Annual Peace Corps FOIA Report for FY2001
ANNUAL PEACE CORPS FOIA REPORT
October 1, 2001 to September 30, 2002
I.
Basic Information Regarding Report:
A. If you have any questions about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Annual Report, contact Noelle Frangipane, FOIA Officer, at 202-692-
2103.
B. To find this report on the World Wide Web, you may find it at
http://www.peacecorps.gov/policies/foia.cfm
C. You may obtain a copy of the report in paper form by writing to:
Peace Corps
FOIA Officer
1111 20
th
St., NW
Washington, DC 20526
II.
How to Make a FOIA Reque st:
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 20
th
St., NW
Washington, DC 20526
B. Peace Corps response time ranges from two days to ten or more days.
C. Some requests cannot be granted because the records have been destroyed
pursuant to Records Management policies, or destroyed at the Federal
Records Center.
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms
A. Agency specific acronyms or other terms. N/A
B. 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
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records concerning a third party, an organization, or a particular
topic of interest. A Privacy Act (PA) 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 (see below).
6. Expedited processing – an agency will process a FOIA request
on a 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 OFIA 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 OFIA 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.
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11. Denial – an agency decision not to release any part of a record or
records in response to a OFIA 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 (such as 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
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
group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For
example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8.
IV.
Exemption 3 Statutes
A. List of Exemption 3 statues relied on by the agency during the current
fiscal year. NONE
1. Brief description of type of information withheld under each
statue: N/A
2. Statement of whether a court has upheld a use of each statute. If
so, then cit example: N/A
V.
Initial FOIA/PA Requests
A. Number of Initial Requests
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1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year =
11
2. Number of requests received during the current fiscal year =
7287
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year = 6908
4. Number of requests pending as of end of fiscal year = 390
B. Disposition of initial requests
1. Number of total grants = 6879
2. Number of partial grants = 2
3. Number of denials = 3
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 = 2
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
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure: 24
a. no records = 17
b. referrals= 1
c. request withdrawn = 1
d. fee-related reason = 0
e. records not reasonably described = 0
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f. not a proper FOIA request for some other reason = 0
g. not an agency record = 0
h. duplicate request = 0
i. other (specify) = 1 (PA) file lost & 4 PA records were
denied under PA Exemption (5) for confidentiality
protection on references.
VI.
Appeals of Initial Denials to FOIA/PA Requests
A. Number of appeals:
1. Number of appeals received during the fiscal year = 0
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year = N/A
B. Disposition of appeals:
1. Number completely upheld = N/A
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 = N/A
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 = 6908
b. median number of days to process = 12
2. Complex requests = N/A
3. Requests accorded expedited processing
a. Number of requests processed = 0
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b. Median number of days to process = N/A
B. Status of pending requests
1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year =
390
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of
end of current fiscal year = 150
VIII. Comparisons with Previous Years (optional)
For FY 2001 **
A. Comparison of number of requests received = N/A
B. Comparison of number of requests processed = N/A
C. Comparison of median number of days requests were pending as of end of
fiscal year = N/A
D. Other statistics significant to the agency = 0 Requests Received for
Expedited Processing
** Numbers for FY 2002 were significantly higher due to improved Privacy
Act recordkeeping procedures.
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 = 1.2
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) = 2.2
B. Total Costs
1. FOIA processing = $74,246.76
2. Litigation-related activities = $2,000.00 (estimated)
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3. Total Costs = $76,246.76
4. Comparison with previous year (FY 2001) = N/A
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
