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Home > Electronic Reading Room > FOIA and Privacy Act > Annual FOIA Reports >
2003 Annual Freedom of Information Act Report Fiscal
Year 2003
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Basic Information Regarding Report
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Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted
with questions about the report.
Carol Ann Reed
Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer
Mail Stop T-6 D8
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
Telephone: 301-415-7169 Fax: 301-415-5130
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Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html
- How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form.
Contact the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Public Document
Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, MD 20852-2738, telephone 301-415-4737 or
1-800-397-4209, e-mail PDR@nrc.gov
or by fax at 301-415-3548. The mailing address is U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Public Document Room, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
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How to Make a FOIA Request
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Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency
components and offices that receive FOIA requests.
Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer
Mail Stop T-6 D8
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
Telephone: 301-415-7169 Fax: 301-415-5130
E-mail: FOIA@nrc.gov
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Brief description of agency's response-time ranges.
63% within 4 weeks
77% within 6 weeks
84% within 8 weeks
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Brief description of why some requests are not granted.
To protect privacy (36%)
To prevent compromise of a pending investigation or proceeding (10%)
To protect the agency's pre-decisional deliberative process, attorney-client
privilege, or attorney work products (26%)
To protect proprietary information (10%)
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Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
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Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.
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Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.
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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.)
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Initial Request -- a request to a Federal agency for access to
records under the Freedom of Information Act.
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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 Freedom of Information Act or any
other FOIA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.
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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.
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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).
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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 that warrants prioritization of
his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.
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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.
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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.
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Grant -- an agency decision to disclose all records in full in
response to a FOIA request.
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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.
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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).
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Time Limits -- the period in the Freedom of Information Act for
an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working
days from proper receipt of a "perfected" FOIA request).
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"Perfected" request -- a FOIA request for records that adequately
describes the records sought, that 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.
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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).
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Median number -- the middle, not average, number. For example,
of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
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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.
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Exemption 3 Statutes
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List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current
fiscal year.
- Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each
statute.
- 41 U.S.C. § 253b(m)(1), Contractor Proposals
42 U.S.C. § 2167, Unclassified Safeguards Information
42 U.S.C. § 2161-2165, Restricted or Formerly Restricted Data
- Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute.
If so, then cite example.
- 41 U.S.C.§ 253b(m)(1) - No
42 U.S.C.§ 2167 - Va. Sunshine Alliance v. NRC, 509 F. Supp. 863
(D.D.C. 1981) aff'd, 669 F.2d 788 (D.C. Cir. 1981)
42 U.S.C. § 2161-2165, Meeropol v. Smith, No. 75-1121 (D.D.C.,
February 29, 1984), unpublished opinion
V. |
Initial FOIA/PA Access Request
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A. |
Numbers of initial requests.
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1. |
Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year (09/30/02) |
55 |
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2. |
Number of requests received during current fiscal year |
450 |
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3. |
Number of requests processed during current fiscal year |
434 |
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4. |
Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year (09/30/03) |
71 |
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B. |
Disposition of initial requests. |
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1. |
Number of total grants |
179 |
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2. |
Number of partial grants |
125 |
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3. |
Number of denials |
23 |
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a. |
number of times each FOIA exemption used
(counting each exemption once per request) |
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(1) Exemption 1 |
4 |
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(2) Exemption 2 |
25 |
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(3) Exemption 3 |
12 |
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(4) Exemption 4 |
25 |
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(5) Exemption 5 |
66 |
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(6) Exemption 6 |
37 |
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(7) Exemption 7(A) |
25 |
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(8) Exemption 7(B) |
0 |
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(9) Exemption 7(C) |
55 |
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(10) Exemption 7(D) |
2 |
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(11) Exemption 7(E) |
5 |
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(12) Exemption 7(F) |
0 |
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(13) Exemption 8 |
0 |
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(14) Exemption 9 |
0 |
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4. |
Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) |
107 |
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a. |
no records |
45 |
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b. |
referrals |
2 |
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c. |
requests withdrawn |
32 |
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d. |
fee-related reason |
16 |
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e. |
records not reasonably described |
4 |
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f. |
not a proper FOIA request for some other reason |
2 |
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g. |
not an agency record |
2 |
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h. |
duplicate request |
0 |
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i. |
other (unpaid fees to another agency, no release authorization) |
4 |
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VI. |
Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
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A. |
Numbers of appeals. |
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1. |
Number of appeals received during fiscal year |
15 |
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2. |
Number of appeals processed during fiscal year |
13 |
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B. |
Disposition of appeals. |
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1. |
Number completely upheld |
6 |
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2. |
Number partially reversed |
1 |
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3. |
Number completely reversed |
2 |
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a. |
number of times each FOIA exemption used
(counting each exemption once per appeal) |
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(1) Exemption 1 |
0 |
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(2) Exemption 2 |
0 |
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(3) Exemption 3 |
0 |
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(4) Exemption 4 |
0 |
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(5) Exemption 5 |
7 |
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(6) Exemption 6 |
0 |
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(7) Exemption 7(A) |
0 |
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(8) Exemption 7(B) |
0 |
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(9) Exemption 7(C) |
0 |
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(10) Exemption 7(D) |
0 |
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(11) Exemption 7(E) |
1 |
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(12) Exemption 7(F) |
0 |
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(13) Exemption 8 |
0 |
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(14) Exemption 9 |
0 |
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4. |
Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) |
4 |
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a. |
no records |
2 |
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b. |
referrals |
0 |
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|
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c. |
requests withdrawn |
0 |
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|
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d. |
fee-related reason |
0 |
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e. |
records not reasonably described |
0 |
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f. |
not a proper FOIA request for some other reason |
1 |
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g. |
not an agency record |
0 |
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h. |
duplicate request |
0 |
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i. |
other (unpaid fees to another agency) |
1 |
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VII. |
Compliance with Time Limits/Status
of Pending Requests |
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FY 2003 median day calculations are based on working
days.
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A. |
Median processing time for requests processed
during the year.
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1. |
Simple requests (Track A). |
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a. |
number of requests processed |
390 |
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b. |
median number of days to process |
13 |
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2. Complex requests (Tracks B & C). |
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a. |
number of requests processed |
34 |
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b. |
median number of days to process |
35 |
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3. Requests accorded expedited processing. |
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a. |
number of requests processed |
10 |
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b. |
median number of days to process
|
15 |
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B. |
Status of pending requests.
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1. |
Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal
year: 71 |
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Track A |
64 |
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Track B |
7 |
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2. |
Median number of days that such requests were pending
as of that date: |
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Track A |
26 |
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Track B |
40 |
VIII. |
Comparisons with Previous Year(s) |
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Calculations are based on working days. |
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FY 02 |
FY 03 |
% Change FY 02 to FY 03 |
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A. |
Number of requests received
|
434 |
450 |
4% |
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B. |
Number of requests processed
|
426 |
434 |
2% |
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C. |
Median number of days requests were pending as of end
of fiscal year
|
28 |
28 |
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D. |
Other statistics significant to agency |
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Expedited Processing -- |
Received |
18 |
23 |
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|
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Granted |
9 |
10 |
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E. |
Other agency efforts to improve timeliness of FOIA performance
and to make records available to the public:
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List of FOIA requests by subject that were completed
during the year placed on the FOIA page of the NRC Web site.
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Training on the FOIA process was provided to various
staff offices with emphasis placed on specific office needs.
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Several internal agency service levels are used to enhance
the agency's processing timeliness. Reports showing the status of
open cases are provided to offices in an effort to heighten management
awareness of pending cases.
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In addition to providing general public access to material
released under the FOIA, in FY 03 the NRC placed over 100,600 of its
official agency records in its Agencywide Documents Access and Management
System (ADAMS). These documents are available electronically for public
inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available
Records (PARS) component of ADAMS. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC
Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html
(the Electronic Reading Room). This extensive voluntary release program
has resulted in 2.8 million documents being made publicly available
either in paper, microfiche, or electronically. |
IX. |
Costs/FOIA Staffing
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A. |
Staffing levels. |
|
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1. |
Number of full-time FOIA personnel
|
6 |
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2. |
Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in
total work-years)
|
4 |
|
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3. |
Total number of personnel (in work-years)
|
10 |
|
B. |
Total costs (including staff and all resources). |
|
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1. |
FOIA processing (including appeals)
|
$ 1,275,998 |
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2. |
Litigation-related activities (estimated)
|
$ 00 |
|
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3. |
Total costs
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$ 1,275,998 |
|
|
4. |
Comparison with previous year(s): FY 02
(2.3% increase)
|
$ 1,273,026 |
X. |
Fees |
|
A. |
Total amount of fees collected by agency for
processing requests.
|
$28,140 |
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B. |
Percentage of total costs.
|
2% |
XI. |
FOIA Regulations |
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10 CFR Part 9 (www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part009/index.html) |
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Fee Schedule (2003) |
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Search and Review: |
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SES/Commissioners (ES-4) |
$79.21/hr |
$1.32/min |
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Professional (GG-13/6) |
$44.24/hr |
$0.74/min |
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Clerical (GG-7/7) |
$21.59/hr |
$0.36/min |
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Duplication: |
$.20 per page |
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Minimum fee: |
$15.00 (No fee will be charged unless total
fee is equal to or greater than $15.00) |
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