Fiscal Year 2006 FOIA Report for Rural Development

Sections I. Basic Information, II. How to Make a FOIA Request, and III. Definitions of Terms, will be completed by the Office of Communications.

4. Exemption 3 Statutes

   1. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current fiscal year:      0

5. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

   1. Number of Initial Requests: (include all access requests, whether first party or third party) (NOTE: The total of Lines 1 and 2, minus Line 3, should equal Line 4.)

      1. Number of requests pending at end of FY 05      47

      2. Number of requests received during FY 06      892

      3. Number of requests processed during FY 06      894

      4. Number of requests pending at end of FY 06      45

   2. Disposition of Initial Requests: (NOTE: The total of Lines 1, 2, 3, and 4 should equal the number of requests processed shown in Line 3 of Part A.)

      1. Number of total grants      623

      2. Number of partial grants      76

      3. Number of denials      66

         1. Number of times each FOIA exemption used: (count each exemption once per request)

            (1) Exemption 1 (2) Exemption 2 (3) Exemption 3 (4) Exemption 4 (5) Exemption 5 (6) Exemption 6 (7) Exemption 7(A) (8) Exemption 7(B) (9) Exemption 7(C) (10) Exemption 7(D) (11) Exemption 7(E) (12) Exemption 7(F) (13) Exemption 8 (14) Exemption 9

            0 8 0 52 40 57 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0

         
         

      4. Other reasons for nondisclosure: (total)      129

         a. No records b. Referred elsewhere _(See Note) c. Request withdrawn d. Fee-related reason e. Records not reasonably described f. Not a proper FOIA request for some reason g. Not an agency record h. Duplicate request i. Other (specify)

         78 1 5 20 11 6 6 2 0

         (Note: Do not count requests referred within your agency in this category, it pertains only to requests that are referred outside of your agency)

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 FY 06      16

      2. Number of appeals processed during FY 06      5

   2. Disposition of Appeals:

      1. Number completely upheld      0

      2. Number partially reversed      0

      3. Number completely reversed      2

         1. Number of times each FOIA exemption used: (count each exemption once per appeal)

            (1) Exemption 1 (2) Exemption 2 (3) Exemption 3 (4) Exemption 4 (5) Exemption 5 (6) Exemption 6 (7) Exemption 7(A) (8) Exemption 7(B) (9) Exemption 7(C) (10) Exemption 7(D) (11) Exemption 7(E) (12) Exemption 7(F) (13) Exemption 8 (14) Exemption 9

            0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0

         
         

      4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total):      3

         a. No records b. Referred elsewhere c. Request withdrawn d. Fee-related reason e. Records not reasonably described f. Not a proper FOIA request for some reason g. Not an agency record h. Duplicate request i. Other (specify)

         2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

   
   

7. COMPLIANCE WITH TIME LIMITS/STATUS OF PENDING REQUESTS.

   1. Median Processing Time For Requests: (Example for calculation of median: Given 7 requests completed during the fiscal year, aged 10, 25, 35, 65, 75, 80, and 400 days from date of perfection to date of completion, the total number of requests completed during the fiscal year would be 7 and the median age of the completed requests would be 65 days.)

      1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks used)

         a. Number of requests processed      0
         b. Median number of days to process      0

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

         a. Number of requests processed      894
         b. Median number of days to process      13 1/4

      3. Requests accorded expedited processing

         a. Number of requests processed      0
         b. Median number of days to process      0

         (NOTE: The number of requests listed in the different tracks must equal the number of requests processed from section A, Line 3.)

   2. Status of Pending Requests: (Agencies using multiple tracks may provide numbers for each track as well as totals.)

      1. Number of requests pending at end of FY 06      45

      2. Median number of days requests were pending at end of FY 06      14 1/4

8. COMPARISONS WITH PREVIOUS YEAR(S) (Optional)

   5. Describe Agency Efforts To:

      1. Improve timeliness      _____N/A_____

      2. Reduce backlog      _____N/A_____

      3. Provide training      _____N/A_____

      4. Add new categories of records      _____N/A_____

9. COSTS/FOIA STAFFING.

   1. Staffing Levels:

      1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel      3

      2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in work-years)      4 2/3

      3. Total number of personnel (Work-years)      7 2/3

   2. Total Costs: (include staff and all resources) (Note: Use +20 percent for overhead.)

      1. FOIA processing (including appeals)      $499,174.56

      2. Litigation-related activities (estimated)      $0.00

      3. Total costs      $499,174.56

      4. Comparison with previous year(s) (optional)      ________N/A________

   3. Statement of additional resources needed for FOIA compliance (optional).

10. FEES: (includes charges for search, review, document duplication, and any other direct costs permitted under agency regulations.)

    1. Total amount of fees collected for processing requests      $19,381.27

    2. Percentage of total costs      4 percent

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

12. REPORT ON FOIA EXECUTIVE ORDER IMPLEMENTATION:

    1. Description of supplementation/modification of agency improvement plan (if applicable). See Department's FY 2006 FOIA Annual Report.

    2. Report on agency implementation of its plan, including its performance in meeting milestones, with respect to each improvement area.

       Backlog reduction/elimination. Reduce the number of days requests are pending. The FOIA office follows up with a fax within 18 days from the receipt of the FOIA request to a particular Agency program area that has not furnished the responsive records to the FOIA office - Will be completed by the end of 2007.

       Politeness/courtesy. No complaints at this time - Will be completed by the first month in 2007.

       Form of communication with requesters. Established a FOIA e-mail box for enhanced communication with FOIA Coordinators - Completed by the ninth month in Calendar Year 2006.

       Acknowledgement letters. Issue acknowledgement letters within 2-3 business days upon receipt of the request - Will be completed by the end of 2007.

       Additional training needed (formal and/or on-the-job). For Calendar Year 2006, the Agency's FOIA office has held 5 FOIA telephone conferences explaining the FOIA processes, procedures, and exemptions to the FOIA Coordinators in our field offices - Completed September 14, 2006, teleconferences to continue.

       System of handling referrals. Issuing notification letters to requester within 2-3 days of receipt of the request - Will be completed by the end of 2007.

    3. Identification and discussion of any deficiency in meeting plan milestones (if applicable).      _____N/A_____

    4. Additional narrative statement regarding other executive order-related activities (optional)      _____N/A_____

    5. Concise descriptions of FOIA exemptions. See Department's FY 2006 FOIA Annual Report.

    6. Additional statistics:

       1. Time range of requests pending, by date of request (or, where applicable,
          by date of referral from another agency).

          Oldest Request Date:      10/02/06

          Latest Request Date:      01/31/07

       2. Time range of consultations pending with other agencies, by date
          of initial interagency communication.      _____N/A_____

    7. Attachment: Agency improvement plan (in current form).

Site Index  |  Send Questions/Comments Contact Us About Web Accessibility  |  Accessibility Statement Rural Development is within the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administers rural business, cooperative, housing, utilities and community development programs.