The National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Fiscal Year 2002 

Annual Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Report

I. Basic Information 

A. Name, Title, Address and telephone number of person(s) to contact with questions 

 about the report. 

 Sharon S. Holgerson 

 Freedom of Information Act Officer 

 NASA 

 Washington, DC 20546-0001 

 (202) 358-0205 

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

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/FOIA 

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

 Written request can be submitted by mail to: 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

 Freedom of Information Act Office 

 Mail Code PS 

 Washington, DC 20546-0001 

 OR 

 FAX: (202) 358-4338 

 E-mail request to: foia@hq.nasa.gov 

II. How to Make a FOIA Request 

 A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual Agency components 

 and offices that receive FOIA requests. 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Attn: FOIA Office, Code PS 

 Washington DC 20546-0001 

 (202) 358-0205 

 Office of Inspector General 

 NASA Headquarters 

 Attn: FOIA Office, Code W 

 Washington DC 20546-0001 

 (202) 358-2575 

 Ames Research Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office, Mail Stop 19-40 

 Moffett Field CA 94035 

 (650) 604-1181 
 Dryden Flight Research Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office 

 P. O. Box 273 

 Edwards CA 93523 

 (661) 276-2704 

 Glenn Research Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office 

 Mail Code 0610 

 21000 Brookpark Road 

 Cleveland OH 44135 

 (216) 433-2755 

 Goddard Space Flight Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office 

 Mail Code 213.1 

 Greenbelt MD 20771 

 (301) 358-4721 

 Johnson Space Center 

 Mail Code AP2 

 Houston TX 77058 

 (281) 483-8612 

 Kennedy Space Center 

 Mail Code AB-F1 

 Kennedy Space Center FL 32899 

 (321) 867-9280 

 Langley Research Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office 

 Mail Stop 154 

 Hampton VA 23681 

 (757) 864-2497 

 Marshall Space Flight Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office 

 Mail Code CO50 

 Marshall Space Flight Center AL 35812 

 (256) 544-1837 

 Stennis Space Center 

 Attn: FOIA Office 

 Mail Code CA00 Building 1100 

 Stennis Space Center MS 39529-6000 

 (228) 688-2164 

 B. Brief description of the agency’s response-time ranges. 
FOIA requests are routinely responded to in the allotted 20 working days. Those requests 

requiring more time depend on the amount of information requested, legal issues involved 

and the availability of records requested (i.e., requests for records maintained at more than 

one Center and Office of Inspector General records that are maintained at various locations 

and requiring extensive review due to the investigative nature of the records). To 

accommodate the Electronic FOIA (E-FOIA) requirements, many of the documents 

requested by multiple requesters, OIG audit reports and other public documents are now 

being added to our E-FOIA Reading Rooms located on the Internet. 

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

 Some requests are not granted based upon the exemptions allowed under the FOIA; 

 information does not exist; request is withdrawn; it is referred to another agency or 

 it is not an agency record. 

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report 

 A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms: 

 

 NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

HQ - Headquarters. 

ARC - Ames Research Center. 

 DFRC - Dryden Flight Research Center. 

 GSFC - Goddard Space Flight Center. 

 JSC - Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. 

 KSC - John F. Kennedy Space Center. 

 LaRC - Langley Research Center. 

 GRC - Glenn Research Center. 

 MSFC - George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. 

 SSC - John C. Stennis Space Center. 

 OIG – Office of Inspector General 

 E-FOIA – Electronic Freedom of Information Act 

 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. 

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 (non-expedited) 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 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 is 8. 
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes 

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

 10 U.S.C. 2305(g) 

 22 U.S.C. 2751 

 41 U.S.C. 423 

 

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

 10 U.S.C. 2305(g) 

 Withheld unsuccessful proposals for competitive procurements and those 

 portions of successful proposals that were not incorporated into the contract 

 22 U.S.C. 2751 Arms Export Control Act

 Technical data withheld according to regulations establishing lists or categories of 

 technical data that may not be exported 

 without an approved export license. 

 41 U.S.C 423 The Procurement Integrity Act 

 Prohibited the release of source selection information before the award of a contract 

 to which the information relates. 

 

 

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests 

 A. Numbers of initial requests. 

 1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 147

 

 2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 1713

 3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year: 1723

 4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 137 

 B. Disposition of initial requests. 

 1. Number of total grants: 693

 2. Number of partial grants: 592

 3. Number of denials: 38

 a. number of times each FOIA exemption used: 

 (1) Exemption 1: 1 

 (2) Exemption 2: 11 

 (3) Exemption 3: 27 

 (4) Exemption 4: 503 
 (5) Exemption 5: 42 

 (6) Exemption 6: 32 

 (7) Exemption 7(A): 4 

 (8) Exemption 7(B): 0 

 (9) Exemption 7(C): 8 

 (10) Exemption 7(D): 0 

 (11) Exemption 7(E): 1 

 (12) Exemption 7(F): 0 

 (13) Exemption 8: 0 

 (14) Exemption 9: 0 

 4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 400

 a. no records: 131 

 b. referrals: 101 

 c. request withdrawn: 91 

 d. fee-related reason: 8 

 e. records not reasonably described: 16 

 f. not a proper request for some other reason: 15 

 g. not an agency record: 10 

 h. duplicate request: 17 

 i. other: 11 

 Required the creation of records 

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

 A. Numbers of appeals. 

 1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 21

 2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 21
 B. Disposition of appeals. 

 

 1. Number completely upheld: 11

 2. Number partially reversed: 6

 3. Number completely reversed: 2

 a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used: 

 (1) Exemption 1: 1 

 (2) Exemption 2: 4 

 (3) Exemption 3: 1 

 (4) Exemption 4: 26 

 (5) Exemption 5: 15 

 (6) Exemption 6: 7 

 (7) Exemption 7(A): 5 

 (8) Exemption 7(B): 1 

 (9) Exemption 7(C): 4 

 (10) Exemption 7(D): 0 

 (11) Exemption 7(E): 14 

 (12) Exemption 7(F): 0 

 (13) Exemption 8: 0 

 (14) Exemption 9: 0 

 4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 2 

a. no records: 0 

b. referrals 0 

c. request withdrawn 1 

d. d. fee-related reason 0 

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) 1 

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests 

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

 1. Simple requests. 

 a. number of requests processed: 1408

 b. median number of days to process: 19 

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

 a. number of requests processed: 311

 b. median number of days to process: 29 

 3. Requests accorded expedited processing. 

 a. number of requests processed: 4

 b. median number of days to process: 3 

 B. Status of pending requests. 

 1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 137

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

 that date: 44 

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year(s) FY 2001 FY 2002

A. Comparison of numbers of requests received 1697 1713 

B. Comparison of numbers of requests processed 1745 1723 

C. Comparison of median numbers of days requests 

 were pending as of end of fiscal year 48 44 

D. Other statistics significant to agency none 

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

performance and to make records available to the public (e.g. backlog-reduction 
efforts; specification of average number of hours per processed request; training 

activities; public availability of new categories of records) 

In an effort to decrease the number of requests, processing time, and costs 

associated with processing requests, NASA FOIA Offices are referring 

requesters to information electronically available from Agency websites or 

other referred websites when applicable. NASA is currently reviewing Agency 

websites in an effort to adequately update all information available to the 

public. FOIA Specialists continue to be involved in training activities 

sponsored by ASAP, DOJ and NASA Headquarters. 

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing 

A. Staffmg levels. 

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 8 

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

(in total work-years): 17 

3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): 25 

B. Total costs. 

1. FOIA processing: $ 703,986 

2. Litigation-related activities: $ 0 

3. Total costs: $ 703,986 

4. Comparison with previous year(s). Higher than 2001 by $7,898 

2002 Total Cost: $ 703,986 

X. Fees 

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $41,459.42 

B. Percentage of total costs: 5.9% 

XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule) 

Available electronically on our FOIA Web page at http//www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/FOIA/.