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FOIA ANNUAL REPORT Fiscal Year – 2005

The Office of Administration, whose sole function is to advise and assist the President, and which has no substantial independent authority, is not subject to FOIA and related authorities. However, these pages have been maintained due to the Presidential Records Act.

The following Annual Freedom of Information Act report covers the
Period 10/01/2004, through 09/30/2005, as required by 5 U.S.C. 552.


  1. Basic Information Regarding Report

    1. Name, Title, Address, and Telephone Number
      Carol Ehrlich
      FOIA Officer
      Office of Administration
      725 17th Street, NW
      Washington, D.C. 20503
      (202) 395-2273
    2. Electronic Address for report on World Wide Web
      /oa/foia/index.html
    3. How to obtain copy in paper form
      Request a copy from above address.

  2. How to make a FOIA Request

    A request made under the FOIA must be submitted in writing, by mail or fax, to the following address:
    Office of Administration
    FOIA Officer
    725 17th Street NW
    Washington, DC 20503
    Phone: (202) 395 2273
    Fax: (202) 456 7921

    Our FOIA Reference Guide includes information regarding how to make a FOIA request.

  3. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report

    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 Freedom of Information Act, 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. 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 his or her request over other requests that were made earlier.
    6. Grant - an agency decision to disclose all records in full response to a FOIA request.
    7. 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's exemptions; or a decision to disclose some records in their entireties, but to withhold others in whole or in part.
    8. 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's exemptions, or for some procedural reason (such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA request).
    9. Time limits - the time period in the Freedom of Information Act for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from proper receipt of a Perfected FOIA request).
    10. Perfected request - a FOIA request for records that adequately describes the records sought, which has been received by the FOIA 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.
    11. 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).
    12. Median number - the middle, not average number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
    13. 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.

  4. Exemption 3 Statutes

    Statute
    Code    		 Number of
    Instances    		 Court
    Upheld    		 Concise Description of material
    withheld
    None      

  5. Initial FOIA Requests

    Number of Initial Requests
    1. Requests pending as of end of preceding year 2
    2. Requests received during current FY 68
    3. Requests processed during current FY 70
    4. Requests pending as of end of current FY 0

    B. Disposition of Initial Requests
    1. Number of total grants 5
    2. Number of partial grants 7
    3. Number of denials 0

    A. Number of times each FOIA exemption used
    (b)(1) -(Permits withholding information that is classified for national security purposes.) 0
    (b)(2) -(Permits withholding of records related solely to internal rules and practices (low) or internal matters..) 3
    (b)(3) -(Permits withholding of records or information if a law specifically exempts the material from disclosure..) 0
    (b)(4) -(Permits withholding of records related to trade secrets and other confidential business information ..) 2
    (b)(5) -(Permits withholding information under the deliberative process privilege, including the pre-decisional..) 0
    (b)(6) -(Permits withholding of records and information about individuals when disclosure would be a clearly ..) 3
    (b)(7)(A) -(Permits withholding of records when interference with law enforcement proceedings can be reasonably ..) 0
    (b)(7)(B) -(Permits withholding of records when a person would be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial adjudication..) 0
    (b)(7)(C) -(Permits withholding of records when an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy could reasonably be expected..) 0
    (b)(7)(D) -(Permits withholding of records when revealing a confidential source or information provided by a confidential..) 0
    (b)(7)(E) -(Permits withholding of records when techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or ..) 0
    (b)(7)(F) -(Permits withholding of records when endangering the safety or life of any individual could reasonably..) 0
    (b)(8) -(Permits withholding of records relating to the examination of banks and other financial institutions..) 0
    (b)(9) -(Permits withholding of records relating to geological and geophysical information and data, including..) 0

    B. Other reasons for non disclosure Total: 58
    No records 48
    Referrals 0
    Request withdrawn 7
    Fee-related reason 0
    Records not reasonably described 1
    Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 1
    Not an agency record 0
    Duplicate request 1
    Other 0

  6. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA Requests

    A. Number of Appeals
    1. Number of appeals received during FY 7
    2. Number of appeals processed during FY 7

    B. Disposition of Appeals
    1. Number completely upheld 0
    2. Number partially reversed 0
    3. Number completely reversed 0

    A. Number of times each FOIA exemption used
    (b)(1) -(Permits withholding information that is classified for national security purposes.) 0
    (b)(2) -(Permits withholding of records related solely to internal rules and practices (low) or internal matters,..) 0
    (b)(3) -(Permits withholding of records or information if a law specifically exempts the material from disclosure.) 0
    (b)(4) -(Permits withholding of records related to trade secrets and other confidential business information ..) 0
    (b)(5) -(Permits withholding information under the deliberative process privilege, including the pre-decisional..) 0
    (b)(6) -(Permits withholding of records and information about individuals when disclosure would be a clearly ..) 0
    (b)(7)(A) -(Permits withholding of records when interference with law enforcement proceedings can be reasonably ..) 0
    (b)(7)(B) -(Permits withholding of records when a person would be deprived of a fair trial or an impartial adjudication.) 0
    (b)(7)(C) -(Permits withholding of records when an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy could reasonably be expected.) 0
    (b)(7)(D) -(Permits withholding of records when revealing a confidential source or information provided by a confidential..) 0
    (b)(7)(E) -(Permits withholding of records when techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or ..) 0
    (b)(7)(F) -(Permits withholding of records when endangering the safety or life of any individual could reasonably..) 0
    (b)(8) -(Permits withholding of records relating to the examination of banks and other financial institutions..) 0
    (b)(9) -(Permits withholding of records relating to geological and geophysical information and data, including..) 0

    B. Other reasons for non disclosure Total: 7
    No records 7
    Referrals 0
    Request withdrawn 0
    Fee-related reason 0
    Records not reasonably described 0
    Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason 0
    Not an agency record 0
    Duplicate request 0
    Other 0

  7. 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 63
    b. Median number of days to process 2
    2. Complex Requests
    a. Number of requests processed 0
    b. Median number of days to process 0
    3. Requests accorded expedited processing
    a. Number of requests processed 7
    b. Median number of days to process 2

    B. Status of Pending Requests
    1. Number of requests pending as of the end of FY 0
    2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date 0

  8. Comparisons with Previous Year (s) (Optional)

    1. Comparison of numbers of request received. 127 (FY2004)
    &
    68 (FY2005)
    2. Comparison of numbers of request processed 130 (FY2004)
    &
    70 (FY2005)
    3. Requests granted expedited processing
    a. Expedited processing requested 8
    b. Expedited processing granted 7

  9. Costs/FOIA Staffing

    A. Staffing levels
    1. Number of full-time FOIA personnel 1
    2. Number of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total work-years) 0
    3. Total number of personnel in(work-years) 1

    B. Total costs (including staff and all resources)
    1. FOIA processing(including appeals) approximately
    		$84751
    2. Litigation-related activities(estimated) 0
    3. Total costs approximately
    		$84751

  10. Fees

    A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests $380.79
    B. Percentage of total costs .4493%

  11. FOIA Regulations (including Fee Schedule)

    /oa/foia/index.html