**FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION**

# FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

**FISCAL YEAR 1998**

**I. *Basic Information Regarding Report***

> A. The Commission\'s contact person for questions about this report is
> Donna M. Viert, Paralegal Specialist, Administrative Law Division,
> Office of General Counsel, Federal Communications Commission, 445 12th
> St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554; Tel: 202-418-1725; Fax
> 202-418-7540; e-mail **dviert@fcc.gov**.
>
> B. Electronic address for this report on the Commission\'s World Wide
> Web site: **www.fcc.gov/foia/**
>
> C. Paper copies can be requested from the person/address listed above.

**II. *How to Make A FOIA Request ***

> A. To make a FOIA request pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 0.461, you have
> several options: you may fill out the [Electronic FOIA (E-FOIA)
> Request Form]{.underline} on the FCC's FOIA homepage,
> **www.fcc.gov/foia/;** you may e-mail your FOIA request to us at
> foia@fcc.gov; you may send your FOIA request by facsimile at (202)
> 418-2826 or (202) 418-0521; or you may mail an original and two copies
> of your request to Managing Director, Attention: FOIA Officer, Federal
> Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 1-A835,
> Washington, D.C. 20554. You should caption your request as \"Freedom
> of Information Request,\" date your request, give us your telephone
> number and mailing address, and provide as much information as
> possible which can assist us in identifying and locating each document
> you are seeking. It is important that you include your telephone
> number so that our staff can contact you if they have questions. You
> should specify the maximum [search fee]{.underline} that you are
> prepared to pay for this request. Also, please write \"**Freedom of
> Information Request\"** on the envelope. If you have any questions
> about how to file a FOIA request, contact us at (202) 418-0213 or fax
> your inquiry to us at (202) 418-2826 or (202) 418-0521.

Appeals should be submitted to Christopher J. Wright, General Counsel,
Office of General Counsel, Rm. 8-C755, Federal Communications
Commission, 445 12th St., SW, Washington, D.C. 20554. The application
for review and the envelope containing it should be captioned "**Review
of Freedom of Information Action**." A copy should also be served on the
person (if any) who originally submitted the materials to the
Commission.

B. The average response time range for initial requests was within 20
days or permissible time extensions thereto. The average response time
for Commission appeals was 96 days.

C. Requests that are denied or partially denied usually fall under
Exemptions 4, 5 and 7. The type of information most often withheld
involves trade secrets and privileged or confidential commercial or
financial information (Exemption 4), certain interagency and
intra-agency predecisional deliberative communications (Exemption 5);
and information dealing with law enforcement matters (Exemption 7).

**III. *Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in this Report***

1\. [FOIA/PA Request]{.underline} \-- 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 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]{.underline} \-- a request to FCC for records under
the Freedom of Information Act.

3\. [Appeal]{.underline} \-- a request to FCC 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]{.underline} \-- a request or appeal
for which FCC has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in
all respects.

5\. [Multi-track Processing]{.underline} \-- the Commission does not
utilize this system as the requests are forwarded to the appropriate
Bureau or Office within the agency. If a requester has an urgent need
for records, he or she may request expedited processing.

6\. [Expedited Processing]{.underline} \-- FCC 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]{.underline} \-- N/A, as FCC does not maintain a
multi-track processing.

8\. [Complex Request]{.underline} \-- N/A, as FCC does not maintain a
multi-track processing. We do, however, inform requesters concerning the
agency\'s progress in locating requested records. Sometimes a requester
is asked if the request can be narrowed, or whether additional
information can be provided to assist in locating requested records.

9\. [Grant]{.underline} \-- FCC decision to disclose all records in full
in response to a FOIA request.

10\. [Partial Grant]{.underline} \-- FCC 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.

11\. [Denial]{.underline} \-- FCC decision not to release any part of a
record or records in response to a FOIA request because all of the
information in the requested records is determined by FCC to be exempt
under one or more of the FOIA exemptions.

12\. [Time Limits]{.underline} \-- the time period in the Freedom of
Information Act for a Federal agency to respond to a FOIA request. For
an initial FOIA request, an agency has 20 working days from proper
receipt of a \"perfected\" FOIA request. This period may be extended by
10 working days.

13\. [\"Perfected\" Request]{.underline} \-- a FOIA request for records
which adequately describes the records sought, which has been received
by FCC\'s FOIA Office, and for which there is no remaining question
about the payment of applicable fees.

14\. [Exemption 3 Statute]{.underline} \-- a Federal statute separate
from FOIA prohibiting the disclosure of a certain type of information
and authorizing its withholding under FOIA subsection (b)(3).

15\. [Median Number]{.underline} \-- the middle, not average, number.

16\. [Average Number]{.underline} \-- the number obtained by dividing
the sum of a group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group.

17\. [Working Days]{.underline} \-- days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays
and legal public holidays.

18\. [Records Destroyed]{.underline} \-- when records are disposed of in
accordance with agency\'s record retention schedule.

19\. [Dismissed]{.underline} \-- application for review dismissed on
procedural grounds.

***IV. Exemption 3 Statutes***

A.  The Commission did not rely on any Exemption 3 statutes in denying a
    FOIA request.

***V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests***

***A. Number of initial requests.***

1\. Number of requests pending as of end of last report: 79

2\. Number of requests received during FY 1998: 317

3\. Number of requests processed during FY 1998: 392

4\. Number of requests pending as of end of FY 1998: 4

***B. Disposition of initial requests.***

1\. Number of total grants: 230

2\. Number of partial grants: 35

3\. Number of denials: 15

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

Exemption 4: 10

Exemption 5: 23

Exemption 6: 6

Exemption 7(A): 13

Exemption 7(C): 1

Exemption 7(D): 6

Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 112

No Records: 65

Referrals to other agencies: 2

Request withdrawn: 19

Fee Related Reason: 7

Records not reasonably described: 17

Records destroyed: 2

***VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests***

***A. Number of appeals.***

> 1\. Number of pending appeals from previous years: 8
>
> 2\. Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 7
>
> 3\. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 4

***B. Disposition of appeals.***

> 1\. Number completely upheld: 0
>
> 2\. Number partially reversed: 1
>
> 3\. Number completely reversed: 0
>
> 4\. Number dismissed: 1
>
> 5\. Number withdrawn during fiscal year: 2

**(Since the close of FY 1998, the Commission has adopted orders in 7 of
the matters that were pending for that fiscal year and one matter was
withdrawn. Therefore, only 3 of the appeals remain outstanding.)**

***VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests***

***A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year:***

> Number of requests processed: 392
>
> Median number of days to process: 20

B.  ***Status of pending requests:***

> Number of requests pending
>
> as of end of current fiscal year: ­­­4
>
> Median number of days that
>
> such requests were pending
>
> as of that date: 119

***VIII. Costs/FOIA Staffing***

***A. Staffing levels:***

> 1\. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: None
>
> 2\. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties:
> approx. 20
>
> 3\. Total number of personnel (in work years): 0.9

***B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)***

> 1\. FOIA processing (including appeals): \$ 80,683
>
> 2\. Litigation-related activities (estimated): No litigation in FY 98
>
> 3\. Total costs: \$80,683

***IX. Fees***

***A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing
requests:***

For FY 1998, the Commission collected:

> Search Fees \$3,597.25
>
> Copying Fees [\$1,377.20]{.underline}
>
> TOTAL \$4,974.45

***B. Percentage of total costs:*** 6.17%

***X. FOIA Regulations (including Fee Schedule)***

*See* 47 CFR §§ 0.441- 0.470.