DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

FOR FISCAL YEAR 1998

CONTENTS

I. Basic Information Regarding Report

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

III. Definition of Terms

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests 

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year(s) (Optional)

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

X. Fees

XI. FOIA Regulations

I. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT.

This is the combined Fiscal Year 1998 FOIA Report for the Department of the

Treasury. For purposes of administering the FOIA, the Department is divided into

twelve bureaus. Each bureau is responsible for those records under its control, and

each bureau will post its report on its own web site. The office of Disclosure Services

prepared the report in conjunction with the bureau FOIA Officers. Please direct any

questions you may have to:
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Alana Johnson, Departmental Disclosure Officer

Office of Disclosure Services

Ph: 202/622-0930; Fax: 202/622-3895

 Mail: FOIA Request, Room 1054-MT, Department of the Treasury

 Washington, DC 20220 

 Treasury Department FOIA Home Page: www.ustreas.gov/foia

Paper copies of this report may be obtained by contacting the office or by downloading

from the Treasury FOIA home page at “FOIA Report to 

the Attorney General.”

II. How To Make A FOIA Request for Treasury Department records.

The Department of the Treasury’s FOIA Reference Guide is available at 

www.ustreas.gov/foia/ by clicking on FOIA Public Guide, or by contacting the office, as

described above. 
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II.A. Names, addresses, and numbers of Treasury bureau FOIA officers.

Departmental Offices (DO)

Alana Johnson

Disclosure Services

Ph: 202/622-0930

Fax: 202/622-3895

Address:

FOIA Request

Room 1054-MT

Department of the Treasury

Washington, DC 20220

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and

Firearms (ATF)

Dorothy Chambers

Ph: 202/927-8480

Fax: 202/927-8866

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

650 Massachusetts Avenue, NW 

Washington, DC 20226 

Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP)

Lenore Clarke

Ph: 202/874-3423

Fax: 202/874-3066

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

14th & C Street, SW

Washington, DC 20228

Comptroller of the Currency (CC)

Frank Vance

Ph: 202/874-4700

Fax: 202/874-5274

Address:

Disclosure (FOIA) Office 

Washington, DC 20219

United States Customs Service

Lee Kramer

Ph: 202/927-1251

Fax: 202/927-1873

Address:

Disclosure Branch, OR&R

Third Floor - Ronald Reagan Bldg.

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20229

Federal Law Enforcement

 Training Center (FLETC)

William Dooley

Ph: 912/261-4524

Fax: 912/267-3113

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

Department of the Treasury

Building 94

Glynco, GA 31524
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Financial Management Service (FMS)

Johnnie Franklin

Ph: 202/874-6624

Fax: 202/874-7184

Address:

Disclosure Branch

401 14th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20227

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Thomas Marusin

Ph: 202/622-6250

Fax: 202/622-5165

Address:

FOIA Request

P.O. Box 795 - Ben Franklin Station

Washington, DC 20044 

United States Mint

Frankie Lewis

Ph: 202/874-6010

Fax: 202/874-4083

Address:

FOIA Request

Judiciary Square Building - 7th Floor

633 3rd Street, NW

Washington, DC 20220

Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD)

Louise Bennett

Ph: 202/219-3307

Fax: 202/219-4163

Address:

FOIA Request

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 2023 

 

United States Secret Service (USSS)

Gary Edwards

Ph: 202/435-6370

Fax: 202/435-5586

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

1800 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20223

Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)

Maryann Reinhart 

Ph: 202/906-5896

Fax: 202/906-7755

Address:

FOIA Branch

1700 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20552 
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II.B. Brief description of Treasury Department’s response-time ranges.

The combined response time range for overall Treasury processing in FY 98 was:

1-17 days for simple requests, and

1 to 1,000+ days for backlogged requests for historical/investigatory records. 

 Individual bureau ranges were:

BUREAU RANGE IN DAYS

DO: 1 - 1,000

ATF: 1 - 125 

BEP: 1 - 22 

BPD: 1 - 36 

CC: 1 - 17 

CS: 1 - 80 

FLETC: 1 - 51 

FMS: 5 - 42

IRS: 0 - 1,000 

MINT: 1 - 24

USSS: 1 - 60

OTS: 1 - 120 days

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

 The most common reasons reported by the bureaus regarding why requests for

Treasury records could not be granted were:

(1) procedural requirements were not followed; (2) the records reflected the

internal practices involved in investigations or inspections; (3) the records contained

confidential taxpayer information and other statutorily protected information; (4) the

records contained contractor confidential and proprietary commercial information; and

(5) the records could not be located or did not exist. Others:

*protecting personal privacy; 

*deliberative process-privileged information; 

*bank examination-related material; 

*thrift examination information
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III. Definition of Terms.

A. Agency-specific:

None

B. Basic Terms Used in This Report

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).
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6. Expedited processing -- an agency 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 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.
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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.
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IV. Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the Department during current fiscal year. 

Provide a brief description of types(s) of information withheld under each 

statute and a statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. 

If so, cite the example.

STATUTE TYPE OF INFORMATION UPHELD BY COURTS

18 U.S.C. 701 Official identification records Not decided by the courts.

18 U.S.C. 2510-2550 Wiretap information Delviscovo v. FBI, 

903 F.Supp. 1 (D.D.C. 1995),

summary affirmance granted,

No. 95-5388 (D.C. Cir. 

Jan. 24, 1997)

26 U.S.C. 6103 Federal taxpayer information

and National Firearms Act

Registry information

All courts have upheld the

confidentiality of §6103; see

Church of Scientology v. IRS,

484 U.S. 9 (1987)

31 U.S.C. 5319 Currency transaction reports

under the Bank Secrecy Act

Small v. IRS, 820 F.Supp. 163

(D.N.J. 1992)

41 U.S.C. 253(b) Contractor proposals Public Law 104-201; not

litigated

42 U.S.C. 2000e-5(b) EEO settlement agreement

records

Parker v. EEOC, No. 74-1262

(D.D.C. May 29, 1975), aff’d,

534 F.2d 977 (D.C. Cir. 1976)

Rule 6(e) F.R. Crim.P. Grand Jury information Washington Post Co. v.

U.S. Department of Justice,

863 F.2d 96 (D.C. Cir. 1988)

Tax Treaty Clauses Tax information provided by

foreign governments

Treaties were ratified by the

U.S. Senate; not decided by 

the courts.
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V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests.

A. Number of initial requests.

 1. Pending 10/01/97: 5,609

 2. Received FY 98: 57,589 

 3. Processed FY 98 56,184*

 4. Pending 9/30/98: 7,014 

*Due to differences in data collection among the 12 bureaus, this figure differs slightly 

(by 59) from the sum of the figures reported in Sec. B (1-4), below. We are standardizing 

data collection methods to prevent such discrepancies in the future.

B. Disposition of initial requests.

 1. Total grants: 34,054 

 2. Partial grants: 5,604 

 3. Denials: 960 

 a. number of times each FOIA exemption used:

(b)(1) 12 (b)(6) 1,150 (b)(7)(E) 564 

(b)(2) 1,366 (b)(7)(A) 227* (b)(7)(F) 30 

(b)(3) 3,026 (b)(7)(B) 2 (b)(8) 83 

(b)(4) 632 (b)(7)(C) 1,377 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 1,004 (b)(7)(D) 303 

*Note: IRS’ data collection system did not capture Exemption 7 subsections for this report.

The IRS cited Exemption 7 a total of 2,437 times.
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 4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 15,507 

a. no records 3,899 

b. referrals 2,629 

c. withdrawn 776 

d. fee-related 328 

e. records not reasonably described 152 

f. not a proper FOIA request 6,658 

g. not an agency record 71 

h. duplicate 68 

i. non-responsive 2 

j. appealed prior to determination 1 

k. not properly received 1 

l. imperfect 94 

m. closed without determination 825 

n. destroyed in due course 1 

o. Glomar response 2 

 

VI. Appeals of initial denials.

A. Number of Appeals.

 1. Received FY 98: 1,859

 2. Processed FY 98: 2,421*

*This number reflects the 562 appeals from previous years that were closed this period.

B. Disposition of appeals.

 1. Number completely upheld: 486 (full denial)

 2. Number partially reversed: 174 (partial denial)

 3. Number completely reversed: 135 (full release)
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 a. number of times each exemption used:

(b)(1) 0 (b)(6) 92 (b)(7)(E) 77 

(b)(2) 92 (b)(7)(A) 31 (b)(7)(F) 2 

 (b)(3) 118 (b)(7)(B) 0 (b)(8) 6 

(b)(4) 79 (b)(7)(C) 153 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 45 (b)(7)(D) 33 

 

 4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 1,765 

a. no records 46 

b. referrals 38 

c. withdrawn 1,262 

d. fee-related 12 

e. records not reasonably described 27 

f. not a proper request/appeal 346 

g. not an agency record 6 

h. duplicate 5 

i. filed suit prior to appeal response 20 

j. records not initially requested 3 
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VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests.

A. Median time for processing requests.

1. Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used).

While most bureaus do employ a multiple track system, only two bureaus -- OTS

and DO/Office of Tax Policy -- were able to provide tracking data for “simple requests”

this year.

a. number of requests processed: 11,320 

b. median number of days to process: 13.5 

2. Complex Requests (for any and all tracks used).

a. number of requests processed: 41,635 

b. median number of days to process: 22 

3. Requests accorded expedited processing.

a. number of requests processed: 4 

b. median number of days to process: 20 

B. Status of pending requests.

 All bureaus reported pending status for “complex requests” only. Half of Treasury’s

bureaus had 10 requests or less pending on Sept. 30, 1998. For specific bureau data,

contact the bureau whose information you wish to access from list of addressees at Section

II.A.

1. Number of requests pending at end of FY: 7,014 

2. Median number of days that requests were pending: 20.5 

 

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years. (Optional)

 The Department does not have comparative data to include in this report.
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IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing.

A. Staffing levels.

1. Full time FOIA personnel: 73 

 2. Personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties

 (in total work-years): 137.9 FTE

3. Total personnel (in work years): 210.9 FTE

B. Total costs (staff and resources combined).

 1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $19,934,735.68 

 2. Litigation-related activities: $1,400,962.50 

 3. Total Costs: $21,335,698.18 

C. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance:

 The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center stated its requirement for

another FTE to perform disclosure activities.

 

X. Fees. 

A. Total fees collected FY 98: $491,369.84 

B. Percentage of total costs: 2.3 %

 (Fee schedule is pursuant to 31 CFR Part 1, §1.7.)

XI. Treasury Department FOIA Implementing Regulations.

 Treasury FOIA regulations are codified at 31 CFR Part 1, Subpart A, and can be

obtained by contacting Disclosure Services (see Sec. I of this report) or by accessing

the Internet at: www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr. Click on “Retrieve CFR Sections by

Citation” and enter the Title 31 citation above.