Annual Peace Corps FOIA Report for FY2000
ANNUAL PEACE CORPS FOIA REPORT
October 1, 2000 to September 30, 2001
I. Basic Information Regarding Report:
A. If you have any questions about the Freedom of Information Act
Annual Report, contact James Cuffe, FOIA Officer, at 202-692-2103.
B. To find this report on the World Wide Web, use the following
electronic address: http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/policies/foiareport.html
C. You may obtain a copy of the report in paper form by writing to:
Peace Corps
FOIA Officer
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526
II. How to Make a FOIA Request:
Peace Corps FOIA request procedures are located in the FOIA Reference Guide, which is
electronically linked to our World Wide Web Site: http://www.peacecorps.gov
A. FOIA Requests are received in the Office of:
Peace Corps
FOIA Officer
1111 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20526
B. Peace Corps response time ranges from two days to ten days.
C. Some requests cannot be granted because the records have been
destroyed at the Federal Records Center due to the disposition of the
record.
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms
A. Agency specific acronyms or other terms: N/A
B. Basic Terms used in the Report
1. FOIA/PA Request -- Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Request.
A FOIA request is generally a request for access to records concerning
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 determinations
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 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 -- agencies 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 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 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.
12. Time Limits -- the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for
an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty 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 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
three, seven, and fourteen, 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 three, seven, and fourteen, the average number is eight.
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes
A. List of Exemption 3 Statutes relied on by agency during current fiscal
year: NONE
1. Brief description of type 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
V. Initial FOIA/PA requests
A. Number of Initial requests
1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 24
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year = 1,706
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year =1,719
4. Number of requests pending as of end of fiscal year = 11
B. Disposition of initial requests.
1. Number of total grants = 1,665
2. Number of partial grants = 3
3. Number of denials = 20**
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used:
1. Exemption 1 = 0
2. Exemption 2 = 0
3. Exemption 3 = 0
4. Exemption 4 = 1
5. Exemption 5 = 0
6. Exemption 6 = 10
7. Exemption 7a. = 0
8. Exemption 7b = 0
9. Exemption 7c = 0
10. Exemption 7d = 0
11. Exemption 7e = 0
12. Exemption 7f = 0
13. Exemption 8 = 0
14. Exemption 9 = 0
**Nine Privacy Act records were denied under Privacy Act
Exemption k (5) for confidentiality protection on references.
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure:
a. no records = 20
b. referrals = 0
c. request withdrawn = 7
d. fee-related reason = 0
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) = 2 (suspended)
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials to FOIA/PA Requests
A. Number of appeals:
1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year = 4
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year = 2
B. Disposition of appeals:
1. Number completely upheld = 2
2. Number partially reversed = N/A
3. Number completely reversed = N/A
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used = N/A
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure = 2 (Appeal withdrawn)
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 = 1,719
b. median number of days to process = 6
2. Complex request = N/A
3. Requests accorded expedited processing
a. number of requests processed = 0
b. median number of days to process = N/A
B. Status of pending requests
1. Number of pending as of end of current fiscal year = 11
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of
that date =150
VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years (optional)
For FY 2000
A. Comparison of number of requests received = 1,793
B. Comparison of number of requests processed = 1,769
C. Comparison of median number of days request were pending as of
end of fiscal year = 6
D. Other statistics significant to the agency = N/A
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
A. Staffing levels
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel = 1
2. Number of personnel with part-time or partial FOIA duties = .80
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) = 1.8
B. Total Costs
1. FOIA processing = $60,747.35
2. Litigation-related activities = $0.00
3. Total Costs = $60,747.35
4. Comparison with previous year (FY 1999) = $63,410.92
X. Fees
A. Total Amount collected by agency for processing requests = $0.00
B. Percentage of total costs = N/A
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
Please consult the federal regulations regarding FOIA at the following website:
http://www.usdoj.gov/04foia/04_1_1.html
