FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ANNUAL REPORT -- FY 2001
I. AGENCY: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services REPORT PREPARED BY: Rosario Cirrincione TITLE: Director, Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts Division, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, HHS. ADDRESS: Room 645F, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201 PHONE NUMBER: (202) 690-7453 ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR THIS REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: ** Copies of the annual reports of several individual HHS Operating Divisions can be found at: Administration on Aging (AOA): http://www.aoa.gov/siteutil/foia.asp Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): http://www.ahrq.gov/news/foiaindx.htm Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): www.cdc.gov/od/foia/foi.htm Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): http://cms.hhs.gov/foia/annrpts.asp Food and Drug Administration (FDA): http://www.fda.gov/foi/foia2.htm Health Resources and Services Administration HRSA): http://newsroom.hrsa.gov/ Indian Health Service: http://www.ihs.gov National Institutes of Health (NIH): http://www.nih.gov/ Program Support Center (PSC) and Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS): Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: http://alt.samhsa.gov/foia/content/foia_main.html ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF THIS REPORT: Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Division II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST: Please see HHS Guide to Information Resources at: http://www.hhs.gov/foia A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that process FOIA requests: HHS Freedom of Information Officer Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Administration on Aging (AoA) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Indian Health Service (IHS) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) Program Support Center (PSC) Freedom of Information Officer B. Brief description of agency's response time range(s): Because individual operating divisions (OPDIVS) have authority to release or deny their own records, and vary greatly in terms of the size and volume of FOIA requests processed, there is no overall HHS time range. Individual OPDIV response times can range from same day response to over a year, 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 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 OPHS - Office of Public Health and Science PHS - Public Health Service PRO - Professional Review Organization PSC - Program Support CenterSAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration B. Basic terms (from FOIA UPDATE , Summer 1997): FOIA/PA request - Freedom of Information/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). Initial Request - a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act. 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. Processed Request or Appeal - a request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final action on the request or appeal in all respects. 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). 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 his or her request over other requests that were made earlier. 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 the records requested. 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. Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full response to a FOIA request 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 entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part. 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 FOIA exemptions or for some procedural reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA request). Time Limits - the time 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). Perfected request - a FOIA request for records which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees. 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). Median number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7. 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 eight. IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES: A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report year: See attached. 1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute: See attached. 2. Has a court upheld the use of each statute? If so, cite example: See attached. V. INITIAL FOIA/PA ACCESS REQUESTS (Include all requests, 3rd or 1st party): See attached for additional detail. A. Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4): 1. Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year: 18530 (does not include 155 requests closed retroactively by NIH for FY 2000) 2. Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 61586 3. Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 62599 4. Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year: 17517 (This number should match Line VII.B.1.) B. Disposition of Initial Requests: 1. Number granted in full: 48226 2. Number granted in part: 867 3. Number of full denials: 1605 a. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used: Exemption 1 0000 Exemption 2 47 Exemption 3 31 Exemption 4 332 Exemption 5 199 Exemption 6 1803 Exemption 7 237 Exemption 7(A) 148 Exemption 7(B) 1 Exemption 7 8 65 Exemption 7 (D) 21 Exemption 7 (E) 2 Exemption 7 (F) 0 Exemption 8 0000 Exemption 9 0000 4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 11901 a. no records: 3266 b. referrals: 529 c. request withdrawn: 2881 d. fee-related reason: 3174 e. records not reasonably described: 89 f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 1374 g. not an agency record: 34 h. duplicate request: 184 i. other (specify): 370 (Glomar; litigation; administrative closures; materials more readily available from other sources, e.g. internet, libraries, etc.) VI. APPEALS OF INITIAL DENIALS OF FOIA/PA REQUESTS (include all access requests whether first or third party): A. Numbers of Appeals: 1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year 184 2. Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year 128 B. Disposition of Appeals: 1. Number completely upheld 46 2. Number partially reversed 15 3. Number completely reversed 15 a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption used once per appeal) Exemption 1 0 Exemption 2 0 Exemption 3 1 Exemption 4 4 Exemption 5 6 Exemption 6 8 Exemption 7 6 Exemption 7(A) 3 Exemption 7(B) 0 Exemption 7(C) 3 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): 52 a. no records: 9 b. referrals 0 c. request withdrawn 33 d. fee-related reason 1 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) 9 (litigation, administrative closures, material more readily available from other sources, e.g., internet, libraries, etc. VII. COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS: See attached for additional detail. A. Median Processing Time for Requests Processed During the Year: (Some OPDIVs do not use multiple tracks. See attachment for more detailed statistics.) 1. Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used): a. number of requests processed: 41,994 (see attached for detail). b. median number of days to process: See attached.. 2. Complex Requests (includes total of complex requests and single-track systems): a. number of requests processed: 20,529 (see attached for detail) b. median number of days to process: See attached. 3. Requests Accorded Expedited Processing: a. number of requests processed: 76 b. median number of days to process: See attached. 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): 17,517 2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: Medians vary greatly from OPDIV to OPDIV. See attached for additional detail. VIII. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEARS(S) (Optional): IX. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING: See attached for additional detail. A. Staffing levels: 1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 169 2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years): 65.407 3. Total number of personnel (in work years): 234.407 B. Total costs (including staff and all resources): 1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $12,983,533 2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) $230,134 3. Total costs $13,213,667 4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional): X. FEES: See attached for additional detail. A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $964,711 B. Percentage of total costs: 7 % XI. FOIA REGULATIONS (including fee schedule): The FOIA regulation implementing the 1996 amendments to the Freedom of Information Act has been published as a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and public comments have been received. The passage of PL 105-277 requiring OMB to revise circular A-110 will require further revisions to the HHS FOIA Regulation and public comments on those new sections. That effort is currently underway. Until such time as the revised regulation is published as a new final rule, however the current HHS FOIA regulation can be found at 45 CFR Part 5, and at: www.hhs.gov/foia/45cfr5.html.
APPENDIX DOCUMENTSIV. Exemption 3 Statutes
V. INITIAL FOI/PA ACCESS REQUESTSNumbers of Initial Requests
Some OS figures partially based on estimates due to software/system failure (2) Does not include 155 additional "pending" requests closed retroactively for FY 2000. V.B. Disposition of Initial Requests
V.B.3. Exemptions Claimed Under the FOIA(1)
(1.) No claims for exemption (1), (8), or (9). V.B.4. Other Reasons for Nondisclosure (Total)
VII. Compliance With Time Limits/Status of Pending RequestsA. Median Processing Time for Requests Processed During the Year
Does not include 64 additional PHS requests referred to other organizations. Based on sample. VII. B. Status of Pending Requests
Simple requests only. Multi-track median day figures unavailable. Based on sample. Multi-track median day figures unavailable. Multi-track median day figures unavailable. Complex requests. Median day figures unavailable for complex requests. IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing, andX. Fees
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