DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Freedom of Information Act 1996 Annual Report 1. Requests received. Number of initial FOIA requests received: 5,761 2. Denials and noncompliances. a. Number of initial requests fully or partially denied: 898 b. Number of times each exemption under Subsection 552(b) was invoked in making the denial:* Exemption Times Invoked 2 29 3 15 4 206 5 369 6 370 7 147 c. List of statutes and number of times invoked under exemption 3: Archaeological Resources Protection Act 5 of 1979, 16 U.S.C. 470hh(a); Federal Cave Resources Protection Act 3 of 1988, 16 U.S.C. 4301; ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * In some cases, more than one exemption was cited in denying a single request.
(January 1 - December 31, 1996)
National Historic Preservation Act, 1
as amended, 16 U.S.C. 470w-3;
Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. 6103 2
Indian Mineral Development Act of 1982, 2
25 U.S.C. 2103(c);
Federal Coal Leasing Act, as amended, 1
30 U.S.C. 201(b)(3) and 208-1(b)
thru (e);
Federal Property and Administrative 1
Services Act of 1949, 41 U.S.C. 253b
d. List of names and titles of officials denying records and
the number of instances for each official:
See Attachment 1. Initial Denials
e. Number of requests not fully complied with (other
authority):
Reason No. of Instances
(1) Requester's failure to 114
adequately identify records.
(2) Refusal to pay fees. 61
(3) Nonpossession of records by DOI. 629
(Records do not exist.)
(4) Referred to another agency. 225
(5) Request withdrawn. 112
(6) Request referred to another bureau. 72
(7) Requested information previously 70
furnished.
(8) Other (explain). 4
Requester did not respond to (4)
letters from agency requesting
written assurance of willingness
to pay fee
3. Appeals.
a. Total number received: 252
b. Total number completed: 231
(1) Number granted in full: 5
prior years: 1
(2) Number denied in full: 47
prior years: 28
(3) Number denied in part: 19
prior years: 20
(4) Number closed out: 80
(Involving issues of nonresponse,
nonpossession, moot issues,
other technical matters and
remands).
prior years: 31
c. Number of times each exemption under Subsection 552(b)
was invoked in denying appeals:
Exemption Times Invoked
4 8
5 25
6 37
7 15
d. List of statutes and number of times invoked
under exemption 3:
None
e. List of names and titles of officials denying records and
the number of instances for each official:
Name and Title No. of Instances
Timothy S. Elliott, Deputy Associate 109
Solicitor, Division of General
Law, Office of the Solicitor
William W. Wolf, Freedom of Information 231
Act Appeals Officer, Office of Information
Resources Management & Interior Service
Center
f. Number of appeals not fully complied with
(other authority):
Reason No. of Instances
(1) Adequate search conducted. -
(2) Appeal moot. 5
1996 (3)
1995 (2)
(3) Records do not exist. 30*
1996 (27)
1995 (3)
(4) Records released. 53
1996 (37)
1995 (13)
1994 (2)
1993 (1)
(5) Remanded for additional review. 14*
1996 (9)
1995 (4)
1994 (1)
(6) Response deemed adequate. -
(7) Responses provided. 32
1996 (32)
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* This figure has been included under number of appeals denied
(see 3b(2) and (3), above).
(8) Appeal withdrawn. 2
1995 (1)
1994 (1)
(9) Still pending. 205
1996 (101)
1995 (45)
1994 (29)
1993 (18)
1992 (11)
1991 (1)
(10) Other 5
(Appeals canceled due to
litigation and other
technicalities)
1996 (1)
1995 (2)
1994 (1)
1991 (1)
4. Fees.
Total amount of fees collected from the
public. $83,299
(A copy of DOI's fee schedule is included
in Attachment 2.)
5. Costs.
Total cost to administer FOIA. $3,553,854
6. Number of time extensions taken and the reason for
each.
a. The need to search for and collect the
requested records from another source. 261
b. The need to search for, collect,
and examine a voluminous amount of
records. 246
c. Consultation with another agency
or other components in DOI. 260
7. Availability of records.
None
8. Rules and regulations, manuals/instructional letters and
training regarding FOIA.
a. The following FOIA and Privacy Act training was provided
to Department of the Interior employees during CY 1996:
- The Department and Office of the Secretary provided
training to DOI employees in Washington, DC (November
20) and to employees in the Office for Equal Opportunity
in Washington, DC (May 23).
- The Office of the Solicitor provided training to
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees in Austin,
TX (April 30) and in Albuquerque, NM (May 2); and to
Bureau of Indian Affairs employees in Albuquerque, NM
(August 22 and September 26), Portland, OR (October 22-
23), Washington, DC (November 19), and Tulsa, OK
(December 11).
- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) provided training to
its employees at the Tonopah, NV Resource Area Office
(November 19); at the Battle Mountain Resource Area
Office (December 10); in Phoenix, AZ (February 23); at
the Cheyenne, WY District Office (September 26-27); and
in Washington, DC (May 30). In addition, the BLM
National Training Center developed a training module on
E-Mail records and FOIA which is used for training on an
ongoing basis.
- The Bureau of Reclamation provided training to its
employees in Grand Junction, CO (April); in Boise, ID
(May); in Sacramento, CA (May); Boulder City, NV (June
and November); in Salt Lake City, UT (August); and in
Phoenix, AZ (December).
- The Bureau of Indian Affairs provided training to its
employees in Muskogee, OK (February, November &
December); in Albuquerque, NM (September); and in
San Antonio, TX (June).
- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided training
to its employees in Hot Springs, AR (April 15); in
Austin, TX (April 30); in Washington, DC (August 7-8);
in Albuquerque, NM (May 2); in Spearfish, SD (December
10); in Seattle, WA (August 5-6); in Reno, NV (June
26); and in Charleston, SC (November 19-21).
b. Copies of instructional letters issued in Calendar Year
1996 are included in Attachment 3.
9. Suits and penalties.
a. Suits received. 9
Pending 12
b. Penalties imposed. -
ATTACHMENTS 1)Initial Denial List2)DOI's FOIA Regulations (43 CFR Part 2, Subpart B)
3)Rules, regulations, manuals/instructional letters (item 8 of annual report)
A)IRM Bulletin No. 96-13 New Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Legislation - "Electronic FOIA Amendments of 1996",
dated December 12, 1996 B) New FOIA Exemption (3) Statute (Office of the Solicitor (SOL)
Memorandum, dated October 28,1996) C)FOIA Requests for Commenter Names and Home Addresses(SOL
Memorandum, dated October 24,1996) D) IRM Bulletin NO. 96-09 Processing FOIA Requests for
Radio Frequency Assignment Information, dated September 19, 1996 E)Administering the FOIA Program and Coordinating Departmental Requests
(Director of Operations Memorandum, dated August 21, 1996) F)IRM Bulletin No. 96-04 Processing FOIA Requests
for Personal and Personnel-Related Information, dated March 1, 1996