U.S. POSTAL SERVICE

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016

I.  BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT

1.  Name, title, address, and telephone number of person to be contacted with questions about the report.

Jane Eyre
Deputy Chief FOIA Officer
Privacy and Records Office
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room IP830
Washington, DC  20260 - Telephone (202) 268-2608

2.  Electronic address for report on the World Wide Web

http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/foia/annual-foia-reports/welcome.htm

3.  How to obtain a copy of this report in paper form.

A hard copy of this report may be obtained upon written request to:

Jane Eyre
Deputy Chief FOIA Officer
Privacy and Records Office
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 1P830
Washington, DC  20260

II. MAKING A FOIA REQUEST

A FOIA request for Postal Service records must be in writing, be a request for records, and bear the caption “Freedom of Information Act Request.”  

There is no required form for submitting a request.  A requester should simply write a letter, indicating FOIA somewhere on the letter, and describe the records wanted.  It is also helpful to include the amount of processing fees for which the requester is willing to accept liability.  If estimated processing fees exceed that amount, the requester will be notified in advance.

A request should describe, with as much detail as possible, the records being requested.  The description should be detailed enough to permit an agency employee familiar with the subject matter to locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort.  A reasonable description is required by the FOIA and helps ensure prompt retrieval of the records of interest while minimizing processing costs to the requester.

Detailed information on submitting a FOIA request may be found in Handbook AS-353, Guide to Privacy, the Freedom of Information Act, and Records Management. (http://about.usps.com/handbooks/as353/as353c4_002.htm)

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

Component A	Component B	Component C	Component D	
Non-investigative records (HQ controlled records):

Records Office
United States Postal Service
Room 1P830
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC  20260

Phone: (202) 268-2608	Non-investigative records (field controlled records):

USPS FOIA RSC – Field
St. Louis General Law Service  Center
1720 Market Street Rm 2400
St. Louis, MO 63155-9948

Phone: (314) 345-5894	Investigative records:

Office of Counsel
U.S. Postal Inspection Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Room 3301
Washington, DC 20260-2101

Phone: (202) 268-7004
	Inspector General records:

FOIA Office
USPS Office of the Inspector General
1735 North Lynn Street
Arlington, VA 22209-2020

Phone: (703) 248-2100

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

The Postal Service’s mission is to provide the nation with reliable, affordable, universal mail service.  The basic functions of the Postal Service were established in 39 U.S.C. § 101(a): “. . . [T]o bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.”  The Postal Service is “an independent establishment of the executive branch” of the government, created by the Postal Reorganization Act, (PRA), 39 U.S.C. §§ 101, et seq., and directed to conduct its operations in accordance with sound business principles.  It is the policy of the Postal Service to promote transparency and accountability by adopting a presumption in favor of disclosure in all decisions involving the FOIA and to make its official records available to the public to the maximum extent consistent with the public interest.  	

The Postal Service primarily invokes FOIA Exemptions 3, 4, 5, and 6 to withhold records from disclosure.  FOIA Exemption 3 provides that agencies may withhold records that are exempted from disclosure by another statute.  Examples of such statutes include 39 U.S.C. §§ 410(c) and 412 of the Postal Reorganization Act.  Specifically, 39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(2) permits the Postal Service to withhold “information of a commercial nature, including trade secrets, whether or not obtained from a person outside the Postal Service, which under good business practice would not be publicly disclosed.”  Some of the types of information withheld under (c)(2) include: information about methods of handling valuable Registered Mail; money order records; technical information on postage meters and prototypes submitted for approval before leasing to mailers; market surveys; records indicating rural carrier lines of travel; records that would be of potential benefit to firms in economic competition with the Postal Service; information that could materially increase procurement costs; and information that might compromise testing or examination materials.  The Postal Service’s substantial infrastructure and coordination with both private industry and other government agencies requires the generation of schedules, maps, routes, manuals, and plans that could be used to circumvent a variety of legal requirements, including anti-terrorism laws.  The Postal Service routinely protects these records when necessary.  Further, 39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(3) provides that the Postal Service may withhold “information prepared for use in the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements under 39 U.S.C. Chapter 12, and minutes of or notes kept during the negotiating sessions.”  Moreover, 39 U.S.C. § 412 prohibits the disclosure of mailing lists or other lists of names or addresses (past or present) of Postal Service customers or other persons to the public by any means or for any purpose.  Additionally, 39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(1) permits the withholding of the name or address, past or present, of any Postal Service customer.   
		 
FOIA Exemption 4 applies to information that contains (1) trade secrets or (2) confidential, commercial information provided to the Postal Service by an outside party, such as a supplier or customer.  Any information that relates to commerce, trade or profit may be considered commercial.  Voluntarily supplied commercial information is further considered confidential if the provider of the information would customarily choose not to disclose it to the public.  Information supplied to the government under compulsion is considered confidential if disclosure of the information would put the supplier at a competitive disadvantage, harm the supplier, or diminish the reliability or quality of information provided to the government by future submitters.  The Postal Service uses Exemption 4 to protect confidential exchanges with contractors and customers, such as contract details, specific payment information (although total contract award amounts are released), claims and correspondence, and postage statements reflecting customer-specific mail volume. The use of this exemption protects the confidentiality of entities that do business with the Postal Service. 

FOIA Exemption 5 permits agencies to withhold “inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency.”  The exemption permits agencies to withhold records that would be privileged in the context of civil discovery.  These records are protected by one or more of the following privileges that have been recognized under the exemption:  (1) the “deliberative process” privilege, (2) the attorney-client privilege, and (3) the attorney work-product privilege.  For example, internal documents that contain opinions, suggestions, or recommendations of government employees, contain “deliberative” information within the meaning of FOIA Exemption 5.  The attorney-client privilege protects confidential communications between an attorney and his or her client relating to a legal matter for which the client has sought professional advice.  The attorney work-product privilege protects the adversarial trial process by insulating an attorney’s preparation from scrutiny.  The Postal Service primarily uses Exemption 5 to protect records related to internal decision-making when it believes that the release of the records could result in confusion or stifling of frank, open discussion within the Postal Service.  For example, records that include employee opinions and recommendations that do not reflect a final policy decision may be redacted to remove such pre-decisional recommendations.
	
FOIA Exemption 6 applies to personal information, including medical and personnel files, the disclosure of which would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.  With hundreds of thousands of employees and hundreds of millions of customers, the Postal Service’s daily operations require the use of a great deal of personal information.  The Postal Service routinely protects personal information about its employees, customers and other individuals which would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.  Customer information protected under Exemption 6 includes records concerning change-of-address or Post Office Box holder information and complaints.  Protectable employee information includes attendance, discipline, and medical records. 

The Postal Inspection Service is the primary law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, and performs investigative and security functions essential to a stable and sound postal system.  The mission of the Inspection Service is to protect the Postal Service, secure the nation’s mail system and ensure public trust in the mail.  The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) plays a key role in maintaining the integrity and accountability of America’s postal service, its revenue and assets, and its employees.  The OIG achieves its mission of helping maintain confidence in the postal system and improving the Postal Service’s financial condition through independent audits and investigations.  As such, the records maintained by the Postal Inspection Service and the USPS OIG often involve law enforcement matters.  Because law enforcement records are of such interest to subjects of investigations, victims of crime and the public at large, these records are often requested under the FOIA.  The Postal Inspection Service and USPS OIG invoke the FOIA’s two privacy exemptions primarily to prevent unwarranted injury to the privacy interests of those individuals identified in law enforcement records, such as suspects, witnesses, or investigators (FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7(C)).  In addition, the USPS OIG is obligated under Sec. 7 of the Inspector General Act to protect the identity of employees who provide the agency information, further strengthening the protection afforded under FOIA Exemptions 7(C) and (D).  The Postal Inspection Service and USPS OIG also protect information about their enforcement activities, the release of which would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law (FOIA Exemption 7(E)).

3.  FOIA Regulations. 

a.	Electronic Link to FOIA Regulations: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collectionCfr.action?collectionCode=CFR&searchPath=Title+39%2FChapter+I%2FSubchapter+D%2FPart+265&oldPath=Title+39%2FChapter+I%2FSubchapter+D&isCollapsed=true&selectedYearFrom=2015&ycord=1924  and  http://about.usps.com/handbooks/as353/welcome.htm

b.	Electronic Link to FOIA Fee Schedule: http://about.usps.com/handbooks/as353/as353c4_034.htm

III. ACRONYMNS, DEFINITIONS, AND EXEMPTIONS

1.	Definitions.

a. 	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.

b.	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.

c.	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 response.

d.	Component – for agencies that process requests on a decentralized basis, a “component” is an entity within the agency that processes FOIA requests.  The FOIA now requires that agencies include in their Annual FOIA Report data for both the agency overall and for each principal component of the agency.

e.	Consultation – the procedure whereby the agency responding to a FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review because that other 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.

f.	Exemption 3 statute – a federal statute that exempts or prohibits information from disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information under FOIA subsection (b)(3).

g.	FOIA Request – A FOIA request is generally a request for access to agency records concerning another person (i.e., a “third-party” request) 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 requests for records referred to the agency for processing and direct response to the requester.  It does not, however, include a request for records for which the agency has received as part of a request for consultation from another agency.  (Consultations are reported in Section XII of this report.)

h.	Full Grant – an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.

i.	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.

j.	Median Number – the middle, not average, number.  For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

k.	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.  Requests granted expedited processing are placed in yet another track.  Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis.

i.  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 status and agency regulations.

ii. 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.

iii. 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.

l.	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. 

m.	Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal – a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in all respects.

n.	Perfected Request – a FOIA request for records which reasonably describes the records sought and is made in accordance with published rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be followed.

o.	Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal – a request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken a final action in all respects.

p.	Range in Number of Days – the lowest and highest number of days to process requests or administrative appeals.

q.	Time limits – the time period in the FOIA for an agency to respond to a FOIA request (ordinarily 20 working days from receipt of a perfected FOIA request).

2.	Exemptions.

Exemption 1 – classified national defense and foreign relations information. 

Exemption 2 – information that is related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency. 

Exemption 3 - information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law.   

Exemption 4 - trade secrets and other confidential business information.

Exemption 5 – inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges.  

Exemption 6 – information involving matters of personal privacy. 

Exemption 7 - records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that production of those records (A) could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, (B) would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or impartial adjudication, (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, (D) could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, (E) would disclose techniques, procedures, and guidelines used in law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, if the disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual. 

Exemption 8 - information relating to the supervision of financial institutions. 

Exemption 9 - geological information on wells. 

3. Agency Component Abbreviations
Component Abbreviation	Component Name	
PS	POSTAL SERVICE	
PIS	POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE	
OIG	USPS OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL	
PS & PIS	POSTAL SERVICE & POSTAL INSPECTION SERVICE	

IV. Exemption 3 Statutes 	

Statute	Type of Information
Withheld	Case Citation	Agency / Component	Number of Times
Relied upon
by Agency / Component	Total Number of
Times Relied upon
by Agency Overall	
39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(1)	Records relating to names and addresses of postal customers	N/A	PS	441	445	
	 	 	PIS	2		
	 	 	OIG	2		
39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(2)
(Postal Reorganization Act)	Commercial information
which would not be disclosed
under good business practice	Wickwire Gavin, P.C. v.
USPS, 356 F.3d 588, 589,
597 (4th Cir. 2004); Am.
Postal Workers Union, AFLCIO
v. USPS, 742 F. Supp.
2d 76, 81-83 (D.D.C. 2010);
Reid v. USPS, No. 05-294,
2006 WL 1876682, at *5-9
(S.D. Ill. July 5, 2006);
Robinett v. USPS, No. 02-
1094, 2002 WL 1728582, at
*5 (E.D. La. July 24, 2002).	PS	128	149	
	 	 	PIS	11		
	 	 	OIG	10		
39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(5)	Reports or memoranda of consultants or independent contractors, except to the extent that they would be required to be disclosed if prepared within the Postal Service.	N/A	PS	4	4	
	 	 	 	 		
39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(6)	Investigatory files, whether or not considered closed, compiled for law enforcement purposes except to the extent available by law to a party other than the Postal Service.	N/A	PS	3	3	
	 	 	 	 		
39 U.S.C. § 412	Records containing lists of postal customers.	N/A	PS	14	14	
	 	 	 	 		
18 U.S.C. § 1461	Obscene materials/records concerning non-mailable matter	N/A	PIS	3	3	
	 	 	 	 		
18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-20
(Title III of the Omnibus
Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act)	Wiretap requests and the
contents of any wire, oral, or
electronic communication
obtained through wiretaps	Mendoza v. DEA, No. 07-
5006, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS
22175 (D.C. Cir. Sept. 14,
2007) (per curiam); Lam Lek
Chong v. DEA, 929 F.2d 729,
733 (D.C. Cir. 1991); Payne
v. DOJ, No. 96-30840, slip
op. at 5-6 (5th Cir. July 11,
1997).	PIS	4	4	
	 	 	 	 		
Fed. R. Crim. P. 6(e), enacted
by Act of July 30, 1977, Pub.
L. No. 95-78, 91 Stat. 319	Certain records pertaining to grand jury proceedings.	Sussman v. 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).	PIS	7	7	
	 	 	 	 		
Pub. L. No. 95-452, 92 Stat. 1101	Identities of employees that have submitted complaints and or provided information during the course of an OIG investigation.	N/A	OIG	9	9	
	 	 	 	 		
26 U.S.C. §§ 6103, 6105
(Internal Revenue Code)	Certain tax return information, to include Taxpayer Identification Numbers of third parties, and certain tax convention information.	Church of Scientology v. IRS. 484 U.S. 9, 15 (1987) (26 U.S.C. 6103); Pac. Fisheries, Inc. v. IRS, 395 F. App'x. 438, 440 (9th Cir. 2010) (unpublished disposition) (26 U.S.C. 6103, 6105); Leonard v. U.S. Dep't of Treasury, No. 10-6625, 2013 WL 4517912, at *2 (D.N.J. Aug. 26, 2013) (26 U.S.C. 6103); Tax Analysts v. IRS, 217 F. Supp. 2d 23, 27-29 (D.D.C. 2002) (26 U.S.C. 6105)	PIS	1	1	

 	

 	

V.A. FOIA REQUESTS -- RECEIVED, PROCESSED AND PENDING FOIA REQUESTS
Agency / Component	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	
PS	147	1,771	1,768	150	
PIS	37	422	439	20	
OIG	13	525	527	11	
AGENCY OVERALL	197	2,718	2,734	181	

In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the number of requests pending at the end of FY2015 was reported as 157 for PS, it should have been 147.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the number of requests pending at the end of FY2015 was reported as 41 for PIS, it should have been 37.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the number of requests pending at the end of FY2015 was reported as 16 for OIG, it should have been 13.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the number of requests pending at the end of FY2015 was reported as 214 for the agency overall, it should have been 197.	

V.B.(1). DISPOSITION OF FOIA REQUESTS -- ALL PROCESSED REQUESTS
Agency / Component	Number of Full Grants	Number of Partial Grants / Partial Denials	Number of Full Denials Based on Exemptions	Number of Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions	 	
				No Records	All Records Referred to Another Component or Agency	Request Withdrawn	Fee-Related Reason	Records not Reasonably Described	Improper FOIA Request for Other Reason	Not Agency Record	Duplicate Request	Other *Explain in Chart Below	TOTAL	
PS	509	237	531	208	73	27	36	54	71	7	14	1	1,768	
PIS	32	153	24	44	63	1	4	6	98	12	2	0	439	
OIG	26	139	40	147	43	72	1	3	1	54	1	0	527	
AGENCY OVERALL	567	529	595	399	179	100	41	63	170	73	17	1	2,734	

 	

V.B.(2). DISPOSITION OF FOIA REQUESTS -- "OTHER" REASONS FOR "FULL DENIALS BASED ON REASONS OTHER THAN EXEMPTIONS"
Agency / Component	Description of "Other" Reasons for Denials from Chart B(1)	Number of Times "Other" Reason Was Relied Upon	TOTAL	
PS	Litigation	1	1	
	 	 		
PIS	N/A	0	0	
	 	 		
OIG	N/A	0	0	
	 	 		
AGENCY OVERALL	 	 	1	

 	

 	

V.B.(3). DISPOSITION OF FOIA REQUESTS -- NUMBER OF TIMES EXEMPTIONS APPLIED
Agency / 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	
PS	0	13	568	81	68	627	1	0	8	0	5	2	0	0	
PIS	0	4	19	10	32	138	18	0	148	38	31	1	0	0	
OIG	0	0	20	3	25	44	19	0	137	8	16	0	0	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	0	17	607	94	125	809	38	0	293	46	52	3	0	0	

 	

VI.A. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OF INITIAL DETERMINATIONS OF FOIA REQUESTS -- RECEIVED, PROCESSED, AND PENDING ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
Agency / Component	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	
PS & PIS	28	189	206	11	
OIG	0	24	24	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	28	213	230	11	

In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, OIG reported the Number of Appeals Pending as of Start of Fiscal Year as 1, it should have been 0.	

VI.B. DISPOSITION OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS -- ALL PROCESSED APPEALS
Agency / Component	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	
PS & PIS	56	47	51	52	206	
OIG	11	5	4	4	24	
AGENCY OVERALL	67	52	55	56	230	

 	

VI.C.(1). REASONS FOR DENIAL ON APPEAL -- NUMBER OF TIMES EXEMPTIONS APPLIED
Agency / 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	
PS & PIS	0	2	9	3	6	38	3	0	9	1	2	0	0	0	
OIG	0	0	4	0	1	5	1	0	12	0	2	0	0	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	0	2	13	3	7	43	4	0	21	1	4	0	0	0	

 	

VI.C.(2). REASONS FOR DENIAL ON APPEAL -- REASONS OTHER THAN EXEMPTIONS
Agency / Component	No Records	Records Referred at Initial Request Level	Request Withdrawn	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	
PS & PIS	9	1	2	3	3	5	1	5	0	0	23	
OIG	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	9	4	2	3	3	6	1	5	0	0	23	

 	

VI.C.(3). REASONS FOR DENIAL ON APPEAL -- "OTHER" REASONS
Agency / Component	Description of "Other" Reasons for Denial on Appeal from Chart C(2)	Number of Times "Other" Reason Was Relied Upon	TOTAL	
PS & PIS	Moot	15	23	
	Component Did Not Receive a Request	4		
	Records custodian agreed to reconsider and issue a new final response	1		
	Improper Appeal	2		
	Appeal Withdrawn	1		
AGENCY OVERALL	 	 	23	

 	

 	

VI.C.(4). RESPONSE TIME FOR ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
Agency / Component	Median Number of Days	Average Number of Days	Lowest Number of Days	Highest Number of Days	
PS & PIS	48.00	58.00	1.00	404.00	
OIG	16.00	13.00	1.00	21.00	
AGENCY OVERALL	43.00	53.00	1.00	404.00	

 	

VI.C.(5). TEN OLDEST PENDING ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS
Agency / Component	 	10th Oldest Appeal	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Appeal	
PS & PIS	Date of Appeal	2016-09-28	2016-09-19	2016-09-13	2016-09-09	2016-08-31	2016-08-31	2016-08-17	2016-08-09	2016-05-23	2015-07-27	
	Number of Days Pending	2	9	13	15	21	21	31	37	91	298	
OIG	Date of Appeal	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	
AGENCY OVERALL	Date of Appeal	2016-09-28	2016-09-19	2016-09-13	2016-09-09	2016-08-31	2016-08-31	2016-08-17	2016-08-09	2016-05-23	2015-07-27	
	Number of Days Pending	2	9	13	15	21	21	31	37	91	298	

 	

VII.A. FOIA REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME FOR ALL PROCESSED PERFECTED REQUESTS
Agency / Component	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	
PS	9	14	1	390	26	55	1	1331	11	14	4	29	
PIS	7	14	1	215	40	87	1	269	7	7	5	10	
OIG	5	7	1	72	29	44	20	98	29	29	29	29	
AGENCY OVERALL	7	12	1	390	26	55	1	1331	11	14	4	29	

Due to a system limitation, the charts in this section may contain information about unperfected requests.	

VII.B. PROCESSED REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME FOR PERFECTED REQUESTS IN WHICH INFORMATION WAS GRANTED
Agency / Component	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	
PS	21	24	1	390	26	55	1	1331	12	13	4	29	
PIS	14	23	1	213	74	102	7	233	5	5	5	5	
OIG	11	11	1	72	38	52	20	98	29	29	29	29	
AGENCY OVERALL	18	21	1	390	27	59	1	1331	12	14	4	29	

Due to a system limitation, the charts in this section may contain information about unperfected requests.	

VII.C. PROCESSED SIMPLE REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME IN DAY INCREMENTS
Agency / Component	<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	
PS	1,024	293	52	15	7	3	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1,397	
PIS	322	42	21	5	2	2	0	0	1	0	3	0	0	398	
OIG	501	18	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	522	
AGENCY OVERALL	1,847	353	75	21	9	5	0	1	1	0	4	1	0	2,317	

Due to a system limitation, the charts in this section may contain information about unperfected requests.	

VII.C. PROCESSED COMPLEX REQUESTS -- RESPONSE TIME IN DAY INCREMENTS
Agency / Component	<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	
PS	139	139	33	15	11	3	4	7	4	1	1	1	8	366	
PIS	9	11	1	4	0	1	2	1	1	2	7	0	0	39	
OIG	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	
AGENCY OVERALL	150	151	34	19	12	4	6	8	5	3	8	1	8	409	

Due to a system limitation, the charts in this section may contain information about unperfected requests.	

VII.C. PROCESSED REQUESTS GRANTED EXPEDITED PROCESSING -- RESPONSE TIME IN DAY INCREMENTS
Agency / Component	<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	
PS	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	
PIS	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	
OIG	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	
AGENCY OVERALL	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	

Due to a system limitation, the charts in this section may contain information about unperfected requests.	

VII.D. PENDING REQUESTS -- ALL PENDING PERFECTED REQUESTS
Agency / Component	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	
PS	86	7	39	63	77	329	1	12	12	
PIS	17	3	28	3	41	147	0	N/A	N/A	
OIG	11	7	9	0	N/A	N/A	0	N/A	N/A	
AGENCY OVERALL	114	7	35	66	70	321	1	12	12	

Due to a system limitation, the charts in this section may contain information about unperfected requests.	

VII.E. PENDING REQUESTS -- TEN OLDEST PENDING PERFECTED REQUESTS
Agency / Component	 	10th Oldest Request	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Request	
PS	Date of Receipt	2013-08-05	2013-07-25	2013-07-16	2013-04-08	2013-02-22	2013-02-19	2012-10-05	2012-02-01	2011-12-14	2010-02-22	
	Number of Days Pending	793	800	807	876	907	910	1000	1173	1205	1661	
PIS	Date of Receipt	2016-09-26	2016-09-08	2016-08-22	2016-08-03	2016-07-15	2016-06-06	2016-05-19	2016-05-13	2016-05-04	2015-03-02	
	Number of Days Pending	4	16	28	41	54	82	93	97	104	401	
OIG	Date of Receipt	2016-09-26	2016-09-23	2016-09-22	2016-09-21	2016-09-21	2016-09-20	2016-09-19	2016-09-19	2016-09-07	2016-08-23	
	Number of Days Pending	4	5	6	7	7	8	9	9	17	27	
AGENCY OVERALL	Date of Receipt	2013-08-05	2013-07-25	2013-07-16	2013-04-08	2013-02-22	2013-02-19	2012-10-05	2012-02-01	2011-12-14	2010-02-22	
	Number of Days Pending	793	800	807	876	907	910	1000	1173	1205	1661	

 	

VIII.A. REQUESTS FOR EXPEDITED PROCESSING
Agency / Component	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate	Number Adjudicated Within Ten Calendar Days	
PS	7	19	1	4	22	
PIS	0	8	1	1	8	
OIG	1	0	41	41	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	8	27	1	4	30	

 	

VIII.B. Requests for Fee Waiver
Agency / Component	Number Granted	Number Denied	Median Number of Days to Adjudicate	Average Number of Days to Adjudicate	
PS	7	11	1	55	
PIS	0	0	0	0	
OIG	0	1	1	1	
AGENCY OVERALL	7	12	1	52	

 	

IX. FOIA Personnel and Costs	

Agency / 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	
PS	8	26	34	$3,096,783.00	$0.00	$3,096,783.00	
PIS	3	0	3	$228,752.00	$0.00	$228,752.00	
PS & PIS	0	5	5	$722,247.50	$16,185.39	$738,432.89	
OIG	4	1	5	$436,800.00	$0.00	$436,800.00	
AGENCY OVERALL	15	32	47	$4,484,582.50	$16,185.39	$4,500,767.89	

 	

X. Fees Collected for Processing Requests	

Agency / Component	Total Amount of Fees Collected	Percentage of Total Costs	
PS	$20,276.00	0.65%	
PIS	$152.00	0.07%	
OIG	$5,728.00	1.31%	
AGENCY OVERALL	$26,156.00	0.58%	

 	

XI.A. Number of times subsection (C) Used	

Agency / Component	Number of Times Subsection (C) Used	
PS	0	
PIS	0	
OIG	0 	
AGENCY OVERALL	0	

 	

XI.B. Number of Subsection (A)(2) Postings	

Agency / Component	Number of (a)(2) Records Posted by the FOIA Office	Number of (a)(2) Records Posted by Program Offices	
PS	0	7823	
PIS	0	0	
OIG	135	33	
AGENCY OVERALL	135	7856	

XII.A. Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals	

Agency / Component	Number of Backlogged Requests as of End of Fiscal Year	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of Fiscal Year	
PS	56	N/A	
PIS	8	N/A	
PS & PIS	0	6	
OIG	1	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	65	6	

 	

XII.B. CONSULTATIONS ON FOIA REQUESTS -- RECEIVED, PROCESSED, AND PENDING CONSULTATIONS
Agency / Component	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that were Pending at the 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 the Agency During the Fiscal Year	Number of Consultations Received from Other Agencies that were Pending at the Agency as of End
of the Fiscal Year	
PS	0	3	3	0	
PIS	0	14	14	0	
OIG	0	4	4	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	0	21	21	0	

 	

XII.C. CONSULTATIONS ON FOIA REQUESTS -- TEN OLDEST CONSULTATIONS RECEIVED FROM OTHER AGENCIES AND PENDING AT THE AGENCY
Agency / Component	 	10th Oldest Consultation	9th	8th	7th	6th	5th	4th	3rd	2nd	Oldest Consultation	
PS	Date	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	
	Number of Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	
PIS	Date	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	
	Number of Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	
OIG	Date	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	
	Number of Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	Date	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	
	Number of Days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	

 	

XII.D.(1). COMPARISON OF NUMBERS OF REQUESTS FROM PREVIOUS AND CURRENT ANNUAL REPORT -- REQUESTS RECEIVED AND PROCESSED
Agency / 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	
PS	1,760	1,771	1,822	1,768	
PIS	403	422	386	439	
OIG	479	525	474	527	
AGENCY OVERALL	2,642	2,718	2,682	2,734	

In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, PS reported the number of requests received was 1,765, it should have been 1,760.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, PIS reported the number of requests received was 406, it should have been 403.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, OIG reported the number of requests received was 480, it should have been 479.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the overall agency reported the number of requests received was 2,651, it should have been 2,642.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, PS reported the number of requests processed was 1,820, it should have been 1,822.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the overall agency reported the number of requests processed was 2,680, it should have been 2,682.	

XII.D.(2). COMPARISON OF NUMBERS OF REQUESTS FROM PREVIOUS AND CURRENT ANNUAL REPORT -- BACKLOGGED REQUESTS
Agency / 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	
PS	49	56	
PIS	28	8	
OIG	2	1	
AGENCY OVERALL	79	65	

In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the PS number of requests in the backlog at the end of FY2015 was reported as 51, it should have been 49.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the PIS number of requests in the backlog at the end of FY2015 was reported as 29, it should have been 28.	
In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the agency overall number of requests in the backlog at the end of FY2015 was reported as 82, it should have been 79.	

XII.E.(1). COMPARISON OF NUMBERS OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS FROM PREVIOUS AND CURRENT ANNUAL REPORT -- APPEALS RECEIVED AND PROCESSED
Agency / 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	
PS & PIS	200	189	204	206	
OIG	22	24	25	24	
AGENCY OVERALL	222	213	229	230	

In the FY2015 Annual FOIA Report, the number of appeals processed during the current fiscal year was reported as 24, it should have been 25.	

XII.E.(2). COMPARISON OF NUMBERS OF ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS FROM PREVIOUS AND CURRENT ANNUAL REPORT -- BACKLOGGED APPEALS
Agency / Component	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of the Fiscal Year from Previous Annual Report	Number of Backlogged Appeals as of End of the Fiscal Year from Current Annual Report	
PS & PIS	14	6	
OIG	0	0	
AGENCY OVERALL	14	6