POLICY ISSUE

INFORMATION

January 29, 2004 SECY-04-0012

FOR: The Commissioners

FROM: William D. Travers

Executive Director for Operations

SUBJECT: SUBMISSION OF THE ANNUAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REPORT

PURPOSE:

This paper conveys to the Commission a copy of the NRC’s annual Freedom of Information Act

(FOIA) Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2003.

BACKGROUND:

With the enactment of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, Public

Law 104-231, 101 Stat. 3048, Congress revised Subsection (e) of the FOIA, which pertains to

the submission of annual FOIA reports by Federal agencies. The revision directed the U. S.

Department of Justice (DOJ), in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget, to 

issue guidelines for Federal agencies to use in preparing and submitting their annual FOIA

reports. 

Under the guidelines, Federal agencies are to send their annual reports to the DOJ Office of

Information and Privacy, and identify in their reports the agency-specific uniform resource

locator (URL) for Web-based access to the report. DOJ provides a single point of access on its

Web site for all annual FOIA reports, through links to agency FOIA pages, and notifies

Congress when all reports have been posted on the Web site. 

CONTACT: Carol Ann Reed, OCIO

 301-415-7169
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DISCUSSION:

The NRC staff will submit the attached FY 2003 Annual FOIA Report to the DOJ Office of

Information and Privacy, and will place the report on the NRC’s public Web site by 

February 2, 2004. The URL for the NRC’s FY 2003 Annual FOIA Report will be 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia-privacy.html.

/RA Carl J. Paperiello Acting For/

William D. Travers

Executive Director 

 for Operations

Attachment: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Annual Freedom of Information Act 

Report: Fiscal Year 2003
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DISCUSSION:

The NRC staff will submit the attached FY 2003 Annual FOIA Report to the DOJ Office of

Information and Privacy, and will place the report on the NRC’s public Web site by 

February 2, 2004. The URL for the NRC’s FY 2003 Annual FOIA Report will be 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia-privacy.html.

/RA Carl J. Paperiello Acting For/

William D. Travers

Executive Director 

 for Operations

Attachment: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Annual Freedom of Information Act 

Report: Fiscal Year 2003

DISTRIBUTION:

CIO (2) SECY

01-092 (CIO) OGC

DCIO r/f OCA

FOIA OPA

EDO r/f CFO

WITS 2001-00009

ADAMS ACCESSION NUMBER: ML033560120

ADAMS DOCUMENT TITLE: SECY-XX-XXXX “Submission of the Annual Freedom of

Information Act Report”

OFFICE FOIA/IRSD FOIA/IRSD RFPSB/IRSD OCFO IRSD/OCIO DCIO CIO EDO

NAME B. Culleen C. Reed B. Shelton L. Tremper F. Goldberg J. Silber E. Merschoff W. Travers

DATE 1/13/04 1/13/04 1/13/04 1/13/04 1/13/04 1/14/04 1/19/04 1/29/04

OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Attachment

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

ANNUAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REPORT

FISCAL YEAR 2003

I. Basic Information Regarding Report

A. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted

with questions about the report.

Carol Ann Reed

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer

Mail Stop T-6 D8

United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington, DC 20555-0001

Telephone: 301-415-7169 Fax: 301-415-5130

B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/foia/foia-privacy.html

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

Contact the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Public Document Room

(PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor),

Rockville, MD 20852-2738, telephone 301-415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209, E-mail 

PDR@NRC.GOV or by fax at 301-415-3548. The mailing address is Public

Document Room, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC

20555-0001.

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency

components and offices that receive FOIA requests.

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer

Mail Stop T-6 D8

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington, DC 20555-0001

Telephone: 301-415-7169 Fax: 301-415-5130

E-mail: FOIA@NRC.GOV

B. Brief description of agency’s response-time ranges.

63% within 4 weeks

77% within 6 weeks

84% within 8 weeks
Attachment

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

To protect privacy (36%)

To prevent compromise of a pending investigation or proceeding (10%)

To protect the agency’s pre-decisional deliberative process or attorney-client

privilege, or attorney work products (26%)

To protect proprietary information (10%)

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.

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 a federal agency for access to records

under the Freedom of Information Act.

3. 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.

4. Processed Request or Appeal -- a request or appeal for which an

agency 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 -- an agency will process a FOIA request on an

expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or
Attachment

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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 an agency using multi-track

processing places in its fastest (nonexpedited) track based on the

volume and/or simplicity of records requested. 

8. 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. 

9. Grant -- an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response

to a FOIA request.

10. 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’s exemptions; or a decision to

disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in

whole or in part. 

11. 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 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

an agency 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 agency or agency component in possession of the

records, 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.
Attachment

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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.

41 U.S.C. §253b(m)(1), Contractor Proposals

42 U.S.C. §2167, Unclassified Safeguards Information

42 U.S.C. §2161-2165, Restricted or Formerly Restricted Data

2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. If

so, then cite example.

41 U.S.C.§253b(m)(1) - No

42 U.S.C.§2167 - Va. Sunshine Alliance v. NRC, 509 F. Supp. 863

(D.D.C. 1981) aff’d, 669 F.2d 788 (D.C. Cir. 1981)

42 U.S.C. §2161-2165, Meeropol v. Smith, No. 75-1121 (D.D.C.,

February 29, 1984), unpublished opinion

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

A. Numbers of initial requests.

1. Number of requests pending as of 

end of preceding fiscal year (09/30/02) 55

2. Number of requests received during 

current fiscal year 450

3. Number of requests processed during 

current fiscal year 434

4. Number of requests pending as of 

end of current fiscal year (09/30/03) 71

B. Disposition of initial requests.

1. Number of total grants 179

2. Number of partial grants 125

3. Number of denials 23

a. number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each

exemption once per request)

(1) Exemption 1 4

(2) Exemption 2 25

(3) Exemption 3 12

(4) Exemption 4 25

(5) Exemption 5 66

(6) Exemption 6 37

(7) Exemption 7(A) 25

(8) Exemption 7(B) 0

(9) Exemption 7(C) 55

(10) Exemption 7(D) 2

(11) Exemption 7(E) 5

(12) Exemption 7(F) 0

(13) Exemption 8 0

(14) Exemption 9 0
Attachment

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4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) 107

a. no records 45

b. referrals 2

c. requests withdrawn 32

d. fee-related reason 16

e. records not reasonably described 4

f. not a proper FOIA request for

some other reason 2

g. not an agency record 2

h. duplicate request 0

i. other (unpaid fees to another

agency, no release 4

authorization)

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of appeals.

1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year 15

2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year 13

B. Disposition of appeals.

1. Number completely upheld 6

2. Number partially reversed 1

3. Number completely reversed 2

a. number of times each FOIA exemption used

(counting each exemption once per appeal)

(1) Exemption 1 0

(2) Exemption 2 0

(3) Exemption 3 0

(4) Exemption 4 0

(5) Exemption 5 7

(6) Exemption 6 0

(7) Exemption 7(A) 0

(8) Exemption 7(B) 0

(9) Exemption 7(C) 0

(10) Exemption 7(D) 0

(11) Exemption 7(E) 1

(12) Exemption 7(F) 0

(13) Exemption 8 0

(14) Exemption 9 0
Attachment

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4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) 4

a. no records 2

b. referrals 0

c. requests withdrawn 0

d. fee-related reason 0

e. records not reasonably described 0

f. not a proper FOIA request for

some other reason 1

g. not an agency record 0

h. duplicate request 0

i. other (unpaid fees to 1

other agency)

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

FY 2003 median day calculations are based on working days.

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

1. Simple requests (Track A).

a. number of requests processed 390

b. median number of days to process 13

2. Complex requests (Tracks B & C).

a. number of requests processed 34

b. median number of days to process 35

3. Requests accorded expedited processing.

a. number of requests processed 10

b. median number of days to process 15

B. Status of pending requests.

1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 71

Track A 64

Track B 7

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date:

Track A 26

Track B 40
Attachment

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VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year(s)

Calculations are based on working days.

FY 02 FY 03 % Change

FY 02 to FY 03

A. Number of requests received 434 450 4%

B. Number of requests processed 426 434 2%

C. Median number of days requests 

were pending as of end of fiscal 

year 28 28 -

D. Other statistics significant to agency:

Expedited Processing - Received 18 23

Granted 9 10

E. Other agency efforts to improve timeliness of FOIA performance and to make

records available to the public: 

List of FOIA requests by subject that were completed during the year placed on

the FOIA page of the NRC Web site.

Training on the FOIA process was provided to various staff offices with emphasis

placed on specific office needs. 

Several internal agency service levels are used to enhance the agency’s

processing timeliness. Reports showing the status of open cases are provided

to offices in an effort to heighten management awareness of pending cases.

In addition to providing general public access to material released under the

FOIA, in FY 03 the NRC placed over 100,600 of its official agency records in its

Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). These

documents are available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public

Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of

ADAMS. ADAMS is accessible from the NRC web site at

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Electronic Reading Room). This

extensive voluntary release program has resulted in 2.8 million documents being

made publicly available either in paper, microfiche or electronically. 
Attachment

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IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels.

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel 6

2. Number of personnel with part-time or 

occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years) 4

3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) 10

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

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $1,275,998

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) $ 00

3. Total costs $ 1,275,998

4. Comparison with previous year: FY 02 $ 1,273,026

(2.3% increase)

X. Fees

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency 

for processing requests $28,140

B. Percentage of total costs 2%

XI. FOIA Regulations

10 CFR Part 9 (Internet location: 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/part009/index.html )

Fee Schedule (2003)

Search and Review

SES/Commissioners (ES-4) $79.21/hr. $1.32/min

Professional (GG-13/6) $44.24/hr $0.74/min

Clerical (GG-7/7) $21.59/hr $0.36/min

Duplication: $0.20 per page

Minimum fee: $15.00 (No fee will be charged unless total fee is equal to or

greater than $15.00)