7(E)	Ex. 7(F)	Ex. 8	Ex. 9
OS	0	0	0	2	2	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
CMS	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
HHS Total	0	0	0	2	2	3	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

C. (2)  Reasons for denial on Appeal – Reasons other than exemptions

a.  No records:	0
b.  Referrals:	25
c.  Request withdrawn:	33
d.  Fee-related reason:	0
e.  Records not reasonably described:	0
f.  Improper request for other reason:	0
g.  Not an agency record:	0
h.  Duplicate request:	1
i.   Request in litigation:	0
j.  Appeal based solely on denial of request for expedited processing:	0
k. Other:	270

	No Records	Records Referred at Initial Request Level	Request Withdrawn	Fee-Related Reason	Records Not Reasonably Described	Improper Request For Other Reasons	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request Or Appeal	Request In Litigation	Appeal Based Solely on Denial of Request For Expedited Processing	Other See Chart Below
OS	0	25	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
CMS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	269
HHS Total	0	25	33	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	270

C. (3)  Reasons for denial on Appeal – Other:

Administrative closures, records previously released to appellant

Reasons for Denial on Appeal – “Other” Reasons from Section VI, C (2) Chart

1. If you utilized the “Other” column in Section VI, C (2), provide below descriptions of the “other” reasons and the number of times each reason was relied upon. (The numbers in the “Total” column must match the numbers in the “Other” column from Section VI, C (2).)

	Description of “Other” Reasons for Denial on Appeal from Chart C (2) & Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied upon	TOTAL
OS	No Records	1
CMS	Administratively closed, requester did not respond/express continued interest in the records request	269
HHS Total		270

C. (4)  Response time for administrative appeals

a.  Median number of days:	812
b.  Average number of days:	699
c.  Lowest Number of days:	1
d. Highest number of days:	4,152

Response Time for Administrative Appeals 1. Provide the median, average, and range in number of days to respond to administrative appeal

	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OS	218	322	1	1,060
CMS	1,679	1,765	38	4,152
HHS Overall	812	699	1	4,152

C. (5)  Ten Oldest Pending Appeals

Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals 1. Provide the dates of receipt of the ten oldest pending administrative appeals, and the number of days pending.

		10th	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Appeal
OS	Date of Receipt of Ten Oldest Appeals	8/31/04	7/30/04	7/1/03	5/20/03	2/11/03	12/3/02	10/25/02	10/31/01	8/15/01	4/28/00
	Number of  Days Pending	773	793	1,064	1,091	1,158	1,352	1,374	1,379	1,409	1,730
CMS	Date of Receipt of Ten Oldest Appeals	11/22/99	11/13/99	5/7/99	4/14/99	5/12/97	3/29/96	4/6/95	2/6/95	12/7/94	6/23/94
	Number of  Days Pending	2,231	2,238	2,368	2,384	2,868	3,150	3,398	3,426	3,481	3,596
HHS Overall	Date of Receipt of Ten Oldest Appeals	11/22/99	11/13/99	5/7/99	4/14/99	5/12/97	3/29/96	4/6/95	2/6/95	12/7/94	6/23/94
	Number of  Days Pending	2,231	2,238	2,368	2,384	2,868	3,150	3,398	3,426	3,481	3,596

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VII.  FOIA Requests:  Response Time for Processed and Pending Requests

A.    Processed Requests – Response Time for All Processed Perfected Requests

	SIMPLE				COMPLEX				EXPEDITED PROCESSING
	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OS1	0	0	0	0	222	259	1	1,395	0	0	0	0
ACF	186	96	1	429	193	108	1	403	15	10	3	43
AOA1	0	0	0	0	6	6	2	15	0	0	0	0
CMS	18	25.9	1	952	98.7	297.6	1	3,211.6	137	239.3	1	807
OIG1	0	0	0	0	4	9.3	1	82	0	0	0	0
OPHS1	0	0	0	0	53	98	0	718	0	3.5	1	6
AHRQ	0	10	1	35	0	15	11	35	0	10	10	10
CDC	2	14.2	0	396	17	60.35	0	463	6	7.88	0	39
FDA	206	285.9	1	1643	481	500.8	1	1,951	173	309.5	2	1,108
HRSA1	0	0	0	0	15	18	1	239	0	0	0	0
IHS	16	20	12	24	44	36	42	66	14	20	3	25
NIH1	0	0	0	0	20	40	1	721	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA1	0	0	0	0	70	75	8	138	0	0	0	0
PHS Overall	20	37	1	1,643	53	260	1	1,951	14	120	1	1,108
HHS Overall	18	60	1	1,643	98	300	1	3,211.6	15	110	1	1,108

¹ Uses single-track log.

B.     Processed Requests – Response Time for Perfected Requests in Which Information Was Granted

	SIMPLE				COMPLEX				EXPEDITED PROCESSING
	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OS1	0	0	0	0	215	225	1	1,395	0	0	0	0
ACF1	182	93	1	366	185	103	1	343	12	8	2	36
AOA1	0	0	0	0	6	6	2	15	0	0	0	0
CMS	19	26.6	1	378	188.3	348.6	1	244.8	137.9	239.3	1	807
OIG1	0	0	0	0	6	9.3	1	36	0	0	0	0
OPHS1	0	0	0	0	53	98	0	718	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	0	10	1	35	0	15	11	35	0	10	10	10
CDC	11	29.16	0	304	37	89.1	0	456	39	39	39	39
FDA	208	286.1	1	1,643	483	503.4	1	1,951	173	309.5	2	1,108
HRSA1	0	0	0	0	15	18	1	239	0	0	0	0
IHS	16	20	12	24	44	36	42	66	14	20	3	28
NIH1	0	0	0	0	20	40	1	721	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA1	0	0	0	0	70	75	8	138	0	0	0	0
PHS Overall	20	40	1	1,643	253	270	1	35	81	130	1	1,108
HHS Overall	16	60	1	1,643	269	289	42	1,395	78	120	1	1,108

¹Uses single-track log.

C.     Processed Requests – Response Time in Day Increments

Simple Requests
	1–20 Days	21 – 40 Days	41 – 60 Days	61 – 80 Days	81- 100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
OS1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ACF	0	0	0	81	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	81
AOA1	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14
CMS	30,484	4,428	2,449	1,125	466	242	126	91	116	57	189	15	16	39,804
OIG1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OPHS1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	42	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	54
CDC	440	12	3	6	4	7	4	2	1	3	5	2	0	489
FDA	106	77	118	65	92	168	151	194	111	223	317	480	5,357	7,459
HRSA1	237	52	8	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	303
HIS	20	5	6	6	0	0	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	42
NIH1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PHS Overall	845	158	135	81	97	175	158	196	112	228	323	482	5,357	8,347
HHS Overall	31,343	4,586	2,584	1,287	563	417	284	287	228	285	512	497	5,373	48,246

¹ Uses single-track log.

C. Processed Requests – Response Time

Complex Requests
	1–20 Days	21 – 40 Days	41 – 60 Days	61 – 80 Days	81- 100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
OS	477	48	37	22	10	14	4	3	6	5	33	17	644	1,320
ACF	0	0	0	53	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	53
AOA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CMS	52	199	199	162	122	50	57	39	30	28	119	50	331	1,438
OIG	94	13	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	109
OPHS	89	55	35	24	21	14	11	9	10	10	27	12	11	328
AHRQ	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7
CDC	458	121	42	38	23	26	26	17	18	11	49	33	6	868
FDA	106	77	118	65	92	168	151	194	111	223	317	480	5,357	7,459
HRSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
IHS	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	17
NIH	583	267	94	63	43	26	22	10	10	14	18	8	6	1,163
SAMHSA	49	31	12	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	107
PHS Total	1,288	555	304	205	179	234	210	230	149	258	411	533	5,394	9,950
HHS Total	1,911	815	542	442	311	298	271	272	185	291	563	600	6,369	12,870

C. Processed Requests – Response Time

Requests Granted Expedited Processing
	1–20 Days	21 – 40 Days	41 – 60 Days	61 – 80 Days	81- 100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
OS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ACF	7	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12
AOA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CMS	2	1	1	3	0	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	6	18
OIG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OPHS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
CDC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FDA	3	2	3	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	1	8	22
HRSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
IHS	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
NIH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PHS Total	5	7	3	0	0	0	2	0	1	2	0	1	8	29
HHS Total	14	13	4	3	0	0	3	1	2	3	1	1	14	59

D.    Pending Requests – All Pending Perfected Requests

	Simple			Complex			Expedited Processing
	Number Pending	Median Number Of Days	Average Number Of Days	Number Pending	Median Number Of Days	Average Number Of Days	Number Pending	Median Number Of Days	Average Number Of Days
OS1	0	0	0	686	104	115	0	0	0
ACF	285	107	260	117	250	278	6	10	24
AOA1	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	0
CMS	4,662	11	33.5	5,727	423.5	471	88	466.6	510
OIG1	0	0	0	15	9	25.1	0	0	0
OPHS1	0	0	0	296	53	98	0	0	0
AHRQ1	0	0	0	1	0	10	0	0	0
CDC	30	252.5	227	459	126	157	0	0	0
FDA	1,472	241	294.9	5,094	218	276.5	2	338	338
HRSA1	0	0	0	3	44	59	0	0	0
IHS	3	34	41	44	42	61	2	23	34
NIH1	0	0	0	152	36	93	0	0	0
SAMHSA1	0	0	0	51	185	190	0	0	0
PHS Total	1,505	241	294	6,100	190	193	4	338	338
HHS Total	6,452	210	269	12,646	390	409	98	409	427

¹ Uses single-track log.

E.     Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Perfected Requests

	10th Oldest Request And Number of Days Pending	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Request And Number of Days Pending
OS	7/31/02 1,296	7/24/02 1,301	6/5/02 1,338	3/20/02 1,393	3/8/02 1,403	2/14/02 1,419	1/22/02 1,436	12/5/01 1,466	11/5/01 1,486	10/3/01 1,504
ACF	4/2/07 120	4/2/07 120	4/2/07 120	4/2/07 120	4/2/07 120	4/2/07 120	12/12/06 194	11/30/06 204	9/5/06 270	8/8/06 290
AOA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9/26/08 2
CMS	9/9/2000 2031	7/21/2000 2064	7/26/2000 2061	6/29/2000 2080	9/15/2000 2026	4/17/2000 2130	2/2/2000 2177	5/3/2000 2119	1/24/2000 2182	6/14/1999 2342
OIG	9/19/08 7	9/19/08 7	9/17/08 9	9/4/08 18	9/2/08 20	8/28/08 23	8/27/08 24	8/19/08 30	6/13/08 77	6/6/08 82
OPHS	10/27/06 503	10/25/06 504	10/17/06 510	10/13/06 513	10/10/06 515	9/6/06 539	6/23/06 593	6/9/06 603	3/27/06 656	3/23/06 659
AHRQ	0	0	0	0	0	9/23/08 6	9/23/08 6	9/24/08 5	9/24/08 5	9/24/08 5
CDC	11/24/06 440	11/8/06 450	10/24/06 475	10/19/06 479	10/18/06 478	10/4/06 486	10/3/06 487	10/2/06 488	6/12/06 576	4/17/06 612
FDA	4/14/03 1,369	6/24/03 1,319	7/11/03 1,307	7/14/03 1,306	1/22/04 1,176	2/5/04 1,166	2/10/04 1,163	2/10/04 1,163	2/17/04 1,159	2/20/04 1,156
HRSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9/2/08 40	8/28/08 44	7/16/08 94
IHS	6/7/07 515	5/15/07 540	5/10/07 545	4/10/07 575	4/10/07 575	3/19/07 595	3/29/07 605	3/29/07 605	11/13/06 695	10/04/06 725
NIH	12/20/06 448	12/20/06 448	12/20/06 448	11/27/06 465	9/14/06 514	6/20/06 574	6/15/06 577	4/4/06 628	4/2/06629	8/26/05 777
SAMHSA	12/21/07 240	12/12/07 240	10/3/07 280	9/21/07 295	9/13/07 300	8/10/07 320	6/1/07 360	5/29/07 380	4/23/07 400	3/23/07 420
PHS Overall	4/14/03 1,369	6/24/03 1,319	7/11/03 1,307	7/14/03 1,306	1/22/04 1,176	2/5/04 1,166	2/10/04 1,163	2/10/04 1,163	2/17/04 1,159	2/20/04 1,156
HHS Total	9/9/2000 2031	7/21/2000 2064	7/26/2000 2061	6/29/2000 2080	9/15/2000 2026	4/17/2000 2130	2/2/2000 2177	5/3/2000 2119	1/24/2000 2182	6/14/1999 2342

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VIII. Requests for Expedited Processing and Requests for Fee Waiver

A.    Requests for Expedited Processing

	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate	Number Adjudicated Within Ten Calendar Days
OS	0	7	19	20	1
ACF	14	4	16	24	3
AOA	0	0	0	0	0
CMS	19	0	1	9.37	14
OIG	0	5	6	5.4	5
OPHS	0	1	6	3.5	2
AHRQ	2	0	1	1	2
CDC	1	45	6	7.88	35
FDA	8	94	4	32	20
HRSA	0	0	0	0	0
IHS	4	0	10	14	5
NIH	0	1	2	2	1
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0	0
PHS Total	15	199	5	16	58
HHS Total	48	215	8	14	81

B.     Requests for Fee Waiver

	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate
OS	0	0	0	0
ACF	3	4	15	24
AOA	0	0	0	0
CMS	0	0	0	0
OIG	1	8	9	7.7
OPHS	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	0	0	0	0
CDC	54	1	330	229.5
FDA	29	6	8	16.7
HRSA	0	0	0	0
IHS	2	0	10	20
NIH	0	3	41	35
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0
PHS Total	85	10	152	150
HHS Total	89	22	140	139

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IX. FOIA Personnel and Costs

A. Personnel:  Total  257.32

B. Costs:  Total  $27,175,478.20

	Personnel			Costs
	Number of “Full-Time FOIA Employees”	Number of “Equivalent Full-Time  FOIA Employees”	Total Number of Full-Time  FOIA Staff “	Processing Costs	Litigation-Related Costs	Total Costs
OS	6	0	6	458,389	324,012	782,401
ACF	2	0	2	10,412.70	0	10, 412.70
AOA	0	.04	.04	2,576	0	2,576
CMS	62	18	80	2,635,278	116,000	2,751,278
OIG	3	1	4	70,750	0	70,750
OPHS	2	1.9	3.9	515,846	0	515,846
AHRQ	1	0	1	49,778.50	0	49,778.50
CDC	7	2	9	515,717	0	515,717
FDA	72	36.34	108.34	18,724,236	492,223	19,216,459
HRSA	2	.5	2.5	49,400	0	$49,400
IHS	2	6.75	8.75	301,000	0	301,000
NIH	13	17.79	30.79	3,745,304	29,633	3,774,937
SAMHSA	1	0	1	96,791	0	96,791
PHS Total	100	65.28	165.28	23,998,072.50	521,856	24,519,928.50
HHS Total	173	84.32	257.32	27,175,478.20	961,868	28,137,346.20

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X. Fees Collected for Processing Requests

Total:  $967,877.60

Fees Collected

	Total Amount of Fees Collected	Percentage of Total Costs
OS	12,884.80	2%
ACF	640.80	17%
AOA	0	0%
CMS	404,497.06	15%
OIG	1,898.00	3%
OPHS	2,716.15	1%
AHRQ	585.50	0%
CDC	22,559.96	4%
FDA	434,492.00	2%
HRSA	5,068.71	1%
IHS	890.00	0%
NIH	80,666.00	2%
SAMHSA	978.62	9%
PHS Total	547,956.94	2%
HHS Total	967,877.60	3%

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XI. FOIA Regulations

See the FOIA regulation at:  http://www.hhs.gov/foia/45cfr5.html.

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XII. Backlogs, Consultations and Comparisons

A.  Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals

Requests	19,362
Appeals	463

	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of Fiscal Year	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of Fiscal Year
OS	686	316
ACF	556	0
AOA	1	0
CMS	10,477	147
OIG	3	0
OPHS	258	0
AHRQ	5	0
CDC	586	0
FDA	6,568	0
HRSA	28	0
IHS	49	0
NIH	101	0
SAMHSA	43	0
PHS Total	7,638	0
HHS Total	19,361	463

B. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Received, Processed, and Pending Consultations 

       Received and Pending at Start of Fiscal Year:  1

       Received During Fiscal Year:  19

       Received and Processed:  20

       Received and Pending:  0

	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of Start of the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Processed by Your Agency During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of End of the Fiscal Year
OS	1	0	1	0
ACF	0	4	4	0
AOA	0	0	0	0
CMS	0	0	0	0
OIG	0	2	2	0
OPHS	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	0	0	0	0
CDC	0	0	0	0
FDA	0	10	10	0
HRSA	0	0	0	0
IHS	0	0	0	0
NIH	0	3	3	0
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0
PHS Total	0	13	13	0
HHS Total	1	19	20	0

C.  Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency  

      Total:  0

	10th Oldest Request And Number of Days Pending	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Request And Number of Days Pending
OS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ACF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OAO	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CMS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OIG	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OPHS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CDC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FDA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
HRSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
IHS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NIH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
PHS Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
HHS Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

D.  Comparison of Numbers of Requests from Previous and Current Annual Report – Requests Received, Processed, and Backlogged 

       Received from Last Year’s Report:  55,014

       Received from Current Year’s Report:  58,299

       Processed from Last Year’s Report:  55,708

       Processed from Current Year’s Report:  66,583

	Number of Requests Received		Number of Requests Processed
	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OS	957	882	724	1,320
ACF	389	328	295	146
AOA	23	15	25	14
CMS	37,587	43,792	36,822	41,260
OIG	0	124	0	109
OPHS	465	465	441	328
AHRQ	57	61	55	63
CDC	1,730	1,539	1,571	1,357
FDA	12,320	9,432	14,190	20,348
HRSA	205	305	204	303
IHS	0	77	0	64
NIH	1,180	1,146	1,252	1,164
SAMHSA	101	133	129	107
PHS Total	16,058	13,158	17,842	23,734
HHS Total	55,014	58,299	55,708	66,583

E. Comparison of Numbers of Administrative Appeals from Previous and Current Annual Report – Appeals Received, Processed, and Backlogged   

       Received from Last Year’s Report:  254

       Received from Current Year’s Report:  199

       Processed from Last Year’s Report:  141

       Processed from Current Year’s Report:  370

	Number of Appeals Received		Number of Appeals Processed
	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Last Year’s Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OS	210	163	121	97
CMS	44	36	20	273
HHS Total	254	199	141	370

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Last updated: 04/15/2009