Title 12—Banks and Banking--Volume 1
PART 1402—RELEASING INFORMATION
§ 1402.10   Official records of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.
(a) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall, upon any request for records which reasonably describes them and is made in accordance with the provisions of this subpart, make the records available as promptly as practicable to any person, except exempt records, which include the following:
(1) Records specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;
(2) Records related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, including matters which are for the guidance of agency personnel;
(3) Records which are specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;
(4) Trade secret, commercial, proprietary, or financial information obtained from any person or organization and privileged or confidential;
(5) Inter-agency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a private party in litigation with the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation or in litigation in which the United States, as a real party in interest on behalf of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, is a party;
(6) Personnel and similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
(7) Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information:
(i) Could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings;
(ii) Would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication;
(iii) Could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
(iv) Could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source;
(v) Would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law; or
(vi) Could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual; and
(8) Records of or related to examination, operation, reports of condition and performance, or reports of or related to Farm Credit System institutions and that are prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.
(b) Any reasonably segregable portion of a record shall be provided to any person requesting such record after deletion of the portions which are exempt under this section.
(c) This section does not authorize withholding of information or limit the availability of records to the public, except as specifically stated in this section. This section is not authority to withhold information from Congress.
§ 1402.11   Current index.
The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will make available for public inspection and copying a current index to provide identifying information as to any matter required by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2)(C) to be made available or published in the Federal Register. Because of the anticipated infrequency of requests for material required to be indexed, it is determined that the publication of the index in the Federal Register is unnecessary and impracticable. However, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will provide a copy of such index to a member of the public upon request therefor at a cost not in excess of the direct cost of duplication.
§ 1402.12   Identification of records requested.
A member of the public who requests records from the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall provide a reasonable description of the records sought including, where possible, specific information as to dates, titles, and subject matter, so that such records may be located without undue search or inquiry. If a record is not identified by a reasonable description, the request therefor may be denied.
§ 1402.13   Request for records.
Requests for records shall be in writing and addressed to the attention of the Freedom of Information Officer, Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, McLean, Virginia 22102. A request improperly addressed will be deemed not to have been received for purposes of the 20-day time period set forth in § 1402.14(a) of this part until it is received, or would have been received, by the Freedom of Information Officer, with the exercise of due diligence by Corporation personnel. Records requested in conformance with this subpart and which are not exempt records may be received in person or by mail as specified in the request. Records to be received in person will be available for inspection or copying during business hours on a regular business day in the office of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia, 22102.
§ 1402.14   Response to requests for records.
(a) Within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays), or any extensions thereof as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, of the receipt of a request by the Freedom of Information Officer, the Freedom of Information Officer shall determine whether to comply with or deny such a request and transmit a written notice thereof to the requester.
(b) Within 90 days of the receipt of a notice denying, in whole or in part, a request for records, the requester may appeal the denial. The appeal shall be in writing addressed to the Chief Financial Officer, Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, McLean, Virginia 22102, and both the letter and envelope shall clearly be marked “FOIA Appeal.” An appeal improperly addressed shall be deemed not to have been received for purposes of the 20-day time period set forth in paragraph (c) of this section until it is received, or would have been received with the exercise of due diligence by Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation personnel. You also have the right to seek dispute resolution services from the Corporation's FOIA Public Liaison, McLean, Virginia 22102, and the Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road—OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001.
(c) Within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays), or any extension thereof as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, of the receipt of an appeal, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall act upon the appeal and place a notice of the determination thereof in writing in the mail addressed to the requester. If the determination on the appeal upholds in whole or in part the denial of the request for records, or, if a determination on the appeal has not been mailed at the end of the 20-day period or the last extension thereof, the requester is deemed to have exhausted that person's administrative remedies, 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 a determination cannot be mailed within the applicable time limit, the appeal will nevertheless be processed. In such case, upon the expiration of the time limit, the requester will be informed of the reason for the delay, of the date on which a determination may be expected to be mailed, and of that person's right to seek judicial review. The requester may be asked to forego judicial review until determination of the appeal.
(d) In “unusual circumstances,” the 20-day time limit prescribed in paragraphs (a) and (c) of this section, or both, may be extended by the Freedom of Information Officer or, in the case of an appeal, by the General Counsel, provided that the total of all extensions does not exceed 10 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays). Extensions shall be made by written notice to the requester setting forth the reason for the extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. As used in this paragraph, “unusual circumstances” means, but only to the extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the request:
(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request;
(2) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which are demanded in a single request; or
(3) The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more components of the agency having a substantial subject matter interest therein.
(e) A requester may obtain, upon request, expedited processing of a request for records when the requester demonstrates a “compelling need” for the information. The Freedom of Information Officer will notify the requester within 10 calendar days after receipt of such a request whether the Corporation granted expedited processing. If expedited processing was granted, the request will be processed as soon as practicable.
(1) For the purposes of this paragraph, “ compelling need ” means:
(i) That a failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; or
(ii) With respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity.
(2) A requester shall demonstrate a compelling need by a statement certified by the requester to be true and correct to the best of such person's knowledge and belief.
(3) The procedures of this paragraph (e) for expedited processing apply to both requests for information and to administrative appeals.
§ 1402.15   Business information.
(a) Business information provided to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation by a business submitter shall not be disclosed pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request except in accordance with this section. The requirements of this section shall not apply if:
(1) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation determines that the information should not be disclosed;
(2) The information lawfully has been published or otherwise made available to the public; or
(3) Disclosure of the information is required by law (other than 5 U.S.C. 552).
(b) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply.
(1) Business information means trade secrets or other commercial or financial information.
(2) Business submitter means any person or entity which provides business information to the government.
(3) Requester means the person or entity making the Freedom of Information Act request.
(c)(1) The Freedom of Information Officer shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide a business submitter with prompt written notice of a request encompassing its business information whenever required under paragraph (d) of this section. Such notice shall either describe the exact nature of the business information requested or provide copies of the records or portions thereof containing the business information.
(2) Whenever the Freedom of Information Officer provides a business submitter with the notice set forth in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the Freedom of Information Officer shall notify the requester that the request includes information that may arguably be exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and that the person or entity who submitted the information to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation has been given the opportunity to comment on the proposed disclosure of information.
(d)(1) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall provide a business submitter with notice of a request whenever:
(i) The business submitter has in good faith designated the information as commercially or financially sensitive information; or
(ii) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation has reason to believe that the disclosure of the information may result in commercial or financial injury to the business submitter.
(2) Notice of a request for business information falling within paragraph (d)(1)(i) of this section shall be required for a period of not more than 10 years after the date of submission unless the business submitter requests and provides acceptable justification for a specific notice period of greater duration.
(3) Whenever possible, the business submitter's claim of confidentiality should be supported by a statement or certification by an officer or authorized representative of the business submitter that the information in question is in fact a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential.
(e) Through the notice described in paragraph (c) of this section, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall, to the extent permitted by law, afford a business submitter a reasonable period within which it can provide the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation with a detailed statement of any objection to disclosure. Such statement shall specify all grounds for withholding any of the information under any exemption of the Freedom of Information Act and, in the case of the exemption provided by 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), shall demonstrate why the information is contended to be a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential. Information provided by a business submitter pursuant to this paragraph may itself be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
(f)(1) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall consider carefully a business submitter's objections and specific grounds for nondisclosure prior to determining whether to disclose business information. Whenever the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation decides to disclose business information over the objection of a business submitter, the Freedom of Information Officer shall forward to the business submitter a written notice which shall include:
(i) A statement of the reasons for which the business submitter's disclosure objections were not sustained;
(ii) A description of the business information to be disclosed; and
(iii) A specified disclosure date.
(2) The notice of intent to disclose required by this paragraph shall be sent, to the extent permitted by law, within a reasonable number of days prior to the specified date upon which disclosure is intended.
(3) The Freedom of Information Officer shall send a copy of such disclosure notice to the requester at the same time the notice is sent to the business submitter.
(g) Whenever a requester brings suit seeking to compel disclosure of business information covered by paragraph (d) of this section, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall promptly notify the business submitter of such action.
§ 1402.20   Definitions.
For the purpose of this subpart, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) Commercial use request means a request for information that is from or on behalf of an individual or entity seeking information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or on whose behalf the request is being made. To determine whether a request is properly classified as a commercial use request, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall determine the purpose for which the documents requested will be used. If the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation has reasonable cause to doubt the purpose specified in the request, for which a requester will use the records sought, or where the purpose is not clear from the request itself, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall seek additional clarification before assigning the request to a specified category.
(b) Direct costs means those expenditures the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation actually incurs in searching for and reproducing documents to respond to a request for information. In the case of a commercial use request, the term also means those expenditures the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation actually incurs in reviewing documents to respond to the request. The direct cost shall include the salary of the employee performing work (the basic rate of pay for the employee plus 16 percent of that rate to cover benefits) and the cost of operating reproduction equipment. Not included in direct costs are overhead expenses such as costs of space, and heating or lighting the facility in which the records are stored.
(c) Educational institution means a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an institution of graduate higher education, an institution of professional education, and an institution of vocational education that operates a program or programs of scholarly research.
(d) Noncommercial scientific institution refers to an institution that is not operated on a commercial, trade, or profit basis and that is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research, the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.
(e) Representative of the news media means any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. The term news means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when the periodicals can qualify as disseminators of “news”) who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. These examples are not intended to be all-inclusive. As traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunication services), such alternative media would be included in this category. “Freelance” journalists may be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization even though they are not actually employed by the organization. A publication contract would be the clearest proof that a journalist is working for a news organization, but the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may look to a requester's past publication record to determine whether a journalist is working for a news organization.
(f) Reproduce and reproduction mean the process of making a copy of a document necessary to respond to a request for information. Such copies take the form of paper copy, microfilm, audio-visual materials, or machine readable documentation (e.g., magnetic tape or disk), among others. The copy provided shall be in a form that is reasonably usable by requesters.
(g) Review means the process of examining documents located in response to a request for information to determine whether any portion of any document located is permitted to be withheld. It also includes processing any documents for disclosure (e.g., doing all that is necessary to prepare the documents for release). The term review does not include the time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions. The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall only charge fees for reviewing documents in response to a commercial use request.
(h) Search includes all time spent looking for material that is responsive to a request for information, including page-by-page or line-by-line identification of material within documents. Searching for material shall be done in the most efficient and least expensive manner so as to minimize the costs of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation and the requester. For example, a line-by-line search for responsive material should not be performed when merely reproducing an entire document would be the less expensive and the faster method of complying with a request for information. Searches may be done manually or by computer using existing programming. A “search” for material that is responsive to a request should be distinguished from a “review” of material to determine whether the material is exempt from disclosure.
§ 1402.21   Categories of requesters—fees.
There are four categories of requesters: Commercial use requesters; educational and noncommercial scientific institutions; representatives of the news media; and all other requesters.
(a) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall charge fees for records requested by or on behalf of educational institutions and noncommercial scientific institutions in an amount which equals the cost of reproducing the documents responsive to the request, excluding the costs of reproducing the first 100 pages. For a request to be included in this category, requesters must show that the request being made is authorized by and under the auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are not sought for a commercial use but are sought in furtherance of scholarly research (if the request is from an educational institution) or scientific research (if the request is from a noncommercial scientific institution).
(b) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall charge fees for records requested by representatives of the news media in an amount which equals the cost of reproducing the documents responsive to the request, excluding the costs of reproducing the first 100 pages. For a request to be included in this category, the requester must qualify as a representative of the news media and the request must not be made for a commercial use. A request for records supporting the news dissemination function of the requester shall not be considered to be a request that is for a commercial use.
(c) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall charge fees for records requested by persons or entities making a commercial use request in an amount that equals the full direct costs for searching for, reviewing for release, and reproducing the records sought. Commercial use requesters are not entitled to 2 hours of free search time nor 100 free pages of reproduction of documents. In accordance with § 1402.26, commercial use requesters may be charged the costs of searching for and reviewing records even if there is ultimately no disclosure of records.
(d) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation shall charge fees for records requested by persons or entities that are not classified in any of the categories listed in paragraphs (a), (b), or (c) of this section in an amount that equals the full reasonable direct cost of searching for and reproducing records that are responsive to the request, excluding the first 2 hours of search time and the cost of reproducing the first 100 pages of records. In accordance with § 1402.26, requesters in this category may be charged the cost of searching for records even if there is ultimately no disclosure of records, excluding the first 2 hours of search time.
(e) For purposes of the exceptions contained in this section on assessment of fees, the word pages refers to paper copies of “8 1/2 × 11” or “11 × 14.” Thus, requesters are not entitled to 100 microfiche or 100 computer disks, for example. A microfiche containing the equivalent of 100 pages or a computer disk containing the equivalent of 100 pages of computer printout meets the terms of the exception.
(f) For purposes of paragraph (d) of this section, the term search time has as its basis, manual search. To apply this term to searches made by computer, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will determine the hourly cost of operating the central processing unit and the operator's hourly salary plus 16 percent of that rate. When the cost of search (including the operator time and the cost of operating the computer to process a request) equals the equivalent dollar amount of 2 hours of the salary of the person performing the search, i.e., the operator, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will begin assessing charges for computer search.
§ 1402.22   Fees to be charged.
(a) Generally, the fees charged for requests for records shall cover the full allowable direct costs of searching for, reproducing, and reviewing documents that are responsive to a request for information.
(b) Manual searches for records will be charged at the salary rate(s) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search.
(c) Computer searches for records will be charged at the actual direct cost of providing the service. This will include the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly attributable to searching for records and the operator/programmer salary apportionable to the search. A charge shall also be made for any substantial amounts of special supplies or materials used to contain, present, or make available the output of computers, based upon the prevailing levels of costs to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation for the type and amount of such supplies of materials that are used. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to entitle any person or entity, as a right, to any services in connection with computerized records, other than services to which such person or entity may be entitled under the provisions of this subpart.
(d) Only requesters who are seeking documents for commercial use may be charged for time spent reviewing records to determine whether they are exempt from mandatory disclosure. Charges may be assessed only for the initial review; i.e., the review undertaken the first time the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation analyzes the applicability of a specific exemption to a particular record or portion of a record. Records or portions of records withheld in full under an exemption that is subsequently determined not to apply may be reviewed again to determine the applicability of other exemptions not previously considered. The costs for such a subsequent review is assessable.
(e) Records will be reproduced at a rate of $.15 per page. For copies prepared by computer, such as tapes or printouts, the requester shall be charged the actual cost, including operator time, of production of the tape or printout. For other methods of reproduction, the actual direct costs of producing the document(s) shall be charged.
(f) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will recover the full costs of providing services such as those enumerated below when it elects to provide them:
(1) Certifying that records are true copies; or
(2) Sending records by special methods such as express mail.
(g) Remittances shall be in the form either of a personal check or bank draft drawn on a bank in the United States, or a postal money order. Remittances shall be made payable to the order of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.
(h) We will not assess fees if we fail to comply with any time limit under the FOIA or these regulations, and have not timely notified the requester, in writing, that an unusual circumstance exists. If an unusual circumstance exists, and timely, written notice is given to the requester, we may be excused an additional 10 working days before fees are automatically waived under this paragraph (h).
(i) If we determine that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to a request, we may charge fees if we provided a timely, written notice to the requester and discussed with the requester via mail, Email, or telephone (or made at least three good faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request.
(j) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, a failure to comply with time limits imposed by these regulations or FOIA shall be excused for the length of time provided by court order.
(k) A receipt for fees paid will be given upon request.
§ 1402.23   Waiver or reduction of fees.
(a) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may grant a waiver or reduction of fees if the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation determines that the disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government, and the disclosure of the information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.
(b) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will not charge fees to any requester, including commercial use requesters, if the cost of collecting a fee would be equal to or greater than the fee itself. The elements to be considered in determining the “cost of collecting a fee” are the administrative costs of receiving and recording a requester's remittance and processing the fee.
§ 1402.24   Advance payments—notice.
(a) Where it is anticipated that the fees chargeable will amount to more than $25 and the requester has not indicated in advance a willingness to pay fees as high as are anticipated, the requester shall be promptly notified of the amount of the anticipated fee or such portion thereof that can be readily estimated.
(b) If the anticipated fees exceed $250 and if the requester has a history of promptly paying fees charged in connection with information requests, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may obtain satisfactory assurances that the requester will fully pay the fees anticipated.
(c) If the anticipated fees exceed $250 and if the requester has no history of paying fees charged in connection with information requests, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may require an advance payment of fees in an amount up to the full amount anticipated.
(d) If the requester has previously failed to pay a fee charged within 30 days of the date of a billing for fees charged in connection with information requests, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may require the requester to pay the fees owed, plus interest, or demonstrate that the full amount owed has been paid, and require the requester to make an advance payment of the full amount of the fees anticipated before processing a new request or a pending request from that requester.
(e) The notice of the amount of an anticipated fee or a request for an advance deposit shall include an offer to the requester to confer with identified Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation personnel to attempt to reformulate the request in a manner which will meet the needs of the requester at a lower cost.
§ 1402.25   Interest.
The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may begin charging interest on unpaid fees, starting on the 31st day following the day on which the bill for such fees was sent. Interest will not accrue if payment of the fees has been received by the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, even if said payment has not been processed. Interest will accrue at the rate prescribed in section 3717 of title 31, United States Code, and will accrue from the day on which the bill for such fees was sent.
§ 1402.26   Charges for unsuccessful searches or reviews.
The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may assess charges for time spent searching for records on behalf of requesters in the categories provided for in § 1402.21 (c) and (d), even if there are no records that are responsive to the request or there is ultimately no disclosure of records. The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may assess charges for time spent reviewing records for requesters in the category provided for in § 1402.21(c) even if the records located are determined to be exempt from disclosure.
§ 1402.27   Aggregating requests.
A requester may not file multiple requests at the same time, each seeking portions of a document or documents, solely in order to avoid payment of fees. When the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation reasonably believes that a requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, is attempting to break a request down into a series of requests for the purpose of evading the assessment of fees, the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation may aggregate any such requests and charge accordingly. One element to be considered in determining whether a belief would be reasonable is the time period over which the requests have occurred.