36760 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

34 CFR Part 5

The Freedom of Information Act

AGENCY: Office of the Chief Information

Officer, Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking.

SUMMARY: The Secretary proposes to

amend the Department’s regulations that

implement the Freedom of Information

Act (FOIA). These amendments are

needed to establish new provisions

implementing the Electronic Freedom of

Information Act Amendments of 1996.

The regulations have been streamlined

and condensed, with more user-friendly

language wherever possible.

DATES: We must receive your comments

on or before July 10, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Address all comments about

these proposed regulations to John

Tressler, U.S. Department of Education,

400 Maryland Avenue, SW., ROB3,

Room 5640, Washington, DC 20202–

4110. If you prefer to send your

comments through the Internet use the

following address: comments@ed.gov

You must include the term FOIA in

the subject line of your electronic

message.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John

Tressler. Telephone: (202) 708–8900. If

you use a telecommunications device

for the deaf (TDD), you may call the

Federal Information Relay Service

(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339.

Individuals with disabilities may

obtain this document in an alternate

format (e.g., Braille, large print,

audiotape, or computer diskette) on

request to the contact person listed in

the preceding paragraph.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Invitation To Comment

We invite you to submit comments

regarding these proposed regulations.

To ensure that your comments have

maximum effect in developing the final

regulations, we urge you to identify

clearly the specific section or sections of

the proposed regulations that each of

your comments addresses and to arrange

your comments in the same order as the

proposed regulations.

We invite you to assist us in

complying with the specific

requirements of Executive Order 12866

and its overall requirement of reducing

regulatory burden that might result from

these proposed regulations. Please let us

know of any further opportunities we

should take to reduce potential costs or

increase potential benefits while

preserving the effective and efficient

administration of the program.

During and after the comment period,

you may inspect all public comments

about these proposed regulations in

room 5640, ROB3, Seventh and D

Streets, SW., Washington, DC, between

the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.,

Eastern time, Monday through Friday of

each week except Federal holidays.

Assistance to Individuals With

Disabilities in Reviewing the

Rulemaking Record

On request, we will supply an

appropriate aid, such as a reader or

print magnifier, to an individual with a

disability who needs assistance to

review the comments or other

documents in the public rulemaking

record for these proposed regulations. If

you want to schedule an appointment

for this type of aid you may call (202)

205–8113 or (202) 260–9895. If you use

a TDD, you may call the Federal

Information Relay Service at 1–800–

877–8339.

Background

The FOIA generally provides that any

person has a right, enforceable in court,

of access to Federal agency records.

However, some records (or portions of

those records) are protected from

disclosure by one of nine exemptions or

by one of three special law enforcement

record exclusions.

The FOIA was amended by the

Electronic Freedom of Information Act

Amendments of 1996 (Public Law 104–

231, October 2, 1996). The amendments

provided specifically for the disclosure

of electronic records.

The proposed revisions of part 5

change the language and structure of the

regulations and would implement the

provisions of the Electronic Freedom of

Information Act Amendments of 1996.

The new provisions implementing the

1996 amendments are in § 5.11(a)(4)

(electronic reading rooms) and § 5.20

(How do I make a FOIA request?).

Proposed revisions of the Department’s

fee schedule are in § 5.30. Other changes

would make the regulations easier to

understand.

Clarity of the Regulations

Executive Order 12866 and the

President’s memorandum of June 1,

1998 on ‘‘Plain Language in Government

Writing’’ require each agency to write

regulations that are easy to understand.

The Secretary invites comments on

how to make these proposed regulations

easier to understand, including answers

to questions such as the following:

• Are the requirements in the

proposed regulations clearly stated?

• Do the proposed regulations contain

technical terms or other wording that

interferes with their clarity?

• Does the format of the proposed

regulations (e.g., grouping and order of

sections, use of headings, paragraphing)

improve or reduce their clarity?

• Would the proposed regulations be

easier to understand if we divided them

into more (but shorter) sections? (A

‘‘section’’ is preceded by the symbol ‘‘§’’

and a numbered heading; for example,

§ 5.30 What is the schedule of fees?

• Could the description of the

proposed regulations in the

‘‘Supplementary Information’’ section of

this preamble be more helpful in

making the proposed regulations easier

to understand? If so, how?

• What else could we do to make the

proposed regulations easier to

understand?

Send any comments concerning how

the Department could make these

proposed regulations easier to

understand to the person listed in the

ADDRESSES section of the preamble.

Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

The Secretary certifies that these

proposed regulations would not have a

significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

These proposed regulations involve

procedural rights of individuals under

the Freedom of Information Act.

Individuals are not considered to be

entities under the Regulatory Flexibility

Act.

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

These proposed regulations do not

contain any information collection

requirements.

Electronic Access to This Document

You may view this document, as well

as all other Department of Education

documents published in the Federal

Register, in text or Adobe Portable

Document Format (PDF) on the Internet

at either of the following sites:

http://ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.htm

http://www.ed.gov/news.html

To use the PDF you must have Adobe

Acrobat Reader, which is available free

at either of the previous sites. If you

have questions about using the PDF, call

the U.S. Government Printing Office

(GPO) at (202) 512–1530 or, toll free, at

1–888–293–6498.

Note: The official version of this document

is the document published in the Federal

Register. Free Internet access to the official

edition of the Federal Register and the Code

of Federal Regulations is available on GPO

Access at: http:/www.access.gpo.gov/nara/

index.html

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Number does not apply.)

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules 36761

List of Subjects in 34 CFR Part 5

Freedom of Information.

Dated: June 2, 2000.

Richard W. Riley,

Secretary of Education.

For the reasons discussed in the

preamble, the Secretary proposes to

amend title 34 of the Code of Federal

Regulations by revising part 5 to read as

follows:

PART 5—THE FREEDOM OF

INFORMATION ACT

Subpart A—General

Sec.

5.1 What is the purpose of these

regulations?

5.2 What definitions apply?

Subpart B—Records Available to the Public

5.10 What is the Department’s general

policy regarding disclosure of agency

records?

5.11 How does the Department make

agency records publicly available?

5.12 Does the FOIA require the Department

to create new records?

Subpart C—Procedures for Requesting

Access to Records

5.20 How do I make a FOIA request?

5.21 What procedures does the Department

follow for requests for business

information?

5.22 Who may deny a FOIA request?

Subpart D—Fees and Charges

5.30 What is the schedule of fees?

5.31 Will I be notified of my estimated fees?

5.32 How are fee payments made?

5.33 Under what circumstances must fees

be paid in advance?

5.34 What happens if fees are not paid?

5.35 Under what circumstances may fees be

waived?

Subpart E—Administrative Appeals

5.40 How do I appeal the denial of a FOIA

request or an adverse fee determination?

5.41 Who decides administrative appeals?

5.42 What is the review process for

appeals?

Appendix A to Part 5—Summary of Current

U.S. Department of Education Fees for

Processing FOIA Requests

Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552.

Subpart A—General

§ 5.1 What is the purpose of these

regulations?

This part contains the rules that the

Department of Education (Department

or ‘‘we’’) follows in processing requests

for records under the Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552.

These regulations inform you of the

Department’s FOIA policies and

procedures.

§ 5.2 What definitions apply?

As used in this part:

Act and FOIA mean the Freedom of

Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552.

Agency records. (1) The term means

documentary materials, regardless of

physical form or characteristics,

including those in electronic form,

made or received by the Department

under Federal law in connection with

the transaction of public business and in

the Department’s possession and control

at the time a FOIA request is received.

(2) These records include all

documentary materials either preserved

by the Department or appropriate for

preservation as evidence of its

organization, functions, policies,

decisions, procedures and operations, or

because of the informational value of

the data contained in the records.

(3) Records do not include the

following:

(i) Tangible, evidentiary objects or

equipment;

(ii) Library or museum materials made

or acquired and preserved solely for

reference or exhibition purposes;

(iii) Extra copies of documents

preserved only for convenience of

reference; and

(iv) Stocks of publications.

FOIA request means a written request

for agency records that reasonably

describes the records sought, made by

any individual, organization or

business.

Subpart B—Records Available to the

Public

§ 5.10 What is the Department’s general

policy regarding disclosure of agency

records?

The Department’s policy is one of full

disclosure limited only by the

obligations of confidentiality and the

administrative necessities recognized by

the Act. Thus, the Department makes

agency records available for public

inspection and copying, subject to the

exemptions in 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(1)–(9).

As a matter of policy, the Department

makes discretionary disclosures of

records exempt under the FOIA if it is

not foreseeable that disclosure would

harm an interest protected by the FOIA.

This policy, however, does not create

any right enforceable in court.

§ 5.11 How does the Department make

agency records publicly available?

(a)(1) The Department maintains a

FOIA Reading Room containing a wide

variety of agency records, including

Department publications, whether

available for purchase or not.

(2) The FOIA Reading Room currently

contains the following agency records:

(i) All final opinions (including

concurring and dissenting opinions) and

all orders made in the adjudication of

cases (initial decisions and

reconsiderations in matters that are not

the result of administrative proceedings

such as hearings or formal appeals are

not opinions and orders in the

adjudication of cases).

(ii) Those statements of policy and

interpretations that have been adopted

by the agency and are not published in

the Federal Register.

(iii) Administrative staff manuals and

instructions to staff that affect any

member of the public.

(iv) Copies of all records that have

been released to any person under 5

U.S.C. 552(a)(3) and that, because of the

nature of their subject matter, the

Department determines have become (or

are likely to become) the subject of

subsequent requests for substantially the

same records.

(v) An index of the records referred to

under paragraph (a)(2)(iv) of this

section.

(3) The FOIA Reading Room is located

at the National Library of Education,

400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC, Levels B and SB, and

is open to the public between 9 a.m. and

5 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through

Friday, except Federal holidays.

(4) Reading room records created after

November 1, 1996 are available on the

Department’s Web site at http://

www.ed.gov/offices/ocio/infocall/

info9.html

(b) The Department publishes the

following records in the Federal

Register:

(1) Descriptions of the Department’s

central and field organization and

established locations, including

Department contacts and methods by

which the public can obtain information

or decisions, or make submissions or

requests.

(2) Statements of the general course

and method the Department uses to

channel and determine functions,

including the nature and requirements

of all formal and informal procedures

available.

(3) Rules of procedures, descriptions

of forms available and locations where

forms may be obtained, and instructions

as to the scope and contents of all

papers, reports, or examinations.

(4) Substantive rules of general

applicability adopted as authorized by

law, and statements of general policy or

interpretations of general applicability

formulated and adopted by the

Department.

(5) Every amendment, revision, or

repeal of the materials described in

paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this

section.

(c)(1) You may seek access to agency

records not available as described in

36762 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules

paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section by

submitting a written request to the

Department, in accordance with the

procedures in § 5.20.

(2) The Department may deny access

to agency records or portions of records

under one or more of the FOIA

exemptions listed at 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1)–

(9).

§ 5.12 Does the FOIA require the

Department to create new records?

We are not required to create records

by compiling selected items from the

files, or by creating data such as ratios,

proportions, percentages, per capitas,

frequency distributions, trends,

correlations, and comparisons. If these

data have been compiled and are

available as an existing agency record,

we make the record available as

provided in § 5.11.

Subpart C—Procedures for Requesting

Access to Records

§ 5.20 How do I make a FOIA request?

(a)(1) In order to seek access to agency

records you must submit your request in

writing by one of the following

methods:

(i) U.S. mail or its equivalent to FOIA

Officer, Department of Education, 400

Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington,

DC 20202–4651.

(ii) Fax transmitted to FOIA Officer,

Department of Education at (202) 708–

9346.

(iii) An e-mail message submitted to

OCIO_FOIA@ed.gov.

(2) Be sure to clearly mark your

submission as a ‘‘FOIA Request’’ and

include your name, address, and

telephone number or numbers with your

request.

(b) Your request must reasonably

describe the records sought and may

include additional information that

would assist the Department in locating

the responsive records. In some

instances, we may require you to submit

additional information in order to

clarify the nature of your request. In

those situations, your request is not

considered to be received for the

purposes of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) until we

have received the necessary information

from you.

(c) Your request may also specify that

the records be provided in a specific

form or format. We make reasonable

efforts to comply with those requests.

(d) We process requests for electronic

records and retrieve those records if

retrieval can be achieved through

reasonable efforts (in terms of both time

and resources), and these efforts would

not significantly interfere with the

operation of an automated information

system.

(e) Your request must also indicate

whether you are willing to pay the fees

associated with processing the request

or if you are seeking a fee waiver.

(f) Once the office that maintains the

records sought in your request has

received your request, and you have

provided us with any necessary

clarifications, we make every reasonable

effort to process your request within the

twenty working day statutory

requirement. Where unusual

circumstances arise as defined in 5

U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)(iii), the Department

may grant an extension of up to ten (10)

additional working days.

§ 5.21 What procedures does the

Department follow for requests for business

information?

(a) Definitions. For purposes of this

section:

(1) Business information means

commercial or financial information

obtained by the Department from a

submitter that may be protected from

disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

(2) Submitter means any person or

entity from whom the Department

obtains business information, directly or

indirectly. The term includes

corporations and state, local, tribal, and

foreign governments.

(b) Designation of business

information. A submitter of business

information must use good-faith efforts

to designate, by appropriate markings,

either at the time of submission or at a

reasonable later time, any portions of its

submission that it considers to be

protected from disclosure under 5

U.S.C. 552(b)(4). These designations

expire ten years after the date of the

submission unless the submitter

requests, and provides justification for,

a longer designation period.

(c) Notice to submitters. The

Department provides a submitter with

prompt written notice of a FOIA request

or administrative appeal that seeks its

business information if required under

paragraph (d) of this section, except as

provided in paragraph (g) of this

section, in order to give the submitter an

opportunity to object to disclosure of

any specified portion of that

information under paragraph (e) of this

section. If the Department must notify a

voluminous number of submitters, we

may post or publish the notice in a

place reasonably likely to accomplish

notification.

(d) If notice is required. The

Department notifies a submitter if—

(1) The submitter in good faith has

designated the information as

information considered protected from

disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4); or

(2) The Department has reason to

believe that the information may be

protected from disclosure under 5

U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

(e) Opportunity to object to disclosure.

We allow a submitter a reasonable time

to respond to the notice described in

paragraph (c) of this section and specify

that time period within the notice. If a

submitter has any objection to

disclosure, it must submit a detailed

written statement. The statement must

specify all grounds for withholding any

portion of the information under any

exemption of the FOIA and, in the case

of objecting to disclosure under 5 U.S.C.

552(b)(4), it must show why the

information is a trade secret or

commercial or financial information

that is privileged or confidential. If a

submitter fails to respond to the notice

within the time specified in it, the

submitter may not object to disclosure

of the information. The Department only

considers information provided by the

submitter that we receive before we

make a disclosure decision. Information

provided by a submitter under this

paragraph may itself be subject to

disclosure under the FOIA.

(f) Notice of intent to disclose. We

consider a submitter’s objections and

specific grounds for nondisclosure in

deciding whether to disclose business

information. If we decide to disclose

business information over the objection

of a submitter, we give the submitter

written notice, which includes the

following:

(1) A statement of the reason or

reasons why each of the submitter’s

disclosure objections was not sustained.

(2) A description of the business

information to be disclosed.

(3) A specified disclosure date that is

a reasonable time after the notice of

intent to disclose.

(g) Exceptions to notice requirements.

The notice requirements of paragraphs

(c) and (f) of this section do not apply

if—

(1) The Department determines that

the information should not be disclosed;

(2) The information lawfully has been

published or has been officially made

available to the public;

(3) Disclosure of the information is

required by statute (other than the

FOIA) or by a regulation issued in

accordance with the requirements of

Executive Order 12600 (3 CFR, 1988

Comp., p. 235); or

(4) The designation made by the

submitter under paragraph (b) of this

section appears obviously frivolous—

except that, in such a case, the

Department, within a reasonable time

before a specified disclosure date, gives

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules 36763

the submitter written notice of any final

decision to disclose the information.

(h) Notice of FOIA lawsuit. If a

requester files a lawsuit seeking to

compel the disclosure of business

information, we promptly notify the

submitter.

(i) Corresponding notice to requesters.

If we provide a submitter with notice

and an opportunity to object to

disclosure under paragraph (c) of this

section, we also notify the requester or

requesters. If we notify a submitter of

our intent to disclose requested

information under paragraph (f) of this

section, we also notify the requester or

requesters. If a submitter files a lawsuit

seeking to prevent the disclosure of

business information, we notify the

requester or requesters.

§ 5.22 Who may deny a FOIA request?

The Department’s FOIA Officer, the

Inspector General or designee, and the

Regional FOIA Review Officers may

deny a FOIA request. Denials of

requests—

(a) Are in writing;

(b) Contain a statement of the reasons

for the denial and information on how

to file an appeal under subpart E of this

part; and

(c) Identify the person to whom an

appeal should be submitted.

Subpart D—Fees and Charges

§ 5.30 What is the schedule of fees?

(a) Fees under this part are assessed

in accordance with the Office of

Management and Budget’s ‘‘Uniform

FOIA Fee Schedule and Guidelines,’’ 52

FR 10012 (March 27, 1987), as follows:

(1) Search for records—(i) General.

We charge full search fees for records

requested for commercial use. We do

not charge a search fee for requests

made by representatives of the news

media or by educational or

noncommercial scientific institutions

whose purpose is scholarly or scientific

research and whose request is not for

commercial use. For any other noncommercial requests, we provide the

first two hours of search time without

charge, except as provided in paragraph

(a)(1)(iii) of this section. We calculate

and assess search fees to the nearest

quarter hour.

(ii) Manual search. We calculate the

charge for a manual search by

multiplying the search time (to the

nearest quarter hour) by the sum of the

basic rate of pay per hour of the

employee conducting the search plus 16

percent of that rate.

(iii) Computer search. The charge for

a computer search is the actual direct

cost of providing the service, including

the cost of operating the central

processing unit (CPU) for the operating

time that is directly attributable to

searching for records responsive to a

FOIA request, and the operator’s or

programmer’s salary apportionable to

the search.

(2) Review of records. If records are

requested for commercial use, we charge

fees for the initial examination of a

record to determine whether it should

be disclosed. We calculate review fees

by multiplying the review time (to the

nearest quarter hour) by the sum of the

basic rate of pay per hour of the

employee conducting the review plus 16

percent of that rate. If you request

records that are stored outside

Washington, DC, we add the mailing

and handling costs of transporting

records for review.

(3) Duplication of records. We do not

charge a duplication fee for the first 100

pages, except in the case of commercial

use requests. Duplication charges for

paper copy reproduction of documents

on photocopy machines is 15 cents per

page.

(4) Certification of records. The charge

for certifying records is $5 per record

certified.

(5) Other. If we have not established

a specific fee for a service, or you

request a service that does not fall under

one of the categories in paragraphs (a)(1)

through (a)(4) of this section, the FOIA

Officer may establish an appropriate fee,

based on direct costs, on a case-by-case

basis.

(b) If we award a contract for the

search or duplication of records

responsive to FOIA requests, the fees

charged are the actual costs under the

contract.

(c) We do not charge a fee if the total

amount of the fee would be less than

$10. If the total amount of the fee is $10

or more, we charge applicable search

and review costs even if no records are

located or disclosed.

(d) If the Department determines that

a requester, or a group of requesters, is

attempting to break down a request into

multiple requests for the purpose of

avoiding fee assessment, we combine

the requests for the purposes of charging

fees.

§ 5.31 Will I be notified of my estimated

fees?

If the estimated fees total more than

$25, or more than the amount specified

in the request if that amount exceeds

$25, we—

(a) Promptly notify you of the amount

of the estimated fee or that portion of

the fee that can readily be estimated;

and

(b) Offer you the opportunity to

modify your request.

§ 5.32 How are fee payments made?

You must make fee payments by

personal check or bank draft drawn on

a bank in the United States, postal

money order, or credit card (once

necessary procedures are established).

You must make fee payments payable to

the U.S. Department of Education, and

mail your payment to the FOIA Officer,

Department of Education, 400 Maryland

Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202–

4651. On request, we give you a receipt

for fees paid.

§ 5.33 Under what circumstances must

fees be paid in advance?

(a) If the estimated fee for processing

a request exceeds $250, the FOIA

Officer—

(1) Notifies you of anticipated fees

and obtains satisfactory assurance of

payment; or

(2) Requires advance payment before

records are released.

(b) If you have previously failed to

pay a fee, we require that the previous

charges plus any accrued interest be

paid before we process any subsequent

requests. In addition, we require

advance payment of estimated fees for

your current request.

(c) Requests under this part are not

deemed to have been received for

purposes of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) until we

receive satisfactory assurance of

payment or advance payment.

§ 5.34 What happens if fees are not paid?

If you do not pay a fee within 30 days

after we send you a bill, we charge you

interest at the rate designated at 31

U.S.C. 3717. The FOIA Officer may take

other steps permitted by Federal debt

collection statutes, including the use of

collection agencies or disclosure to

consumer-reporting organizations.

§ 5.35 Under what circumstances may fees

be waived?

(a) The FOIA provides for a fee waiver

if 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 is not

primarily in the commercial interest of

the requester.

(b)(1) You must apply to the FOIA

Officer for a fee waiver and address in

detail each of the factors in paragraphs

(b)(2)(i) through (b)(2)(vi) of this section.

Simply stating that the fee waiver

criteria have been satisfied is

insufficient for a fee waiver. In

evaluating the fee waiver request, the

FOIA Officer may ask for clarification or

additional information.

36764 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules

(2) The FOIA Officer will grant a fee

waiver only if each of the following six

fee waiver criteria have been met:

(i) The subject of the requested

records concerns the operations or

activities of the Government.

(ii) The disclosure is likely to

contribute to an understanding of

government operations or activities.

(iii) The disclosure of the requested

information will contribute to the

understanding of the public at large, as

opposed to an individual’s

understanding of government operations

or activities.

(iv) The disclosure is likely to

contribute significantly to public

understanding of government operations

or activities.

(v) The requester either does not have

a commercial interest that would be

furthered by the requested disclosure.

(vi) Any commercial interest of the

requester is outweighed by the public

interest in disclosure.

(c) You must ask for a fee waiver for

each request to which the waiver may

apply. We do not grant a standing fee

waiver. We consider the merit of each

fee waiver request.

Subpart E—Administrative Appeals

§ 5.40 How do I appeal the denial of a FOIA

request or an adverse fee determination?

(a) Appeal of denials. If we deny your

FOIA request in whole or in part under

§ 5.21, or when we advise you that we

are unable to locate responsive records,

you may file an appeal seeking

administrative review of the denial,

within 30 calendar days of your receipt

of the denial letter.

(b) Appeal of adverse fee

determinations. If we issue an adverse

fee determination, you may file an

appeal seeking administrative review of

the adverse determination, within 30

calendar days from receipt of the denial

letter. You may appeal any of the

following:

(1) Our estimate of fees to be charged.

(2) Our calculation of fees.

(3) Our denial of a request for a fee

waiver, in whole or in part.

(c) Contents of an appeal letter. Your

appeal must be in writing and must

include—

(1) Copies of the request and the

denial;

(2) A statement of all legal and factual

bases for the appeal; and

(3) Any evidence or argument you

wish us to consider in deciding the

appeal.

§ 5.41 Who decides administrative

appeals?

The Secretary delegates authority to

serve as the Department’s FOIA Appeals

Officer to a specific position or person.

We provide the name and address of

that person to the requester in a denial

issued under § 5.21.

§ 5.42 What is the review process for

appeals?

(a) An appeal determination is in

writing. A determination denying an

appeal in whole or in part states the

reasons for the adverse decision, and

advises you of the right to judicial

review of the decision.

(b) Once the FOIA Appeals Officer

has received your appeal for a denial of

a FOIA request, we make every

reasonable effort to process it within the

twenty working day statutory

requirement. Where unusual

circumstances arise as defined in 5

U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)(iii), the Department

may grant an extension of up to ten (10)

additional working days.

(c) Failure to comply with time limits

stated in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) constitutes

an exhaustion of your administrative

remedies.

BILLING CODE 4000–01–P

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Proposed Rules 36765

[FR Doc. 00–14484 Filed 6–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000–01–C