CFR

1703.108—Processing of FOIA requests.

(a) Where a request complies with § 1703.105 as to specificity and statement of willingness to pay or request for fee waiver or reduction, the Designated FOIA Officer shall acknowledge receipt of the request and commence processing of the request. The Designated FOIA Officer shall prepare a written response:

(1) Granting the request,

(2) Denying the request,

(3) Granting or denying it in part,

(4) Stating that the request has been referred to another agency under § 1703.105, or

(5) Informing the requester that responsive records cannot be located or do not exist.

(b) Action pursuant to this section to provide access to requested records shall be taken within twenty working days. This time period may be extended up to ten additional working days, in unusual circumstances, by written notice to the requester. If the Board will be unable to satisfy the request in this additional period of time, the requester will be so notified and given the opportunity to—

(1) Limit the scope of the request so that it can be processed within the time limit, or

(2) Arrange with the Designated FOIA Officer an alternative time frame for processing the original request or a modified request.

(c) For purposes of this section and § 1703.109, the term unusual circumstances may include but is not limited to the following:

(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the Board's Washington, DC offices:

(2) The need to search for, collect and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which may be responsive to a single request; or

(3) The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency pursuant to § 1703.105(d).

(d) If no determination has been made at the end of the ten day period, or the last extension thereof, the requester may deem his administrative remedies to have been exhausted, giving rise to a right of review in a district court of the United States as specified in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4). When no determination can be made within the applicable time limit, the Board will nevertheless continue to process the request. If the Board is unable to provide a response within the statutory period, the Designated FOIA Officer shall inform the requester of the reason for the delay; the date on which a determination may be expected to be made; and that the requester can seek remedy through the courts, but shall ask the requester to forgo such action until a determination is made.

(e) Nothing in this part shall preclude the Designated FOIA Officer and a requester from agreeing to an extension of time for the initial determination on a request. Any such agreement shall be confirmed in writing and shall clearly specify the total time agreed upon.

(f) The procedure for appeal of denial of a request for Board records is set forth in § 1703.109.

Code of Federal Regulations

[56 FR 21261, May 8, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 66816, Dec. 22, 1997]

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