FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ANALYTICAL CHART [FOR PERIOD: JULY 4, 1967-JULY 4, 1971]

Types of requestors $

Bases for refusal ⚫ [Title 5 U.S.C.]

Agency 1

Atomic Energy Commission....
Percent..

Civil Aeronautics Board 7.

Department of Agriculture 11.

11,093

10, 769 137 79

9 17 11 1 5 2

.... 2

Percent.

(97) (1.2) (.7) (.08).

20 52 40 18 22 7 9.... 15 12 21.... 2 13 71
(124) (17).

17

14 37 .... 9

Department of Commerce 12

182

109 50

4 11 11 ........18 1 1....

18 64 17 18

37

21

10 1 ........

43 13 54 9 3 3 4 2 1 1 72 8 19 4 40 62 17 12 2 ....

(134) (25).

8

4 2 13 1 1
13 9

(9) (4,13) 3 1

3

88 2 12

Percent..

(6) (8).

106 15 5 1 2 1 8 2 169 1 1 4 3 28 244 38

Percent.

(65) (25) (10).

(5).

Small-Business Administration.

10

5

0 20 1

30 1

1.... 1.... 2 1 2 ........ 6 3 2.... 1 1 ....

Percent.

(40) (10) (50).

(4).

U.S. Information Agency.

7

0 0

0

Percent.

(71) (14) (14).

Veterans Administration.

46

35 9

1 3 3

31 3

36 44 2

2 1

3 1

(76) (20) (2)
373

.390 250 85 41 53 13 90 34 547 30 100 206 403 375 344 244 7 11

----

See footnotes on p. 106.

1 The chart is not inclusive of all agencies responding to the questionnaire. The agencies listed
were chosen because they generally affect the public welfare or because, in the preliminary examina-
tion of returned questionnaires, they indicated areas of special interest for analysis.

2 Figures in parentheses are percentages of the total number of formal requests to the agency.
Due to rounding the percentages may not equal 100 percent.

3 Incidences of court action do not necessarily reflect the number of appeals lost and brought to
court. Many agencies cited court cases and provided no previous administrative action data.

4 The figures shown in parentheses are the number of cases on which the average is based.
5 Identity of requester (in cases of refusal only) was provided by the agencies. Judgments were
made in instances where types were not explicitly stated. Therefore the categories may not be fully
illustrative.

Sections cited are the exemptions written into the Freedom of Information Act. The number of
exemptions will not always justify with the number of denials due to multiple citations or lack of
citation altogether.

7 CAB provided total number of requests for fiscal 1968 only. Kept no records of requests granted.
Those refused cover the 4-year period.

CAB. Of the 31 cases (initial refusal) computed, 22 received action within 24 hours. On appeal, 3
cases received action in less than 15 days.

10 CSC has not made it a practice to keep centralized records of requests; therefore no figures were
provided. Were able to identify 23 denials through reference to the General Counsel's office. It is
possible that other formal requests have deen denied.

11 Department of Agriculture response was decentralized. Each constituent agency replied inde-
pendently. The replies indicated no unified recordkeeping policy.

12 Department of Commerce cited 10 cases, action on which do not fall into chart categories: 7 were
withdrawn before acted upon; 1 was for records at another agency; 1 was nonexistent records; and
1 is unrecorded as to action taken. Of 8 court cases, only 3 were cited as requested. 2 were pending
July 4, 1971; the other found for the agency. Of the remaining cases, 1 ordered release of docu-
ments (411 F.2d 696) and 4 were reported as "Suit dropped. Resolve by access." Citations to the
Code of Federal Regulations accompanied 5 U.S.C. 552(b) as basis for refusal.

13 Department of Defense was decentralized in its replies. The constituent agencies, except Army,
Navy, and Air Force, have been combined on the chart. Some question arises as to method of record-
keeping, i.e., Air Force reports over 200,000 formal requests for information; Army could give no
statistics other than appeals (and no dates for appeal initiation); and Navy estimating that the num-
ber of cases would total millions, provided both initial denial and appeal information where possible.
Navy provided an estimate for Marine Corps Headquarters: granted 16,804 access requests; denied
960 access requests; and granted in part 50 requests. No departmentwide statistics were charted
due to the imbalance created by Air Force figures. Court action: The 2 DOD (combined) cases are
pending as are 3 from Navy and 1 from Air Force. Administrative appeal action: Air Force, no record
7; Navy reported 1 appeal pending.

14 Department of HEW: Of 8 appeals, action was unknown on 2 and 1 is pending. Of 5 court cases,
1 is pending. HEW was irregular in its reporting of basis of refusal. In some instances it referred to
only 5 U.S.C. 552(b), not citing specific exemptions and in some instances it relied solely on HEW
public information regulations or combined those with code citations.

16 Department of the Interior interpreted formal requests to be those which were appealed or
otherwise considered by the Solicitor. The sole court case was not a result of refusal for information,
but rather a refusal to gather, from all field offices, the information together in Washington for plain-
tiff's perusal. No final action was reported.

17 Department of Justice: Of 9 court cases, 3 are pending. Appeal action: 6 modified (granted whole
or in part): 1 pending and 1 record nonexistent.

18 Department of Labor keeps no record of requests granted; when requests are initially denied
copies of relevant correspondence are filed. The Code of Federal Regulations was also cited as a
basis for refusal.

19 Department of State has no formal appeals process. Of 2 court cases, 1 is pending. 5 U.S.C.
552(b) was general basis of refusal with no specific exemptions cited.

20 Department of Transportation estimated the number of requests received as being over 14,000.
Figures shown are those aggregated from the constituent agencies providing data. Of 55 appeals,
1 is pending and 2 have no record of action.

21 Department of Treasury: Internal Revenue Service reported denial of access (whole or partial)
in 306 instances; information was provided for 130 of those, the remainder being unidentifiable or
granted on appeal. Of 8 court cases, 5 are pending.

22 FCC reported 1 court case for which an appeal is pending. Action is unknown on 1 appeal.
23 FPC reported 2 court cases, both of which are pending.

24 FTC reported 7 court cases, 3 of which are pending.

25 GSA: Of 5 court cases, 4 are pending.

26 OEO reported 1 request which was not refused per se. The Director responded within 4 days
stating that the document would be studied for possible release. Suit was filed the day the letter was
dated. Before hearing the document was released.

27 Renegotiation Board reported 9 court cases, 5 of which are pending.

28 SEC provided information only on Commission action which constitutes appeal action. No initial
refusal or basis for refusal data was provided. Time for appeal was computed from time of initial
request. Of 40 appeals, 2 had no action recorded. Of 3 court cases, 2 are pending.

29 Selective Service System reported 7 instances in which requests for information resulted in
court action; refusal was sustained in 6 and reversed in 1. No previous administrative data was
provided for these cases.

30 SBA reported 1 appeal with action unknown and 1 court case which was declared moot.

32 Individual units may not equal apparent totals due to variations among agencies.

CHAPTER III

A. THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AMENDMENTS OF 1974 (P.L. 93-502): A HISTORY OF THE LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS, PREPARED BY THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

B. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT AMENDMENTS CONFERENCE NOTES. PREPARED BY THE STAFF OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE ON ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE; INFORMAL NOTES ON MEETINGS OF HOUSE-SENATE CONFEREES ON THE 1974 AMENDMENTS

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