Source: http://www.osec.doc.gov/omo/FOIA/00rpt.htm
Timestamp: 2016-07-30 01:51:37
Document Index: 698966242

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 9', '§ 301', '§ 2411', '§ 12', '§ 122', '§ 253', '§ 278', '§ 2411', '§ 253', '§ 278']

Annual FOIA Report FY 2000, U.S. Department of Commerce
ANNUAL FOIA REPORT FY 2000
Instructions are shown on DOC FOIA Home Page at: www.doc.gov (@ FOIA link)
Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and
Room 688314th & Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Room 400114th & Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Room 508414th & Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Room 471314th & Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Brief description of the agency's response -time ranges.
The Department of Commerce strives to answer all FOIA requests within the 20
day response time mandated by the Electronic FOIA Amendments. The response
time for simple requests is approximately 14 days. The response time for complex
requests varied from 15 days to a maximum of 90 days.
record contains both exempt and nonexempt information, the nonexempt portions which may reasonably be segregated form the exempt portions will be released to
Exemption One: Records which are specifically authorized under criteria
established by an Executive Order to be kept secret in interest of national defense
or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive
Exemption Two: Records related solely to the internal personnel rules and
practices of the Department of Commerce.
Exemption Three: Records specifically exempted from disclosure by statute,
provided that such statute:
Requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave
no discretion on the issues: or establishes particular criteria for withholding or
Exemption Five: Interagency or intra-agency memoranda or letters which would not be available by law to a private party in litigation with the Department of
Commerce. Exemption Six: Personnel, medical, and similar files (including financial files) the
disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Exemption Seven: Records compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to
the extent that the production of such law enforcement records could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings; would
deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a state, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution
which furnished records on a confidential basis; would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose
guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure
could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law; or could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual. Exemption Eight: Records that are contained in or related to examination,
operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for use of an agency
Exemption Nine: Geological and geophysical information and data, including
request is a FOIA/PA Request - Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act request. A request for records concerning oneself; such requests are also
Initial Request - a request to a Federal agency for access to records under
Appeal - a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher
Processed Request or Appeal - a request or appeal for which an agency has
Multi-track Processing - a system in which simple requests requiring relatively
track are processed on a first-in/first out basis. A requester who has an urgent
Expedited Processing - an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited
Simple Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing
Complex Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing
Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA
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
Denial - an agency decision not to release any part of a record or records in
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).
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).
"Perfected" request - a FOIA request for records which adequately describes
Exemption 3 Statute - a separate federal statute prohibiting the disclosure of a
Median Number - the middle, not average, number, for example, of 3, 7, and
Average Number - the number obtained by dividing the sum of a group of
13 U.S.C. § 9 - prohibits the use, publication, or examination of any information collected by the Census Bureau, other than for the statistical
purposes for which the information was supplied.
13 U.S.C. § 301(g) - prohibits the disclosure of Shippers' Export Declarations, submitted by shippers to the Census Bureau, unless the Secretary of Commerce determines that nondisclosure would be contrary to the national
50 U.S.C. app. § 2411(c), Export Administration Act of 1979 § 12(c) - protects information obtained for the purpose of consideration of, or concerning, exporting license applications, unless the Secretary of Commerce
determines that release of such information is in the national interest. This
includes not only the applications themselves and the information contained therein, but also any information relating to an application, to include
to include information on enforcement or export administration laws and
1853(a)(5). Information which may not be disclosed includes, but is not limited to, the type and quantity of fishing gear used, catch by species in numbers of fish or weight thereof, areas in which fishing took place, number
of hauls, and the estimated and actual processing capacities of U.S. fish processors. The Secretary of Commerce may, however, promulgate regulations that provide for the release of such information in aggregate or
summary form which does not disclose the identity or business of any person that submits statistics. 35 U.S.C. § 122 - provides that applications for patents shall be kept in confidence by the Patent and Trademark Office unless disclosure is necessary to carry out the provisions of any Act of Congress, or in special circumstances, to be determined by the Commissioner for Patents and Trademarks. This
also includes materials in patent interference files. 41 U.S.C. §§ 253 & 423 - protects proprietary or source selection information
in the possession of the Government during the conduct of any Federal procurement of property or services.
15 U.S.C. § 278n(d)(5) - provides that the FOIA does not apply to information submitted, on a confidential basis, by joint ventures and members of joint
ventures that receive funding under the Department's Advanced Technology Program. The Department must withhold information concerning the business
operation or trade secrets possessed by any business or member of a joint venture that is receiving funding under the program.
Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute. If so, then
50 U.S.C. § 2411(c) - Export Information Twin Coast Newspapers, Inc. v
Department of Commerce, No. 78-0978 (D.D.C. November 6, 1979)
41 U.S.C. §§ 253b - National Defense Authorization Act for FY 1997- case unknown 15 U.S.C. § 278n(d)(5) - Magnuson-Stevenson Act - case unknown
Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year. 259 Number of requests received during current fiscal year. 2035 Number of requests processed during current fiscal year. 2026 Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year. 268 Disposition of initial requests.
Number of total grants. 1189 Number of partial grants. 200 Number of denials. 215 Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request)
(1) Exemption 1 10
(2) Exemption 2 8 (3) Exemption 3 77
(4) Exemption 4 80
(5) Exemption 5 100 (6) Exemption 6 165 (7) Exemption 7(A) 7
(8) Exemption 7(B) 1 (9) Exemption 7(C) 28
(10)Exemption 7(D) 2
Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) 422
no records 176
request withdrawn 25
fee-related reason 41
records not reasonably described 26
not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 8
other (publicly available information) 74
Number of appeals received during fiscal year 66
Number of appeals processed during fiscal year 99
Number completely upheld 56
Number partially reversed 22
Number completely reversed 7
number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per
(3) Exemption 3 8
(5) Exemption 5 27
(7) Exemption 7(A) 3
Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) 14
request withdrawn 1 fee-related reason 3
not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 4
not an agency record 3
other (untimely) 0 Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests
number of requests processed 1174
median number of days to process 14
number of requests processed 852
median number of days to process 30 Requests accorded expedited processing.
Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year 268
Comparison of numbers of requests received 2084
Comparison of numbers of requests processed 1899
Comparison of median numbers of days requests were pending as of end of Fiscal Year 35
Other statistics significant to agency none Other narrative statements describing agency efforts to improve timeliness of
reduction efforts; specification of average number of hours per processed request; training activities; public availability of new categories of records).
Providing FOIA training activities for all FOIA personnel.
Records training for all personnel.
Updating Department websites to make more materials available to the public.
Requesting additional staffing of FOIA personnel.
Reviewing electronic solutions for logging and tracking FOIA requests
Number of full-time FOIA personnel 13 Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total
work-years) 14
Total number of personnel 27
FOIA processing (including appeals) 1,240,552.50
Litigation-related activities (estimated) 1,039,109.00
Total Costs 2,279,661.50
Comparison with previous year(s) (including percentage of change) (optional) N/A Fees
Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests 15,162.68
Percentage of total costs 0.66% FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
(copy attached) located at www.doc.gov at FOIA link