U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT ANNUAL REPORT

FOR FISCAL YEAR 2003

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 2003 FOIA Report for the Department of the Treasury. For purposes of administering the 

FOIA, the Department is divided into 10 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: http://www.treas.gov/foia/reports/index.html, “FY 

2003 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. 
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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

Comptroller of the Currency (CC)

Frank Vance

Ph: 202/874-4700

Fax: 202/874-5274

Address:

Disclosure (FOIA) Office 

Washington, DC 20219

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade 

Bureau (TTB)

Helen Belt

Ph: 202/927-2400

Fax: 202/927-8525

Address:

FOIA OFFICE

650 Massachusetts Avenue, NW

Suite 5000

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

Financial Management Service (FMS)

Tom Longnecker

Ph: 202/874-6837

Fax: 202/874-7184

Address:

Disclosure Branch

401 14th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20227

Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD)

Denise Hofmann

Ph: 304/480-7928

Fax: 304/480-7722

Address:

FOIA Request

200 3rd Street

Parkersburg, West Virginia 26101
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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

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) records did not exist; (2) procedural requirements were not followed; (3) the records reflected the internal 

practices involved in investigations or inspections; (4) the records contained confidential taxpayer information and 

other statutorily protected information; and (5) the records contained contractor confidential and proprietary 

commercial information. Others: protecting personal privacy; deliberative process privilege.
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III. Definition of Terms.

A. Agency-specific:

 

BEP Bureau of Engraving and Printing

BPD Bureau of the Public Debt

DO Departmental Offices

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)

TTB Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau 

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 
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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.

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 
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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.

 

STATUTE TYPE OF INFORMATION UPHELD BY COURTS

5 U.S.C. 7114 Delineates the rights and duties of a labor organization which is 

the exclusive representative of the employees in the unit it 

represents.

Dublin v. Dept. of the 

Treasury, 555 F. Supp. 408, 

412 (N.D. Ga. 1981), aff’d, 

697 F.2d 1093 (unpublished 

table decision); NTEU v. 

OPM, No. 76-695, slip op at 

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

41 U.S.C. 253b(m) Technical proposals not incorporated into contracts. Not litigated

18 U.S.C. 701 Official Badges, identification cards. Prohibits the reproduction of 

official identification media. Used to withhold copies of the IRS 

employee identification badges and pocket commissions.

Not litigated

26 U.S.C. 6103 Confidentiality of Returns and Return Information: Prohibits the 

disclosure of (1) tax returns and return information of 3rd party

taxpayers (section 6103(a)); (2) the standards used for selection 

of returns for examination (section 6103(b)(2)) ; and (3) a 

requester’s own return information if the release would seriously 

impair federal tax administration (section 6103(e)(7)).

Church of Scientology v. 

IRS,

484 U.S. 9 (1987); Aronson 

v. IRS, 973 F.2d 962 (1st Cir. 

1992); Stebbins v. Sullivan, 

No. 90-5361, slip op. at 1 

(D.C. Cir. July 22, 1992); 

Wishart v. Commissioner, C97-20614-SW (N.D. Cal., 

decided August 6, 1998); 

Chamberlain v. Kurtz, 589 F. 

2d at 827 (5th Cir.).

26 U.S.C. 6105 Newly codified Section 6105 protects records provided by foreign 

governments 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 Bank Secrecy Act Records: Prohibits the disclosure of records. 

Generally used to withhold Currency Transaction Reports.

Small v. IRS, 820 F.Supp. 

163 (D.N.J. 1992)

Rule 6(e) Part of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure X Grand Jury 

Secrecy: regulates matters occurring before the Grand Jury. 

Used to withhold records used in Grand Jury proceedings.

Fund for Constitutional 

Gov’t v. National Archives 

& Records Service, 656 F. 

2

nd 856, 867 (D.C. Cir. 

1981); Walston v. U.S. 

Department of Justice, 799 F. 

Supp. 193, 195 (D.D.C. 

1992)
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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 1,104 1,261 895 1,470

TTB 7 161 116 52

OCC 13 5,534 5,531 16

BEP 15 192 200 7

FMS 4 198 199 3

IRS 4,258 50,605 50,767 4,096

Mint 4 59 60 3

BPD 1 106 106 1

OTS 64 1,722 1,686 100

TIGTA 51 227 254 24

TOTAL 5,521* 60,065 59,814 5,772

* The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct 

Terrorism Act of 2001 (USA PATRIOT ACT), Pub.L. 107-56, authorized the establishment of the Department of 

Homeland Security and the transfer of several Treasury bureaus to other agencies of the Federal Government. As a 

result, this number differs from the number reported as “on hand” at the end of FY 2002 in last year’s annual report, 

due to the transfer of (1) the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; the U.S. Customs Service; and the U.S. 

Secret Service to the Department of Homeland Security; and (2) the law enforcement functions of the Bureau of 

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to the Department of Justice. This report was prepared in accordance with the 

supplemental annual FOIA report guidance issued by the Department of Justice on August 8, 2003.
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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

Records not 

Reasonably 

Described

DO 38 323 52 32 308 23 2 21

TTB 34 18 8 13 15 1 12 11

OCC 5,208 37 20 142 50 48 0 3

BEP 95 88 6 6 0 2 0 2

FMS 103 4 3 37 17 3 18 2

IRS 20,042 2,798 515 13,337 2,196 288 0 0

Mint 16 21 0 5 0 4 7 3

BPD 65 9 0 14 16 0 0 2

OTS 1,475 100 17 47 6 31 1 0

TIGTA 18 104 41 14 0 1 2 0

 

TOTAL 27,094 3,502 662 13,647 2,608 401 42 44
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B. Disposition of initial requests (continued from previous page)

Bureau Not a Proper 

FOIA 

Request

Not an 

Agency 

Record

Duplicate Lack of ID or 

3

rd Party 

Authorization

Closed 

Administratively

DO 2 2 0 0 92

TTB 2 1 1 0 0

OCC 2 5 2 0 14

BEP 1 0 0 0 0

FMS 5 0 4 3 0

IRS 8,893 0 0 0 2,698

Mint 4 0 0 0 0

BPD 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 2 3 4 0 0

TIGTA 52 19 3 0 0

TOTAL 8,963 30 14 3 2,804
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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 5 54 219 216 122 153 3 0 32 0 

14

 0 0 0

TTB 0 3 25 8 10 23 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

OCC 0 0 0 24 24 9 2 2 2 2 2 2 35 0

BEP 0 9 0 53 14 11 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

FMS 1 0 1 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IRS 0 100 2,599 27 424 575 499 2 941 218 1,232 6 0 0

Mint 0 5 2 13 7 19 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0

BPD 0 0 0 1 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 1 72 22 54 0 0 0 0 1 0 23 0

TIGTA 0 6 70 1 10 4 6 0 133 

16

 1 1 0 0

TOTAL 6 177 2,917 418 637 856 510 4 1,110 236 1,251 10 58 0
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VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests (continued on next page)

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 27 3 2 0 0

TTB 4 5 4 1 0

OCC 11 5 3 1 1

BEP 9 9 4 1 4

FMS 11 8 8 0 0

IRS 575 675 535 16 5

Mint 5 3 2 0 0

BPD 4 4 3 0 1

OTS 14 14 5 6 0

TIGTA 23 25 10 12 1

TOTAL 683 751 576 37 12
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Other reasons for non-disclosure on appeals (Continued from previous page)

Bureau No 

Records

Referrals WithdrawnFeeRelatedRecords 

Not 

reasonably 

Described

Not a 

Proper 

FOIA 

Request

Not an 

Agency 

Record

Duplicate

Request

Other:

Administratively

Closed 

DO 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TTB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OCC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BEP 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

FMS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IRS 109 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Mint 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

BPD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2

TIGTA 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0

TOTAL 110 10 1 1 0 1 0 1 2
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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 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TTB 0 2 4 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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

BEP 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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

IRS 1 10 64 1 5 33 5 0 6 3 15 0 0 0

Mint 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

BPD 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OTS 0 0 0 4 3 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0

TIGTA 0 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 13 2 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 1 13 71 10 17 40 6 0 19 5 16 0 7 0
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VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests 

A. Median time for processing requests

* Simple requests limited to the Office of Tax Policy and Office of Equal Opportunity Program.

Bureau Simple Requests Complex Requests

Number of 

Requests 

Processed

Median 

Number 

of Days to 

Process

Number of 

Requests 

Processed

Median

Number of 

Days to 

Process

DO 300* 32* 594 176

TTB 0 0 116 54

OCC 124 3 5,407 32

BEP 0 0 197 54

FMS 0 0 199 13.5

IRS 0 0 50,767 24

Mint 0 0 60 15

BPD 0 0 106 6.46

OTS 0 0 1,623 10

TIGTA 0 0 254 184

TOTAL 424 N/A 59,323 N/A

Requests Accorded

Expedited Processing

Number of 

Requests 

Processed 

Median 

Number of 

days to 

Process

1 1 

0 0

0 0

3 8

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

63 2

0 0

67 N/A
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B. Status of Pending Requests

Bureau Number of Requests Pending 

as of End of Fiscal Year

Median Number of Days 

Pending

DO 1,470 441

TTB 52 28

OCC 16 10

BEP 7 60

FMS 3 42

IRS 4,096 24

Mint 3 65

BPD 1 14

OTS 100 174

TIGTA 24 43.5

TOTAL 5,772 N/A

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years (Not required).

Department of the Treasury received 77 requests for expedited processing, of which 67 requests were processed.
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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 4 12.50 16.50 586,295.67 135,449.98 721,745.65

TTB 1 .60 1.60 49,740.62 0 49,740.62

OCC 7 1 8 570,142.00 0 570,142.00

BEP 1 .75 1.75 127,810.00 0 127,810.00

FMS 0 .95 .95 93,429.69 0 93,429.69

IRS 15 89 104 10,202,769.00 19,902.00 10,222,671.00

Mint 1 .15 1.15 82,324.00 0 82,324.00

BPD 1 .20 1.20 110,000.00 0 110,000.00

OTS 2 1.40 3.40 246,815.00 7,443.00 254,258.00

TIGTA 5 .23 5.23 517,374.40 2,340.34 519,714.74

TOTAL 37 106.78 143.78 

$12,586,700.38

 

$165,135.32

 

$12,751,835.70
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X. FOIA Fees

FOIA Fees 

Total Fees collected Percentage of Total Costs

TOTAL 

$422,772.72

 

3.32%

XI. Treasury Department FOIA Implementing Regulations.

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

regulations can be accessed at: www.treas.gov/foia/foiaregs.pdf.