Freedom of Information Annual Report
I. AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration
REPORT PREPARED BY: Steven J. Merrill
TITLE: Freedom of Information Officer, Office of Communications, Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS
ADDRESS: 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 14-15, Rockville, MD 20857
PHONE NUMBER: 301-443-2865
ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR THIS REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: http://www.hrsa.gov/foia/annual01.htm
ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF THIS REPORT:
Freedom of Information Officer
Office of Communications
Health Resources and Services Administration
5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 14-15
Rockville, MD 20857
II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST: See HRSA FOIA Reference Guide at: http://www.hrsa.gov/foia/
A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that process
FOIA requests:
Freedom of Information Officer
Office of Communications
Health Resources and Services Administration
5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 14-15
Rockville, MD 20857
B. Brief description of agency's response time range(s):
Response times can range from same day response to more than 3 months, depending on the
complexity of the request.
C. 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.
III. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN REPORT:
A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms:
HHS - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
HRSA - Health Resources and Services Administration
B. Basic terms (from FOIA UPDATE, Summer 1997):
IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES:
A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report year:
42 U.S.C. 11137 (b) - Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986
41 U.S.C. 253b (m) - National Defense Authorization Act
1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute:
42 U.S.C. 11137 (b) - Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 1986 and the National Practitioners Data Bank; Prohibits release of adverse reports of a physician's conduct or practice.
41 U.S.C. 253b (m) - National Defense Authorization Act; prohibits release of contractor proposals not incorporated into agency contracts
2. Has a court upheld the use of each statute? If so, cite example: No.
V. INITIAL FOIA ACCESS REQUESTS (Include all requests, 3rd or 1st party):
A. Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):
1. Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year: 25
2. Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 338
3. Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 330
4. Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year: 33
B. Disposition of Initial Requests:
1. Number granted in full: 272
2. Number granted in part:35
3. Number of full denials:14
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used:
Exemption 1 - 0
Exemption 2 - 0
Exemption 3 - 3
Exemption 4 - 12
Exemption 5 - 9
Exemption 6 - 11
Exemption 7 - 0
Exemption 8 - 0
Exemption 9 - 0
4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 8
a. No records 5
b. Referrals 0
c. Request withdrawn 1
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 2
h. Duplicate request 0
i. Other (specify) 0
Appeal authority for HRSA denials is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (Media), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Information about HRSA appeals will be included in the DASPA(Media) Annual FOIA Report for HHS.
A. Number of Appeals:
1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year 0
2. Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year 0
B. Disposition of Appeals:
1. Number completely upheld 0
2. Number partially reversed 0
3. Number completely reversed 0
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption used once per appeal)
Exemption 1 - 0
Exemption 2 - 0
Exemption 3 - 0
Exemption 4 - 0
Exemption 5 - 0
Exemption 6 - 0
Exemption 7 - 0
Exemption 7(A) - 0
Exemption 7(B) - 0
Exemption 7(C) - 0
Exemption 7(D) - 0
Exemption 7(E) - 0
Exemption 7(F) - 0
Exemption 8 - 0
Exemption 9 - 0
4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (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 0
VII. COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS:
A. Median Processing Time of Requests Processed during the Year.
1. Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used):
a. Number of requests processed - N/A
b. Median number of days to process - N/A
2. Complex Requests (specify for any and all tracks used):
a. Number of requests processed - N/A
b. Median number of days to process - N/A
3. Requests Accorded Expedited Processing:
a. Number of requests processed - N/A
b. Median number of days to process - N/A
4. Single Track System
a. Number of requests processed 330
b. Median number of days to process 30 calendar days
B. Status of Pending Requests (if multiple tracks are being used, report for each track as well as totals).
1. Number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal year covered in this report (from Line V.A.4) 33
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date 17 calendar days
VIII. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEAR(S) (Optional):
IX. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING:
A. Staffing levels:
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel 2
2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years) one person at .5 work-year
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) 2.5 work-years
B. Total costs (including staff and all resources):
1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $157,544.00
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) $.00
3. Total costs $157,544.00
4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional)
X. FEES:
A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $1,604.00
B. Percentage of total costs: 1%