PSC.gov

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 2206
   Washington D.C. 20201
   (202) 690-7453

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

http://www.hhs.gov/foia/reports/11anlrpt.html

3. ADDRESS FOR PAPER COPIES OF THIS REPORT

Contact Robert Eckert at the address or telephone number listed above, or the link shown: http://www.hhs.gov/foia/reports/11anlrpt.html
** 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 on Aging (AOA): http://www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Site_Utilities/FOIA/
Administration for Children and Families (ACF): http://www.acf.hhs.gov/acf_foia.html
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): http://www.ahrq.gov/news/foia.htm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): http://www.cdc.gov/od/foia/
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): http://www.cms.hhs.gov/foia/
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/foi/
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): http://www.hrsa.gov/foia/
Indian Health Service (IHS): http://www.ihs.gov/AdminMngrResources/FOIA/
National Institute of Health (NIH): http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/foia/
Office of Inspector General (OIG): http://oig.hhs.gov/foia/
Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS): http://www.psc.gov/foia/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: http://www.samhsa.gov/foia/

II. HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST:

Requests may be submitted electronically at: http://www.hhs.gov/foia/request/index.html

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

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

   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

   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 Public Health and Science (OPHS)
   Freedom of Information Officer
   Room 17-66, Parklawn Building
   5600 Fishers Lane
   Rockville, MD 20857
   Phone: 301-443-5252

   Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
   Freedom of Information Officer
   540 Gaither Road
   The Eisenberg Building, Room 2222
   Rockville, Maryland 20850
   Phone: 301-427-1866

   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: 404-498-1580

   Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
   Freedom of Information Officer
   Parklawn Building, Room 6-30
   5600 Fishers Lane
   Rockville, Maryland 20857
   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

   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
   OPHS - Office of Public Health and Science
   PHS - Public Health Service
   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- 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.

2. 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
   5. Exemption 5:inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges
   6. Exemption 6:information involving matters of personal privacy
   7. Exemption 7:records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the production of those records

IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES (See Chart)

Statute	Type of Information Withheld	Case Citation	Component	Number of Times Relied upon per Component	Total Number of Times Relied upon by Agency
Title 41 USC 253b(m)	Technical proposal  not incorporated into a final contract	Hornbostel v. U.S. Dep't of the Interior, 305 F. Supp. 2d 21,30 (D.D.C. 2003), summary affirmance granted, No. 03-0527, 2004 WL 1900562 (D.C. Cir,Aug. 25, 2004).	OASH	6	6

 

V. FOIA Requests (See Chart)

	Number of Requests Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Received in Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Processed in Fiscal Year	Number of Requests Pending as of End of Fiscal Year
OASH	158	576	529	205

 

A.Numbers of initial requests (line 1 + line 2 - line 3 = line 4):

1. Number of requests pending as of start of fiscal year: 217

2. Number of requests received in fiscal year: 496

3. Number of requests processed in fiscal year: 555

4. Number of requests pending as of end of fiscal year: 158

 

B. (1) Disposition of FOIA Requests:

				Number of Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions
	Number of Full Grants	Number of Partial Grants/ Partial Denials	Number of Full Denials Based on Exemp- tions	No Records	All Records Referred to another Component or Agency	Request With- drawn	Fee- Related Reason	Records not Reasonably Described	Improper FOIA Request for Other Reason	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request	Other Explain in chart below	Total
OASH	131	138	19	90	71	30	0	20	9	0	0	21	529

a. Number of full grants: 131

b. Number of partial grants: 138

c. Number of full denials based on Exemptions: 19

d. No records: 90

e. Referrals: 71

f. Request withdrawn: 30

g. Fee-related reason: 0

e. Records not reasonably described: 20

h. Improper FOIA request for some other reason: 9

i. Not an agency record: 0

j. Duplicate request: 0

k. Other (specify): 21

TOTAL : 529

 

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	TOTAL
OASH	5 Glomar, 13 no response to still interested letter	21

 

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

	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
OASH	0	1	6	61	24	123	1	0	33	0	2	0	0	0

Exemption 1: 0

Exemption 2: 1

Exemption 3: 6

Exemption 4: 61

Exemption 5: 24

Exemption 6: 123

Exemption 7(A): 1

Exemption 7(B): 0

Exemption 7(C): 33

Exemption 7(D): 0

Exemption 7(E): 2

Exemption 7(F): 0

Exemption 8: 0

Exemption 9: 0

 

VI. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OF INITIAL DETERMINATIONS OF FOIA REQUESTS

A.Received, Processed and Pending Administrative Appeals

	Number of Appeals Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Received in Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Processed in Fiscal Year	Number of Appeals Pending as of End of Fiscal Year
OS	83	123	132	74

 

B.Disposition of Administrative Appeals : All Processed Appeals: 154

 

	Number Affirmed on Appeal	Number Partially Affirmed & Partially Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Number Completely Reversed/Remanded on Appeal	Number of Appeals Closed for Other Reasons	TOTAL
OS	59	7	9	60	132

 

1. Number affirmed on appeal: 59

2. Number partially affirmed and partially reversed/remanded on appeal: 7

3. Number completely reversed/remanded on appeal: 9

4. Number of appeals closed for other reasons: 60

 

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

 

	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	4	15	12	20	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0

Exemption 1: 0

Exemption 2: 0

Exemption 3: 4

Exemption 4: 15

Exemption 5: 12

Exemption 6: 20

Exemption 7: 0

Exemption 7(A): 0

Exemption 7(B): 0

Exemption 7(C): 2

Exemption 7(D): 0

Exemption 7(E): 0

Exemption 7(F): 0

Exemption 8: 0

Exemption 9: 0

 

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

	No Records	Records Referred at Initial Request Level	Request With- drawn	Fee- Related Reason	Records Not Reasonably Described	Improper Request For Other Reasons	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request Or Appeal	Request In Litigation	Appeal Based Solely on Denial of Request For Expedited Processing	Other Explain in Chart Below
OS	18	0	8	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	64

a. No records: 18

b. Referrals: 0

c. Request withdrawn: 8

d. Fee-related reason: 0

e. Records not reasonably described: 0

f. Improper request for other reason: 0

g. Not an agency record: 0

h. Duplicate request: 1

i. Request in litigation: 0

j. Appeal based solely on denial of request for expedited processing: 0

 

C.(3) Reasons for denial on Appeal - Other

Description of Other Reasons for Denial on Appeal from Chart C (2)	Number of Times Those Reasons Were Relied upon
Appeal moot	49
Appeal untimely	2
Appeal upheld	6
Dismissed, appellant lacks standing	1
No response from appellant	2
Remand	3
Total	63

 

C. (4) Response time for administrative appeals

	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OS	78	189	1	1327

a. Median number of days: 78

b.Average number of days: 189

c. Lowest Number of days: 1

d. Highest number of days: 1327

 

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

		10 th Oldest Request	9 th	8 th	7 th	6 th	5 th	4 th	3 rd	2 nd	1st Oldest Request
OS	Date of Receipt of Ten Oldest Appeals	8/5/09	8/3/09	7/28/09	4/24/09	3/25/09	2/20/09	2/19/09	1/12/09	12/17/08	2/25/08
	Number of Days Pending	562	564	568	635	657	680	681	709	727	940

VII.FOIA REQUESTS: RESPONSE TIME FOR PROCESSED AND PENDING REQUESTS

A. Processed Requests : Response Time for Perfected Requests in Which Information Was Granted ¹

	SIMPLE				COMPLEX				EXPEDITED PROCESSING
	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OASH	13	26	1	349	174	263	6	925	0	0	0	0

¹ Some numbers based on estimates.
² Uses single-track log.
³ Uses single-track log.
⁴ Uses single-track log.

 B.Processed Requests : Response Time for Perfected Requests in Which Information Was Granted ⁵

	SIMPLE				COMPLEX				EXPEDITED PROCESSING
	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days
OASH	25	33	1	174	171	276	41	925	0	0	0	0

⁵ Some numbers based on estimates.
⁶ Uses single-track log.
⁷ Uses single-track log.
⁸ Uses single-track log.

C.Processed Requests : Response Time in Day Increments

1. Simple Requests

	1:20 Days	21 : 40 Days	41 : 60 Days	61 : 80 Days	81- 100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
OASH	235	74	29	28	11	3	4	0	3	0	1	1	0	389

⁹ Uses single-track log.
¹⁰ Uses single-track log.
¹¹ Uses single-track log.

2. Complex Requests

	1:20 Days	21 : 40 Days	41 : 60 Days	61 : 80 Days	81- 100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
OASH	3	4	5	6	5	16	9	11	15	10	16	8	32	140

 

3. Requests Granted Expedited Processing

	1:20 Days	21 : 40 Days	41 : 60 Days	61 : 80 Days	81- 100 Days	101-120 Days	121-140 Days	141-160 Days	161-180 Days	181-200 Days	201-300 Days	301-400 Days	401+ Days	TOTAL
OASH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

D.Pending Requests : All Pending Perfected Requests ¹²

	Simple			Complex			Expedited Processing
	Number Pending	Median Number Of Days	Average Number Of Days	Number Pending	Median Number Of Days	Average Number Of Days	Number Pending	Median Number Of Days	Average Number Of Days
OASH	30	13	116	219	174	202	0	0	0

¹² Some numbers based on estimates.
¹³ Uses single-track log.
¹⁴ Uses single-track log.
¹⁵ Uses single-track log.

E.Pending Requests : Ten Oldest Pending Perfected Requests

		10 th Oldest Request	9 th	8 th	7 th	6 th	5 th	4 th	3 rd	2 nd	1st Oldest Request
OASH	Date of Receipt of Ten Oldest Appeals	11/24/09	11/18/09	11/16/09	11/12/09	9/15/09	6/16/09	1/5/09	11/21/08	10/28/08	10/19/08
	Number of Days Pending	483	487	489	491	533	598	714	745	763	782

 

VIII. REQUESTS FOE EXPEDITED PROCESSING AND REQUESTS FOR FEE WAIVER (See Chart)

A. Requests for Expedited Processing

	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate	Number Adjudicated Within Ten Calendar Days
OASH	0	0	0	0	0

B. Requests for Fee Waiver

	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate
OASH	0	0	0	0

 

IX. FOIA PERSONNEL AND COSTS (See Chart)

	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
OASH	5	2	7	$1,203,071	$2,500	$1,205,571

 

X. FEES COLLECTED FOR PROCESSING REQUESTS (See Chart)

	Total Amount of Fees Collected	Percentage of Total Costs
OASH	$1,469	0.12%

¹⁶ The ACF has temporarily suspended fee collections.

XI. FOIA REGULATIONS

http://www.hhs.gov/foia/45cfr5.html

 

XII. BACKLOGS, CONSULTATIONS, AND COMPARISONS

A. Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals (See Chart)

	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of Fiscal Year	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of Fiscal Year
OASH	165	0

 

B. Consultations on FOIA Requests : Received, Processed, and Pending Consultations (See Chart)

	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of Start of the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Processed by Your Agency During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that Were Pending at Your Agency as of End of the Fiscal Year
OASH	0	4	4	0

 

C. Consultations on FOIA Requests : Ten Oldest Consultations Received from Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency (See Chart)

	10th Oldest Request And Number of Days Pending	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Request And Number of Days Pending
OASH	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

D. Comparison of Numbers of Requests from Previous and Current Annual Report : Requests Received, Processed, and Backlogged

(1) Requests Received, and Processed

	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
OASH	496	576	555	529

(2) Requests Backlogged

	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of the Fiscal Year from Previous Annual Report	Number of Backlogged Requestsas of End of the Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report
OASH	129	165

 

E.Comparison of Numbers of Administrative Appeals from Previous and Current Annual Report - Appeals Received, Processed and Backlogged (See Chart)

(1) Appeals Received, Processed

	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	115	118	154	132

(2) Appeals Backlogged

	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	75	63