The Freedom of Information Act Reference Guide

I. Introduction

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, generally provides that any person has 

a right to request access to federal agency records. All agencies of the Executive Branch of the 

United States Government are required to disclose records under the FOIA upon receiving a 

written request for them, except for those records (or portions of them) that are protected from 

disclosure by the nine exemptions and three exclusions listed in the FOIA. Agencies are 

expected to administer the FOIA with a presumption in favor of disclosure, and to respond to 

FOIA requests promptly and in a spirit of cooperation. The Occupational Safety and Health 

Review Commission (the Commission) is an Executive Branch agency subject to the FOIA.

The Commission was created by Congress in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

Our primary mission is to serve as an administrative court providing fair and expeditious 

resolution of disputes involving the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration (OSHA), employers charged with violations of Federal safety and health 

standards, and employees and/or their representatives. The Commission is a completely 

independent agency that is not part of the Department of Labor. This helps ensure that 

OSHA’s enforcement actions are carried out in accordance with the law and that parties receive

due process.

Please note that because the Commission and OSHA are two separate entities, each agency has 

its own FOIA office. If you are requesting information maintained by OSHA (such as records 

about citations that were not contested, or inspections that did not result in citations), please 

contact OSHA about your request. 

This Reference Guide is designed to familiarize you with the specific procedures for sending a 

FOIA request to the Commission. Following the guidance below will make it more likely that 

you will receive the records that you are seeking in the shortest amount of time possible. This 

Reference Guide also describes the types of records maintained by the Commission, some of 

which are already available to the public on the Commission’s website. This website includes

the Commission’s FOIA home page and e-FOIA Reading Room.

The regulations that govern sending a FOIA request to the Commission are listed in 29 C.F.R. 

part 2201. These regulations are posted on the Commission’s FOIA home page.

II. Access to Certain Records Without a FOIA Request

The Commission makes certain agency records available for inspection and copying on its 

website, including records posted in its e-FOIA Reading Room. If you have access to the 

Internet, you will not need to make a FOIA request to obtain access to these records. These 

records include:

(1) Final decisions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, remand orders, as well as 

Administrative Law Judge decisions pending the Commission’s review, briefing notices, 

and other significant orders;

(2) The Commission’s Rules of Procedure and guides to those procedures;
(3) Any agency policy statements and interpretations adopted by the Commission that are not 

published in the Federal Register;

(4) Any administrative Commission manuals that affect the public;

(5) Copies of records that have been released to a person under the FOIA that, because of the 

subject matter, the Commission determines have become or are likely to become the 

subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records;

(6) Copies of records that have been released to a person under the FOIA and have been 

requested three or more times;

(7) Copies of records that the Commission determines, absent a FOIA request, could be of 

significant public interest; and

(8) A general index of records referred to in (5), (6), and (7).

The Commission’s annual FOIA reports are also available on the Commission’s website. These 

reports include such information as the number of FOIA requests received by the agency, the 

amount of time taken to process requests, the total amount of fees collected by the agency, 

information regarding any backlog of pending requests, and other information about the agency’s 

handling of FOIA requests. Posted with the annual FOIA reports (since 2016) are spreadsheets 

containing the raw data used to complete these reports.

If you are unable to access the Internet, the Commission also permits access, upon request, to its 

e-FOIA Reading Room via a computer terminal at its National Office, located at 1120 20th 

Street, NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20036-3457. Requests to access records in this manner

must be made in writing to the Commission’s FOIA Requester Service Center (see contact 

information below) and must identify a preferred date and time for the requested access. The 

Commission will contact you about your request for an appointment and may need to arrange a 

different date and time.

III. Where & How to Make a FOIA Request

FOIA requests submitted to the Commission should be for agency records. These are existing 

records that are either created or obtained by the Commission and under our control at the time 

of the FOIA request. Agency records may be maintained in various formats, including an 

electronic format, such as email. 

To receive the quickest possible response to your request, please use the Commission’s online

FOIA Request form and email the completed form to the Commission’s FOIA Requester Service 

Center at OSHRC_FOIA@Oshrc.gov. You may also mail the form to the following address or 

fax it to the fax number listed below: 

FOIA Request

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

FOIA Requester Service Center

1120 20th Street, NW, 9th Floor

Washington, DC 20036-3457

Phone: (202) 606-5724

Fax: (202) 606-5417
Use of the online FOIA Request form is not required, but your request must be made in writing 

and should be sent to the FOIA Requester Service Center using the contact information provided 

above. You should write the words “FOIA Request” on the envelope or fax cover sheet, or in the 

subject line of the email, as well as in your letter. 

Requests may also be made through the National FOIA Portal. To submit a FOIA request through 

the National FOIA Portal, complete the Commission’s form on the FOIA.gov webpage and click 

on “Submit Request.”

If you send your request to the wrong office at the Commission, your request will still be 

processed, but the time for responding to it will begin only once it is received by the FOIA 

Requester Service Center.

What to include in your request

Be as specific as possible in identifying the records you are requesting. The more specific you 

are about the records or types of records you seek, the more likely it is that those records will be 

promptly located. For example, if you are seeking records related to a case before the 

Commission, specify the Commission docket number, employer name, and/or inspection 

number. We also recommend that you include, along with your mailing address and/or email

address, a telephone number at which you can be reached if we need to contact you about your 

request. If you provide an email address, the FOIA Requester Service Center will send you an 

email acknowledging receipt of your request.

Before or upon submission of your request, you may contact the FOIA Requester Service Center 

to discuss the records you are seeking and receive assistance in describing them or narrowing 

your request. In addition, the Commission may seek further clarification from you about your 

request in order to provide responsive documents. 

In your request, you should also note whether you are seeking expedited processing and/or a fee 

waiver, the requirements for which are discussed in more detail below. Finally, you are 

encouraged to specify in your request the preferred form or format of our response, including 

electronic formats. Your preference will be honored if, using that form or format, the 

Commission can readily reproduce the records with reasonable effort. If you do not request a 

particular form or format, the records will be provided to you in the form or format that is most 

accessible to the Commission. 

Verifying identity if requesting records about yourself

When you are requesting records about yourself, you must comply with the requirements for 

verifying your identity in the Commission’s Privacy Act regulations. These requirements allow 

you to verify your identity in the following ways:

(1) If you are seeking access to records about yourself in person, you may establish your 

identity by presenting a single document bearing a photograph (such as a passport, 

employee identification card, or valid driver’s license), or by presenting two items of 

identification which do not bear a photograph but do bear both your name and address 

(such as a billing statement). 

(2) If you are seeking access to records about yourself by mail or email, you may establish 

your identity by a signature, address, date of birth, place of birth, employee identification 
number, if any, and one other identifier such as a photocopy of a document that identifies 

you (as identified in #1 above). 

(3) If you are unable to provide the verification documentation identified above, you may 

establish your identity by providing a notarized statement, or a declaration in accordance 

with 28 U.S.C. § 1746, swearing or affirming to your identity and to the fact that you 

understand the penalties for false statements pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Forms for 

notarized statements may be obtained on request from the Commission’s Privacy Officer:

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

Privacy Officer

1120 20th Street, NW, Ninth Floor

Washington, DC 20036-3457

When requesting records about another individual and not yourself, you may gain greater access 

to those records if that individual signs a notarized statement or declaration in accordance with 

28 U.S.C. § 1746, or if you provide proof that the individual is deceased (a copy of an obituary 

or death certificate, for example).

If you are only requesting other types of agency records, such as filings in a case before the 

Commission, you are not required to verify your identity.

Records that may not be provided

Please be aware that the FOIA only provides for the release of existing records and does not 

require the agency to conduct research for you, to analyze data, to answer written questions, or to 

create records to respond to a request. Further, there are statutory exemptions and exclusions

(discussed in Section IX of this guide) that authorize the redaction or withholding of certain 

sensitive information.

IV. Time for Response

Under the FOIA, federal agencies are required to respond to a FOIA request within 20 working 

days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. This time period does not begin until 

(1) the request is received by the FOIA Requester Service Center; (2) the request reasonably 

describes the records sought; and (3) for requests where the fee is expected to exceed $25, no 

question remains about the payment of applicable fees (advance payment of fees might be 

required if the total amount is expected to exceed $250). The Commission is not required to 

send the documents that respond to your request by the last business day of the time period; the 

FOIA Requester Service Center will contact you in writing by e-mail or letter telling you of the 

Commission’s decision and then send the releasable documents to you as promptly as possible.

If we need further information from you, the time period for responding to your request will be 

paused until you provide the necessary information. This procedure, known as “tolling,” can be 

used only once by the agency for the purpose of seeking additional information. The 

Commission may also toll, as many times as are necessary, the time period for responding to 

your request to clarify with you any issues regarding fee assessment (and in certain situations 

discussed in Section VII of this guide, may continue to toll the time period for response while 

awaiting assurance of payment or advance payment). In either case, once the agency receives 

your response to a request for information or clarification, the tolling period ends and the

response period restarts.
The Commission makes every effort to respond to a FOIA request as quickly as possible. Most 

requests are processed on a first-in, first-out basis. In many cases, we are able to respond to a 

FOIA request within 20 working days. However, the Commission is allowed to extend the 

response time for an additional 10 working days when “unusual circumstances” (as defined by 

the Commission’s FOIA regulations) exist. These circumstances might arise if a request requires 

us to:

(1) Search for and collect records from one of the Commission’s regional offices or off-site 

storage facilities;

(2) Search for, collect, and appropriately review a voluminous amount of separate and 

distinct records that are sought in a single request; or

(3) Consult with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the 

request.

You will be notified in writing of the reasons for the extension and the date on which the 

Commission expects to make a determination regarding your request. If the Commission 

anticipates that a determination regarding your request will not be made within the allowable 

time (20 working days plus a 10 working-day extension), you will be notified in writing and 

offered the opportunity to modify or limit your request. Alternatively, you may agree to a 

different timetable for the processing of your request (such as receiving partial responses as the 

Commission continues to complete processing of your request). 

If you are dissatisfied with the Commission’s attempt to resolve these issues, you may seek 

dispute resolution services from the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of 

Government Information Services (OGIS). The contact information for OGIS is: 

Office of Government Information Services

8601 Adelphi Rd.

College Park, MD 20740-6001

ogis@nara.gov / 1-877-684-6448 

You may check on the status of your FOIA request, including the date on which the Commission 

received your request and an estimated date of completion, by contacting the FOIA Requester 

Service Center. 

V. FOIA Public Liaison

If you have concerns about the service you have received following an initial response to a FOIA 

request, you may contact the Commission’s FOIA Public Liaison at the same email, address, 

telephone number, and fax number as the FOIA Requester Service Center. The FOIA Public 

Liaison is responsible for assisting in reducing delays, increasing transparency and understanding 

of the status of requests, and assisting in the resolution of any disputes.

VI. Expedited Processing

Under certain conditions, you may be entitled to have your request processed on an expedited 

basis. The Commission will grant expedited processing if your request demonstrates that a 

failure to do so could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to someone’s life or 

physical safety. The Commission will also grant expedited processing if the request 

demonstrates that you, the requester, are primarily engaged in disseminating information to the 
public and the information is urgently needed to inform the public concerning some actual or 

alleged government activity. 

If you request expedited processing, you must provide the reasons for your request in writing. 

You must also certify that the reasons you give are true and correct. The Commission will notify 

you of its decision within 10 calendar days after receiving your request for expedited processing. 

If your request for expedited processing is denied, you will be advised of the reason for the

denial, the name and title of the person who made the decision, and your right to an 

administrative appeal, which will be handled promptly. The procedures for submitting an appeal 

are discussed in Section X of this guide.

VII. Fees

There is no initial fee to file a FOIA request. However, the FOIA provides that an agency is 

entitled to charge certain fees for processing a request depending on what type of FOIA requester 

you are. For purposes of determining fees only, the FOIA divides requesters into the 

following categories:

• Commercial use requesters may be charged fees for searching for records, “processing” 

the records (reviewing them to determine the possible applicability of FOIA exemptions), 

and photocopying them;

• Educational or scientific institutions, whose request is not for commercial use, may be 

charged only for photocopying expenses, after the first 100 pages of copies; and

• Representatives of the news media, whose request is not for commercial use, may be 

charged only for photocopying expenses, after the first 100 pages of copies.

All other noncommercial requesters are charged only for record searches and photocopying and 

there is no charge for the first two hours of search time or for the first 100 pages of photocopies. 

With some exceptions (which are discussed below), if the Commission does not respond to your 

request within the 20-working-day time period, search fees will not be assessed for any of the 

three categories of requesters, and duplication fees will not be assessed for the second and third 

categories of requesters, i.e., for educational or scientific institutions and representatives of the 

news media whose request is not for commercial use. 

If the Commission determines and has notified you in writing that there are unusual 

circumstances (as discussed above), the Commission may still charge for the fees previously 

described if it responds to your request within the 30-working-day time period allowed for these 

types of requests.

The Commission charges 25 cents per page for photocopying. Rates for searching for and 

processing records vary depending on whether the work is handled by a managerial, 

professional, or clerical employee, or some combination of personnel. These rates may be found

in the table below, as well as in the Appendix to the Commission’s FOIA regulations. In all 

cases, if the total fee does not exceed a minimum amount, currently $10, the Commission will 

not charge any fee at all.

You may include in your FOIA request a specific statement limiting the amount that you are 

willing to pay in fees. If you do not specify a limit, we will assume that you are willing to pay 

up to $25. If we determine that the total fees will exceed $25, we will advise you of the 

estimated amount (with an explanation of which services you are being charged for) and offer 
you an opportunity to narrow your request in order to reduce the fees. If you choose not to 

narrow your request, we will confirm your commitment to pay the estimated fees in writing, at 

which time your request will be considered received for processing. Be aware that you may be 

required to pay fees even if the search does not locate any responsive records or, if the records 

are located, the Commission determines that they are exempt from disclosure.

You ordinarily will not be required to pay the fees until the records have been processed and are 

ready to be sent to you. If, however, you have failed to pay fees in the past, or if the estimated 

fees exceed $250, you will be required to pay the estimated fees in advance—that is, before the 

records are processed. If you fail to pay fees within 30 days of billing, you will be charged 

interest on your overdue balance, and the Commission will not proceed with any further requests 

from you until payment in full has been made.

Type of Fee Amount of Fee

Threshold Amount

(Amount below which fees will not 

be assessed)

$10

Search and Review Hourly Fees

 Clerical (GS-9 and below)

 Professional (GS-10 to GS-14)

 Managerial (GS-15 and above)

$23

$46

$76

Duplication cost per page $0.25

Computer printout copying fee $0.40

Searches of computerized records

Actual cost to the Commission, but will not exceed $300 per 

hour, including machine time and the cost of the operator 

and clerical personnel.

Certification Fee

$35 per authenticating affidavit or declaration. 

(Note: Search and review charges may be assessed in 

accordance with the rates listed above.)

VIII. Fee Waivers

If you expect or are advised that a fee will be charged, you may request a waiver of those fees. 

However, fee waivers are limited to situations in which a requester can show that the disclosure 

of the requested information (1) is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute 

significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, and (2) is 

not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. In certain cases, even if these two

conditions are met, the Commission may grant only a partial waiver of fees (as opposed to a 

complete waiver) if the request would impose an exceptional burden on or require an exceptional 

expenditure of Commission resources, and the request only minimally satisfies item (1) above. 
Requests for fee waivers from individuals who are seeking records pertaining to themselves 

usually do not meet this standard, because such disclosures usually will not result in any increase 

of the public’s understanding of government operations or activities. However, under the 

Commission’s Privacy Act regulations, individuals are not charged search and review fees 

pertaining to records requested about themselves, but can be charged for any duplication fees.

Finally, a requester’s inability to pay fees is not a legal basis for granting a fee waiver. (Note 

that the granting of a fee waiver, which is based on general public interest, is entirely separate 

and distinct from the limitations on fees discussed in Section VII of this guide.)

IX. Initial Determination of a FOIA Request

Once we have processed your request and any fee issues have been resolved, we will send you a 

written initial determination letter. In most cases, we will include any documents that can be 

disclosed, though in some cases the documents themselves may be sent promptly afterward. The 

FOIA provides access to all federal agency records, except for those records that are redacted or 

withheld under any of nine exemptions or three exclusions—the reasons for which an agency 

may redact or withhold records from a requester (discussed below). 

Initial determination letter

Our initial determination letter will advise you whether any responsive record is being redacted 

or withheld pursuant to one or more of the exemptions. When a portion of a record is redacted, 

the released portion of the record will indicate each redaction and the exemption under which the 

redaction is made. When a record is being withheld in its entirety, the letter will either specify 

the number of pages being withheld, include an estimate of the volume of the withheld 

information, or describe the type of record being withheld (unless including that information 

would harm the interest protected by the exemption). In the event of a redaction or withholding, 

the letter will notify you of the dispute resolution services offered by OGIS and your right to 

appeal this initial determination to the Chairman of the Commission (see Section X).

Exemptions

The nine FOIA exemptions authorize federal agencies to redact or withhold documents 

categorized as:

(1) Classified national defense and foreign relations information;

(2) Internal agency rules and practices;

(3) Information that is prohibited from disclosure by another federal law;

(4) Trade secrets and other confidential business information;

(5) Inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal privileges;

(6) Information involving matters of personal privacy (note that this is the exemption most 

commonly used in Commission records);

(7) Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, to the extent that the 

production of those records—

(A)Could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings,

(B) Would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,
(C) Could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal 

privacy,

(D)Could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source,

(E) Would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or 

prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or 

prosecutions, or

(F) Could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any 

individual;

(8) Information relating to the supervision of financial institutions; and

(9) Geological information on wells.

Exclusions

Congress also provided special protection in the FOIA for three narrow categories of law 

enforcement and national security records. The provisions protecting those records are known as 

“exclusions.” Records falling within an exclusion are not subject to the requirements of the 

FOIA. Note that it is highly unlikely that the Commission would maintain any records falling 

within these exclusions because they pertain to especially sensitive law enforcement and national 

security matters.

X. Appeals

If you disagree with our decision to redact or withhold records, or you believe there are 

additional records we failed to locate, you may file an administrative appeal within 90 calendar

days of the date of the Commission’s written response to you. You may also file an appeal 

within the same timeframe if we have denied your request for expedited processing or a fee 

waiver, or if you disagree with the fee category in which we placed you. All appeals must be 

made in writing and sent to:

FOIA Appeal

Chairman

Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission

1120 20th Street, NW, 9th Floor

Washington, DC 20036-3457

Fax: (202) 606-5396

Email: OSHRC_FOIA@Oshrc.gov

The front of the envelope or fax cover sheet, or the subject line of the email, as well as the appeal 

letter itself, should contain the notation “FOIA Appeal.” There is no specific form or particular 

language needed to file an administrative appeal, and you do not need to include copies of any 

documents disclosed. However, you must clearly identify the agency determination that is being 

appealed and your assigned FOIA tracking number (FOIA File No. ##-####), which will be 

noted in our written response. 

Within 20 working days after receipt of the appeal, the Commission’s Chairman will issue a 

written decision that resolves the appeal. The Chairman may:

(1) Affirm the initial determination in full, in which case he or she will identify which 

exemptions (if any) have been appropriately claimed;
(2) Affirm part of the initial determination (identifying the applicable exemptions), but 

release to you other information previously redacted or withheld; or

(3) Reverse the initial determination and release to you all the information you requested.

This decision will notify you of your right to obtain “judicial review” (discussed below), and also 

direct you to the dispute resolution services offered by OGIS. 

If the Chairman was involved in the initial processing of the request, the Chairman will be 

recused from consideration of the administrative appeal and the responsibilities for adjudicating 

the appeal will be delegated to another agency official. 

XI. Judicial Review

After your administrative appeal has been decided, if you still believe that the Commission has 

not handled your FOIA request in accordance with the law, you have a right to challenge the 

agency’s action in a lawsuit filed in federal district court through the litigation process known as 

“judicial review.” Judicial review ordinarily requires that you have already filed an 

administrative appeal and have received a response. However, if the Commission fails to 

respond to either your initial request or your appeal within the time limits specified in the FOIA, 

you may file a lawsuit in federal district court as soon as those time limits have expired.

You may file in a federal district court in any of the following places:

(1) Where you reside,

(2) Where you have your principal place of business (if any),

(3) In the District of Columbia, or

(4) Where the records are located, if they are not located in the District of Columbia.

Your administrative appeal determination from the Chairman will also advise you of your right 

to seek judicial review. You have six years to file from the time your right to sue begins.

Finally, please understand that employees of the Commission are prohibited from giving legal 

advice to members of the public on FOIA litigation.

XII. Major Information and Locator Systems

The Commission’s Website. This provides access to agency records, including the 

Commission’s decisions and orders, procedural rules, budgets, performance reports, press 

releases, the OSH Act, and job announcements. Final decisions of the Commission are also 

available in commercial publications.

Case files. These include individual files for all cases processed and/or decided by the 

Commission including all documents and pleadings filed in a given case. For cases that go to a 

hearing, the file may contain transcripts of the hearing and any exhibits entered into the record.

Administrative systems. This includes record management systems for case tracking, 

payroll/personnel services, procurement services, accounting services, and travel services.