DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REFERENCE GUIDE

I. INTRODUCTION

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), found at 5 U.S.C. § 552, provides that every person 

has the right to request access to Federal agency records or information. Federal agencies, such 

as the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), are required to disclose records upon 

receiving a written request for them, with the exception of records that are protected from 

disclosure by the nine exemptions of the FOIA. This right of access is enforceable in court. All 

states have their own statutes governing public access to state and local records, and state 

authorities should be consulted for further information concerning their statutes.

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

FOIA request to the DNFSB. The process is neither complicated nor time-consuming. Following 

the guidance below will make it more likely that you will receive the information you are 

seeking in the shortest amount of time. This Guide also includes descriptions of the types of 

records maintained by the DNFSB, some of which are available through means other than the 

FOIA. This Guide provides contact information for the DNFSB’s FOIA Office, so that you may 

contact that Office directly. The DNFSB’s Electronic FOIA Reading Room, which contains this 

Reference Guide, is located at https://www.dnfsb.gov/foia-reading-room. 

Initially, it is important to understand that there is no central office in the government that 

processes FOIA requests for all Federal departments and agencies. Each Federal department and 

agency responds to requests for its own records. Therefore, before sending a request to the 

DNFSB, you should determine whether the DNFSB is likely to have the records you are seeking. 

In making that determination, it is important to note that the DNFSB is an independent agency 

and thus not a part of any other Federal Department or agency, such as DOE, the Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, or the Department of Defense. 

Each Federal department and agency is required to provide reference material to assist those who 

wish to request records from them. Accordingly, you should view the websites of any Federal 

agency which might have records you seek. By doing so, you will learn what records are already 

available on the agency’s website and you will also be able to determine which agency is likely 
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to maintain the records you are seeking. Contact information for other Federal departments and 

agencies is available on the National FOIA Portal.

The formal rules for making FOIA requests to the DNFSB are set forth in the DNFSB’s 

regulations. These regulations are available on the DNFSB’s landing page on the National FOIA 

Portal. In most cases, this Reference Guide should provide you with all the basic information that 

you will need for submitting requests.

II. RECORDS YOU CAN ACCESS WITHOUT A FOIA REQUEST

Depending on what kind of information you are looking for, you may not need to make a formal 

FOIA request. The DNFSB proactively posts a wealth of information about the agency and its 

operations on the DNFSB’s public website, including:

• DNFSB regulations and policy statements,

• DNFSB recommendations, 

• External communications between the DNFSB and its stakeholders, 

• Notational votes on official agency matters,

• Reports to Congress, 

• Staff weekly reports, 

• Monthly site reports, 

• Technical reports, 

• Transcripts of public meetings and hearings,

• Background information about the agency’s history and mission, 

• Biographical information about the current Board Members and Resident Inspectors, and 

• Copies of briefing materials presented to the DNFSB by outside organizations.

The DNFSB encourages you to use the DNFSB’s public website as the starting point for your 

search.

III. FILING A FOIA REQUEST

A. What is a FOIA Request?

Under the FOIA, any person can make a request for records maintained by the 

DNFSB. The requested records will be made available to the person seeking them, 

unless the records are protected from disclosure by one of the FOIA’s nine 

exemptions. The DNFSB’s formal procedures for accepting and processing FOIA 

requests are published at 10 C.F.R. Part 1703. This Guide summarizes the most 

important information from those procedures. Failure to follow those procedures may 

preclude the DNFSB from processing your request. 
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A FOIA request can be made for any agency record; however, this does not mean that 

the DNFSB will disclose any record sought. There are statutory exemptions that 

authorize the withholding of certain information. When the DNFSB does withhold 

information, it will specify which exemption of the FOIA permits the withholding. 

You should be aware that the FOIA does not require the DNFSB to do research for 

you, to analyze data, to answer written questions, or to create records in order to 

respond to a request.

B. Where do You File a FOIA Request?

As required by the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, the Office of Management and 

Budget and the Department of Justice created a National FOIA Portal that allows a 

member of the public to submit a FOIA request for records to any Federal agency 

from a single website. A person may file a FOIA request for records believed to be in 

the DNFSB’s custody through the DNFSB’s landing page on the National FOIA 

Portal.

Alternatively, a requester may submit a FOIA request to the Chief FOIA Officer via 

email at FOIA@dnfsb.gov or in writing to:

Chief FOIA Officer

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700

Washington, DC 20004

In either case, you must clearly mark your communication as a “FOIA Request.”

C. What do You Include in a FOIA Request?

There is no special form or particular wording for making requests. You must 

describe the records you seek in sufficient detail to enable DNFSB personnel to locate 

them with a reasonable amount of effort – i.e. by being as specific as possible with 

regard to names, dates, titles, file designations, author(s), and/or subject matter(s). 

More focused requests can generally be processed more expeditiously and costeffectively. 

You must also include (1) a statement indicating your willingness to pay the 

applicable fee or to pay a fee not exceeding a specific amount, or (2) a request for a 

fee waiver. If you wish to receive the records in a particular format (e.g., electronic or 

hard copy), you should note that in your request. It is also prudent to include your 

contact information in your request should DNFSB personnel need to consult with 

you. 
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D. What Happens After You Submit a FOIA Request?

When the DNFSB’s FOIA Office receives your FOIA request, it ordinarily will send 

you a letter acknowledging the request and assigning it a tracking number. If the 

Office requires additional information from you so that it can begin processing your

request, it will contact you. Additionally, you should be aware that the DNFSB FOIA 

Office ordinarily will use the date upon which they begin a record search as the “cutoff” date for identifying the records that are responsive to a FOIA request. Of course, 

you can specify a different date-range for the records you seek, and the Office would 

then search for records created during the time period you specify.

E. Privacy Act Records

To maximize the amount of information we can provide to you, we may process 

requests you make for records about yourself under both the FOIA and the Privacy 

Act of 1974 and the DNFSB’s respective implementing regulations. In order to 

protect your privacy as well as the privacy of others, whenever you request 

information about yourself, you must include the following in your request:

• Your full name, current address, and telephone number; 

• Proof of identification (e.g. a copy of a valid driver’s license, valid passport, 

or other current identification that contains both your address and picture); 

and

• The system of records in which the desired information is contained.

If you request information about yourself and do not provide the requisite 

information, your request cannot be processed. This requirement helps to ensure that 

personal information about you will not be inappropriately disclosed to anyone else. 

Similarly, if you request records about another person and disclosure of the records 

would invade that person’s privacy, those records ordinarily will not be disclosed to 

you. When a request for records pertains to a third party, you may receive greater 

access by submitting either written consent signed by that individual authorizing 

disclosure of the records to you, or by submitting proof that the individual is deceased 

(e.g., a copy of a death certificate or obituary).

IV. RESPONSE TIMES

The DNFSB is required to respond to a FOIA request within 20 business days, excluding 

Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The time to respond does not begin until the perfected

request is received by the DNFSB’s Chief FOIA Officer or his designee. The FOIA permits the 
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DNFSB to toll (stop) the statutory time period one time to seek information from a requester and 

to toll the statutory time period as many times as necessary to clarify fee assessments.

Although the DNFSB makes every effort to respond to FOIA requests as quickly as possible, in 

some cases it simply cannot do so within the specified time period. This may be due either to the 

volume of records at issue in a given request or to the fact that the DNFSB has a backlog of 

previously received requests that are awaiting processing. 

Under the FOIA and the DNFSB’s implementing regulations, the DNFSB may extend the 20-day 

response time for up to 10 additional work days in “unusual circumstances” by written notice to 

the requester. Unusual circumstances exist when:

• The DNFSB needs to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or 

other establishments that are separate from the DNFSB’s Washington, DC offices;

• The request involves a “voluminous” amount of records that must be located, compiled, 

and reviewed; or

• The DNFSB needs to consult with another Federal agency that may have a substantial 

interest in the responsive information.

If the DNFSB will be unable to satisfy the request in this additional period of time, it will notify 

you in writing and offer you the opportunity to modify or limit the scope of your request. 

Alternatively, you may work with the DNFSB’s FOIA Public Liaison to establish a different 

timetable for the processing of your request. As explained in Section VI below, the DNFSB will 

not charge you any applicable fees if it fails to comply with the timelines established in this 

section.

V. EXPEDITED PROCESSING

You may be entitled to have your request processed on an expedited basis if you can demonstrate 

a “compelling need” for the requested records. A “compelling need” exists when:

• The lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat 

to someone’s life or physical safety;

• The request is made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information to the 

public and the information is urgently needed to inform the public concerning some 

actual or alleged Federal government activity; or

• The requested records pertain to an immediate source of risk to the public health and 

safety or worker safety at a defense nuclear facility under the DNFSB’s jurisdiction.

A request for expedited processing should be accompanied by a statement of all the facts 

supporting your need for expedited processing. Your request must also include the following 
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certification statement: “These facts are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and 

belief.”

The DNFSB will notify you of its decision to grant or deny expedited processing within 10

calendar days after receiving your request. If the DNFSB denies your request for expedited 

processing, you will be advised of your right to submit an administrative appeal of that denial, 

which will be handled expeditiously.

VI. FEES

There is no initial fee required to submit a FOIA request and, in the majority of requests made to 

the DNFSB, no fees are charged. However, the DNFSB is entitled to charge duplication, search, 

and processing fees, as explained below. Nonetheless, the DNFSB may not charge any fees if it 

fails to comply with the administrative time limits set forth in Section IV. 

For purposes of calculating fees, the FOIA divides requesters into three categories: (1) 

commercial use requesters, (2) educational or non-commercial scientific institutions and

representatives of the news media, and (3) all other requesters. Different fees are assessed 

depending on the category.

Category Chargeable Service Fee

Commercial Use Requesters Charged for record searches, review, and 

duplication.

Educational or 

Non-commercial Scientific 

Institutions and Representatives 

of the News Media1

Charged only for duplication fees after the 

first 100 pages.

All Other Requesters Charged only for record searches after the 

first two hours and duplication after the 

first 100 pages. 

 1 In determining whether a requester qualifies as a “representative of the news media,” the DNFSB will implement

the holding in Cause of Action v. Federal Trade Commission. See 799 F.3d 1108 (D.C. Cir. 2015). Specifically, a 

requester must satisfy the following five criteria to qualify as a “representative of the news media:” (1) the person 

or entity must gather information of potential interest, (2) to a segment of the public, (3) use its editorial skills to 

turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and (4) distribute that work (5) to an audience. Id. at 1120; 5 U.S.C. § 

552(a)(4)(A). In making a news media requester fee category determination, the DNFSB will focus on the nature of 

the requester and not its request.
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The DNFSB currently charges $85 per hour of search or review time. The duplication charge for 

paper is $.05 per page if done in-house, or $.10 per page if done externally. The duplication 

charges for other items, such as electronic media, can be found in the DNFSB’s Schedule of 

Fees. In all cases, if the total fee does not exceed $25, the DNFSB will not charge any fee at all.

You may always include in your request letter a specific statement limiting the amount that you 

are willing to pay in fees. If you do not do so, the DNFSB will assume that you are willing to pay 

fees of up to $25. If the DNFSB estimates that the search or duplication fees for your request will 

exceed $25, it will notify you in writing of the estimate, unless you have indicated in advance 

your willingness to pay fees as high as those anticipated. The notice will offer you an 

opportunity to narrow your request in order to reduce the fees. Depending on your fee category, 

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

responsive records are determined to be exempt from disclosure. 

Generally, you will not be required to pay the fees until the records have been processed and are 

ready to be sent to you; however, if you have previously failed to pay fees, or if the estimated 

fees exceed $250, you may be required to pay the estimated fees in advance of receipt of the 

records. In all situations involving advance payment, the administrative time limits set forth in 

Section IV will begin only after the DNFSB has received the fee payment.

VII. FEE WAIVERS

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

Under the FOIA, fee waivers are limited to situations in which a requester can show that the 

disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute 

significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government and is not 

primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Requests for fee waivers from individuals 

who are seeking records pertaining to themselves usually do not meet this standard because such 

disclosures usually benefit the individual requester rather than increase the public’s 

understanding of government operations and activities. In addition, a requester’s inability to pay 

fees is not a legal basis for granting a fee waiver.

The DNFSB will issue a final decision on a fee waiver request within five (5) business days of 

receipt. 

VIII. INITIAL REQUEST DETERMINATIONS

Once the DNFSB has processed your request and any fee issues have been resolved, the DNFSB

will send you a written initial determination. In the vast majority of cases, the DNFSB will 

include all documents that can be disclosed along with the determination letter, though in some 

cases the documents themselves may be sent to you separately, within a reasonable time after the 

determination letter has been sent to you. As mentioned previously, the FOIA provides access to 

all Federal agency records, or portions of those records, except to the extent those records are 

protected by any of the FOIA’s nine exemptions. The determination letter will advise you of 
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whether any information is being withheld pursuant to one or more of the exemptions. When a 

page of a record is being withheld in its entirety, the DNFSB ordinarily will specify the number 

of pages being withheld or make a reasonable effort to estimate the volume of the withheld 

information. Where a page of a record is being withheld in part, the withheld portions of the page 

will ordinarily be specifically marked with the applicable exemptions.

The FOIA authorizes agencies to withhold information when they reasonably foresee that 

disclosure would harm an interest protected by one of nine exemptions covering:

1. Classified national defense and foreign relations information;

2. Internal agency personnel rules and practices;

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

4. Trade secrets and other confidential or privileged commercial or financial information;

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

6. Information involving matters of personal privacy;

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 and/or information 

provided by 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.

IX. RESOLVING DISPUTES

The DNFSB has a FOIA Public Liaison who can help you if you are dissatisfied with the 

services received from the DNFSB’s FOIA Office. The FOIA Public Liaison can assist you 

throughout the request process, from working with you to arrange an alternative time frame for 

processing your request, to increasing understanding regarding the status of your request, to 

assisting you in resolving disputes. The contact information for the DNFSB’s FOIA Public 

Liaison can be found in the DNFSB’s Electronic Reading Room.
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In addition, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), an office created within the 

National Archives and Records Administration, offers mediation services to FOIA requesters. 

They may be contacted in any of the following ways:

Office of Government Information Services

National Archives and Records Administration

Room 2510

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

Email: ogis@nara.gov (link sends e-mail)

Phone: 301-837-1996

Fax: 301-837-0348

Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448

Finally, the FOIA provides requesters with the right to challenge an agency’s action in Federal 

court. Before doing so, you ordinarily will be required to have first filed an administrative 

appeal.

X. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS

You may file an administrative appeal if you are not satisfied with the DNFSB’s initial response. 

You also may file an administrative appeal if you have requested expedited processing or a fee 

waiver and the DNFSB has not granted that request. You may also appeal a determination that 

what has been requested is not reasonably described, that a record does not exist or cannot be 

located, that a record is not readily reproducible in the form or format requested, that the 

requested information is not a record subject to the FOIA, or a determination regarding the 

charging of a fee. In short, you may appeal any adverse determination made by the DNFSB.

A person denied a fee waiver may appeal that determination within 30 days. All other appeals

must be received within 90 days of the date of the DNFSB’s determination letter. All appeals 

must be made in writing, marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal,” and addressed to:

General Counsel

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue NW, Suite 700 

Washington, DC 20004

There is no specific form or particular language needed to file an administrative appeal. You may 

explain the reasons for your disagreement with the action, but a simple statement that you are 

appealing the decision is sufficient. If, however, you are appealing because you believe there are 
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additional records that have not been located in response to your request, you should specify why 

you think such records exist and, if possible, where you believe they might be located.

The General Counsel will review the initial decision and make an independent determination as 

to whether your request was properly processed. Under the FOIA, the General Counsel is 

required to make a determination on your administrative appeal within 20 business days. In 

unusual circumstances, the General Counsel may extend the time to respond by an additional 10 

working days. If this occurs, you will be notified in writing and given the reasons for the 

extension and the expected determination date. 

The General Counsel may take one of several actions on your appeal: 

• Affirm the initial decision in full and identify which exemptions have been appropriately 

claimed; 

• Affirm part of the initial decision (identifying the applicable exemptions), but order the 

release of other information previously withheld; 

• Order the release of all withheld information; or

• Under some circumstances, return or “remand” the request for complete reprocessing. 

When a case is remanded, you will have an opportunity again to appeal to the General 

Counsel after the DNFSB’s FOIA Office has processed the records if you remain 

dissatisfied with the Office’s action. 

XI. JUDICIAL REVIEW

If you still believe that the DNFSB has not handled your FOIA request properly under the law 

after your appeal has been decided, you have the right to challenge the agency’s action in a 

lawsuit filed in Federal court. If the DNFSB fails to respond to either your initial request or your 

appeal within the time limits discussed above, however, you may file a lawsuit once the time 

limits have expired. If you do bring a court action, you may file your lawsuit in a Federal district 

court in any of the following places: 

• Where you reside;

• Where you have your principal place of business (if any);

• In the District of Columbia; or 

• Where the records are located, if they are not located in the District of Columbia. 

If you have received an administrative appeal determination, that final administrative response 

letter will advise you of your right to seek judicial review and will specify where you can do so. 

You have six (6) years to file a lawsuit from the time your right to sue begins.