Fiscal Year 2000 FOIA Report for Rural Development

1. Name, title, address, and telephone number of person(s) to be contacted with questions about the report.

   Dorothy Hinden
   Freedom of Information Officer
   Rural Development, USDA
   1400 Independence Avenue, SW
   STOP 0742
   Washington, DC 20250-0742
   Tel. No. (202) 692-0031

2. How to Make a FOIA Request (TO BE ANSWERED BY THE DEPARTMENT'S FOIA OFFICER)

   1. Brief description of the agency's response-time ranges.

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

3. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

   1. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.

   2. 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.

      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 entirety, 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 (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 number is 8.

4. Exemption 3 Statutes:

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

      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.

5. Initial FOIA/Privacy Act Access Requests
   Includes all access requests, whether first party or third party.

   1. Number of initial requests.
      [Total of the numbers in Lines 1 and 2, minus the number in Line 3, should equal the number in Line 4.]

      1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year. 58

      2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year. 1587

      3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year. 1611

      4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year. 34
         (Enter this number also in Line VII. B. 1.)

   2. Disposition of initial requests.

      1. Number of total grants. 1,376

      2. Number of partial grants. 80

      3. Number of denials. 82

         1. number of times each FOIA exemption was used
            (counting each exemption once per request).

            (1) Exemption 2 (2) Exemption 3 (3) Exemption 4 (4) Exemption 5 (5) Exemption 6 (6) Exemption 7(A) (7) Exemption 7(B) (8) Exemption 7(C) (9) Exemption 7(D) (10) Exemption 7(E) (11) Exemption 7(F)

            3 ______ 24 13 63 4 ______ 15 1 ______ ______

            
            

      4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total). 128

         a. no records b. referrals c. request withdrawn d. fee-related reason e. records not reasonably described f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason g. not an agency record h. duplicate request i. other (specify)

         55 35 22 7 4 3 1 ______ 1 Records Not Available As Yet

         
         

6. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
   Includes all access requests, whether first party or third party.

   1. Number of Appeals.

      1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year. 21

      2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year. 15

   2. Disposition of appeals.

      1. Number completely upheld. 5

      2. Number partially reversed. 6

      3. Number completely reversed. 3

         1. number of times each FOIA exemption used
            (counting each exemption once per appeal).

            (1) Exemption 2 (2) Exemption 3 (3) Exemption 4 (4) Exemption 5 (5) Exemption 6 (6) Exemption 7(A) (7) Exemption 7(B) (8) Exemption 7(C) (9) Exemption 7(D) (10) Exemption 7(E)

            ______ ______ ______ 1 4 ______ ______ 2 1 ______

            
            

      4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total). 3

         a. no records b. referrals c. request withdrawn d. fee-related reason e. records not reasonably described f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason g. not an agency record h. duplicate request i. other (specify)

         2 ______ 1 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______

         
         

7. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests.

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

      1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks used). N.A.

         1. number of requests processed ______

         2. median number of days to process ______

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

         1. number of requests processed. 1,611

         2. median number of days to process 10

      3. Requests accorded expedited processing. N.A.

         1. number of requests processed ______

         2. median number of days to process ______

   2. Status of pending requests.

      1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year. 34
         (Enter this number from Line V. A. 4.)

      2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date. 15

8. Comparisons with Previous Years(s). N.A.

9. Costs/FOIA Staffing

   1. Staffing levels.

      1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel. 2

      2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years).
         2 years, 2 months, 27 days, 2 1/2 hours

      3. Total number of personnel (in work-years).
         4 years, 2 months, 27 days, 2 1/2 hours

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

      1. FOIA processing (including appeals). $312,140.50

      2. Litigation-related activities (estimated). N.A.

      3. Total costs: $312,140.50

10. Fees
    [This includes charges for search, review, document duplication, and any other direct costs permitted under agency regulations.]

    1. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests. $6,310.37

    2. Percentage of total costs. 2%

11. URL FOR AGENCY FOIA REGULATIONS (including Fee Schedule):
    www.rurdev.usda.gov/efoia/index.html

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