A total of 100,518 public requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) were completed during 1996 by the Department of Defense. As shown below, there was a slight decline in the number of cases processed in 1996 from the previous year.

       The Department of Defense fully denied 1,727 and partially denied 9,235 out of 100,518 requests on the basis of FOIA exemptions. Of those exemptions, 8% were for classified information; 7% for internal rules and practices; 4% for statutory exemptions; 9% for proprietary data; 13% for deliberative material; 34% for privacy information; and 25% for law enforcement investigations. Twenty-eight thousand eight requests could not be filled in whole or in part for other reasons, such as lack of records, referral to another agency, or lack of specificity sufficient to identify the requested records. There were 1,219 actions taken on appeals of denied requests (69 granted, 176 partially denied, 442 fully denied, and 532 not filled for other reasons, as mentioned earlier).

       The total DoD operating cost associated with the 1996 requests was $35,486,768.53. The average cost of processing a single case during 1996 was approximately $353.00. Fee collections for records provided to the public amounted to $952,566.11. Total program costs for the past twenty years are reflected below.

       Questions regarding this report should be addressed to the Director, Freedom of Information and Security Review, OASD (Public Affairs), Room 2C757, 1400 Defense Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20301-1400.