HHS Fiscal Year 2012 Freedom of Information Annual Report

Contents

1. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT [XML]
2. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST
3. ACRONYMS, DEFINITIONS, AND EXEMPTIONS
4. Exemption 3 Statutes
5. FOIA Requests
6. Administrative Appeals of Initial Determinations of FOIA Requests
7. FOIA Requests: Response Time for Processed and Pending Requests
8. Requests for Expedited Processing and Requests for Fee Waiver
9. FOIA Personnel and Costs
10. Fees Collected for Processing Requests
11. FOIA Regulations
12. Backlogs, Consultations, and Comparisons

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ANNUAL REPORT — FY 2012

I. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT

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

Robert Eckert
Director, Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Division
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
United Sates Department of Health and Human Services
330 C Street, S.W., Room 2221
Washington D.C. 20201
(202) 690-7453

2. ELECTRONIC ADDRESS FOR THIS REPORT ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

3. ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF THIS REPORT

Contact Robert Eckert at the address or telephone number listed above.

**Copies of the annual reports of a number of individual HHS Operating Divisions can be found by contacting the responsible component shown in Section II below, or by locating a FOIA link at the following websites:

• Administration for Community Living (ACL)
• Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
• Indian Health Service (IHS)
• National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH)
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST

Requests may be submitted electronically:

• Submit a FOIA Request

1. HHS and OPDIV Freedom of Information Officers/FOIA Requester Service Centers

Health and Human Services (HHS)
Freedom of Information Officer
Mary E. Switzer Building, Room 2206
330 C Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Phone: 202-690-7453

Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
Freedom of Information Officer
901 D Street, S.W.
7th Floor West Aerospace Building
Washington, D.C. 20447
Phone: 202-401-9215

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Freedom of Information Officer
540 Gaither Road
The Eisenberg Building, Room 3129
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Phone: 301-427-1866

Administration on Aging (AOA)
Freedom of Information Officer
Washington, D.C. 20201
Phone: 202-357-3540

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and/or
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
Freedom of Information Officer
1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS D-54
Atlanta, Georgia 30333
Phone: (770) 488-6399

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Freedom of Information Officer
North Building, Room N2-20-06
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21244
Phone: 410-786-5353

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Freedom of Information Officer
12420 Parklawn Drive, Room 1050
Rockville, MD 20850
Phone: 301-827-6567

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Freedom of Information Officer
Parklawn Building, Room 14-15
5600 Fishers Lane Rockville, Maryland 20857
Phone: 301-443-3376

Indian Health Service (IHS)
Freedom of Information Officer
12300 Twinbrook Parkway, Suite 450
Twinbrook II, Metro Plaza Building
Rockville, Maryland 20857
Phone: 301-443-1116

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Freedom of Information Officer
Building 31, Room 5B35 9000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Phone: 301-496-5633

Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Freedom of Information Officer
Cohen Building, Suite 1062
330 Independence Ave, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Phone: 202-619-2541

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH)
Freedom of Information Officer
7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 920
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301-492-4800

Program Support Center (PSC)
Freedom of Information Officer
7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 920
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301-492-4800

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Freedom of Information Officer
1 Choke Cherry Road, Room 8-1042
Rockville, Maryland 20857
Phone: 240-276-2137

2. Brief description of why some requests are not granted: Documents requested were protected by an exemption and release would have caused harm to the interest protected by the exemption. Information withheld may include home addresses and phone numbers, social security numbers, medical records, proprietary business records, investigatory records, that if released may interfere with open investigations, and drafts of documents.

III. ACRONYMS, DEFINITIONS, AND EXEMPTIONS:

1. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms:

• HHS - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• OPDIVs - Operating Divisions of HHS
• OS - Office of the Secretary, HHS
• OASPA - Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, HHS
• AoA - Administration on Aging
• ACF - Administration for Children and Families
• AHRQ - Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• ATSDR - Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
• CDC - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• FDA - Food and Drug Administration
• HRSA - Health Resources and Services Administration
• IHS - Indian Health Service
• NIH - National Institutes of Health
• OIG - Office of the Inspector General
• OASH - Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health
• PRO - Professional Review Organization
• PSC - Program Support Center
• SAMHSA - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

2. Basic Terms (from FOIA UPDATE, Summer 1997):

1. Administrative Appeal - a request to a federal agency asking that it review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by the agency at the initial request level.
2. 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.
3. Backlog - the number of requests or administrative appeals that are pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the statutory time period for a response.
4. Component - for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a "component" is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their annual report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.
5. Consultation - the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because that agency has an interest in the document. Once the agency in receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it responds back to the agency that forwarded it. That Agency, in turn, will then respond to the FOIA requester.
6. Exemption 3 Statute - a federal statute that exempts information from disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under subsection (b) (3) of the FOIA.
7. FOIA Request - a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal agency for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a "third-party" request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of interest. FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters seeking records concerning themselves (i.e., "first-party" requests) when those requesters are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as non-U.S. citizens. Moreover, because all first-party requesters should be afforded the benefit of both the access provisions of the FOIA as well as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA requests also include any first-party requests where an agency determines that it must search beyond its Privacy Act "systems of records" or where a Privacy Act exemption applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford the greatest possible access. All requests which require the agency to utilize the FOIA in responding to the requester are included in this Report. Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency for processing and direct response to the requester. It does not, however, include records for which the agency has received a consultation from another agency. (Consultations are reported separately in Section XII of this Report.)
8. Full Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
9. Full Denial - an agency decision not to release any records in response to a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their entireties under one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a procedural reason, such as when no records could be located.
10. Median Number - the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
11. 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 granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track. Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis.
    1. Expedited Processing - an agency will process a FOIA request on an expedited basis when a requester satisfies the requirements for expedited processing as set forth in the statute and in agency regulations.
    2. Simple Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the records requested.
    3. Complex Request - a FOIA request that an agency using multi-track processing places in a slower track based on the high volume and/or complexity of the records requested.
12. Partial Grant/Partial Denial - in response to a FOIA request, an agency decision to disclose portions of the records and to withhold other portions that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a portion of the request for a procedural reason.
13. Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal - a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects.
14. Perfected Request - a request for records which reasonably describes such records and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.
15. Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal - a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final action in all respects.
16. Range in Number of Days - the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals.
17. Time Limits - the time period in the statute for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty working days from receipt of a perfected FOIA request).

3. Concise descriptions of the nine FOIA exemptions:

1. Exemption 1: classified national defense and foreign relations information
2. Exemption 2: internal agency rules and practices
3. Exemption 3: information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law
4. Exemption 4: trade secrets and other confidential business information e. Exemption 5: inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges
5. Exemption 6: information involving matters of personal privacy
6. Exemption 7: records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records
   1. could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,
   2. would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,
   3. could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,
   4. could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source,
   5. would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or
   6. could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual
7. Exemption 8: information relating to the supervision of financial institutions
8. Exemption 9: geological information on wells

IV: Exemption 3 Statutes

Statute	Information Withheld	Case Citation	Component	Times Relied upon per Component
18 U.S.C. ¤ 3123(d)	Certain court "order[s] authorizing or approving the installation and use a pen register or a trap and trace device"; information pertaining to "the existence of the pen register or trap and trace device or the existence of the investigation"	Jennings v. FBI, No. 03-1651, slip op. at 11-12 (D.D.C. May 6, 2004); riley v. FBI, No. 00-2378, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2632, at *5-6 (D.D.C. Feb. 11, 2002); Manna v. DOJ, 815 F. Supp. 798, 812 (D.N.J. 1993), aff'd on other grounds, 51 F. 3d 1158 (3d Cir. 1995)	OIG – 2	2
41 U.S.C. ¤ 4702(b)	Contractor proposals that are in the possession or control of an executive agency and that have not been set forth or incorporated by reference into contracts.	Sinkfieldv. HUD, No. 10-885, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35233, at *13-15 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 15, 2012); Hornbostel v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior, 305 F. Supp. 2d 21, 30 (D.D.C. 2003), summary affirmance granted, No. 03-5257, 2004 WL 1900562 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 25, 2004).	OS – 1 CDC – 4 CMS - 6 FDA – 2 PSC – 9	22
42 U.S.C. ¤ 262a	Enhanced control of dangerous biological agents and toxins/bio-terrorism information	None	OIG – 3 CDC – 4	7
42 U.S.C. ¤ 242m(d) (Public Health Service Act ¤ 308(d))	Identifiable information for certain research and statistical activities	None	CDC - 1	1
42 U.S.C. ¤ 300aa-12(d)(4)(A) (National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986)	"Except as provided in subparagraph (B), information submitted to a special master or the court in a proceeding on a petition [for compensation under the National Vaccine Injury compensation Program] without the express written consent of the person who submitted the information"	Long v. Department of Justice, 778 F. Supp.2d 222, 234 (N.D.N.Y. 2011)	HRSA - 3	3
Inspector General Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95-452), ¤7	Complaints by Employees; Disclosure of Identity; Reprisals	None	OIG – 35	35
Rule 6(e) Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure	Certain records pertaining to grand jury proceedings	Sussmanv. USMS, 494 F. 3d 1106, 1113 (D.C. Cir 2007); Fund for Constitutional Gov't v. Nat'l Archives & Records Serv., 656 F. 2d 856, 867-68 (D.C. Cir 1981); Durham v. U.S. Atty. Gen., No. 06-843, 2008 WL 620744, at *2 (E.D. Tex. Mar. 3, 2008); Cozen O'connor v. U.S. Dep't of Treasury, 570 F. Supp. 2d 749, 776 (E.D. Pa. 2008).	OIG – 2	2
5 U.S.C. app. 4 ¤ 107(a) (Ethics in Government Act of 1978)	Financial disclosure information pertaining to certain government employees	Meyeroffv. EPA, 958 F. 3d 1498, 1500-02 (9th Cir. 1992); Concepcion v. FBI, 606 F. Supp. 2d 14, 33 (D.D.C. 2009), renewed motion fir summary judgment granted in part on other grounds, 699 F. Supp. 2d 106 (D.D.C. 2010).	FDA - 2 NIH - 2	4
21 U.S.C. ¤ 331(j) (Food , Drug, and Cosmetic Act)	Certain information "concerning any methods or process which as a trade secret is entitled to protection"	Anderson v. HHS, 907 F.2d 936, 950-51 (10th Cir. 1990).	FDA - 53	53
21 U.S.C. ¤ 350d(a)(4)	Food Registration Documents	None	FDA - 3	3
42 U.S.C. ¤ 11137 (b)	Adverse reports of a health practitioner’s conduct	None	HRSA – 3	3

 

V: FOIA Requests

1. Received, Processed, and Pending FOIA Requests

Component	Requests Pending Start of Fiscal Year	Requests Received in Fiscal Year	Requests Processed in Fiscal Year	Requests Pending End of Fiscal Year
OS	364	1,129	1,099	394
ACF	182 [1]	285	225	242
ACL	0	18	18	0
AHRQ	6 [2]	57	57	6
CDC	363	1,123	899	587
CMS	4,021	53,424	53,744	3,701
FDA	3,469 [3]	9,598	10,492	2,575
HRSA	33	277	219	91
IHS	31	107	132	6
NIH	79	1,147	1,130	96
OIG	10	664	656	18
OASH	205	465	462	208
SAMHSA	27 [4]	173	123	77
HHS Total	8,790	68,467	69,256	8,001

B. (1) Disposition of all FOIA Requests – All Processed Requests

B. (2) Disposition of FOIA Requests – Other Reasons for Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions from Section V, B (1)

Component	Description of Other Reasons for Denials from Chart B (1) & Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied Upon	Times Other Reason Was Relied Upon	TOTAL
OS	Administrative Closure - Based on Response and Non Response to Continued Interest calls and Correspondence	51	51
ACF	Administrative Closure - Based on Response and Non Response to Continued Interest calls and Correspondence	9	9
ACL	N/A	0	0
AHRQ	Not a Proper Request	2	3
	Referral	1
CDC	N/A	0	0
CMS	Administrative Closures based on response/non-response due to continued interest calls and correspondence	1,164	1,164
FDA	Available on Internet	345	345
HRSA	N/A	0	0
IHS	Administrative Closures based on response/non-response due to continued interest calls and correspondence	19	20
	Available on Internet	1
NIH	N/A		0
OIG	Administrative Closures based on response/non-response due to continued interest calls and correspondence	6	11
	Available on Internet	5
OASH	Administrative Closures based on response/non-response due to continued interest calls and correspondence	13	13
SAMHSA	N/A	0	0
Agency Overall			1,616

B. (3) Disposition of FOIA Requests - Number of times exemptions applied

 

VI: Administrative Appeals of Initial Determinations of FOIA Requests

A. Received, Processed, and Pending Administrative Appeals

Component	Appeals Pending Start of Fiscal Year	Appeals Received in Fiscal Year	Appeals Processed in Fiscal Year	Appeals Pending End of Fiscal Year
OS	203	200	192	211
CMS	36	111	53	94
HHS Total	239	311	245	305

B. Disposition of Administrative Appeals – All Processed Appeals

Affirmed on Appeal	Partially Affirmed & Partially Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Completely Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Appeals Closed for Other Reasons	Affirmed on Appeal	Partially Affirmed & Partially Reversed/Remanded on Appeal
OS	81	23	11	77	192
CMS	0	1	2	50	53
HHS Total	81	24	13	127	245

C. (1) Reasons for denial on Appeal – Number of Times Exemptions applied

Component	Ex. 1	Ex. 2	Ex. 3	Ex. 4	Ex. 5	Ex. 6	Ex. 7(A)	Ex. 7(B)	Ex. 7(C)	Ex. 7(D)	Ex. 7(E)	Ex. 7(F)	Ex. 8	Ex. 9
OS	0	0	3	18	22	24	7	0	13	2	2	0	0	0
CMS	0	2	0	2	2	21	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
HHS Total	0	2	3	20	24	45	8	0	14	2	2	0	0	0

C. (2) Reasons for denial on Appeal – Reasons other than exemptions

C. (3) Reasons for denial on Appeal – Other:

Component	Description of Other Reasons for Denial on Appeal from Chart C (2) &	Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied upon	TOTAL
OS	Appeal moot	34	53
	Appeal untimely	15
	Appeal upheld	7
	Failed to respond on designate date	6
	Remand
	Component
CMS	N/A	0	0
HHS Total			53

C. (4) Response time for administrative appeals (See chart)

Component	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OS	82.00	225.00	1.00	2,121.00
CMS	76.00	117.00	2.00	361.00
HHS Overall	79.00	171.00	1.00	2,121.00

C. (5) Ten Oldest Pending Appeals (See Chart)

		10th	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st
OS	Date of Receipt	8/24/ 2005	8/5/ 2005	8/2/ 2005	7/20/ 2005	7/19/ 2005	4/7/ 2005	2/10/ 2005	11/12/ 2004	10/28/ 2004	10/5/ 2004
	Number of Days Pending	2,556	2,575	2,578	2,590	2,591	2,693	2,750	2,838	2,852	2,875
CMS	Date of Receipt	4/13/ 2011	4/12/ 2011	4/6/ 2011	4/4/ 2011	3/31/ 2011	3/31/ 2011	3/24/ 2011	3/10/ 2011	2/16/ 2011	10/4/ 2010
	Number of Days Pending	370	371	375	377	379	379	384	394	409	500
HHS Overall	Date of Receipt	8/24/ 2005	8/5/ 2005	8/2/ 2005	7/20/ 2005	7/19/ 2005	4/7/ 2005	2/10/ 2005	11/12/ 2004	10/28/ 2004	10/5/ 2004
	Number of Days Pending	2,556	2,575	2,578	2,590	2,591	2,693	2,750	2,838	2,852	2,875

 

VII. FOIA Requests: Response Time for Processed and Pending Requests

1. Processed Requests – Response Time for All Perfected Requests ^[5]

2. Processed Requests – Response Time for Perfected Requests in Which Information Was Granted ^[9]

3. Processed Requests – Response Time in Day Increments

1. Simple Requests

2. Complex Requests

3. Requests Granted Expedited Processing

4. Pending Requests – All Pending Perfected Requests ^[16]

5. Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Perfected Requests

Component	Date of Receipt or Number of Days Pending	10th	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st
OS	Date of Receipt	7/20/ 2009	6/29/ 2009	4/22/ 2009	2/23/ 2009	9/25/ 2008	9/9/ 2008	3/10/ 2008	3/4/ 2008	2/27/ 2008	10/26/ 2007
	Number of Days Pending	835	850	898	940	1047	1059	1190	1194	1198	1286
ACF	Date of Receipt	8/28/ 2008	8/12/ 2008	6/12/ 2008	6/12/ 2008	5/9/ 2008	5/2/ 2008	2/27/ 2008	2/27/ 2008	2/11/ 2008	1/4/ 2008
	Number of Days Pending	1066	1078	1121	1121	1145	1150	1197	1197	1209	1236
ACL	Date of Receipt	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	Number of Days Pending	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	Date of Receipt	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	9/21/ 2012	8/29/ 2012	8/16/ 2012	8/13/ 2012	6/8/ 2012	6/6/ 2012
	Number of Days Pending	0	0	0	0	5	21	30	33	78	80
CDC	Date of Receipt	1/16/ 2009	1/6/ 2009	11/25/ 2008	11/5/ 2008	10/23/ 2008	10/8/ 2008	9/23/ 2008	7/25/ 2008	4/28/ 2008	12/31/ 2007
	Number of Days Pending	930	938	965	978	987	997	1008	1049	1111	1193
CMS	Date of Receipt	2/4/ 2011	2/3/ 2011	1/31/ 2011	1/24/ 2011	1/19/ 2011	1/19/ 2011	1/12/ 2011	1/10/ 2011	12/21/ 2010	9/28/ 2010
	Number of Days Pending	416	417	420	425	428	428	432	434	446	503
FDA	Date of Receipt	4/16/ 2008	3/18/ 2008	3/18/ 2008	3/5/ 2008	1/3/ 2008	11/30/ 2007	9/7/ 2007	4/18/ 2007	4/11/ 2007	2/27/ 2007
	Number of Days Pending	1119	1140	1140	1149	1237	1261	1321	1423	1428	1459
HRSA	Date of Receipt	3/19/ 2012	2/28/ 2012	2/28/ 2012	2/24/ 2012	12/27/ 2011	12/5/ 2011	11/10/ 2011	10/12/ 2011	7/22/ 2011	1/24/ 2011
	Number of Days Pending	139	151	151	153	193	206	220	239	293	359
IHS	Date of Receipt	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	9/12/ 2012	8/21/ 2012	8/9/ 2012	7/27/ 2012	6/4/ 2012	2/27/ 2012
	Number of Days Pending	0	0	0	0	13	22	37	46	85	152
NIH	Date of Receipt	4/25/ 2012	3/13/ 2012	3/6/ 2012	2/8/ 2012	1/24/ 2012	1/17/ 2012	9/30/ 2011	6/1/ 2011	3/22/ 2011	10/13/ 2010
	Number of Days Pending	110	141	146	164	175	180	251	336	386	494
OIG	Date of Receipt	9/26/ 2012	9/14/ 2012	9/12/ 2012	8/31/ 2012	8/31/ 2012	8/29/ 2012	8/21/ 2012	8/13/ 2012	7/19/ 2012	7/3/ 2012
	Number of Days Pending	2	10	12	20	20	22	27	34	51	54
OASH	Date of Receipt	6/14/ 2010	6/11/ 2010	6/11/ 2010	6/8/ 2010	6/8/ 2010	6/8/ 2010	5/17/ 2010	5/5/ 2010	5/5/ 2010	1/11/ 2010
	Number of Days Pending	599	600	600	603	603	619	627	627	627	709
SAMHSA	Date of Receipt	4/19/ 2011	4/6/ 2011	4/4/ 2011	3/29/ 2011	3/28/ 2011	3/11/ 2011	2/16/ 2011	2/15/ 2011	1/10/ 2011	1/7/ 2011
	Number of Days Pending	378	387	389	393	394	405	422	423	449	450
Agency Overall	Date of Receipt	2/27/ 2008	2/27/ 2008	1/4/ 2008	1/3/ 2008	11/30/ 2007	10/26/ 2007	9/7/ 2007	4/18/ 2007	4/11/ 2007	2/27/ 2007
	Number of Days Pending	1198	1198	1236	1237	1261	1286	1321	1423	1428	1459

 

VIII: Requests for Expedited Processing and Requests for Fee Waiver

1. Requests for Expedited Processing

Component	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate	Number Adjudicated Within Ten Calendar Days
OS	0	17	4	2	17
ACF	1	0	1	1	1
ACL	0	0	N/A	N/A	N/A
AHRQ	0	3	1	2	3
CDC	0	30	2	4	27
CMS	24	3	1	3	27
FDA	1	207	7	9	178
HRSA	0	5	10	10	5
IHS	0	0	0	0	0
NIH	1	5	8	7	5
OIG	0	2	1	1	2
OASH	0	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0	0
HHS Total	27	272	6	3	265

2. Requests for Fee Waiver

Component	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate Average Number of Days to Adjudicate
OS	5	22	3	11
ACF	0	0	N/A	N/A
ACL	0	0	N/A	N/A
AHRQ	6	0	1	1
CDC	0	0	N/A	N/A
CMS	0	0	N/A	N/A
FDA	320	7	10	20
HRSA	1	4	11	11
IHS	0	0	N/A	N/A
NIH	0	1	2	2
OIG	0	2	1	2
OASH	0	0	N/A	N/A
SAMHSA	0	0	N/A	N/A
HHS Total	332	36	3	4

 

IX: FOIA Personnel and Costs

Component	Personnel			Costs
	Number of Full-Time FOIA Employees	Number of Equivalent Full-Time FOIA Employees	Total Number of Full-Time FOIA Staff	Processing Costs	Litigation-Related Costs	Total Costs
OS	12	0	12	$1,154,218.00	$626,950.00	$1,781,168.00
ACF	4	1	5	$443,000.00	$0.00	$443,300.00
ACL	0	0.4	1	$2,576.00	$0.00	$2,576
AHRQ	2	0	.04	$54,903.00	$0.00	$54,903.00
CDC	12	0	12	$1,343,600.00	$1,700.00	$1,345,300.00
CMS	19	61	80	$5,067,281.00	$57,470.00	$5,124,751.00
FDA	88	40	128	$33,524,931.00	$1,092,553.00	$34,617,484.00
HRSA	3	1.5	4.5	$490,723.00	$0.00	$490,723.00
IHS	1	2	3	$369,945.00	$0.00	$369,945.00
NIH	16	14	30	$3,279,867.00	$5,000.00	$3,284,867.00
OIG	3	2	5	$128,317.00	$0.00	$128,317.00
OASH	5	2	7	$1,261,075.00	$63,641.00	$1,324,716.00
SAMHSA	1	1	2	$99,000.00	$0.00	$99,000.00
HHS Total	166	124.90	290.90	$47,219,436.00	$1,847,314	$49,066,750.00

 

X: Fees Collected for Processing Requests

Component	Total Amount of Fees Collected	Percentage of Total Costs
OS	$222.00	0.02%
ACF [20]	$0.00	0.00%
ACL	$0.00	0.00%
AHRQ	$92.00	0.17%
CDC	$221.00	0.02%
CMS	$475,835.00	9.39%
FDA	$505,467.00	1.51%
HRSA	$2,563.00	0.52%
IHS	$0.00	0.00%
NIH	$27,014.00	0.82%
OIG	$3,368.00	2.62%
OASH	$1,748.00	0.14%
SAMHSA	$0.00	0.00%
HHS Total	$1,016,530	2.15%

 

XI. FOIA Regulations

• Title 45, Volume 1, Parts 1 to 199

XII: Backlogs, Consultations, and Comparisons

1. Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals

Component	Backlogged Requests as of End of Fiscal Year	Backlogged Appeals as of End of Fiscal Year
OS	365	187
ACF	220	0
ACL	0	0
AHRQ	0	0
CDC	501	0
CMS	1,706	87
FDA	2,575	0
HRSA	58	0
IHS	6	0
NIH	33	0
OIG	9	0
OASH	194	0
SAMHSA	73	0
HHS Total	5,740	274

2. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Received, Processed, and Pending Consultations

Component	Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of Start of the Fiscal Year Consultations Received from Other Agencies During the Fiscal Year	Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Processed by Your Agency During the Fiscal Year	Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of End of the Fiscal Year
OS	0	0	0	0
ACF	0	0	0	0
ACL	0	0	0	0
AHRQ	0	0	0	0
CDC	0	0	0	0
CMS	0	0	0	0
FDA	0	17	17	0
HRSA	0	0	0	0
IHS	0	0	0	0
NIH	0	2	2	0
OIG	0	1	1	0
OASH	0	2	2	0
SAMHSA	0	0	0	0
HHS Total	0	22	22	0

3. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency

Component	10th	9th	9th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	1st
OS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
ACF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
ACL	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AHRQ	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
CDC	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CMS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FDA	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
HRSA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
IHS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
NIH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
OIG	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
OASH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
SAMHSA	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
HHS Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

4. Comparison of Numbers of Requests from Previous and Current Annual Report – Requests Received, Processed, and Backlogged

(1) Requests Received and Processed

Component	Number of Requests Received		Number of Requests Processed
	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Last Year's Annual Report	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Last Year's Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OS	1,396	1,129	1,592	1,099
ACF	296	285	416	224
ACL	16	18	16	18
AHRQ	77	57	81	57
CDC	1,128	1,123	1,088	899
CMS	52,116	53,424	53,328	53,744
FDA	9,301	9,598	10,602	10,492
HRSA	332	277	330	219
IHS	100	107	104	132
NIH	1,198	1,147	1,204	1,130
OIG	729	664	737	656
OASH	576	465	529	462
SAMHSA	166	173	152	123
HHS Total	67,426	68,467	70,179	69,256

(2) Requests Backlogged

Component	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of the Fiscal Year from Previous Annual Report	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of the Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OS	309	365
ACF	160	220
ACL	0	0
AHRQ	0	0
CDC	287	501
CMS	2,008	1,706
FDA	3,421	2,575
HRSA	2	58
IHS	34	6
NIH	25	33
OIG	4	9
OASH	165	194
SAMHSA	114	73
HHS Total	6,529	5,740

5. Comparison of Numbers of Administrative Appeals from Previous and Current Annual Report – Appeals Received, Processed, and Backlogged

(1) Appeals Received, Processed

Component	Number of Appeals Received		Number of Appeals Processed
	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Last Year's Annual Report	Number Received During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Last Year's Annual Report	Number Processed During Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OS	191	200	199	192
CMS	125	111	120	53
HHS Total	316	311	319	245

(2) Appeals Backlogged

Component	Number of Backlogged Administrative Appeals as of End of the Fiscal Year from Previous Annual Report	Number of Backlogged Administrative Appeals as of End of the Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OS	68 [21]	187
CMS	36	87
HHS Total	104	274

^[1] The ACF reported 197 pending requests for the end of fiscal year 2011, however, the number of pending requests for the end of the fiscal year 2011 should be 182; inaccuracies were indentified while implementing a new, more automated FOIA system.

^[2] The AHRQ reported 3 pending requests for fiscal year 2011, however, it was determined that 6 requests should have been counted for the end of fiscal year 2011.

^[3] The FDA reported 3,390 pending requests for the end of fiscal year 2011, however, it was determined that 3,469 should have been counted for the end of fiscal year 2011.

^[4] The SAMHSA reported 168 requests were pending at the end of the fiscal year 2011; however, the number of pending requests was revised as a result of a miscount by in-house tracking system

^[5] Some numbers based on estimates.

^[6] Uses single-track log.

^[7] Uses single-track log.

^[8] Uses single-track log.

^[9] Some numbers based on estimates.

^[10] Uses single-track log.

^[11] Uses single-track log.

^[12] Uses single-track log.

^[13] Uses single-track log.

^[14] Uses single-track log.

^[15] Uses single-track log.

^[16] Some numbers based on estimates.

^[17] Uses single-track log.

^[18] Uses single-track log.

^[19] Uses single-track log.

^[20] The ACF has temporarily suspended fee collections.

^[21] There were 119 Administrative Appeals which were not counted as in number of backlogged as of the end of FY2011 year, however, these number s are now reflected in the number of backlogged as of the end of FY2012.