U.S.

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
REPORT FOR
OCTOBER 1, 2000
THROUGH
SEPTEMBER 30, 2001
FEBRUARY 2002
 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

The following Office of Personnel Management Annual Freedom of Information Act report
covers the period October 1, 2000, through September 30, 2001, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552.

I. Basic Information Regarding Report

A. Name, Title, Address, and Telephone Number
Mary Beth Smith-Toomey
OPM FOIA Officer
Office of Personnel Management
Office of the Chief Information Officer
1900 E Street NW., Room 5415
Washington, DC 20415-7900
202-606-8358

B. Electronic Address for report on World Wide Web

Our Web Site address is http://www.opm.gov/efoia.

C. How to obtain copy in paper form

Paper copies of this report can be obtained from the address above.

II. How to make a FOIA Request

Our FOIA Reference Guide (located at http://www.opm.gov/efoia) includes information
regarding how to make a FOIA request to OPM.

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

A. Agency-specific acronyms
1. OPM - Office of Personnel Management
2. OCIO - Office of the Chief Information Officer

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 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/PA determination such as a matter pertaining to fees.

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

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 an expedited basis

when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records that warrants
prioritization of his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.

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

8.Complex request - a FOIA/PA request that an agency using multi-track processing

places in a slower track based on the volume or complexity of records requested.

9.Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full response to a FOIA/PA request.

10.Partial grant - an agency decision to disclose a record in part in response to a FOIA/PA

request, deleting information determined to be exempt under one or more of the
FOIA/PA=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/PA request because all the information in the requested records is determined by
the agency to be exempt under one or more of the FOIA/PA=s exemptions, or for some
procedural reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA/PA
request).

12.Time limits - the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for an agency to
respond to a FOIA/PA request (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a
Aperfected@ FOIA/PA request).

13.APerfected@ request - a FOIA/PA request for records that adequately describes the
records sought, that has been received by the FOIA/PA office of each agency or agency
component in possession of the records, and for which there is no remaining question
about the payment of applicable fees.

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

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.

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes

OPM did not rely on any Exemption 3 statutes during this reporting period.

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

A. Number of Initial Requests

1. Pending at the end of FY 2000 235* See Narrative Statement

2. Received during FY 2001 7486

3. Processed during FY 2001 7449

4. Pending at the end of FY 2001 272

B. Disposition of Initial Requests

1. Number of total grants 5755

2. Number of partial grants 1186

3. Number of denials 50

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used

(counting each exemption once per request)

(1) Exemption 1 0
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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

B. Disposition of Initial Requests

(2) Exemption 2
(3) Exemption 3 0

(4) Exemption 4 14

(5) Exemption 5 17

(6) Exemption 6 932

(7) Exemption 7(A) 0

(8) Exemption 7(B) 0

(9) Exemption 7(C) 1115

(10) Exemption 7(D) 8

(11) Exemption 7(E) 4

(12) Exemption 7(F) 0

(13) Exemption 8 0

(14) Exemption 9 0

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) 458

a. No records 144

b. Referrals 39
c. Request withdrawn 1
d. Fee-related reason 11

e. Records not reasonably described 6

f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 0

g. Not an agency record 4

h. Duplicate request 70

i. Other (specify) 183

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

B. Disposition of Initial Requests

(1) 5 CFR 293.311
(2) 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(5) 182

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of Appeals
1. Number of appeals received during FY 2001 22

2. Number of appeals processed during FY 2001 22

B. Disposition of Appeals
1. Number completely upheld 11

2. Number partially reversed 0

3. Number completely reversed 1

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used

(counting each exemption once per appeal)
(1) Exemption 1 0

(2) Exemption 2 3

(3) Exemption 3 0

(4) Exemption 4 0

(5) Exemption 5 3

(6) Exemption 6 8

(7) Exemption 7(A) 0

(8) Exemption 7(B) 0

(9) Exemption 7(C) 1

0

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

B. Disposition of Appeals
(10) Exemption 7(D)
(11) Exemption 7(E) 1

(12) Exemption 7(F) 0

(13) Exemption 8 0

(14) Exemption 9 0

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total) 10

a. No records 5

b. Referrals 0

c. Request withdrawn 0

d. Fee-related reason 0

e. Records not reasonably described 2

f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 1

g. Not an agency record 1

h. Duplicate request 1

i. Other (specify) 0

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 0

b. Median number of days to process 0

2. Complex requests
a. Number of requests processed 7449

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

b. Median number of days to process 10.5

3. Requests accorded expedited processing

a. Number of requests processed 2

b. Median number of days to process 1

B. Status of Pending Requests

1. Number of requests pending at the end of FY 2001 272

2. Median number of days that such requests were 15

pending at the end of FY 2001

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year

A. Comparison of Number of Requests Received
FY 2000 2716
FY 2001 7486
Percent of change +276%

B. Comparison of Number of Requests Processed

FY 2000 2716
FY 2001 7449
Percent of change +274%

C. Other Significant Statistics - Processing Costs

FY 2000 $326,126.00
FY 2001 $600,275.00
Percent of change +184%

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

Other Significant Statistics - Fees

FY 2000 $40,515.00
FY 2001 $21,427.00
Percent of change -53%

D. Narrative Statement
The substantial increase in the number of requests occurred because previously we were
not including all our Privacy Act requests in our report. We changed our internal
procedures as result of the Department of Justice August 2001 guidance and this year's
report more accurately reflects our FOIA activity. As a result, our pending requests for
FY 2000 show a substantial increase from our FY 2000 report. The increase in costs is
related to the increased number of requests processed and better accounting. Our fee
collections were down by 53 percent in FY 2001. We think this may be because many of
our fee-related FOIA requests in the past were for employment and retirement statistics.
Many of these statistics are now available using tools on our website. The majority of our
requests are from individuals for personnel, investigation and retirement files and fees are
not chargeable for these requests.

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels
1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel 1

2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional 6.392

FOIA duties (in total work-years)
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years) 7.392

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)

1. FOIA processing (including appeals) $600,275.00

2. Litigation-related activities (estimated) 0

3. Total costs $600,275.00

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 U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Annual Freedom of Information Act Report
FY 2001

X. Fees

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for $21,427.00

processing requests
B. Percentage of total costs 4%

XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

OPM=s regulations (5 CFR 294) are available through www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr. Our

fee schedule is explained in our FOIA reference guide at www.opm.gov/efoia.

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