**FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION**

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006

I. Basic Information Regarding Report

A. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be
contacted with questions about the report.

Bryant L. VanBrakle, Secretary

Federal Maritime Commission

800 North Capitol Street, NW

Washington, DC 20573-0001

202-523-5725

B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web.

www.fmc.gov

C. How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form.

Send request to the Office of the Secretary, Federal Maritime
Commission, at the address listed above or via e-mail at
[Secretary@fmc.gov]{.underline}, or FAX at (202) 523-5014.

II\. How to Make a FOIA Request

The Commission=s Electronic Reading Room on its website contains
information on how to submit a FOIA request to the Commission and also
refers to 46 CFR Part 503, the Commission=s rules covering access to
public information including how to file a FOIA request. Part 503 can be
accessed through the Commission=s website from multiple locations
including a direct link embedded in the FOIA instructions contained in
the Electronic Reading Room.

A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency
components and offices that receive FOIA requests.

Bryant L. VanBrakle, Secretary

Federal Maritime Commission

800 North Capitol Street, NW

Washington, DC 20573-0001

(202)523-5725

Secretary@fmc.gov

B. Brief description of the agency\'s response‑time ranges.

The response-time ranges from the same day as received to one year after
receipt.

C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted.

Requests that are not granted usually involve investigatory files,
sensitive files, and/or information made confidential by statute.

III\. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report (to be
included in each report)

A. Agency‑specific acronyms or other terms.

ACommission@ or AFMC@ means Federal Maritime Commission.

B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology.

1\. 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.)

2\. Initial Request ‑‑ a request to the FMC for access to records under
the Freedom of Information Act.

3\. Appeal ‑‑ a request to the Chairman, FMC, asking for review at a
higher administrative level of 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.

4\. Processed Request or Appeal ‑‑ a request or appeal for which the FMC
has taken a final action on the request or the appeal in all respects.

5\. 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).

6\. Expedited processing ‑‑ the Commission 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 ‑‑ a FOIA request that the Commission places in its
fastest (nonexpedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of
records requested.

8\. Complex request ‑‑ a FOIA request that the Commission places in a
slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested.

9\. Grant ‑‑ a Commission decision to disclose all records in full in
response to a FOIA request.

10\. Partial grant ‑‑ a Commission 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.

11\. Denial ‑‑ a Commission 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 Commission 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).

12\. Time limits ‑‑ the time period in the Freedom of Information Act
for the Commission to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working
days from proper receipt of a \"perfected\" FOIA request).

13\. \"Perfected\" request ‑‑ a FOIA request for records which
adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the
FOIA office of the Commission, and for which there is no remaining
question about the payment of applicable fees.

14\. 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).

15\. Median number ‑‑ the middle, not average, number. For example, of
3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

16\. 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.

IV\. Exemption 3 Statutes

A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current
fiscal year.

1\. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each
statute.

N/A

2\. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. If
so, then cite example.

N/A

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

A. Numbers of initial requests.

1\. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year
[5]{.underline}

2\. Number of requests received during current fiscal year
[24]{.underline}

3\. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year
[28]{.underline}

4\. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year
[1]{.underline}

(Enter this number also in Line VII.B.1.)

B. Disposition of initial requests.

1\. Number of total grants [\_\_\_9]{.underline}

2\. Number of partial grants [7]{.underline}

3\. Number of denials [1]{.underline}

a\. number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
once per request)

\(1\) Exemption 1 [0]{.underline}

\(2\) Exemption 2 [2]{.underline}

\(3\) Exemption 3 [0]{.underline}

\(4\) Exemption 4 [5]{.underline}

\(5\) Exemption 5 [1]{.underline}

\(6\) Exemption 6 [3]{.underline}

\(7\) Exemption 7(A) [2]{.underline}

\(8\) Exemption 7(B) [0]{.underline}

\(9\) Exemption 7(C) [0]{.underline}

\(10\) Exemption 7(D) [0]{.underline}

\(11\) Exemption 7(E) [0]{.underline}

\(12\) Exemption 7(F) [0]{.underline}

\(13\) Exemption 8 [0]{.underline}

\(14\) Exemption 9 [0]{.underline}

4\. Other reasons for nondisclosure [11]{.underline}

a\. no records [11]{.underline}

b\. referrals [0]{.underline}

c\. request withdrawn [0]{.underline}

d\. fee‑related reason [0]{.underline}

e\. records not reasonably described [0]{.underline}

f\. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason [0]{.underline}

g\. not an agency record [0]{.underline}

h\. duplicate request [0]{.underline}

I. other (specify) [0]{.underline}

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

A. Numbers of appeals.

1\. Number of appeals received during fiscal year [0]{.underline}

2\. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year [0]{.underline}

B. Disposition of appeals.

1\. Number completely upheld [0]{.underline}

2\. Number partially reversed [0]{.underline}

3\. Number completely reversed [0]{.underline}

a\. number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption
once per appeal)

\(1\) Exemption 1 [0]{.underline}

\(2\) Exemption 2 [0]{.underline}

\(3\) Exemption 3 [0]{.underline}

\(4\) Exemption 4 [0]{.underline}

\(5\) Exemption 5 [0]{.underline}

\(6\) Exemption 6 [0]{.underline}

\(7\) Exemption 7(A) [0]{.underline}

\` (8) Exemption 7(B) [0]{.underline}

\(9\) Exemption 7(C) [0]{.underline}

\(10\) Exemption 7(D) [0]{.underline}

\(11\) Exemption 7(E) [0]{.underline}

\(12\) Exemption 7(F) [0]{.underline}

\(13\) Exemption 8 [0]{.underline}

\(14\) Exemption 9 [0]{.underline}

4\. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) [0]{.underline}

a\. no records [0]{.underline}

b\. referrals [0]{.underline}

c\. request withdrawn [0]{.underline}

d\. fee‑related reason [0]{.underline}

e\. records not reasonably described [0]{.underline}

f\. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason [0]{.underline}

g\. not an agency record [0]{.underline}

h\. duplicate request [0]{.underline}

I. other (specify) [0]{.underline}

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

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

1\. Requests. (The Commission did not use a multi-track system during
the year.)

a\. number of requests processed [28]{.underline}

b\. median number of working days to process [21]{.underline}

2\. Complex requests. N/A

3\. Requests accorded expedited processing.

a\. number of requests processed [0]{.underline}

b\. median number of days to process [0]{.underline}

B. Status of pending requests.

1\. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year
[1]{.underline}

(Enter this number from Line V.A.4.)

2\. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that
date [17]{.underline}

VIII\. Comparisons with Previous Years.

Other statistics significant to agency.

The Commission did not receive any official requests for expedited
processing this year. Last year the Commission received one request and
it was granted.

Other narrative statements describing agency efforts to improve
timeliness of FOIA performance and to make records available to the
public.

The Secretary of the Commission serves as the FOIA/Privacy Acts Officer
and the Assistant Secretary serves as the alternate. As required by
Executive Order 13,392, a complete review of the Commission's
FOIA/Privacy Acts procedures was initiated. The Secretary and Assistant
Secretary continue to encourage staff members to attend courses
concerning the FOIA and Privacy Acts.

IX\. Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels.

1\. Number of full‑time FOIA personnel [0]{.underline}

2\. Number of personnel with part‑time or occasional FOIA duties (in
total work‑years) [.04]{.underline}

3\. Total number of personnel (in work‑years) [.04]{.underline}

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

1\. FOIA processing (including appeals) [\$4,892]{.underline}

2\. Litigation‑related activities (estimated) [N/A]{.underline}

3\. Total costs [\$4,892]{.underline}

X. Fees

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests
[\$194.65]{.underline}

B. Percentage of total costs [4%]{.underline}

XI\. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

46 CFR Part 503 contains the Commission=s FOIA Regulations, including
fees, and can be accessed through the Commission=s website.

XII\. Report on FOIA Executive Order Implementation

A. Description of supplementation/modification of agency improvement
plan (if applicable)

Not applicable

B. Report on agency implementation of its plan, including its
performance in meeting milestones, with respect to each improvement area

In accordance with Executive Order 13,392, the Federal Maritime
Commission completed all of the goals due to be completed by December
31, 2006 as outlined in the agency's FOIA Improvement Plan.  The agency
had three such goals. The first was affirmative disclosure, which the
FMC improved by identifying and posting frequently requested FOIA
information on the agency website.  The second was to increase access to
FOIA throughout the website, which the agency accomplished by adding a
link to FOIA information on the homepage and increasing the number of
FOIA links throughout the website.  The final goal was to develop a
process to receive and reply to FOIA requests electronically. This has
been accomplished and the website FOIA page details this process.  In
addition the agency is meeting all of the milestones necessary to
complete the next two goals- creation of a FOIA Handbook and creation of
FOIA frequently asked questions by their deadlines in 2007.

C. Identification and discussion of any deficiency in meeting plan
milestones (if applicable)

Not applicable

D. Additional narrative statements regarding other executive
order-related activities (optional)

Not applicable

E. Concise descriptions of FOIA exemptions

The nine exemptions to the FOIA authorize federal agencies to withhold
information covering: (1) classified national defense and foreign
relations information; (2) internal agency rules and practices; (3)
information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law;
(4) trade secrets and other confidential business information; (5)
inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal
privileges; (6) information involving matters of personal privacy; (7)
records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the
extent that the production of those records (A) could reasonable 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 reasonable be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy, (D) could reasonable 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 reasonable be expected to endanger the life or physical
safety of any individual; (8) information relating to the supervision of
financial institutions; and (9) geological information on wells.

F. Additional statistics:

> 1\. Time range of requests pending, by date of request (or, where
> applicable, by date of referral from another agency)
>
> October 11, 2006 -- January 31, 2007
>
> 2\. Time range of consultations pending with other agencies, by date
> of initial interagency communication
>
> Not applicable
>
> G. Attachment: Agency improvement plan (in current form)

[Attached is the Federal Maritime Commission's
plan](http://www.fmc.gov/UserFiles/pages/File/FMC_FOIA_Report.pdf)