NATIONAL CREDIT UNION ADMINISTRATION
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROGRAM
2000 FISCAL YEAR REPORT
I.
Basic Information
Regarding Report.
A. If you have any questions regarding
this report, you may contact Dianne Salva, Staff Attorney/FOIA Officer,
1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314, (703) 518-6540.
B. The report is available on-line at
www.ncua.gov. You can click on any underlined term to link directly to
the corresponding document on the NCUA web site.
C. To obtain a copy of this report in
paper form you may come to the NCUA reading room located in room 6076B,
at 1775 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3428 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday, or call (703) 518-6540 to request that a copy be sent
to you.
II.
How to
make a FOIA Request.
You can consult the publication entitled,
"
A Handbook for Obtaining Information From NCUA"
for information on making a FOIA request. The Handbook is available on
the Internet at www.ncua.gov, or you can request a copy from the Office
of Public and Congressional Affairs by calling (703) 518-6330.
A. FOIA requests may be submitted to
the following NCUA offices:
REGION I - ALBANY -- (518) 862-7400
9 Washington Square
Washington Avenue Extension
Albany, NY 12205
Fax Number: (518) 862-7420
E-mail address: region1@ncua.gov
REGION II - CAPITAL -- (703) 519-4600
1775 Duke Street, Suite 4206
Alexandria, VA 22314-3437
Fax Number: (703) 519-4620
E-mail address: region2@ncua.gov
REGION III - ATLANTA -- (678) 443-3000
7000 Central Parkway, Suite 1600
Atlanta, GA 30328
Fax Number: (678) 443-3020
E-mail address: region3@ncua.gov
REGION IV - CHICAGO -- (630) 955-4100
4225 Naperville Road, Suite 125
Lisle, IL 60532
Fax Number: (630) 955-4120
E-mail address: region4@ncua.gov
REGION V - AUSTIN -- (512) 342-5600
4807 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 5200
Austin, TX 78759-8490
Fax Number: (512) 342-5620
E-mail address: region5@ncua.gov
REGION VI - PACIFIC -- (925) 363-6200
2300 Clayton Road, Suite 1350
Concord, CA 94520
Fax Number: (925) 363-6220
E-mail address: region6@ncua.gov
ASSET MANAGEMENT & ASSISTANCE CENTER -- (512) 231-7900
4807 Spicewood Springs Road, Suite 5100
Austin, TX 78759-8490
Fax Number: (512) 231-7920
E-mail address: amacmail@ncua.gov
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL – (703) 518-6352
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Fax Number: (703) 518-6349
E-mail Address: OIGMail@NCUA.gov
CENTRAL OFFICE -- (703) 518-6540
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Fax Number: (703) 518-6369
E-mail Address: FOIA@NCUA.gov
B. Brief Description of NCUA response-time
ranges:
Usually we respond within 20 business
days. During this fiscal year, we had median processing times of 2 calendar
days for simple requests and 7 calendar days for more complex requests.
C. Brief Description of why some requests
are not granted:
Generally, exempt information includes
credit union examination records; records which if released, would cause
an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; confidential proprietary
business information; internal communications regarding proposed NCUA
policies; and law enforcement investigative records.
III.
Definitions
of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report (to be included in each report)
A. Agency-specific acronyms or other
terms: NCUA – National Credit Union Administration.
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. (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 the 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. 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 his or her 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 (nonexpedited) 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's exemptions; or a decision to disclose
some records in their entireties, 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's exemptions, or for some procedural reason
(such as because no record is located in response to a FOIA request).
12. 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).
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 Statutes.
A. List of Exemption 3 statutes relied
on by NCUA during the current fiscal year.
None.
V. Initial FOIA/PA Access Requests.
- Numbers of initial requests.
- Number of requests pending as
of end of preceding fiscal year: 30.
- Number of requests received during
current fiscal year: 463.
- Number of requests processed during
current fiscal year: 470.
- Number of requests pending as
of end of current fiscal year: 23.
- Disposition of initial requests.
- Number of total grants: 329.
- Number of partial grants: 105.
- Number of total denials: 12.
a. Number of times each FOIA
exemption used (counting each exemption once per request).
- Exemption 1: 0.
- Exemption 2: 2.
- Exemption 3: 0.
- Exemption 4: 50.
- Exemption 5: 38.
- Exemption 6: 57.
- Exemption 7(A): 1.
- Exemption 7(B): 0.
- Exemption 7(C): 1.
- Exemption 7(D): 0.
- Exemption 7(E): 0.
- Exemption 7(F): 0.
- Exemption 8: 67.
- Exemption 9: 0.
- Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 56.
a. No
records: 22.
b. Referrals:
3.
c. Request
withdrawn: 3.
d. Fee-related
reason: 6.
e. Records
not reasonably described: 2.
f.
Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 6.
g. Not
an agency record: 1.
h. Duplicate
request: 0.
i.
Other: 16.
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests.
A. Number of appeals.
- Number of appeals received during
fiscal year: 12.
- Number of appeals processed during
fiscal year: 12
A. Disposition of appeals.
- Number completely upheld: 5.
- Number partially reversed: 7.
- Number completely reversed: 0.
a. Number
of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption per
appeal)
- Exemption 1: 0.
- Exemption 2: 0.
- Exemption 3: 0.
- Exemption 4: 4.
- Exemption 5: 5.
- Exemption 6: 4.
- Exemption 7(A): 0.
- Exemption 7(B): 0.
- Exemption 7(C): 0.
- Exemption 7(D): 0.
- Exemption 7(E): 0.
- Exemption 7(F): 0.
- Exemption 8: 4.
- Exemption 9: 0.
1. Other
reasons for nondisclosure (total): 4.
a. No
records: 4.
b. Referrals:
0.
c. Request
withdrawn: 0.
d. Fee-related
reason: 0.
e. Records
not reasonably described: 0.
f.
Not a proper FOIA request for some other reason: 0.
g. Not
an agency record: 0.
h. Duplicate
request: 0.
i.
Other (specify):
VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests.
- Median processing time for requests processed
during the year.
1. Fast
Track Requests.
a. Number
of requests processed: 5.
b. Median
number of days to process: 2.
1. Regular
Track Requests.
a. Number
of requests processed: 465
b. Median
number of days to process: 8.
1. Requests
accorded expedited processing.
a. Number
of requests processed: 0.
b. Median
number of days to process: N.A.
A. Status of pending requests.
1. Number
of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 23.
1. Median
number of days that requests was pending as of that date: 6.
VIII. Comparisons with Previous Year.
NCUA received 78 more and processed 88 more initial FOIA requests in
fiscal year 2000 than in fiscal year 1999. The median processing time
increased from 7 to 8 days for regular track requests and decreased from
6 to 2 days for fast track requests. Due to data entry errors, in fiscal
year 1999 report the number of requests pending as of the end of the fiscal
year 1999 was incorrectly stated to be 36. The correct number, 30, is
included in section V.A.1 of this report.
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing.
A. Staffing levels.
1. Number
of full-time FOIA personnel: 0.
2. Number
of personnel with part-time or occasional FOIA duties (in total
work-years): 33.
3. Total
number of personnel (in work-years): 3.3.
A. Total costs (including staff and all resources).
1. FOIA
processing (including appeals): $ 229,186.10.
2. Litigation-related
activities (estimated): 0.
3. Total
costs: $ 229,186.10.
X. Fees.
This includes charges for search, review, document duplication, and any
other direct costs permitted under agency regulations.
A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing
requests: $9,312.76.
B. Percentage of total costs: 0.04%.
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule).
NCUA’s FOIA regulation is found
in Subpart A of 12 C.F.R. §792. A copy of the regulation and the FOIA
Fee Schedule is attached.
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