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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT 

 

FOIA Data Submission Form for Treasury Bureaus 

Fiscal Year 2003 

(Oct. 1, 2002-Sept. 30, 2003) 

.......................................................................................................................................

. 

Note: Bureau reporting begins at item II-B. Those sections marked “Not for bureaus” will 

be answered by the Departmental Disclosure Office in the combined report. 

......................................................................................................................................... 

I. and II - A. (Not for bureaus.) 

II. B. Brief Description of your bureau’s response-time ranges. 

[This is a narrative statement of the time ranges that are reported in section VII. 

SAMPLE: The response time for FOIA requests ranged from one day to __ days.] 

 The response times ranged from 1-28 days for simple requests and from 

 28-109 days for regular requests. 

C. Brief description why some requests are not granted. 

[This is a short summary of the data that is reported at section V-B. SAMPLE: The 

most common reasons why requests for records could not be granted are (1) they 

are statutorily exempt under 26 USC 6103(a), and (2) the records no longer exist.] 

 The most common reasons why some requests could not be granted included: 

1. Exemptions under 552 b(4), b(5), and b(6) 

2. Information was protected under personal privacy, and 

3. Some records contained confidential business information. 

 

III. Definition of terms and acronyms used in this report. 

A. List your agency-specific acronyms or terms. Follow format given in Attachment A. 

B. Basic Terms (This has already been done by the Department of Justice (DOJ).) 

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes. NOT APPLICABLE

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

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

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

example. [See page 556 of DOJ's FOIA case list for resource. List all statutes 

used during this reporting year. Follow DOJ format in placing the information 

in columns: Statute/Rule; Type of Information Withheld; Case Citation. See 

attached sample (Attachment B).] 
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V. FOIA/PA Access Requests. Include all access requests, whether first-party or third-party.

 (First-party--a request for one's own personal records, Third-party--all other requests.) 

A. Number of initial requests. Total of the numbers in lines 1 and 2, minus the number in 

line 3, should equal the number in line 4. 

1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year (FY02): 15 

 (Take # of requests from line V.A. #4 of previous fiscal year's report) 

2. Number of requests received during current reporting period: 192

3. Number of requests processed during current reporting period: 200 

 (Total # of requests in 1 and 2 above that were closed in current fiscal year) 

4. Number of requests pending at the end of current reporting period: 7

 (Above items 1 + 2 - 3 = line 4) (Also enter this number in section VII. B. 1.) 

 B. Disposition of initial requests. (Total number of dispositions B1 + B2 + B3 + B4 = A3) 

1. Number of total grants: 95 

2. Number of partial grants: 88 (the same as partial withheld) 

3. Number of denials: 6 

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

 once per request): 

 (b)(1) _0___ (b)(6) _11 _ (b)(7)(E) _1__ 

 (b)(2) _9__ (b)(7)(A) 0 (b)(7)(F) _0__ 

 (b)(3) _0___ (b)(7)(B) _ 0__ (b)(8) __0_ 

 (b)(4) 53__ (b)(7)(C) __0_ (b)(9) __ 0__ 

 (b)(5) 14___ (b)(7)(D) __0___ 

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): __11__ 

a.

b.

c.

no records _ 6_ (no records found that were responsive to the request)

referrals __0_ (a request forwarded, in total, to another Treasury bureau or 

another agency for response) 

withdrawn _2__ (requester withdrew the request) 

d. fee-related __0___ (nonpayment of estimated fees, or previously owed fees)

e. records not reasonably described __2__ (requests which do not adequately 

describe the records sought) 
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f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason _1__ (for example, requester 

sought answers to questions) 

g. not an agency record _0__ (not the type of record maintained by Treasury) 

h. duplicate request __0__ (more than one request from the same requester which 

was received by the agency or forwarded from other sources) 

i. other (specify) _0__ (requests that were not processed for other reasons) 

VI. Appeals of initial denials of FOIA/PA requests. Again, include all access requests, 

 whether First-party--a request for one's own personal records or Third-party--all other 

requests. 

A. Number of appeals. 

1. Number of appeals received during the current reporting period: _9__ 

2. Number of appeals processed (closed) during the current reporting period: _9__ 

 

B. Disposition of appeals. 

 1. Number completely upheld: _4_ (requester's appeal denied) 

 2. Number partially reversed: __1___ (requester's appeal partially granted and 

partially denied) 

 3. Number completely reversed: 4__ (requester's appeal granted) 

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

per appeal): 

(b)(1) _____ (b)(6) _____ (b)(7)(E) _____ 

(b)(2) _____ (b)(7)(A) _____ (b)(7)(F) _____ 

 (b)(3) _____ (b)(7)(B) _____ (b)(8) _____ 

 (b)(4) _____ (b)(7)(C) _____ (b)(9) _____ 

 (b)(5) _2 _ (b)(7)(D) _____ 

4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): _0_ 

(Remember, this pertains to appeals and therefore the numbers reported will 

most likely be low to zero.) 

 

a. no records _0____ (no records found that were responsive to the request) 

b. referrals __ 0__ (a request forwarded in total, to another Treasury bureau or 

another agency for response) 

c. withdrawn _0_ (requester withdrew the request) 

 d. fee-related _0____ (nonpayment of estimated fees, or previously owed fees) 
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e. records not reasonably described __0___ (requests which do not adequately 

describe the records sought) 

f. not a proper request/appeal for some other reason __0___ (for example, 

requester sought answers to questions) 

g. not an agency record _0_ (not the type of record maintained by Treasury)

h. duplicate request __0__ (more than one request from the same requester, 

which was received by the agency or forwarded from other sources) 

i. other (specify) __0___ (requests that were not processed for other reasons) 

 

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

 (Please note that there are two median times that are reported in this section: (1) median 

time for processing completed requests and (2) median number of days that pending 

requests were in pending status. Days reported should be “working days” as opposed to 

“calendar days.”) 

 

Median time for processing requests. Median Time: 54 days 

 

You should count days from the time at which a request is “perfected.” You may 

separately report each track of a multi-track system (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). The following are examples for obtaining the “median” number: Given 

seven requests completed during the fiscal year, aged 10, 25, 35, 65, 75, 80 and 400 

days from date of perfection to date of completion, the total number of requests 

completed during the fiscal year would be seven and the median age of the 

completed requests would be 65 days. If there were six pending cases aged 10, 20, 

30, 50, 120 and 200 days from date of perfection to date of completion, the total 

number of requests completed would be six and the median age would be 40 days 

(the average of the two middle numbers). 

1. Simple Requests (report only if multi-track processing is used. If not used, report 

as “N/A”). (Simple request--a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track 

processing places in its fast track based on the volume and/or complexity of 

records requested). Requests approved for expedited processing are not included 

here. 

a. Number of "simple requests" processed (closed): _N/A_ 

b. Median number of days to process "simple requests": _N/A____ 

2. Complex Requests (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).
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a. Number of "complex requests" processed (closed): _N/A__ 

c. Median number of days to process "complex requests": _N/A_ 

3. Requests for expedited processing. 

 a. number of expedited requests received: _3_ 

 b. number of expedited requests processed (closed): _3__ 

 c. median number of days to process expedited requests: _8_ 

 

B. Status of pending requests (bureaus using multiple tracks may provide number for 

each track, as well as total). 

1. Number of requests pending at end of current reporting period: __7_ 

 (Enter the number from section V.A.4.)

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: __60___ 

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years (Not required). 

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing. 

A. Staffing levels. 

 Under the guidance of Patricia Warden and James Braun, Sherrylyn Bell 

 continues to learn the requirements for coordinating FOIA/PA. 

 Colleen Thompson, BEP’s Western Currency Facility FOIA/PA coordinator 

 continues to add value to this program. Natalie Alston also assists in 

 carrying out daily FOIA/PA actions at the DC facility. 

In completing this part regarding staffing levels related to FOIA/PA matters, you should 

be careful to pay full attention to Line 2 as well as Line 1. Line 1 simply asks for the 

number of personnel who are involved in FOIA/PA matters full-time. Line 2 asks for the 

number of personnel who have only part-time or occasional FOIA duties (even if merely 

sporadic), expressed in total numbers of work-years. For example, if your bureau had 

four employees working full-time on FOIA matters and three employees with part-time 

FOIA responsibilities, it would simply specify "4" on Line l. 

To complete Line 2, however, you would have to determine, and then total, the 

individual work-year percentages for the three employees working on FOIA matters 

only part-time. If the first employee devoted an estimated 10 percent of her time to 

the FOIA, the second employee 30 percent of his time, and the third employee 

15 percent of her time, then that would total 55 percent of a work-year. So for Line 2, 

you would enter ".55 work-years." Your entry for Line 3 would be "4.55 workyears." You will arrive at a figure for Line 3 by adding the number in Line 1 to the 

number (which could be zero) in Line 2. 

 
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 1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 1 

 2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties: .75 

 3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): 1.75 

B. Total costs (staff and resources combined). 

In filling out this part, you are asked to provide three figures, based upon your 

bureau's best ability to calculate the costs of your FOIA activities. Line 1 seeks the 

total costs of FOIA-processing activities, including appeals. In completing it, you 

are asked to include the costs of your bureau's staffs "and all resources" that are 

devoted to these activities. To arrive at a comprehensive figure for this, your bureau 

must do its best to estimate the costs of these resources -- which may include such 

items as photocopying, postage, data-processing services, and other items of 

overhead that are reasonably allocable to your bureau's FOIA operations. 

For Line 2, bureaus are likewise asked to provide estimates of the costs of their 

litigation-related FOIA activities. Such estimates should take into account the full 

range of the bureau's efforts that are undertaken in support of a FOIA litigation case, 

including attorney coordination with declarants, additional subject-matter experts, 

and other bureau program personnel. 

1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $ 127,810.00

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $ 0.00 

 3. Total Costs: $ 127,810.00 

 4. Comparison with previous years. (Not required). 

C. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance (Optional). 

If a continual FOIA backlog exists in your bureau because of a lack of FOIA 

resources, you are encouraged to include a statement here. 

 X. Fees. 

A. Total fees collected FY 2003: $ 1,068.64

B. Percentage of total costs: .8%

XI. FOIA Regulations.