Annual Freedom of Information Act Report Fiscal Year 1996

1. (a) Total number of initial determinations made by the agency not to comply with requests for records made under 5 U.S.C. 552 during calendar year 1996:

During calendar year (CY) 1996, 189 requests involved denial determinations.

(b) Authority relied upon for each such determination:

Exemptions in 5 U.S.C. 552(b)

Exemption	Number of Times Invoked
1	2
2	2
3	9
4	21
5	38
6	58
7A	27
7B	0
7C	69
7D	1
7E	2
7F	0
8	0
9	0

 

1. Statutes invoked pursuant to Exemption 3:

Statutes invoked pursuant to Exemption 3:

Statutory Citation	Number of Times Invoked
42 U.S.C. 2167 (Unclassified Safeguards Information)	4
42 U.S.C. 2161-2165 (Restricted or Formerly Restricted Data)	2
41 U.S.C. 253b(m)(1) (Contractor Proposals)	2

 

2. (a) Total number of appeals made by persons from adverse initial decisions pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6): 3

(1) Number of appeals in which, upon review, the request was granted in full: 1

(2) Number of appeals in which, upon review, the request was denied in full: 6

(3) Number of appeals in which, upon review, the request was denied in part: 4

(4) Number of appeals in which, upon review, the request was neither denied or granted: 1⁽¹⁾

(b) Authority relied upon for total or partial denials on appeal:

(1) Exemptions in 5 U.S.C. 552(b)

Exemption	Number of Times Invoked
1	0
2	0
3	0
4	0
5	3
6	0
7A	3
7B	3
7C	1
7D	0
7E	0
7F	0
8	0
9	0

3.

Name	Instances of Participation	Name	Instances of Participation
1. Richard L. Bangart, Director Office of State Programs	1	17. Hubert J. Miller, Regional Administrator, Region I	7
2. A. B. Beach, Regional Administrator, Region III	5	18. Hubert J. Miller, Regional Administrator, Region III	4
3. William M. Beecher, Director Office of Public Affairs	2	19. Frank J. Miraglia, Jr., Acting Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation	8
4. Paul E. Bird, Director Office of Personnel	5	20. Dr. David L. Morrison, Director Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research	1
5. Stephen G. Burns, Associate General Counsel for Hearings, Enforcement and Administration Office of the General Counsel	15	21. Patricia G. Norry, Director Office of Administration	6
6. Leonard J. Callan, Regional Administrator, Region IV	5	22. J. Kevin O'Brien, Chief Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts Section Information Resources Division Federal Bureau of Investigation	1
7. Guy P. Caputo, Director Office of Investigations	56	23. William J. Olmstead, Associate General for Licensing and Regulation Office of the General Counsel	2
8. Steward D. Ebneter, Regional Administrator, Region II	21	24. Carl J. Paperiello, Director Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards	11
9. Edward L. Halman, Director Division of Contracts Office of Administration	5	25. Russell A. Powell, Chief FOIA/LPDR Branch Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services Office of Administration	134
10. Sandra M. Joosten, Executive Assistant Office of the Secretary of the Commission	11	26. Dennis K. Rathbun, Director Office of Congressional Affairs	2
11. Edward L. Jordan, Director Office for Analysis and Evaluation of Operational Data	2	27. William T. Russell, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation	10
12. Carlton C. Kammerer, Director Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services Office of Administration	9	28. Ronald M. Scroggins, Controller Office of the Controller	4
13. James Lieberman, Director Office of Enforcement	19	29. Carlton R. Stoiber, Director Office of International Programs	1
14. Thomas T. Martin, Regional Administrator, Region I	9	30. James M. Taylor Executive Director for Operations	9
15. David L. Meyer, Acting Director Division of Freedom of Information and Publications Services Office of Administration	1	31. Robert A. Watkins, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Office of the Inspector General	44
16. James L. Milhoan, Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Regional Operations and Research Office of the Executive Director for Operations	1

Name	Instances of Participation	Name	Instances of Participation
1. Hubert T. Bell, Inspector General	1	3. Hugh L. Thompson, Deputy Executive Director for Nuclear Material Safety, Safeguards, and Operations Support	5
2. Leo J. Norton, Acting Inspector General	1

1. Name and title or position of each person who is responsible for the initial denial of records requested and the number of instances of participation of each:
2. Name and title or position of each person who, on appeal, is responsible for the denial of records requested, and the number of instances of participation of each:

4. The results of each proceeding conducted pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552 (a)(4)(F), including a report of disciplinary action taken against the officer or employee who was primarily responsible for improperly withholding records, or an explanation of why disciplinary action was not taken.

There have been no proceedings conducted pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(F).

5. A copy of every rule made by the agency regarding 5 U.S.C. 552.

The NRC did not publish any new rules regarding 5 U.S.C. 552 in 1996.

6. A copy of the fee schedule and the total number of fees collected by the agency for making records available under 5 U.S.C. 552.

The NRC fee schedule is set forth in 10 CFR 9.33 through 9.43. The total amount of fees collected in CY 1996 by the NRC for making records available under 5 U.S.C. 552 was $24,019, which includes $17,104 in search and review fees and $6,915 for the reproduction of records.

7. Such other information as indicated effort to administer fully 5 U.S.C. 552.

 

During CY 1996, the NRC completed 540 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and 16 appeals. The estimated cost for the NRC to process the 540 FOIA requests was $1,134,375.

Copies of FOIA requests and the records disclosed as a result of such requests that relate to NRC's regulatory programs are normally placed in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) in Washington, DC. In addition to providing general public access to material released under the FOIA, the NRC routinely places an average of 300 new documents each day on virtually every aspect of NRC's regulatory program for public inspection and copying in the PDR. This extensive voluntary document release program has resulted in more than 2.3 million documents being made available in the PDR and serves about 1,048 requesters per month. The public is aided, on site and off site, in searching for and finding documents by the PDR staff of professional technical reference librarians and by the PDR's on-line, computerized Bibliographic Retrieval System and database. Additionally, the NRC maintains extensive document collections relating to individual nuclear facilities in 89 Local Public Document Rooms (LPDRs) located throughout the country. Of these LPDRs, 77 also maintain microfiche collections, each of which contains over 1.5 million records made public by the NRC since 1981.

 

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1. This figure includes four appeals challenging the completeness of NRC's response to initial requests. In three instances, the NRC reaffirmed its initial determinations, and in one instance, additional records were located.