47564 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 158 / Thursday, August 14, 2008 / Proposed Rules 

1Absent this authority, LSC would not otherwise 

be subject to FOIA since LSC is not an agency, 

department or instrumentality of the Federal 

government. 42 U.S.C. 2996d(e)(1). 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions. 

2. E-mail: steckel.andrew@epa.gov. 

3. Mail or deliver: Andrew Steckel 

(AIR–4), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 

San Francisco, CA 94105–3901. 

Instructions: All comments will be 

included in the public docket without 

change and may be made available 

online at www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided, unless the comment includes 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Information that 

you consider CBI or otherwise protected 

should be clearly identified as such and 

should not be submitted through 

www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 

www.regulations.gov is an ‘‘anonymous 

access’’ system, and EPA will not know 

your identity or contact information 

unless you provide it in the body of 

your comment. If you send e-mail 

directly to EPA, your e-mail address 

will be automatically captured and 

included as part of the public comment. 

If EPA cannot read your comment due 

to technical difficulties and cannot 

contact you for clarification, EPA may 

not be able to consider your comment. 

Docket: The index to the docket for 

this action is available electronically at 

www.regulations.gov and in hard copy 

at EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 

San Francisco, California. While all 

documents in the docket are listed in 

the index, some information may be 

publicly available only at the hard copy 

location (e.g., copyrighted material), and 

some may not be publicly available in 

either location (e.g., CBI). To inspect the 

hard copy materials, please schedule an 

appointment during normal business 

hours with the contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mae 

Wang, EPA Region IX, (415) 947–4124, 

wang.mae@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document concerns the delegation of 

unchanged NESHAP to the Arizona 

Department of Environmental Quality 

and the Pima County Department of 

Environmental Quality. In the Rules and 

Regulations section of this Federal 

Register, EPA is amending regulations 

to reflect the current delegation status of 

NESHAP in Arizona. EPA is taking 

direct final action without prior 

proposal because the Agency believes 

this action is not controversial. If we 

receive adverse comments, however, we 

will publish a timely withdrawal of the 

direct final rule and address the 

comments in subsequent action based 

on this proposed rule. Please note that 

if we receive adverse comment on an 

amendment, paragraph, or section of 

this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

we may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

We do not plan to open a second 

comment period, so anyone interested 

in commenting should do so at this 

time. If we do not receive adverse 

comments, no further activity is 

planned. For further information, please 

see the direct final action. 

Authority: This action is issued under the 

authority of Section 112 of the Clean Air Act, 

as amended, 42 U.S.C. 7412. 

Dated: July 25, 2008. 

Amy Zimpfer, 

Acting Director, Air Division, Region IX. 

[FR Doc. E8–18747 Filed 8–13–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION 

45 CFR Part 1602 

Procedures for Disclosure of 

Information Under the Freedom of 

Information Act 

AGENCY: Legal Services Corporation. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking. 

SUMMARY: LSC is proposing a number of 

revisions to its regulations on 

procedures for disclosure of information 

under the Freedom of Information Act 

to implement changes in that law made 

by the OPEN Government Act of 2007. 

LSC is also proposing to designate the 

Office of Inspector General as a separate 

component for receiving requests for its 

records and to make two technical 

amendments. 

DATES: Comments on this NPRM are due 

on September 15, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

submitted by mail, fax or e-mail to 

Mattie Cohan, Senior Assistant General 

Counsel, Office of Legal Affairs, Legal 

Services Corporation, 3333 K St., NW., 

Washington, DC 20007; 202–295–1624 

(phone); 202–337–6519 (fax); 

mcohan@lsc.gov (e-mail). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mattie Cohan, Senior Assistant General 

Counsel, Office of Legal Affairs, Legal 

Services Corporation, 3333 K St., NW., 

Washington, DC 20007; 202–295–1624 

(phone); 202–337–6519 (fax); 

mcohan@lsc.gov (e-mail). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: LSC is 

subject to the Freedom of Information 

Act (FOIA) by the terms of the Legal 

Services Corporation Act. 42 U.S.C. 

2996d(g).1 LSC has implemented FOIA 

procedures through the adoption of 

regulations found at 45 CFR Part 1602. 

On December 31, 2007, President 

Bush signed the Openness Promotes 

Effectiveness in our National 

Government Act of 2007 (‘‘OPEN 

Government Act’’ or ‘‘Act’’) into law. 

The OPEN Government Act amends 

FOIA in an effort to improve media and 

public access to government records. In 

order to bring LSC’s FOIA regulations 

into conformance with the changes to 

FOIA made by the OPEN Government 

Act provisions, the LSC Board of 

Directors initiated a rulemaking on 

August 2, 2008 and approved this 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) 

for publication. The proposed changes 

to Part 1602 are discussed in greater 

detail below. 

Section-by-Section Analysis 

Definitions—45 CFR 1602.2 

§ 1602.2(g)—Records 

Under LSC’s regulations, ‘‘records’’

are various materials ‘‘made or received 

by the Corporation in connection with 

the transaction of the Corporation’s 

business and preserved by the 

Corporation.’’ 45 CFR 1602.2(g). Section 

9 of the OPEN Government Act expands 

the statutory definition of ‘‘record’’ to 

include any information that is 

maintained for an agency by an entity 

under Government contract, for the 

purposes of records management. LSC 

proposes to amend § 1602.2(g) to 

include conform the regulation with the 

expanded statutory definition to 

specifically reference information 

maintained by LSC under contract for 

the purposes of records management. 

Accordingly, LSC proposes to revise 

§ 1602.2(g) to read ‘‘Records means 

books, papers, maps, photographs, or 

other documentary materials, regardless 

of whether the format is physical or 

electronic, made or received by the 

Corporation in connection with the 

transaction of the Corporation’s 

business and preserved by the 

Corporation (either directly or 

maintained by a third party under 

contract to the Corporation) for records 

management purposes, as evidence of 

the organization, functions, policies, 

decisions procedures, operations, or 

other activities of the Corporation, or 

because of the informational value of 

data in them. The term does not 

include, inter alia, books, magazines, or 


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other materials acquired solely for 

library purposes.’’

§ 1602.2(h)—Representatives of News 

Media 

FOIA provides that ‘‘representatives 

of the news media’’ may not be charged 

fees for search and review time 

associated with responding to their 

FOIA requests. 5 U.S.C. 

552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). The term 

‘‘representative of the news media’’ is 

not defined in FOIA, but LSC’s FOIA 

regulation at Part 1602 currently defines 

‘‘representative of the news media’’ as 

‘‘any person actively gathering news for 

an entity that is organized and operated 

to publish or broadcast news to the 

public. The term ‘‘news’’ means 

information that is about current events 

or that would be of current interest to 

the public. Examples of news media 

entities include television or radio 

stations broadcasting to the public at 

large and publishers of periodicals (but 

only in those instances when they can 

qualify as disseminators of ‘‘news’’) who 

make their products available for 

purchase or subscription by the general 

public. These examples are not intended 

to be all-inclusive. Moreover, as 

traditional methods of news delivery 

evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of 

newspapers through 

telecommunications services), such 

alternative media would be included in 

this category. In the case of ‘‘freelance’’

journalists, they will be regarded as 

working for a news organization if they 

can demonstrate a solid basis for 

expecting publication through that 

organization, even though not actually 

employed by it.’’ 45 CFR 1602.2(h). This 

definition is based on a definition of 

that term appearing in guidance 

published by the Office of Management 

and Budget. See, 53 FR 6151 (March 1, 

1988); 52 F 10012 (March 27, 1987). 

The OPEN Government Act of 2007 

clarifies that ‘‘freelance’’ journalists and 

‘‘alternative media’’ news sources (such 

as online news sources) are 

‘‘representatives of the news media’’ for 

the purposes of the fee structure. 

Specifically, section 3 of the OPEN 

Government Act defines ‘‘representative 

of the news media’’ as ‘‘any person or 

entity that gathers information of 

potential interest to a segment of the 

public, uses its editorial skills to turn 

the raw materials into a distinct work, 

and distributes that work to an 

audience.’’ That section goes on to 

provide: 

In this clause, the term ‘‘news’’ means 

information that is about current events or 

that would be of current interest to the 

public. Examples of news-media entities are 

television or radio stations broadcasting to 

the public at large and publishers of 

periodicals (but only if such entities qualify 

as disseminators of ‘‘news’’) who make their 

products available for purchase by or 

subscription by or free distribution to the 

general public. These examples are not allinclusive. Moreover, as methods of news 

delivery evolve (for example, the adoption of 

the electronic dissemination of newspapers 

through telecommunications services), such 

alternative media shall be considered to be 

news-media entities. A freelance journalist 

shall be regarded as working for a newsmedia entity if the journalist can demonstrate 

a solid basis for expecting publication 

through that entity, whether or not the 

journalist is actually employed by the entity. 

A publication contract would present a solid 

basis for such an expectation; the 

Government may also consider the past 

publication record of the requester in making 

such a determination. 

Although LSC’s existing definition of 

‘‘representative of the news media’’ is 

not substantively inconsistent with or 

contrary to the newly clarified 

definition in the OPEN Government Act, 

LSC believes that it is prudent to amend 

its regulatory definition to reflect the 

revised statutory language. LSC believes 

that substituting the clarified definition 

for the existing one will ensure that 

LSC’s regulation reflects the full intent 

of Congress. Accordingly, LSC proposes 

to amend § 1602.2(h) to read 

‘‘Representative of the news media 

means any person or entity that gathers 

information of potential interest to a 

segment of the public, uses its editorial 

skills to turn the raw materials into a 

distinct work, and distributes that work 

to an audience. In this clause, the term 

‘news’ means information that is about 

current events or that would be of 

current interest to the public. Examples 

of news media entities are television or 

radio stations broadcasting to the public 

at large and publishers of periodicals 

(but only if such entities qualify as 

disseminators of ‘news’) who make their 

products available for purchase by or 

subscription by or free distribution to 

the general public. These examples are 

not all-inclusive. Moreover, as methods 

of news delivery evolve (for example, 

the adoption of the electronic 

dissemination of newspapers through 

telecommunications services), such 

alternative media shall be considered to 

be news media entities. A freelance 

journalist shall be regarded as working 

for a news media entity if the journalist 

can demonstrate a solid basis for 

expecting publication through that 

entity, whether or not the journalist is 

actually employed by the entity. A 

publication contract would present a 

solid basis for such an expectation; the 

Corporation may also consider the past 

publication record of the requester in 

making such a determination.’’

Requests for Records—45 CFR 1602.8 

Agencies are required to make 

determinations on whether to comply 

with FOIA requests within twenty (20) 

business days of receipt of a request. 5 

U.S.C 552(a)(6)(A)(i). LSC has 

incorporated this requirement into its 

regulations at 45 CFR 1602.8(i). The 

OPEN Government Act provides 

additional instruction to clarify when 

the time limit begins to run. 

Specifically, § 6 of the OPEN 

Government Act provides that: 

The 20-day period under clause [5 U.S.C 

552(a)(6)(A)(i)] shall commence on the date 

on which the request is first received by the 

appropriate component of the agency, but in 

any event not later than ten days after the 

request is received by any component of the 

agency that is designated in the agency’s 

regulations under this section to receive 

requests under this section. [sic] The 20-day 

period shall not be tolled by the agency 

except: 

(I) That the agency may make one request 

to the requester for information and toll the 

20-day period while it is awaiting such 

information that it has reasonably requested 

from the requester under this section; or 

(II) If necessary to clarify with the requester 

issues regarding fee assessment. In either 

case, the agency’s receipt of the requester’s 

response to the agency’s request for 

information or clarification ends the tolling 

period. 

Unlike some agencies subject to FOIA, 

LSC has had only one component 

designated to receive requests, the 

Office of Legal Affairs. The Office of 

Inspector General (OIG) is not a separate 

component designated to receive FOIA 

requests under LSC’s regulations, 

although the General Counsel or 

designee forwards requests for records 

maintained by the OIG for processing 

and response. Under the current 

regulation, when FOIA requests are for 

OIG records and they are referred over 

to the OIG, the 20-day time limit for 

response only starts for the OIG when 

the OIG receives the request upon 

referral from the Office of Legal Affairs. 

However, under the new statutory 

requirements, the OIG’s 20-day time 

limit will commence when the OIG 

receives the request from the Office of 

Legal Affairs, but in no event later than 

10 working days from when the Office 

of Legal Affairs receives the request. 

Thus, if for some reason the referral is 

not made on a timely basis, the OIG 

could lose some or all of its response 

time before its response would be 

deemed late through no action on 

inaction on the part of the OIG. 

Designating the OIG as a separate 

component authorized to receive 


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requests directly would ameliorate, 

although not entirely eliminate, this 

potential problem. In addition, LSC 

notes that it is typical practice in other 

agencies with Inspectors General for 

those Offices of Inspector General to be 

separately designated components 

authorized to receive and process FOIA 

request directly. Accordingly, LSC 

proposes to amend 45 CFR Part 

1602.8(i) to incorporate the provisions 

of the OPEN Government Act discussed 

above and to designate the Office of 

Inspector General as a component 

authorized to receive FOIA requests for 

its records. Specifically, LSC proposes 

to redesignate paragraph (i)(1) as (i)(1)(i) 

to read as follows ‘‘The General Counsel 

or designee, upon request for any 

records made in accordance with this 

section, except in the case of a request 

for Office of Inspector General records, 

shall make an initial determination of 

whether to comply with or deny such 

request and dispatch such 

determination to the requester within 20 

days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays and 

legal public holidays) after receipt of 

such request, except for unusual 

circumstances, in which case the time 

limit may be extended for up to 10 

working days by written notice to the 

requester setting forth the reasons for 

such extension and the date on which 

a determination is expected to be 

dispatched.’’ LSC also proposed to add 

a new paragraph (i)(1)(ii) to read as 

follows ‘‘In the case of a request for any 

Office of Inspector General records 

made in accordance with this section, 

the Counsel to the Inspector General or 

designee shall make an initial 

determination of whether to comply 

with or deny such request and dispatch 

such determination to the requester 

within 20 days (excepting Saturdays, 

Sundays and legal public holidays) after 

receipt of such request, except for 

unusual circumstances, in which case 

the time limit may be extended for up 

to 10 working days by written notice to 

the requester setting forth the reasons 

for such extension and the date on 

which a determination is expected to be 

dispatched.’’

In addition, LSC is proposing to 

redesignate paragraph (i)(2) as (i)(2)(i), 

amend that paragraph to read as follows: 

‘‘If the General Counsel or designee 

determines that a request or portion 

thereof is for the Office of Inspector 

General records, the General Counsel or 

designee shall promptly refer the 

request or portion thereof to the Office 

of Inspector General and send notice of 

such referral to the requester. If the 

Counsel to the Inspector General or 

designee determines that a request or 

portion thereof is for Corporation 

records not maintained by the Office of 

Inspector General, the Counsel to the 

Inspector General or designee shall 

promptly refer the request or portion 

thereof to the Office of Legal Affairs and 

send notice of such referral to the 

requester.’’ LSC also proposes to and 

add a new paragraph (i)(2)(ii) to read as 

follows ‘‘The 20-day period under 

paragraph (i)(1) shall commence on the 

date on which the request is first 

received by the appropriate Office (the 

Office of Legal Affairs or the Office of 

Inspector General), but in no event later 

than 10 working days after the request 

has been received by either the Office of 

Legal Affairs or the Office of Inspector 

General. The 20-day period shall not be 

tolled by the Office processing the 

request except that the processing Office 

may make one request to the requester 

for information pursuant to paragraph 

(c) of this section and toll the 20-day 

period while it is awaiting such 

information that it has reasonably 

requested from the requester under this 

section; or, if necessary to clarify with 

the requester issues regarding fee 

assessment. In either case, the 

processing Office’s receipt of the 

requester’s response to such a request 

for information or clarification ends the 

tolling period.’’

Exemptions for Withholding Records—

45 CFR 1602.9 

Under FOIA, entire documents or 

portions thereof may be withheld from 

disclosure if one or more specified 

exemptions apply. 5 U.S.C. 552(b). If a 

particular document contains 

information that can be withheld from 

disclosure which may reasonably be 

segregated from the material which 

must be released, the agency must (with 

limited exception) release the segregable 

portion of the record and indicate the 

amount of information which has been 

deleted. Id. Section 12 of the OPEN 

Government Act imposes a further 

requirement that the agency inform 

requesters of the exemption under 

which redacted information is being 

withheld. LSC proposes incorporating 

this new requirement into its 

regulations by amending § 1602.9(b) to 

insert the words ‘‘and the exemption 

under which the deletion is made’’ after 

the words ‘‘amount of information 

deleted’’ where they appear in the 

second and third sentences of that 

paragraph. As proposed, § 1602.9(b) 

would read as follows ‘‘In the event that 

one or more of the exemptions in 

paragraph (a) of this section apply, any 

reasonably segregable portion of a 

record shall be provided to the requester 

after deletion of the portions that are 

exempt. The amount of information 

deleted and the exemption under which 

the deletion is being made shall be 

indicated on the released portion of the 

record, unless doing so would harm the 

interest protected by the exemption 

under which the deletion is made. If 

technically feasible, the amount of 

information deleted and the exemption 

under which the deletion is being made 

shall be indicated at the place in the 

record where the deletion occurs’’

Officials Authorized to Grant or Deny 

Requests for Records—45 CFR 1602.10 

Under the current regulation, because 

the OIG is not separately designated to 

receive its own FOIA requests, the 

Counsel to the Inspector General or 

designee is required to consult with the 

Office of the General Counsel prior to 

granting or denying requests for records 

which have been referred to the OIG. 45 

CFR 1602.10(b). With the proposed 

changed, discussed elsewhere herein, to 

designate the OIG as a unit authorized 

to receive FOIA requests directly, this 

requirement is obsolete. Accordingly, 

LSC is proposing to delete this 

requirement from the regulation by 

deleting the last sentence of 

§ 1602.10(b). 

In addition, under the current 

regulation, the Office of the General 

Counsel is required to consult with the 

OIG in cases in which a requester has 

requested a record which originated 

with the OIG but which is now 

maintained elsewhere within the 

Corporation. 45 CFR 1602.10(b). This 

ensures that the OIG has notice and an 

opportunity to participate in the 

potential release of OIG records by the 

Office of General Counsel. With the 

proposed change, discussed elsewhere 

herein, to designate the OIG as a unit to 

receive FOIA requests directly, it is 

appropriate to adopt a parallel provision 

requiring the OIG to consult with the 

Office of the General Counsel prior to 

granting or denying a request for a 

record which originated in a component 

of the Corporation other than the OIG 

but which is being maintained by the 

OIG. Accordingly, LSC proposes to add 

the following language as a new last 

sentence of § 1602.10(b) ‘‘The Counsel 

to the Inspector General or designee 

shall consult with the Office of the 

General Counsel prior to granting or 

denying any request for records or 

portions of records which originated 

with any component of the Corporation 

other than the Office of Inspector 

General, or which contain information 

which originated with a component of 

the Corporation other than the Office of 

Inspector General, but which are 


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maintained by the Office of Inspector 

General.’’

Fees—45 CFR 1602.13 

FOIA provides for the assessment of 

fees on requesters associated with the 

processing of their FOIA requests. 5 

U.S.C. 552(a)(4). Prior to the adoption of 

the OPEN Government Act, applicable 

fees could be assessed when authorized 

under FOIA, regardless of the timeliness 

of the response to the requester. Section 

6 of the OPEN Government Act has 

changed that, providing now that an 

agency which fails to provide a timely 

response may not assess search fees on 

requesters, except in cases involving 

unusual or exceptional circumstances. 

In the case of requesters who are 

representatives of the news media, since 

they are already not subject to search 

charges, the OPEN Government Act 

provides that applicable duplication 

fees will not be charged when the 

agency provides an untimely response. 

LSC proposes to implement this 

statutory change by amending § 1602.13, 

Fees, by redesignating paragraph (b) as 

a paragraph (b)(1) and adding a new 

paragraph (b)(2) to read as follows ‘‘If no 

unusual circumstances, as set forth in 

§ 1602.8 apply, if LSC has failed to 

comply with the time limits set forth in 

that section, otherwise applicable search 

fees will not be charged to a requester. 

In the case of a requester who is a 

representative of the news media, 

otherwise applicable duplication fees 

will not be charged.’’

Technical Changes—References to 

LSC’s Address 

Although not required by the OPEN 

Government Act, LSC is taking this 

opportunity to propose two technical 

changes to the regulation, both 

referencing addresses for the submission 

of FOIA requests. 

Public Reading Room (§ 1602.5) 

When the Corporation last amended 

Part 1602 in 2003, the Corporation was 

in the process of moving its offices from 

750 First St. NE., Washington, DC to its 

current location at 3333 K St., NW. 

Washington, DC Section 1602.5, which 

sets forth the address of LSC’s public 

reading room and is also the address 

referenced in the instructions for the 

submission of FOIA requests in 

§ 1602.8(b), was amended at that time to 

include both addresses. The reference to 

the First St. NE. address is now 

obsolete. Accordingly, LSC is proposing 

to delete the reference to that obsolete 

address and amend the first sentence of 

§ 1602.5(a) to read as follows: ‘‘The 

Corporation will maintain a public 

reading room at its office at 3333 K St., 

NW., Washington, DC 20007.’’ As 

proposed, the rest of that paragraph will 

remain unchanged. 

Requests for Records (§ 1602.8) 

LSC is proposing a technical change 

to § 1602.8(b) to update the e-mail 

address requesters are required to use to 

submit FOIA requests. The current 

regulation lists an e-mail address of 

info@smtp.lsc.gov, which is a general 

information e-mail address. LSC has 

since established a dedicated FOIA email address to ensure that FOIA 

requests are identified and processed 

separately from other general 

information requests submitted to the 

Corporation in order to improve 

handling and processing of FOIA 

requests. Accordingly, LSC is proposing 

to amend paragraph (b) to delete the old 

e-mail address, and substitute the 

correct dedicated FOIA e-mail address: 

FOIA@lsc.gov in the third sentence of 

paragraph (b). As proposed, the rest of 

paragraph (b) would remain unchanged. 

List of Subjects in 45 CFR Part 1602 

Freedom of information, Reporting 

and recordkeeping requirements. 

For reasons set forth above, LSC 

proposes to amend 45 CFR part 1602 as 

follows: 

PART 1602—PROCEDURES FOR 

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION 

UNDER THE FREEDOM OF 

INFORMATION ACT 

1. The authority citation for part 1602 

continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 42 U.S.C. 2996d(g); 5 U.S.C. 

552. 

2. Paragraphs (g) and (h) of § 1602.2 

are revised to read as follows: 

§ 1602.2 Definitions. 

* * * * * 

(g) Records means books, papers, 

maps, photographs, or other 

documentary materials, regardless of 

whether the format is physical or 

electronic, made or received by the 

Corporation in connection with the 

transaction of the Corporation’s 

business and preserved by the 

Corporation (either directly or 

maintained by a third party under 

contract to the Corporation for records 

management purposes), as evidence of 

the organization, functions, policies, 

decisions procedures, operations, or 

other activities of the Corporation, or 

because of the informational value of 

data in them. The term does not 

include, inter alia, books, magazines, or 

other materials acquired solely for 

library purposes. 

(h) Representative of the news media 

means any person or entity that gathers 

information of potential interest to a 

segment of the public, uses its editorial 

skills to turn the raw materials into a 

distinct work, and distributes that work 

to an audience. In this clause, the term 

‘news’ means information that is about 

current events or that would be of 

current interest to the public. Examples 

of news media entities are television or 

radio stations broadcasting to the public 

at large and publishers of periodicals 

(but only if such entities qualify as 

disseminators of ‘news’) who make their 

products available for purchase by or 

subscription by or free distribution to 

the general public. These examples are 

not all-inclusive. Moreover, as methods 

of news delivery evolve (for example, 

the adoption of the electronic 

dissemination of newspapers through 

telecommunications services), such 

alternative media shall be considered to 

be news media entities. A freelance 

journalist shall be regarded as working 

for a news media entity if the journalist 

can demonstrate a solid basis for 

expecting publication through that 

entity, whether or not the journalist is 

actually employed by the entity. A 

publication contract would present a 

solid basis for such an expectation; the 

Corporation may also consider the past 

publication record of the requester in 

making such a determination. 

* * * * * 

3. Paragraph (a) of § 1602.5 is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 1602.5 Public reading room. 

(a) The Corporation will maintain a 

public reading room its office at 3333 K 

St., NW., Washington, DC 20007. This 

room will be supervised and will be 

open to the public during the regular 

business hours of the Corporation for 

inspecting and copying records 

described in paragraph (b) of this 

section. 

* * * * * 

4. Paragraph (b) and paragraphs (i)(1) 

and (2) of § 1602.8 are revised to read 

as follows: 

§ 1602.8 Requests for records. 

* * * * * 

(b) Requests. Requests for records 

under this section shall be made in 

writing, with the envelope and the letter 

or e-mail request clearly marked 

Freedom of Information Act Request. 

All such requests shall be addressed to 

the Corporation’s Office of Legal Affairs 

or, in the case of requests for records 

maintained by the Office of Inspector 

General, to the Office of Inspector 

General. Requests by letter shall use the 

address given in § 1602.5(a). E-mail 


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requests shall be addressed to 

FOIA@lsc.gov or, in the case of requests 

for records maintained by the Office of 

Inspector General, FOIA@oig.lsc.gov. 

Any request not marked and addressed 

as specified in this paragraph will be so 

marked by Corporation personnel as 

soon as it is properly identified, and 

will be forwarded immediately to the 

Office of Legal Affairs, or as appropriate, 

the Office of Inspector General. A 

request improperly addressed will only 

be deemed to have been received as in 

accordance with paragraph (i) of this 

section. Upon receipt of an improperly 

addressed request, the General Counsel 

or designee (or Counsel to the Inspector 

General or designee) shall notify the 

requester of the date on which the time 

period began. 

* * * * * 

(i)(1)(i) The General Counsel or 

designee, upon request for any records 

made in accordance with this section, 

except in the case of a request for Office 

of Inspector General records, shall make 

an initial determination of whether to 

comply with or deny such request and 

dispatch such determination to the 

requester within 20 days (excepting 

Saturdays, Sundays and legal public 

holidays) after receipt of such request, 

except for unusual circumstances, in 

which case the time limit may be 

extended for up to 10 working days by 

written notice to the requester setting 

forth the reasons for such extension and 

the date on which a determination is 

expected to be dispatched. 

(ii) In the case of a request for any 

Office of Inspector General records 

made in accordance with this section, 

the Counsel to the Inspector General or 

designee shall make an initial 

determination of whether to comply 

with or deny such request and dispatch 

such determination to the requester 

within 20 days (excepting Saturdays, 

Sundays and legal public holidays) after 

receipt of such request, except for 

unusual circumstances, in which case 

the time limit may be extended for up 

to 10 working days by written notice to 

the requester setting forth the reasons 

for such extension and the date on 

which a determination is expected to be 

dispatched. 

(2)(i) If the General Counsel or 

designee determines that a request or 

portion thereof is for the Office of 

Inspector General records, the General 

Counsel or designee shall promptly refer 

the request or portion thereof to the 

Office of Inspector General and send 

notice of such referral to the requester. 

If the Counsel to the Inspector General 

or designee determines that a request or 

portion thereof is for Corporation 

records not maintained by the Office of 

Inspector General, the Counsel to the 

Inspector General or designee shall 

promptly refer the request or portion 

thereof to the Office of Legal Affairs and 

send notice of such referral to the 

requester. 

(ii) The 20-day period under 

paragraph (i)(1) of this section shall 

commence on the date on which the 

request is first received by the 

appropriate Office (the Office of Legal 

Affairs or the Office of Inspector 

General), but in no event later than 10 

working days after the request has been 

received by either the Office of Legal 

Affairs or the Office of Inspector 

General. The 20-day period shall not be 

tolled by the Office processing the 

request except that the processing Office 

may make one request to the requester 

for information pursuant to paragraph 

(c) of this section and toll the 20-day 

period while it is awaiting such 

information that it has reasonably 

requested from the requester under this 

section; or, if necessary to clarify with 

the requester issues regarding fee 

assessment. In either case, the 

processing Office’s receipt of the 

requester’s response to such a request 

for information or clarification ends the 

tolling period. 

* * * * * 

5. Paragraph (b) of § 1602.9 is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 1602.9 Exemptions for withholding 

records. 

* * * * * 

(b) In the event that one or more of the 

exemptions in paragraph (a) of this 

section apply, any reasonably segregable 

portion of a record shall be provided to 

the requester after deletion of the 

portions that are exempt. The amount of 

information deleted and the exemption 

under which the deletion is being made 

shall be indicated on the released 

portion of the record, unless doing so 

would harm the interest protected by 

the exemption under which the deletion 

is made. If technically feasible, the 

amount of information deleted and the 

exemption under which the deletion is 

being made shall be indicated at the 

place in the record where the deletion 

occurs. 

* * * * * 

6. Paragraph (b) of § 1602.10 is revised 

to read as follows: 

§ 1602.10 Officials authorized to grant or 

deny requests for records. 

* * * * * 

(b) The General Counsel or designee 

and the Counsel to the Inspector 

General or designee are authorized to 

grant or deny requests under this part. 

In the absence of a Counsel to the 

Inspector General, the Inspector General 

shall name a designee who will be 

authorized to grant or deny requests 

under this part and who will perform all 

other functions of the Counsel to the 

Inspector General under this part. The 

General Counsel or designee shall 

consult with the Office of the Counsel 

to the Inspector General or designee 

prior to granting or denying any request 

for records or portions of records which 

originated with the Office of Inspector 

General, or which contain information 

which originated Office of Inspector 

General, but which are maintained by 

other components of the Corporation. 

The Counsel to the Inspector General or 

designee shall consult with the Office of 

the General Counsel prior to granting or 

denying any request for records or 

portions of records which originated 

with any component of the Corporation 

other than the Office of Inspector 

General, or which contain information 

which originated with a component of 

the Corporation other than the Office of 

Inspector General, but which are 

maintained by the Office of Inspector 

General. 

7. Section 1602.13 is amended by 

designating paragraph (b) as (b)(1) and 

adding a paragraph (b)(2) to read as 

follows: 

§ 1602.13 Fees. 

* * * * * 

(b) * * * 

(2) If no unusual circumstances, as set 

forth in § 1602.8 apply, if LSC has failed 

to comply with the time limits set forth 

in that section, otherwise applicable 

search fees will not be charged to a 

requester. In the case of a requester who 

is a representative of the news media, 

otherwise applicable duplication fees 

will not be charged. 

* * * * * 

Victor M. Fortuno, 

Vice President & General Counsel. 

[FR Doc. E8–18450 Filed 8–13–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7050–01–P 

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS 

COMMISSION 

47 CFR Part 10 

[PS Docket No. 07–287; FCC 08–164] 

Commercial Mobile Alert System 

AGENCY: Federal Communications 

Commission. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal 

Communications Commission 


rfrederick on PROD1PC67 with PROPOSALS