Farm Credit Administration 

Freedom of Information Act Annual Report 

FY 2007 

I. Basic Information Regarding Report 

A. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted with 

questions about the report. 

Bob Taylor, Freedom of Information Act Officer 

Farm Credit Administration 

Office of General Counsel 

1501 Farm Credit Drive 

McLean, VA 22102-5090 

703-883-4129 

Jane Virga, Senior Counsel 

Farm Credit Administration 

Office of General Counsel 

1501 Farm Credit Drive 

McLean, VA 22102-5090 

703-883-4071 

B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web. 

http://www.fca.gov 

C. How to obtain a copy of the report in paper form. 

Contact Bob Taylor or Jane Virga at the above address. 

II. How to Make a FOIA Request 

A FOIA request must be in writing, clearly marked “FOIA Request,” and 

addressed to the Freedom of Information Act Officer. Requests may be sent by 

mail, facsimile (703-790-0052), or electronic means (FOIAOfficer@fca.gov). 

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report 

A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms. 

Farm Credit Administration (FCA or Agency) 
B. Basic terms, expressed in common terminology. 

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. 

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 

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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 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 is 8. 

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes 

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

None 

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

N/A 

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

cite example. 

N/A 

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests 
A. Number of initial requests. 

1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year____2 ____

2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year____38____ 

3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year ____38____

4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year ___2____ 

B. Disposition of initial requests. 

1. Number of total grants ___17___ 

2. Number of partial grants ___9___

3. Number of denials ___2___ 

a. number of times each FOIA exemption used 

(1) Exemption 1 ___0___ 

(2) Exemption 2 ___0___ 

(3) Exemption 3 ___0___ 

(4) Exemption 4 ___1___ 

(5) Exemption 5 ___6___ 

(6) Exemption 6 ___4___ 

(7) Exemption 7(A) ___0___ 

(8) Exemption 7(B) ___0___ 

(9) Exemption 7(C) ___0___ 

(10) Exemption 7(D) ___0___ 

(11) Exemption 7(E) ___0___ 

(12) Exemption 7(F) ___0___ 

(13) Exemption 8 ___6___ 

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(14) Exemption 9 ___0___ 

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) ___10___ 

a. no records ___7___ 

b. referrals ___0___ 

c. request withdrawn ___1___ 

d. fee-related reason ___1___ 

e. records not reasonably described ___0___ 

f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason ___1___ 

g. not an agency record ___0___ 

h. duplicate request ___0___ 

i. other (specify) ___0___ 

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests 

A. Number of appeals. 

1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year ___3___ 

2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year ___3___ 

B. Disposition of appeals. 

1. Number completely upheld ___1___ 

2. Number partially reversed ___1___ 

3. Number completely reversed ___0___ 

a. number of times each FOIA exemption used 

(1) Exemption 1 ___0 

(2) Exemption 2 ___0___ 

(3) Exemption 3 ___0___ 

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(4) Exemption 4 ___0___ 

(5) Exemption 5 ___1___ 

(6) Exemption 6 ___0___ 

(7) Exemption 7(A) ___0___ 

(8) Exemption 7(B) ___0___ 

(9) Exemption 7(C) ___0___ 

(10) Exemption 7(D) ___0___ 

(11) Exemption 7(E) ___0___ 

(12) Exemption 7(F) ___0___ 

(13) Exemption 8 ___1___ 

(14) Exemption 9 ___0___ 

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) ___1___ 

a. no records ___0___ 

b. referrals ___0___ 

c. request withdrawn ___0___ 

d. fee-related reason _____1___ 

e. records not reasonably described ___0___ 

f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason ___0___ 

g. not an agency record ___0___ 

h. duplicate request ___0___ 

i. other (specify) ___0___ 

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VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests 

A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year. 

1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks used). 

a. number of requests processed ___N/A___ 

b. median number of days to process ___N/A___ 

2. Complex requests (specify for any and all tracks used). 

a. number of requests processed ___38___ 

b. median number of days to process ___9___ 

3. Requests accorded expedited processing. 

a. number of requests processed ___0___ 

b. median number of days to process ___N/A___ 

B. Status of pending requests. 

1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year ___2___ 

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date __9__ 

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

A. Comparison of numbers of requests received _____ 

B. Comparison of requests processed _____ 

C. Comparison of median numbers of days requests were pending as of end of 

fy______ 

D. Other statistics significant to agency: The FCA received no requests for 

expedited processing; therefore we processed no expedited requests. 

E. Other narrative statements describing agency efforts to improve timeliness of 

FOIA performance and to make records available to the public (e.g., backlogreduction efforts; specification of average number of hours per processed request; 

training activities; public availability of new categories of records). 

The FCA has processed all FOIA requests within the statutory deadline. 
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing 

A. Staffing levels. 

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel ___0___ 

2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total 

work- years) ___.23___ 

3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) ___.23___ 

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources). 

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) __$35,251__ 

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) ____0_____ 

3. Total costs __$35,251_ 

4. Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) 

(optional) ________ 

C. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance (optional) none 

needed

 

X. Fees 

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests $2055.38

B. Percentage of total costs ___6%___ 

XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule) 

See attached. 

XII. Report on FOIA Executive Order Implementation 

A. Description of supplementation/modification of agency improvement plan 

Not applicable. 

B. Report on agency implementation of its plan, including its performance in 

meeting milestones, with respect to each improvement area 

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In the FCA’s FOIA Report for 2006, we reported full compliance with meeting 

our milestones and goals. Again, for 2007 we report full compliance with 

meeting our goals and milestones. As a result of the Agency’s top-to-bottom 

review of the FOIA program, as mandated by Executive order, we have 

strengthened our FOIA processing through enhanced oversight and outreach. 

We will continue to strive to ensure that the FCA continues to comply with all 

aspects of the FOIA, including the new amendments in the Openness Promotes 

Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007. The FCA was not 

required to submit an Updated Status Report for August 1, 2007, as we were in 

full compliance with the Executive order and have processed all FOIA requests 

in accordance with the statute. 

We discuss below each of the goals identified in our improvement plan and our 

accomplishments. 

Procedures Manual 

We have created a Procedures Manual, which contains the steps for responding to 

FOIA requests. 

Customer Service 

We continue to monitor FOIA staff performance to ensure that FOIA requesters 

are always treated politely and courteously. The Chief FOIA Officer has day-today contact with the FOIA staff and is able to ascertain that all FOIA requesters 

are answered promptly and with courtesy and politeness. 

Intra-Agency Cooperation 

The FOIA staff continues to receive excellent intra-Agency cooperation. 

FOIA Training 

FOIA staff has attended outside training and the FOIA Officer continues to receive 

on-the-job training from more experienced staff. Legal Counsel to the FOIA 

Officer continues to provide training to all Agency staff, including FCA 

examiners, on an ongoing basis. Additionally, we continue to ensure that new 

Agency staff receives FOIA training as part of employee orientation. It is our 

understanding that Agency staff has found the training to be both relevant and 

useful. FOIA training will be ongoing in the next fiscal year. 

Customer Feedback 

To date, we have not received any complaints from FOIA requesters. 

Semi-Annual Review of the FOIA Homepage 

Our FOIA homepage has undergone a top-to-bottom revision to make it more 

customer-friendly and useful. The information is relevant, timely, functional (the 

links worked), and legally compliant (all required affirmative disclosures were 

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posted). We will continue to review the FOIA homepage on a semi-annual 

schedule. 

C. Identification and discussion of any deficiency in meeting plan milestones (if 

applicable) 

Not applicable. 

D. Additional narrative statement regarding other executive order-related 

activities (optional) 

E. Concise descriptions of FOIA exemptions 

The nine exemptions to the FOIA authorize Federal agencies to withhold 

information covering: (1) classified national defense and foreign relations 

information; (2) internal agency rules and practices; (3) information that is 

prohibited from disclosure by another federal law; (4) trade secrets and other 

confidential business information; (5) inter-agency or intra-agency 

communications that are protected by legal privileges; (6) information involving 

matters of personal privacy; (7) records or information compiled for law 

enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records (A) could 

reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would 

deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication, (C) could 

reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, 

(D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, 

(E) would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations 

or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or 

prosecutions, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical 

safety of any individual; (8) information relating to the supervision of financial 

institutions; and (9) geological information on wells. 

F. Additional Statistics 

1. Ten Oldest Pending FOIA Requests 

Calendar 

Year 

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 

Requests 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

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2. Consultations 

Number of Consultations Received, Processed, and Pending

Consultations Received 

From Other Agencies 

During FY07 

Consultations Received 

From Other Agencies 

That Were Processed by 

Your Agency During 

FY07 

(includes those received 

prior to FY07) 

Consultations Received 

From Other Agencies 

That Were Pending at 

Your Agency as of 

October 1, 2007 

(includes those received 

prior to FY07) 

0 0 0 

Oldest Pending Consultations Received From Other Agencies 

Calendar 

Year 

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Consults 

Received 

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 

G. Attachment: Agency Improvement Plan (in current form) 

Attach a copy of the current version of your agency's FOIA Improvement 

Plan.