2010: Chief FOIA Officer Report 

from 

the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

Part I: Steps Taken to Apply the Presumption of Openness 

 “As President Obama instructed in his January 21 FOIA Memorandum, the Freedom of 

Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, 

openness prevails.” 

1. Description 

Describe the steps your agency has taken to ensure that the presumption of openness is 

being applied to all decisions involving FOIA. 

 One of the first steps we took was to distribute the President’s memorandum to all 

Disclosure Division staff at PBGC. We conducted special training with the 

Disclosure staff to stress maximum disclosure of records to requesters while being 

certain to protect the privacy of individuals other than the requester. PBGC currently 

protects the pensions of more than 44 million American workers and retirees in more 

than 29,000 private single-employer and multiemployer defined benefit pension 

plans. Over 90% of its FOIA requests are from participants in plans PBGC has 

trusteed and for whom it now pays monthly pension benefits. Even prior to President 

Obama’s memorandum, PBGC considered participant requests for records to be very 

important because disclosure allows the participants to see records that explain how 

their pension plan provisions effect how their benefits are calculated. Often the 

information helps to explain why their plan was taken over by PBGC. PBGC very 

seldom uses a FOIA exemption to deny participants access to relevant records. The 

only major exception involves requests for records that contain other participant’s 

information. In such circumstances PBGC usually asserts exemption (b)(6) to protect 

the personal privacy of the other pension plan participants. 

 In PBGC’s 2008 and 2009 FOIA Annual Reports we have reported that PBGC 

processed 10,453 perfected requests during the two reporting periods. Of PBGC’s 

responses to these requests, 10,058 or 96.2% were participant requests and were 

granted in full. Another 379 responses or 3.6% were granted in part. Only 16 

requests—only 1 in all of FY 2009—were denied in full. Of the 395 responses that 

were not granted in full, 356 relied on (b)(6) exemption of the FOIA to partially 

withhold information relating to participants other than the requester from a record 

containing the FOIA requester’s information. This “denial” is a bit of a misnomer, 

since in most cases all of the information the requester was seeking was fully 

provided. Only 39 times in two years was an exemption other than (b)(6) used 

leading to the requester not receiving all requested information. Thus, in only 0.4% 

of all processed requests was an exemption used to withhold any information. 
 2. Disclosure Comparisons 

Report whether your agency shows an increase in the number of requests where records 

have been released in full or where records have been released in part when compared 

with those numbers in the previous year’s FOIA Annual report. 

 As explained above, the majority of PBGC’s requests come from pension plan 

participants seeking to access records pertaining to themselves and their pension plan, 

and partial denials are usually a result of multiple participants’ information appearing 

as part of the same record. Considering these partial denials first, in FY 2008 we 

reported that PBGC issued a partial grant/partial denial based on exemptions for 187 

requests. In FY 2009, PBGC issued a partial grant/partial denial based on exemptions 

for 192 requests. We feel that the variance is negligible between the two fiscal years. 

 PBGC is already statistically close to not using or very seldom using an exemption to 

fully deny access to records. Considering full denials, in FY 2008 we reported that 

PBGC issued a full denial for 15 requests. In FY 2009, PBGC issued a full denial for 

only 1 request (or 0.02% of all requests received). Given the small sample size, it is 

difficult to claim that this is a reduction in full denials; in any case, we again feel that 

the variance is negligible between the two fiscal years. 

Part II: Steps Taken to Ensure that Your Agency has an Effective 

 System for Responding to Requests 

 “Open government requires not just a presumption of disclosure, but also an effective system 

for responding to FOIA requests.” 

1. Description 

Describe here the steps your agency has taken to ensure that your system for responding 

to requests is effective and efficient. 

 PBGC was one of the first government agencies to fully implement an electronic 

system to process FOIA requests in 1997. We have developed and refined this 

processing so that PBGC’s staff of eight analysts was able to process over 7,300 

requests in FY 2008 with no backlog. PBGC’s system not only allows us to process 

all requests electronically, but also allows for daily monitoring of each request as well 

as tracking to ensure that PBGC knows the processing status of each request. All 

FOIA requests have an acknowledgement letter mailed within two business days of 

receipt. The determination letters that are issued when processing is completed are 

concise and to the point. They fully explain if any portion of a record is withheld, 

what exemption of the FOIA was used, and the appeal rights afforded the requester. 

We average fewer than three appeals a year contesting FOIA determinations. 

 During FY 2009, an additional FTE was added to the disclosure staff. This full time 

position supports the eFOIA processing system in use at PBGC. By having a fulltime federal employee in this position, we can assure a continued high level of 

support for our electronic processing system and retention of knowledge needed to 

deal with required modifications to the software to meet increased reporting 
requirements. In addition to support for the system, this employee regularly examines 

ways to improve the efficiency of the system. 

Part III. Steps Taken to Increase Proactive Disclosures 

“Agencies should readily and systematically post information online in advance of any public 

requests.” 

1. Description 

Describe here the steps your agency has taken to increase the amount of material that is 

available on your agency’s website, including providing examples of proactive 

disclosures that have been made since issuance of the new FOIA guidelines. 

 As indicated above, PBGC insures private sector defined benefit pension plans and 

protects over 44 million American workers. When a plan is taken over by PBGC, it 

pays monthly pension benefits to pension plan participants when they become eligible 

to retire. As a proactive step, PBGC announces the takeover (trusteeship) of plans as 

they occur through press releases made available on its website. PBGC also 

establishes a webpage for each terminating pension plan where participants can visit 

to track progress of the termination, obtain information and get updates from PBGC 

for their plan. Placing current pension plan status information on our web site allows 

participants to review the status of their plan termination and in part reduces the need 

to file a FOIA request to get that basic information about the status of their pension 

plan termination. Our website is used by thousands of plan participants to get basic 

information on PBGC’s mission and how it will affect their specific terminated 

pension plan. PBGC also sends out a series of letters to all plan participants in its 

trusteed plans informing them of their rights and entitlement to pension benefits. All 

trusteed plans appear in searchable data sets allowing participants to check to see if 

PBGC has taken over their pension plan. Budget performance and planning reports 

are also posted on PBGC’s website. PBGC’s website also includes performance 

reports such as ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) which measures six 

aspects of PBGC’s performance. 

 Since the issuance of the new FOIA guidelines, PBGC has established an “Open 

Government” webpage which allows a subscriber to receive updates to various data 

sets and information to help the American public better understand the work of 

PBGC. This new webpage makes important PBGC data sets available to the public 

for the first time and explains how the public can provide suggestions to improve the 

Corporation’s work and performance. PBGC’s newly published information 

complements the many other Federal agency data sets located at www.data.gov. 

PBGC expects to add additional data sets in the future. 

 In addition, PBGC makes available on its website redacted versions of final decisions 

regarding eligibility for benefits issued by PBGC’s Appeals Board. These 

determinations often affect more than one participant in a specific pension plan and 

publication allows other participants and their representatives to review PBGC’s 

analysis of factual situations and application of PBGC’s regulations. These final 
appeal decisions often provide participants with the information they need and 

obviate the need to file a FOIA request for similar information. 

Part IV. Steps Taken to Greater Utilize Technology 

Electronic receipt of requests 

1. Does your agency currently receive requests electronically? 

 The majority of our requests are filed by pension plan participants (or third party 

representatives) seeking access to pension plan records and/or copies of their 

participant file. Since the requested records are contained in part in a system of 

records covered by the Privacy Act of 1974 (as amended), access to copies of those 

records requires the signature of the subject of the record. As a result, e-mail requests 

for these types of records are not accepted. This is because we do not know who is 

sending the e-mail, and PBGC needs a signature from the subject of the record to 

verify the identity of the requester prior to disclosing the record. In this era of ID 

Theft we take every step to assure the protections afforded by the Privacy Act of 1974 

are followed to assure that participant records are only disclosed to the subject of the 

record or his/her authorized representative. 

2. If not, what are the current impediments to your agency establishing a mechanism 

to receive requests electronically? 

 Not applicable; see IV.1. above. Requests for PBGC records require an original 

signature for identify verification. 

Electronic tracking of requests 

3. Does your agency track requests electronically? 

 As indicated above, PBGC implemented an electronic system to process and track all 

requests in 1997 as required by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act 

Amendment of 1996. As one of the first agencies to comply with the Act, PBGC has 

been in the forefront of the automation of the entire FOIA process. PBGC’s system 

allows it to electronically track requests, gather requested records from various other 

internal systems, review those records and make required redactions. PBGC 

processed over 7,300 requests in FY 2008, a record number for PBGC. In 2009 our 

outreach efforts in part helped reduce the number of requests to 4,526. Any requester 

can call the number listed in PBGC’s confirmation letter acknowledging their request 

and get an immediate update on the status of processing of their request. PBGC’s 

electronic processing system is adaptable, and PBGC has modified it to meet new 

reporting requirements as developed by DOJ. 

4. If not, what are the current impediments to your agency utilizing a system to track 

electronically? 

 Not applicable; see IV.3. above. PBGC has utilized an electronic FOIA tracking and 

processing system since FY 1999. 
Electronic processing of requests 

5. Does your agency use technology to process requests? 

 As indicated in response to question number 3 above, all FOIA tracking, records 

collection and processing (including any required redaction) are handled 

electronically. 

6. If not, what are the current impediments to your agency utilizing technology to 

process requests? 

 Not applicable; see IV.5. above. PBGC has utilized an electronic FOIA tracking and 

processing system since FY 1999. 

Electronic preparation of Annual FOIA Report 

7. Does your agency utilize technology to prepare your agency Annual FOIA Report? 

 Yes, PBGC’s electronic FOIA system provides a detailed working report that 

calculates and finalizes all numerical calculations as required in the latest DOJ’s OIP 

FOIA report guidance from 2008. Furthermore, PBGC’s system generates periodic 

reports allowing constant monitoring of the FOIA response progress in order to 

preemptively anticipate and solve issues before they cause production problems. 

This allows PBGC to generate the FOIA Annual Report narrative quickly and with 

confidence that the information is accurate. 

8. If not, what are the current impediments to your agency utilizing technology in 

preparing your Annual FOIA Report? 

 Not applicable; see IV.7. above. PBGC has utilized an electronic FOIA tracking and 

processing system since FY 1999. 

Part V. Steps Taken to Reduce Backlogs and Improve Timeliness in 

 Responding to Requests 

1. Backlog Status 

 PBGC does not have any requests (0 requests) backlogged at this time. PBGC did not 

have or report a backlog at the end of FY 2009, and PBGC did not have or report a 

backlog at the end of FY 2008. We credit this to the rapid electronic processing of all 

incoming FOIA requests. We are always striving to improve our electronic system by 

developing new procedures and modifying existing procedures to allow finite 

tracking of requests to assure the shortest processing time possible. 

2. Backlog Reduction Steps 

 Not applicable; see V.1. above. PBGC did not have a backlog in FY 2009 or FY 

2008. 
3. Steps to Improve Timeliness 

 Not applicable; see V.1. above. PBGC did not have a backlog in FY 2009 or FY 

2008.