U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2002

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) 

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

X. Fees

XI. FOIA Regulations

I. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT.

This is the Fiscal Year 2002 FOIA Report for the Department of the Treasury. For purposes of administering 

the FOIA, the Department is divided into 13 bureaus. Each bureau is responsible for those records under its 

control, and each bureau will post its report on its own web site. Disclosure Services prepared the report in 

collaboration with the bureau FOIA Officers. 
2

Questions about the report may be directed to:

Alana Johnson, Departmental Disclosure Officer

Disclosure Services

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

 Address:

FOIA Request

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 Disclosure Services 

or by downloading from the Treasury FOIA website at: www.treas.gov/foia/reports/,

“FY 2002 FOIA Report to the Attorney General.”

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

The Department of the Treasury’s Guide to Accessing Treasury Records is available at www.treas.gov/foia/, or 

by contacting Disclosure Services, as described above. 
3

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

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

(USCS)

Lynette D. Carter

Ph: 202/572-8711

Fax: 202/572-8727

Address:

Disclosure Law Branch

1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20229

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

Federal Law Enforcement

 Training Center (FLETC)

Billy J. Spears

Ph: 912/267-3103

Fax: 912/267-3113

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

Department of the Treasury

Townhouse #389C

Glynco, GA 31524
4

Financial Management Service (FMS)

Robert Spiegel

Ph: 202/874-6837

Fax: 202/874-7016

Address:

Disclosure Branch

401 14th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20227

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

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

Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)

Dirk Roberts

Ph: 202/906-7631

Fax: 202/906-6353

Address:

FOIA Branch

1700 G Street, NW

Washington, DC 20552

United States Mint (Mint)

Kathleen Saunders-Mitchell

Ph: 202/354-7292

Fax: 202/756-6100

Address:

FOIA Request

801 9th Street, NW – 8th Floor

Washington, DC 20220

Treasury Inspector General for 

Tax Administration (TIGTA)

Melissa Stuart

Ph: 202/927-7034

Fax: 202/927-7059

Address:

FOIA Request

Treasury Dept./TIGTA

1125 15TH Street, NW

Washington, DC 20005

Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD)

Denise Hofmann

Ph: 304/480-7928

Fax: 304/480-7722

Address:

FOIA Request
5

200 3rd Street

Parkersburg, West Virginia 26101

II.B. Brief description of Treasury Department’s response-time ranges.

For a breakdown of each bureau’s response times, see Section VII of this report, “Compliance with Time 

Limits/Status of Pending Requests.” 

 

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 privilege, bank examination-related 

material, and thrift examination information.

III. Definition of Terms.

A. Agency-specific:

 

ATF Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

BEP Bureau of Engraving and Printing

BPD Bureau of Public Debt

DO Departmental Offices

FLETC Federal Law Enforcement Training Center

FMS Financial Management Service

IRS Internal Revenue Service

Mint United States Mint

OCC Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

OTS Office of Thrift Supervision

TIGTA Treasury Inspector General (Tax Administration)

USCS United States Customs Service
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USSS United States Secret Service

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.

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.
7

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.
8

IV. Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the Department during current fiscal year.

 

 STATUTE TYPE OF INFORMATION UPHELD BY COURTS

5 U.S.C. 7114 Labor organization representation records NTEU v. OPM, No. 76-695, slip op at 4 

(D.D.C. July 9, 1979)

5 U.S.C. App. 107 (a) Ethics in Government Act, Appendix, provides for 

confidential reporting of the financial disclosure 

requirements of certain Federal personnel

Not litigated

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); 6103(b)(2); 

6103(e)(7)

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. 6105 Protects records provided by foreign governments; 

provided for use in tax administration

Tax Analysts v. IRS, No. 99-0372, 2002 

WL 1791162 (D.D.C. Aug. 6, 2002) 

31 U.S.C. 5319 Currency transaction reports under the Bank 

Secrecy Act

Small v. IRS, 820 F.Supp. 163 (D.N.J. 

1992)

50 U.S.C.App. 2401 Export Administration Act Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms 

Control v. U. S. Department. of 

Commerce, No. 01-5356, D.C Cir. Jan. 31, 

2003)

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)
9

 

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests.

A. Number of initial requests.

Bureau Number of

Requests

Pending as of End of 

Preceding Year

Number of 

Requests

Received in Current 

Year

Number of

Requests

Processed in Current 

Year

Number of

Requests 

Pending as of End of 

Current Year 

DO 1,045 1,189 1,130 1,104

ATF 373 2,209 2,118 464

OCC 10 4,060 4,057 13

USCS 1,752 3,464 4,115 1,101

BEP 10 199 194 15

FLETC 24 135 125 34

FMS 35 184 218 4

IRS 4,605 33,722 34,069 4,258

Mint 13 57 66 4

BPD 1 96 96 1

OTS 38 916 890 64

TIGTA 71 320 340 51

USSS 634 328 394 568

TOTAL 8,611* 46,879 47,812 7,681

* Corrected calculation from the 2001 Report
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B. Disposition of Initial Requests (continued on next page)

Bureau Total 

Grants

Total

Partial

Grants

Total 

Denials

No 

Records

Referrals Request 

Withdrawn

FeeRelated 

Reason

DO 407 335 29 46 253 13 1

ATF 343 411 161 294 14 7 278

OCC 3,853 29 26 42 18 39 2

USCS 1,248 1,001 286 278 353 598 136

BEP 127 55 0 5 0 3 1

FLETC 67 32 2 14 0 5 4

FMS 164 5 1 10 9 2 7

IRS 14,085 2,370 297 7,200 1,558 304 0

Mint 28 17 1 6 0 10 2

BPD 54 11 6 13 7 0 1

OTS 722 53 11 1 1 19 0

TIGTA 41 151 9 32 16 0 1

USSS 5 152 1 86 0 2 0

TOTAL 21,144 4,622 830 8,027 2,229 1,002 433
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B. Disposition of Initial Requests (continued from previous page)

Bureau Records not 

Reasonably 

Described

Not a 

Proper 

FOIA 

Request

Not an 

Agency 

Record

Duplicate Lack of ID or 

3

rd Party 

Authorization

Closed 

Administratively

Handled 

by 

Tel/Fax

DO 10 1 1 0 0 34 0

ATF 62 433 17 45 0 53 0

OCC 1 2 0 0 0 4 41

USCS 18 70 13 41 15 58 0

BEP 0 2 1 0 0 0 0

FLETC 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

FMS 1 2 0 7 0 10 0

IRS 0 6,152 0 0 0 2,103 0

Mint 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

BPD 4 0 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 7 10 0 66 0

TIGTA 44 32 14 0 0 0 0

USSS 0 0 2 0 0 146 0

TOTAL 141 6,696 55 103 15 2,474 41
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a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used

Bureau (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)(A) (7)(B) (7)(C) (7)(D) (7)(E) (7)(F) (8) (9)

DO 0 59 147 150 141 70 12 0 43 5 5 1 0 0

ATF 1 255 44 47 61 148 69 0 247 45 54 6 0 0

OCC 0 0 0 22 24 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 0

USCS 0 814 5 157 138 171 67 8 888 125 307 7 0 0

BEP 0 0 0 28 13 23 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

FLETC 0 1 0 13 0 13 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0

FMS 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IRS 0 108 2,245 40 378 544 301 3 775 174 1,129 9 0 0

Mint 0 5 0 11 4 10 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

BPD 0 1 0 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 0 54 9 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0

TIGTA 0 3 66 0 17 2 4 0 155 9 0 0 0 0 

USSS 1 127 6 3 13 66 2 0 167 17 109 0 0 0

TOTAL 2 1,373 2,513 530 798 1,092 458 11 2,280 375 1,605 23 61 0
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Appeals of initial denials of FOIA/PA requests

Bureau Number of

Appeals 

Received in 

Current Year 

Number of

Appeals 

Processed in 

Current Year

Number of

Appeals 

Completely 

Upheld in 

Current Year

Number of

Appeals Partially 

Reversed in 

Current Year 

Number of 

Appeals 

Completely 

Reversed

DO 38 33 11 4 1

ATF 101 90 81 9 0

OCC 13 13 8 1 0

USCS 227 94 47 19 5

BEP 9 9 5 0 1

FLETC 3 3 3 0 0

FMS 1 1 1 0 0

IRS 435 683 435 106 22

Mint 2 0 0 0 0

BPD 7 7 2 1 0

OTS 6 6 2 3 0

TIGTA 36 32 10 16 0

USSS 33 39 0 6 1

TOTAL 911 1,010 605 165 30
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a. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used in an appeal

Bureau (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)(A) (7)(B) (7)(C) (7)(D) (7)(E) (7)(F) (8) (9)

DO 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

ATF 0 17 7 4 7 18 11 0 38 5 2 0 0 0

OCC 0 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1

USCS 0 42 0 9 6 11 3 0 32 2 9 1 0 0

BEP 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

FLETC 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

FMS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IRS 0 25 101 1 35 34 15 1 65 19 35 0 0 0

Mint 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BPD 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 0 3 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0

TIGTA 0 0 8 0 4 1 1 0 24 2 1 0 0 0

USSS 0 5 0 0 1 1 0 0 6 0 4 0 0 0

TOTAL 0 89 116 20 61 71 31 1 167 28 52 1 4 1
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4. Other reasons for non-disclosure on appeals

Bureau No 

Records

Referrals WithdrawnFeeRelatedRecords Not 

 reasonably 

Described

Not a 

Proper 

FOIA 

Request

Not an 

Agency 

Record

Duplicate

Request

Other:

Administratively

Closed 

DO 16 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

ATF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OCC 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

USCS 12 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 9

BEP 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

FLETC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

FMS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IRS 9 11 75 0 1 12* 0 0 12

Mint 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BPD 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

TIGTA 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2

USSS 4 0 0 26 0 1 0 0 1

TOTAL 50 11 76 30 1 16 0 1 25

* IRS reported 12 treated as non-appeal.
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VII. Compliance with time limits/status of pending requests 

A. Median time for Processing Requests

Bureau Simple Requests Complex Requests Requests Accorded

Expedited Processing**

Number of 

Requests 

Processed

Median 

Number 

of Days 

to 

Process

Number of 

Requests 

Processed

Median

Number of 

Days to 

Process

Number of 

Requests 

Received

Number of 

Requests 

Processed 

Median 

Number of 

days to 

Process

DO 302* 4* 828 117 15 0 0

ATF 0 0 2,118 12 0 0 0

OCC 0 0 4,057 20 0 0 0

USCS 766 9 3,337 14 12 12 5

BEP 0 0 194 19 0 0 0

FLETC 0 0 125 21 0 0 0

FMS 217 17 0 0 1 1 2

IRS 0 0 34,069 24 0 0 0

Mint 0 0 66 15 0 0 0

BPD 0 0 96 5.5 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 812 12 78 78 3

TIGTA 0 0 340 16 0 0 0

USSS 0 0 394 383 2 0 0

TOTAL 1,285 N/A 46,436 N/A 108 91 N/A
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 * Simple requests limited to the Office of Tax Policy.

B. Status of Pending Requests

Bureau Number of Requests Pending as of 

End of Fiscal Year

Median Number of Days 

Pending

DO 1,104 217

ATF 464 15

OCC 13 10

USCS 1,101 117

BEP 15 13

FLETC 34 11

FMS 4 20

IRS 4,258 25

Mint 4 132

BPD 1 1

OTS 64 183

TIGTA 51 83

USSS 568 545

TOTAL 7,681 N/A
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IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

Bureaus Staffing Levels Total Costs (staff and resources combined)

Number of 

Full-time 

Personnel

Number of 

Personnel with 

Part-time 

FOIA Duties 

(in Total 

Work-years)

Total Number of 

Personnel (in 

Work-years)

FOIA Processing 

(including appeals)

Litigationrelated 

activities

Total Costs

DO 5 15.59 20.59 680,250.52 $20,138.75 $700,389.27

ATF 7 1.34 8.34 $441,163.70 $200,000.00 $641,163.70

OCC 8 2 10 $597,333.00 0 $597,333.00

USCS 21 179.5 200.50 $1,808,117.20 $170,347.22 $1,978,464.42

BEP 1 .75 1.75 $121,723.03 0 $121,723.03

FLETC 2 .50 2.50 $152,404.60 0 $152,404.60

FMS 1 .30 1.30 $124,643.16 0 $124,643.16

IRS 14 46.3 60.3 $4,293,737.00 $19,088.00 $4,312,825.00

Mint 1 0 1 $78,876.00 0 $78,876.00

BPD 1 .20 1.20 $105,000.00 0 $105,000.00

OTS 2 1.50 3.50 $178,435.00 0 $178,435.00

TIGTA 6 .26 6.26 $495,345.00 $3,000.00 $498,345.00

USSS 16 3.37 19.37 $1,219,425.00 $10,695.00 $1,230,120.00

TOTAL 85 251.61 336.61 $10,296,453.21 $423,268.97 $10,719,722.18
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X. FOIA Fees

Bureaus FOIA Fees 

Total Fees collected Percentage of Total Costs

DO $9,825.45 

1.40%

ATF $17,324.23 2.7%

OCC $211,225.00 36.46%

USCS $65,790.87 3.33%

BEP $757.08 1.6%

FLETC $740.89 .5%

FMS $15,168.71 12.17%

IRS $133,169.00 .03%

Mint $906.00 1.15%

BPD $3,695.46 .04%

OTS $54,706.36 31%

TIGTA 0 0%

USSS 0 0%

TOTAL 

$513,309.05

 

4.8%
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XI. Treasury Department FOIA Implementing Regulations.

 The Department’s FOIA regulations can be found at 31 CFR Part 1, Subpart A. Attached is 

a paper copy of the final rule. It can also be accessed at: www.treas.gov/foia/foiaregs.pdf.