Program Support Center

Administrative Operations

FOIA Office

Freedom of Information Annual Report

I. AGENCY: Program Support Center and Office of Public Health and Science

REPORT PREPARED BY: Beatríz Flores & Juan Aguirre

TITLE: PHS FOI Specialist and PHS FOI Technician

ADDRESS: 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 17A-46, Rockville, Maryland 20857

PHONE NUMBER: 301-443-5252

ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR THIS REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB:
http://www.psc.gov/aos/foia/

ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF THIS REPORT: Same as above

II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST:

A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that process FOIA requests:
PHS FOIA Office
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 17A-46
Rockville, Maryland 20857

B. Brief description of agency's response time range(s):
Simple requests, 10 working days from date of receipt; complex requests, 60 days and expedited processing requests, 10 days.

C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted:
Documents requested were protected by a FOIA exemption and therefore not subject to release.

III. DEFINITIONS OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS USED IN REPORT:

A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms: Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS) and Program Support Center (PSC).

B. Basic terms (from FOIA UPDATE , Summer 1997):

FOIA/PA request - Freedom of Information/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 may also be processed as FOIA requests. (All requests for access to records, regardless of which law is cited by the requester, are included in this report).

Initial Request - a request to a federal agency for access to records under the Freedom of Information Act.

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.

Processed Request or Appeal - a request or appeal for which an agency has taken a final action on the request or appeal in all respects.

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).

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.

Simple request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processingplaces in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.

Complex request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processingplaces in a slower track based on the volume and/or complexity of records requested.

Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full response to a FOIA request

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 exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.

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 FOIA 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 the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA office of the agency component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question about the payment of applicable fees.

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).

Median number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

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 eight.

IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES:

A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by the agency during report year:
Public Law 104-201, The National Defense Authorization Act
Public Law 107-188, Public Health Security & Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002
Ethics in Government Act

1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute:
Contractor's Proposal
Documentation on the transfer or use of a listed agent or toxin.
Confidential financial disclosure forms.

2. Has a court upheld the use of each statute? If so, cite example: No

V. INITIAL FOIA/PA ACCESS REQUESTS (Include all requests, 3rd or 1st party): (See chart below)

A. Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):

1. Number of requests pending at close of preceding fiscal year: 269

2. Number of requests received during reporting fiscal year: 420

3. Number of requests processed during reporting fiscal year: 461

4. Number of requests pending at close of reporting fiscal year: (This number should match Line VII.B.1.) 228

B. Disposition of Initial Requests:

1. Number granted in full: 237

2. Number granted in part: 34

3. Number of full denials: 50

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption was used:
Exemption 1 - 0
Exemption 2 - 2
Exemption 3 - 3
Exemption 4 - 7
Exemption 5 - 14
Exemption 6 - 29
Exemption 7 - 30
Exemption 7(A) - 12
Exemption 7(B) - 0
Exemption 7 (C) - 9
Exemption 7 (D) - 9
Exemption 7 (E) - 0
Exemption 7 (F) - 0
Exemption 8 - 0
Exemption 9 - 0

4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 140

a. no records: 72
b. referrals: 44*
c. request withdrawn: 55
d. fee related reason: 2
e. records not reasonably described: 0
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 1
g. not an agency record: 1
h. duplicate request: 0
i. other (specify):
Glomar: 7
Expiated: 2

VI. APPEALS OF INITIAL DENIALS OF FOIA/PA REQUESTS (include all access requests whether first or third party):

A. Numbers of Appeals:

1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year: 86

2. Number of appeals processed during the fiscal year: 150

B. Disposition of Appeals:

1. Number completely upheld: 48

2. Number partially reversed: 16

3. Number completely reversed: 18

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each
exemption used once per appeal)
Exemption 1 - 0
Exemption 2 - 1
Exemption 3 - 1
Exemption 4 - 15
Exemption 5 - 7
Exemption 6 - 10
Exemption 7 - 1
Exemption 7(A) - 1
Exemption 7(B) - 0
Exemption 7(C) - 0
Exemption 7(D) - 0
Exemption 7(E) - 0
Exemption 7(F) - 0
Exemption 8 - 0
Exemption 9 - 0

4. Other reasons for non-disclosure (total): 68

a. no records: 19
b. referrals: 0
c. request withdrawn: 41
d. fee-related reason: 4
e. records not reasonably described: 0
f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0
g. not an agency record: 1
h. duplicate request: 0
i. other (specify)
expedited processing: 3

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: 52

b. median number of days to process: 10

2. Complex Requests

a. number of requests processed: 409

b. median number of days to process: 60

3. Requests Accorded Expedited Processing:

a. number of requests processed: 0

b. median number of days to process: 0

B. Status of Pending Requests (if multiple tracks are being used, report for each track as well as totals).

1. Number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal year covered in this report (from Line V.A.4): 228

2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: Medians vary greatly from OPDIV to OPDIV. 45

VIII. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEARS(S) (Optional):

A. Other statistics significant to components:

IX. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING:

A. Staffing levels:

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 3

2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years): .75

3. Total number of personnel (in work years): 3.75

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

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $219,518.32

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) $17,757.60

3. Total costs $237,275.92

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

X. FEES:

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $6,990.95

B. Percentage of total costs: 2.95%

XI. FOIA REGULATIONS (including fee schedule):

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Last revised: July 10, 2003

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