§ 171.11 Processing requests. ( a ) *In general.* ( 1 ) The Office of Information Programs and Services (A/GIS/IPS) is responsible for initial action on all FOIA requests for Department records, with two exceptions: requests seeking records under the purview of the Office of Inspector General (OIG), which receives and processes requests for OIG records (see § 171.4 (a)(3)); and requests seeking records under the purview of the Law Enforcement Liaison Division of the Passport Services directorate of the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA), which receives and processes requests for certain consular records (see § 171.4 (a)(2)).
( 2 ) For requests for which A/GIS/IPS is responsible for initial action, A/GIS/IPS will issue all initial decisions on whether a request is valid (or has subsequently been perfected) and whether to grant or deny requests for a fee waiver or for expedited processing.
( 3 ) After A/GIS/IPS takes initial action, all requests for records coming under the jurisdiction of the following components are processed by those components, although A/GIS/IPS may provide review and coordination support to these components in some situations: the Directorates for Visa Services, Passport Services, and Overseas Citizens Services, in the Bureau of Consular Affairs; the Bureau of Diplomatic Security; the Bureau of Global Talent Management; and the Bureau of Medical Services. Additionally, the Foreign Service Grievance Board (FSGB), as an independent body, processes all FOIA requests seeking access to its records and responds directly to requesters.
( b ) *Receipt of request.* The Department is in receipt of a request when the request is received by A/GIS/IPS, OIG, or PPT, depending on which office is the proper recipient. At that time, the Department must send an acknowledgement letter to the requester that identifies the date of receipt of the request in the proper office (A/GIS/IPS, OIG, or PPT), and the case tracking number. When one of these offices determines that a request was misdirected within the Department, that office must promptly route the request to the proper office(s) within the Department.
( c ) *Cut-off date and exclusions.* In determining which records are responsive to a request, the Department ordinarily will include only records in its possession as of the date of initiation of the search for responsive records, unless the requester has specified an earlier cut-off date. A record that is excluded from the requirements of the FOIA pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(c) is not considered responsive to a request.
( d ) *Consultation, referral, and coordination.* When reviewing records located in response to a request, the component processing the request will determine whether another agency of the Federal Government is better able to determine whether the record is exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. As to any such record, the component must proceed in one of the following ways: ( 1 ) *Consultation.* When records originated with the Department, but contain within them information of interest to another agency or other Federal Government office, the component processing the request should typically consult with that other entity prior to making a release determination.
( 2 ) *Referral.* ( i ) When the component processing the request believes that a different Department component or other Federal Government agency is better able to determine whether to disclose the record, the component processing the request typically should refer the responsibility for responding to the request regarding that record to that component or agency, as long as the referral is to an entity subject to the FOIA. Ordinarily, the agency that originated the record will be presumed to be best able to make the disclosure determination. However, if the component processing the request and the originating agency jointly agree that the former is in the better position to respond regarding the record, then the record may be handled as a consultation.
( ii ) Whenever the component processing the request refers any part of the responsibility for responding to a request to another entity, the component must document the referral, maintain a copy of the record that it refers, and notify the requester of the referral and inform the requester of the name(s) of the entity to which the record was referred, including that entity's FOIA contact information.
( 3 ) *Coordination.* The standard referral procedure is not appropriate where disclosure of the identity of the component or agency to which the referral would be made could harm an interest protected by an applicable exemption, such as the exemptions that protect personal privacy or national security interests. For example, if a non-law enforcement component responding to a request for records on a living third party locates within its files records originating with a law enforcement agency, and if the existence of that law enforcement interest in the third party was not publicly known, then to disclose that law enforcement interest could cause an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the third party. Similarly, if a component locates within its files material originating with an Intelligence Community agency, and the involvement of that agency in the matter is classified and not publicly acknowledged, then to disclose or give attribution to the involvement of that Intelligence Community agency could cause national security harm. In such instances, in order to avoid harm to an interest protected by an applicable exemption, the component that received the request should coordinate with the originating component or agency to seek its views on the whether the record may be disclosed. The release determination for the record that is the subject of the coordination will be conveyed to the requester by the component that originally received the request.
( e ) *Timing of responses to consultations and referrals.* All consultations and referrals received by the Department will be handled according to the date that the perfected FOIA request was received by the first agency.
( f ) *Agreements regarding consultations and referrals.* The Department may make agreements with other agencies to eliminate, reduce, or streamline the need for consultations or referrals for particular types of records.