DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

FOR FISCAL YEAR 1999

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 Fiscal Year 1999 FOIA Report for the Department of the Treasury. For

purposes of administering the FOIA, the Department is divided into thirteen 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

collaboration 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, Office of Disclosure Services,

 Department of the Treasury, Washington, DC 20220 

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

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

by downloading from the Treasury FOIA home page at “FY 99 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.treas.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

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)

Patricia Warden

Ph: 202/874-2582

Fax: 202/874-3529

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

Room 646 PD

14th & C Streets, 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 (CS)

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)

Marty Weber

Ph: 202/874-6837

Fax: 202/874-7016

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

Kathleen Saunders-Mitchell

Ph: 202/354-7250

Fax: 202/756-6140

Address:

FOIA Request

801 9th Street, NW

Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20220

Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD)

Louise Bennett

Ph: 202/691-3516

Fax: 202/219-4163

Address:

FOIA Request

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20239 

 

United States Secret Service (USSS)

Gary Edwards

Ph: 202/406-6370

Fax: 202/406-5154

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

950 H Street, NW – Suite 3000

Washington, DC 20001

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 

Treasury Inspector General for

Tax Administration (TIGTA)

Albert Anderson

Ph: 703/812-1700

Fax: 703/812-1722

Address:

FOIA Request

Disclosure Office – Suite 800

1401 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22209 
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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 99 was

from 1 to 18 days for simple requests, and from 5 to 1,000+ days for complex and

backlogged requests involving historical and investigatory records. 

 Individual bureau ranges were:

DO: 1 to 1,000

ATF: 1 to 300

BEP: 1 to 22

BPD: 1 to 62

CC: 1 to 18

CS: 1 to 240

FLETC: 1 to 53

FMS: 5 to 30

IRS: 1 to 1,000

MINT: 1 to 15

OTS: 1 to 130

TIGTA: 2 to 330

USSS: 2 to 152

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

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

 N/A

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).

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.
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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.
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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, 6103(a) 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)

26 U.S.C. 7213 Unauthorized disclosure of

taxpayer information

Chamberlain v. Alexander, 419

F.Supp. 235 (S.D. Ala. 1976)

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), 423 Contractor proposals Public Law 104-201; not

litigated

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 10/01/98: 6,639

2. Received FY 99: 55,743

3. Processed FY 99: 57,325*

4. Pending 9/30/99: 5,057

*Due to differences in data collection among the 13 bureaus, this figure differs slightly

(by 117) from the sum of the figures reported in Sec. B (1-4), below. 

 B. Disposition of initial requests.

 1. Total grants: 33,320 

 2. Partial grants: 6,233 

 3. Denials: 1,127 

 a. number of times each FOIA exemption used:

(b)(1) 15 (b)(6) 1,035 (b)(7)(E) 113 

(b)(2) 1,042 (b)(7)(A) 217* (b)(7)(F) 12 

(b)(3) 3,595 (b)(7)(B) 3 (b)(8) 51 

(b)(4) 654 (b)(7)(C) 1,341 (b)(9) 0 

(b)(5) 1,056 (b)(7)(D) 320 

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

The IRS cited Exemption 7 a total of 2,910 times.
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 4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 16,762 

 a. no records 5,522 

 b. referrals 2,585 

 c. withdrawn 813 

 d. fee-related 256 

 e. records not reasonably described 288 

 f. not a proper FOIA request 5,918 

 g. not an agency record 135 

 h. duplicate 109 

 i. appealed prior to determination 3 

 j. imperfect 240 

 k. closed without determination 845 

 l. failure to verify identity 45 

 m. records still under review 19 

 n. Glomar response 1 

 o. no forwarding address 7 

VI. Appeals of initial denials.

A. Number of Appeals.

 1. Received FY 98: 2,005 

 2. Processed FY 98: 2,037 * 

 *Includes appeals from previous years that were closed this period.

B. Disposition of appeals.

 1. Number completely upheld: 397 (full denial)

 2. Number partially reversed: 259 (partial denial)

 3. Number completely reversed: 108 (full release)
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 a. number of times each exemption used:

(b)(1) 0 (b)(6) 63 (b)(7)(E) 73 

 (b)(2) 100 (b)(7)(A) 33 (b)(7)(F) 7 

 (b)(3) 102 (b)(7)(B) 0 (b)(8) 5 

 (b)(4) 50 (b)(7)(C) 145 (b)(9) 0 

 (b)(5) 50 (b)(7)(D) 30 

 

 4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 1,415 

 a. no records 64 

 b. referrals 53 

 c. withdrawn 782 

 d. fee-related 18 

 e. records not reasonably described 9 

 f. not a proper request/appeal 446 

 g. not an agency record 5 

 h. duplicate 2 

 i. filed suit prior to appeal response 35 

 j. failure to amend scope 1 

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

 A. Median time for processing requests.

1. Simple Requests (if multiple tracks used). 

a. number of requests processed (only 3 bureaus reported data) 7,198 

b. median number of days to process by bureau:

DO/Office of Tax Policy 11 

FMS 19 

OTS 4 
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2. Complex Requests (for any and all tracks used).

 a. number of requests processed (all bureaus): 38,513 

 b. median numbers of days to process by bureau:

 DO: 237

 Regional Complaint Centers: 44

 ATF: 10

 BEP: 6

 BPD: 7

 CC: 18*

 CS: 39

 FLETC: 11

 FMS: All requests were Simple requests; see above.

 IRS: 22

 MINT: 15

 OTS: 21

 TIGTA: 11

 USSS: 76

 *This figure represents the “average” and not the median number.

3. Requests accorded expedited processing. Only the Customs Service reported data.

 a. number of requests processed: 11 

 b. median number of days to process: 15 
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B. Status of pending requests.

The OCC had 0 requests pending, and half of Treasury’s bureaus had 15 requests or less

pending on Sept. 30, 1999.

1. Number of requests pending at end of FY 99 (all bureaus): 5,057 

2. Median number of days that requests were pending:

 DO: 874 

 Office of Tax Policy only: 61

 Regional Complaint Centers: 11

ATF: 7

BEP: 6

BPD: 35

CC: 0

CS: 38

FLETC: 9

FMS: 7

IRS: 35

MINT: 97

OTS: Simple Requests: 11; Complex Requests: 28

TIGTA: This bureau was unable to compute data for this section.

 USSS: 150

 VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years. (Optional)

 The Department does not have comparative data to include in this report.

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing.

 A. Staffing levels.

 1. Full time FOIA personnel: 64.5 

 2. Personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties

 (in total work-years): 116.25 FTE

 3. Total personnel (in work years): 180.75 FTE
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 B. Total costs (staff and resources combined).

 1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $ 10,804,419.13* 

 2. Litigation-related activities: $ 1,096,543 

 3. Total Costs: $ 11,900,962.13 

 *Both the U.S. Customs Service and the Internal Revenue Service reported significantly 

lower FOIA costs this year due to reorganization and better use of resources.

 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: $ 463,684.60

 B. Percentage of total costs: 3.9% 

 (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. 

 A proposed rule revising the Department’s FOIA regulations was published at 64 FR 24454

 on May 6, 1999.