Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Freedom of Information Act Annual Report
for Fiscal Year 2006
(October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006)
I. Basic Information Regarding Report
II. How to Make a FOIA Request
III. Definitions of Terms and Acronyms Used in the Report
IV. Exemption 3 Statutes
V. Initial FOIA/PA Requests
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
VII. Compliance with Time Limits/Status of Pending Requests
VIII. Comparisons With Previous Year(s) (Optional)
IX. Costs/FOIA Staffing
X. Fees
XI. FOIA Regulations (Including Fee Schedule)
XII. Report on FOIA Executive Order Implementation
With questions about this report, please contact:
Eileen A. Donovan
Assistant Secretary to the Commission for FOIA Matters
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20581
Tel.: 202-418-5096
To locate the report on the World Wide Web, please visit the CFTC web site at http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foiaannrept06.htm.
To obtain a copy of the report in paper form, please submit the Electronic FOIA Request Form found on the CFTC website at http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foifoiaform.htm or send a written request to:
FOIA Compliance Office
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Three Lafayette Centre
1155 21st Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20581
Information on making a FOIA request is available on the CFTC website at http://www.cftc.gov/cftc/cftcfoia.htm.
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. Grant – an agency decision to disclose all records in full in response to a FOIA request.
6. 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.
7. 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).
8. 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).
9. "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.
10. 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).
11. Median number – the middle, not average, number. For example, of 3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.
12. 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.
The only Exemption 3 statute relied on by the Commission during fiscal year 2006 is Section 8(a) of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 U.S.C. § 12(a). Section 8(a) prohibits the release of data and information that would disclose the business transactions or market positions of any person and trade secrets or names of customers, and any data or information concerning or obtained in connection with any pending investigation of any person. The use of Section 8(a) has not been challenged in court.
A. Numbers of initial requests
1. Number of requests pending as of end of preceding fiscal year: 13
2. Number of requests received during current fiscal year: 219
3. Number of requests processed during current fiscal year: 221
4. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 11
B. Disposition of initial requests
1. Number of total grants: 81
2. Number of partial grants: 85
3. Number of denials: 14
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per request):
Exemption 1 |
0 |
Exemption 2 |
0 |
Exemption 3 |
52 |
Exemption 4 |
68 |
Exemption 5 |
9 |
Exemption 6 |
12 |
Exemption 7(A) |
6 |
Exemption 7(B) |
1 |
Exemption 7(C) |
1 |
Exemption 7(D) |
1 |
Exemption 7(E) |
2 |
Exemption 7(F) |
0 |
Exemption 8 |
9 |
Exemption 9 |
0 |
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 41
No records |
19 |
Referrals |
11 |
Request withdrawn |
10 |
Fee-related reason |
0 |
Records not reasonably described |
0 |
Not a proper FOIA request |
0 |
Not an agency record |
0 |
Duplicate request |
1 |
Other |
0 |
VI. Appeals of Initial Denials of FOIA/PA Requests
A. Numbers of appeals.
1. Number of appeals received during fiscal year: 8
2. Number of appeals processed during fiscal year: 6
B. Disposition of appeals.
1. Number completely upheld: 6
2. Number partially reversed: 0
3. Number completely reversed: 0
a. Number of times each FOIA exemption used (counting each exemption once per appeal):
Exemption 1 |
0 |
Exemption 2 |
0 |
Exemption 3 |
4 |
Exemption 4 |
2 |
Exemption 5 |
1 |
Exemption 6 |
2 |
Exemption 7(A) |
1 |
Exemption 7(B) |
0 |
Exemption 7(C) |
0 |
Exemption 7(D) |
1 |
Exemption 7(E) |
1 |
Exemption 7(F) |
0 |
Exemption 8 |
0 |
Exemption 9 |
0 |
4. Other reasons for nondisclosure (total): 0
a. No records: 0
b. Referrals: 0
c. Request withdrawn: 0
d. Fee-related reason: 0
e. Records not reasonably described: 0
f. Not a proper FOIA request: 0
g. Not an agency record: 0
h. Duplicate request: 0
i. Other: 0
A. Median processing time for requests processed during the year.
1. Number of requests processed: 221
2. Median number of days to process: 5
B. Status of pending requests.
1. Number of requests pending as of end of current fiscal year: 11
2. Median number of days that such requests were pending as of that date: 13
D. Other statistics significant to agency.
Number of requests for expedited processing: 0
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): 2
3. Total number of personnel (in work-years): 3
B. Total costs (including staff and all resources).
1. FOIA processing (including appeals): $245,000
2. Litigation-related activities (estimated): $0
3. Total costs: $245,000
A. Total amount of fees collected by agency for processing requests: $4,376.90
B. Percentage of total costs: 1.79%
The CFTC FOIA regulations, 17 C.F.R. § 145, can be found on the CFTC web site at http://www.cftc.gov/foia/foi17cfr145.htm
A. Description of supplementation/modification of agency improvement plan (if applicable)
Not applicable
B. Report on agency implementation of its plan, including its performance in meeting milestones, with respect to each improvement area.
Working towards the goal of responding to more FOIA requests electronically, the Commission's FOIA staff was trained on new scanning equipment they can use to scan and e-mail documents to FOIA requesters. Starting in fiscal year 2007, the FOIA staff began tracking the number of FOIA requests receiving electronic responses, which will allow the Commission to measure the progress from year to year.
The Commission's FOIA Reference Guide has been updated periodically online, but the printed version had not been updated since it was first published. The guide was reviewed and revised, and the electronic and printed versions were reconciled so as to be identical in content. Copies of the guide in pamphlet form were produced and made available to the public.
C. Identification and discussion of any deficiency in meeting plan milestones (if applicable)
Enhancement of the automated FOIA tracking system, to provide information on the status of open FOIA requests, was not completed by the end of calendar year 2006 as anticipated. Other information technology projects became greater priorities when the full-time FOIA staff, which uses the system, was reduced from three people to one. The remaining staff member continues to use her own tracking methods for open FOIA requests and will work with the Commission's Office of Information Technology Services on incorporating those methods into the automated system.
D. Additional narrative statement regarding other executive order-related activities (optional)
Not applicable
E. Concise description of FOIA exemptions
The nine exemptions to the FOIA authorize federal agencies to withhold information covering: (1) classified national defense and foreign relations information; (2) internal agency rules and practices; (3) information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law; (4) trade secrets and other confidential business information; (5) inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges; (6) information involving matters of personal privacy; (7) records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the 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 an 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 and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or (F) could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual; (8) information relating to the supervision of financial institutions; and (9) geological information on wells.
F. Additional statistics:
1. Time range of requests pending, by date of request (or, where applicable, by date of referral from another agency)
May 24, 2006 to January 31, 2007
2. Time range of consultations pending with other agencies, by date of initial interagency communication
None pending
G. Attachment: Agency improvement plan (in current form)