I. Basic Information Regarding Report

A. Person to be contacted with questions about the report: Patricia M. Riep-Dice, Chief, Freedom of Information Act Division, C-12/5432, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4542.

B. Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web:

http://www.dot.gov/foia/1999annual_foia_report.html

C. Person to be contacted for a copy of the report in paper form: Patricia M. Riep-Dice, Chief, Freedom of Information Act Division, C-12/5432, U.S. Department Of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590, (202) 366-4542.

II. How to Make a FOIA Request

A. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all individual agency components and offices that receive FOIA requests.

Name/Title
Address
Telephone/Facsimile ^[1]

Patricia M. Riep-Dice, Chief
FOIA Division
Office of the Secretary
C-12/5432
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-4542/(202) 366-8536

Jeffrey W. Davis
FOIA Officer
Office of Inspector General JC-1/9208
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-1971

Commandant
G-SII-2/6106
United States Coast Guard
2100 Second Street, SW
Washington, DC 20593
(202) 267-1086

Valerie Collins, Manager
National FOIA Staff, ARC-40
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20591
(202) 267-3108

Ms. Jean Mahoney, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Alaskan Region, AAL-7
222 West 7th Avenue, #14
Anchorage, AL 99513-7587
(907) 271-5269/(907) 271-2800

Ms. Veronica Bailey, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Central Region, ACE-40
601 East 12th Street
Kansas City, MO 64106
(816) 426-5975/(816) 426-3124

Ms. Mary Antney, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Eastern Region
JFK International Airport
Fitzgerald Federal Building
Jamaica, NY 11430
(718) 553-3398/(718) 995-5663

Ms. Violet Kurylak, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Great Lakes Region, AGL-4
2300 E. Devon Avenue
Des Plaines, IL 60018
(847) 294-7825/(847) 294-7184

Ms. Carol Goodsell, FOIA Coordinator
FAA New England Region, ANE-40
12 New England Exec. Park
Burlington, MA 01803
(781) 238-7393/(781) 238-7380

Ms. Connie Coleman-Lacadie, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Northwest Mountain Region, ANM-4
1601 Lind Avenue SW
Renton, WA 98055-4056
(425) 227-2065/(425) 227-1004

Ms. Linda Chatman, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Southern Region, ASO-65D
Post Office Box 20636
Atlanta, GA 39329
(404) 305-5906/(404) 305-5854

Ms. Nancy Reilly, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Southwest Region, ASW-41A
2601 Meacham Boulevard
Ft. Worth, TX 76193-0041
(817) 222-5450/(817) 222-5952

Ms. Carlette Steadman, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Western-Pacific Region, AWP-4
15000 Aviation Boulevard
Hawthorne, CA 90009
(310) 725-3809/(310) 725-6813

Ms. Beth Henson, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute
Office of Aviation Medicine, AAM-3
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73132
(405) 954-1002/(405) 954-1010

Ms. Maureen Carroll, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Technical Center, ACT-4
Atlantic City International
Airport, NJ 08405
(609) 485-4854/(609) 485-4011

Mr. Doug Burdette, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
Flight Standards Service
Operational Services Branch,, AFS-600
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-6501/(405) 954-4655

Ms. Stacy Flowers, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
Civil Aviation Registry, AFS-700
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-4331/(405) 954-5759

Ms. Margaret Fee, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center
Aviation System Standards
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-8926/(405) 954-3436

Ms. Joey Muth, FOIA Coordinator
FAA Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center,
AMC-2
Post Office Box 25082
Oklahoma City, OK 73125
(405) 954-5054/(405) 954-3360

Kathy Ray, FOIA Officer
Federal Highway Administration HAIM-11
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-0534/(202) 366-9380

Dolores Jones, FOIA Officer
Federal Railroad Administration 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 493-6039

Heidi Coleman
Assistant Chief Counsel for
General Law,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NCC-30/5219
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-1834

Janeise Beckwith, FOIA Officer
Federal Transit Administration TPA-1/9400
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-1217

Edmund Sommer
FOIA Officer
Maritime Administration MAR-224/7221
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-5181

Gail Mayhew, FOIA Coordinator,
Research and Special Programs Administration DCC-1/8407
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-4353

David Mednick
FOIA Officer
Bureau of Transportation Statistics K-10/3430
400 Seventh Street, SW
Washington, DC 20590
(202) 366-8871

B. Brief description of the agency's response-time ranges.

Most components in DOT administer a decentralized FOIA program. FOIA coordinators and responding program offices acknowledge receipt of FOIA requests promptly. Response time for a request varies according to the clarity and complexity of the request, the volume of documents requested, the number of facilities assigned to respond to the request and any respective FOIA backlogs. Response time is facilitated when requesters are specific about the records they seek, and identify the organization(s) where the records may be located. FOIA Coordinators and program offices contact requesters by telephone or in writing to clarify any uncertainties in a FOIA request, and to resolve any fee issues with the request, so that they may provide a response as soon as possible.

C. Brief description of why some requests are not granted.

Reasons why requests may not be granted include: the request inadequately describes records sought; the request poses questions rather than seeks documents; the information is already publicly available; the request should more properly be answered under another Act, such as the Privacy Act or the Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996; or fees for previous requests have not been paid. Other reasons for not granting requests include: requested reports were not available at time of request; records were non-existent; no records were found; records were destroyed; records revealed investigative techniques, were part of the deliberative process; constituted a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, or were duplicate requests.

III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

A. Agency-specific acronyms or other terms.

DOT -- Department of Transportation
OST -- Office of the Secretary
OIG -- Office of Inspector General
FAA -- Federal Aviation Administration
USCG -- United States Coast Guard
NHTSA -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
FHWA -- Federal Highway Administration
FRA -- Federal Railroad Administration
FTA -- Federal Transit Administration
SLSDC -- Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
MARAD -- Maritime Administration
RSPA -- Research and Special Programs Administration
BTS -- Bureau of Transportation Statistics
FMVSS -- Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard
IR -- Information Request
PE -- Preliminary Evaluation
EA -- Engineering Analysis
RQ -- Recall Query
SQ -- Service Query
OA -- Office Activity
DP -- Defect Petition
CI -- Compliance Investigation
NCI -- Non-compliance Investigation
Remanded Appeal -- An appeal request, particularly a “no records” appeal, sent back to the original action office or forwarded to another office when the requester provides additional information either clarifying the documents sought or providing additional search parameters. The action office considers the request as if it were a new request, responding directly to the requester. Remanded appeal responses may again be appealed; appeal rights are provided if the remanded appeal response is a denial, partial denial or “no records” determination.

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.

2. Initial Request -- a request to a federal agency for access to records under the FOIA.

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 FOIA, 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 an expedited basis when a requester has shown an exceptional need or urgency for the records which warrants prioritization of the 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 (non-expedited) 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 in 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 exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entirety, 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 exemptions, or for some procedural reason (such as no record is located in response to a FOIA request).

12. Time Limits -- the time period pursuant to the FOIA 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 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 Statute

List of Exemption 3 statutes relied on by agency during current fiscal year.

1. Brief description of type(s) of information withheld under each statute.

§106 of the Highway Safety Act of 1996, 23 U.S.C. §403 (note) prohibits the disclosure of personal identifiers contained in reports of crash investigations; the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a² prohibits the disclosure of personal information contained in a system of records; and the National Driver Register Act of 1982, 49 U.S.C. §30305(c)(1) authorizes disclosure of personal information about problem drivers only to individuals and entities specifically authorized to receive such information under the Act.

28 U.S.C. §1651 All Writs Act - A complaint filed under seal.²

41 U.S.C. § 423(a) - Prohibits disclosure of procurement information.

46 U.S.C. § 7319 - Prohibits release of all information contained in files maintained on each merchant mariner document issued.

49 U.S.C. 20109 - Names of individuals providing information to the Federal Railroad Administration related to violations of the railroad safety laws and regulations.

49 U.S.C. §31143(b) - Identification of motor carrier safety complainants.

49 U.S.C. §40115 - Information harmful to the position of the United States in international aviation negotiations, or harmful to any air carrier in foreign air transportation.

49 U.S.C §40119(b) - Sensitive aviation security information.

49 U.S.C. § 46311 – Information from air carrier records.

2. Statement of whether a court has upheld the use of each statute.

There are no instances where a court has reviewed an exemption 3 statute applied by the Department.

V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests

A. Numbers of Initial Requests.

1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 2,733³
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 20,923
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year: 20,247
4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 3,414

B. Disposition of initial requests.

1. Number of total grants: 12,670
2. Number of partial grants: 2,340
3. Number of denials: 716

a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request).

(1) Exemption 1 8
(2) Exemption 2 59
(3) Exemption 3 164
(4) Exemption 4 324
(5) Exemption 5 502
(6) Exemption 6 876
(7) Exemption 7(A) 148
(8) Exemption 7(B) 11
(9) Exemption 7(C) 464
(10) Exemption 7(D) 84
(11) Exemption 7(E) 11

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 4,774

a. No records 2,774
b. Referrals 354
c. Request withdrawn; 737
d. Fee-related reason 147
e. Records not reasonably described 339
f. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 197
g. Not an agency record 105
h. Duplicate reques 44
i. Available from other source 38
j. Other (Specify)
Non-possession 37
Privacy Act request 2

The FAA has a substantial number of requests “withdrawn” when requesters learn that they can readily obtain the same information outside the FOIA program.

The FAA has many “not a proper FOIA request” determinations that result from requests that are properly answered under the Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996.

VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests

A. Number of appeals.⁴

1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 190
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 218

B. Disposition of appeals.

1. Number completely upheld: 107⁵
2. Number partially reversed: 37
3. Number completely reversed: 16

a. number of times each FOIA exemption used:

(1) Exemption 2 6
(2) Exemption 3 9
(3) Exemption 4 28
(4) Exemption 5 46
(5) Exemption 6 60
(6) Exemption 7(A) 4
(7) Exemption 7(C) 17
(8) Exemption 7(D) 5
(9) Exemption 7(E) 3

4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total):

a. No records 45
b. Request withdrawn 1
c. Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 36
d. Duplicate request 1
e. Other (specify)
Remanded appeals 15
Processed as original FOIA requests 4
Fee-related issue 1
No answer to initial request 6

VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests⁶

A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year.

1. Simple requests (if multiple tracks used).⁷

a. Number of requests processed: 10,914
b. Median number of days to process: 16⁸

2. Complex requests (specify for any and all tracks used).

a. Number of requests processed: 4,261
b. Median number of days to process: 45

3. Requests accorded expedited processing.

a. Number of requests processed: 29
b. Median number of days to process: 6

4. Requests not using multi-track processing.

a. Number of requests processed: 3,656
b. Median number of days to process: 6

B. Status of pending requests.

1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 3,414
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: 40

VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year(s)(optional)

A. Comparison of numbers of requests received: FY 1998--data was not collected.

B. Comparison of numbers of requests processed: FY 1998--data was not collected.

C. Comparison of median number of days requests were pending at the end of fiscal year: FY 1998--data was not collected.

D. Other statistics significant to agency--we have nothing to report.

E. Other narrative statements describing agency efforts to improve timeliness of FOIA performance and to make records available to the public (e.g., backlog-reduction efforts; specification of average number of hours per processed request; training activities; public availability of new categories of records).

With a limited budget, we take advantage of every training opportunity that is offered at no cost and meets the needs of the FOIA Division. On-the-job training is provided to junior staff. Docketed records are maintained on the DOT web site and are often requested under FOIA. Decisions concerning disadvantaged business enterprises are requested under FOIA and are available on our web site.

Implementation of a national FOIA tracking system in FY 1998 facilitates the tracking of FOIA requests throughout the FAA for accurate, timely responses. The FAA continues to increase the types and volume of information available to the public on the Internet. Two popular examples are an on-line guide to FAA publications and publicly available safety database information.

NHTSA has put a significant amount of information on the world wide web. As a result, many requesters obtain desired information themselves, without the need to file a FOIA request. In addition, when requests for this information are received, it takes less time for agency staff to search for and review the information.

With the implementation of the Electronic FOIA Data System, the public has easy access to the RSPA Website, which is linked to the program office websites, for retrieval of information. The Website has publications, enforcement documents, contracts, training activities and other frequently requested information. The Electronic FOIA Data System has significantly reduced the number of FOIA backlogs and has decreased the number of man hours used to conduct computer and manual searches through records and files. The system is continually updated with pertinent information.

Information pertaining to FTA Credit Card Holders has now been placed on the Internet for the public's use. The FTA's FOIA Annual Report for FY97 is on the Internet and the FY 98 Report is being placed on the Internet. Information on the FOIA Guidelines is on the Internet. The public can now e-mail their FOIA request in on the Internet.

The OIG places public audit reports on the Internet. Additionally, news media and press inquires are being processed by OIG's Communications Office. Therefore, there are fewer FOIA requests from the news media and the press.

The USCG is in the process of developing a FOIA Imaging System (FIS). The FIS is an image-enabled workflow system that images FOIA requests and responses, and automates the workflow management process associated with these functions. In addition, it provides for the additional requirements unique to FOIA requests, such as collection of reasons for denial, redaction of exempt information in responsive documents, collection of cost data, and collection of denial appeal data for the FOIA Annual Report among other reports. While the FIS will initially be limited to the central FOIA office, it may be expanded to include other units.

The central USCG FOIA office remands appeals to the original processor for reconsideration when it determines that the original processor failed to follow procedures. This improves the quality and timeliness of responses, while preserving requesters' appeal rights.

Two additional billets have been added to the USCG FOIA staff.

Not all DOT components maintain an electronic tracking system. Thus, the act of compiling FOIA statistical information is more labor intensive for some components. However, in the future, the Department plans to encourage those components that do not track FOIA requests electronically to implement an electronic tracking system. This would require additional resources. Finally, OST has created a DOT FOIA web site which links to web sites of all agency components. Hopefully, information at these sites will be helpful to the public.

IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing

A. Staffing levels.

1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel: 32

2. No. of personnel with part-time/occasional FOIA duties (in total work years): 150.2

3. Total number of personnel (in total work years): 182.2

B. Total costs (including staff and all resources).

1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $7,003,081.00
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $406,612.00
3. Total costs: $7,409,693.00

X. Fees

A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $266,540.36
B. Percentage of total costs: 4%

XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)

Attached is a copy of the Department of Transportation FOIA Regulations, 49 CFR Part 7, Public Availability of Information.

Footnotes

^[1] If one number appears, it represents the office telephone number.

² This statute was incorrectly cited as an Exemption 3 statute. We will correct this error.

³ The number of requests pending at the end of the Fiscal year 1998 has been readjusted.

⁴ The number of appeals processed is larger than the number of appeals received because there were appeals pending from the previous fiscal year.

⁵ These are remanded appeals.

⁶ The FAA national FOIA Staff administers a decentralized FOIA program. FOIA requests are answered by the headquarters/region/center program area with responsibility for the requested records. If requested records involve several regions and/or program areas (e.g. fight standards, air traffic, aircraft certification), the agency may opt to have each program area responded separately, or to develop a consolidated response. For the annual report, each request is counted once, regardless of the number of responses provided. The number of days to process is computed from the longest completion date by a region or program area responding to a portion of the request.

⁷ OST, OIG, FAA, and RSPA used multi-track processing.

⁸ Median days are primarily based on calendar days as reported by most of the Department with the exception of the FAA which reported working days.