Source: https://ecfr.io/Title-45/pt45.5.2105
Timestamp: 2020-06-04 20:24:52
Document Index: 495391077

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§2105.1 What should you know up front?
§2105.2 What kinds of records are not covered by the regulations in this part?
§2105.3 Where should you send a FOIA request?
§2105.4 How should you describe the records you seek?
§2105.5 How will fee information affect the processing of your request?
§2105.6 What information should you include about your fee category?
§2105.7 Can you ask for records to be disclosed in a particular form or format?
§2105.8 What if your request seeks records about another person?
§2105.9 May you ask for the processing of your request to be expedited?
§2105.10 What contact information should your request include?
§2105.11 What should you know about how the Agency processes requests?
§2105.12 How do consultations and referrals work?
§2105.13 In what order are responses usually made?
§2105.14 What is multitrack processing and how does it affect your request?
§2105.15 What is the basic time limit for responding to a request?
§2105.16 When can the Agency suspend the basic time limit?
§2105.17 When may the Agency extend the basic time limit?
§2105.18 When will expedited processing be provided and how will it affect your request?
§2105.19 How will the Agency respond to requests?
§2105.20 How will the Agency grant requests?
§2105.21 When will the Agency deny a request or procedural benefits?
§2105.22 How will the Agency deny requests?
§2105.23 What if the requested records contain both exempt and nonexempt material?
§2105.24 May submitters of possibly confidential information designate information as confidential when making submissions?
§2105.25 When will the Agency notify a submitter of a request for their possibly confidential information?
§2105.26 What information will the Agency include when it notifies a submitter of a request for their possibly confidential information?
§2105.27 When will the Agency not notify a submitter of a request for their possibly confidential information?
§2105.28 How and when may a submitter object to the disclosure of confidential information?
§2105.29 What must a submitter include in a detailed Exemption 4 objection statement?
§2105.30 How will the Agency consider the submitter's objections?
§2105.31 What if the Agency determines it will disclose information over the submitter's objections?
§2105.32 Will a submitter be notified of a FOIA lawsuit?
§2105.33 Will you receive notification of activities involving the submitter?
§2105.34 Can an Agency release information protected by Exemption 4?
§2105.35 What general principles govern fees?
§2105.36 What are the requester fee categories?
§2105.37 How does your requester category affect the fees you are charged?
§2105.38 How will fee amounts be determined?
§2105.39 What search fees will you have to pay?
§2105.40 What duplication fees will you have to pay?
§2105.41 What review fees will you have to pay?
§2105.42 What fees for other services will you have to pay?
§2105.43 When will the Agency waive fees?
§2105.44 When may you ask the Agency for a fee waiver?
§2105.45 How will the Agency notify you if it denies your fee waiver request?
§2105.46 How will the Agency evaluate your fee waiver request?
§2105.47 When will you be notified of anticipated fees?
§2105.48 When will the Agency require advance payment?
§2105.49 What if the Agency needs clarification about fee issues?
§2105.50 How will you be billed?
§2105.51 How will the Agency collect fees owed?
§2105.52 When will the Agency combine or aggregate requests?
§2105.53 What if other statutes require the Agency to charge fees?
§2105.54 When may you file an appeal?
§2105.55 How long do you have to file an appeal?
§2105.56 How do you file an appeal?
§2105.57 Who makes decisions on appeals?
§2105.58 How are decisions on appeals issued?
§2105.59 When can you expect a decision on your appeal?
§2105.60 Can you receive expedited processing of appeals?
§2105.61 Must you submit an appeal before seeking judicial review?
§2105.62 Where are records made available?
§2105.63 What are public liaisons?
§2105.64 When will the Agency make records available without a FOIA request?
§2105.65 How will FOIA materials be preserved?
§2105.66 How will an Agency handle a request for federally-funded research data?
§2105.67 What definitions apply to this part?
Source: 84 FR 27722, June 14, 2019, unless otherwise noted.
(b) Definitions of terms used in this part are found at §2105.67.
(b) Address requests to the FOIA Officer found in the Agency contacts at https://www.cfa.gov/foia.
(d) If the Agency determines that your request does not reasonably describe the records sought, the Agency will inform you what additional information you need to provide in order to reasonably describe the records that you seek so the requested records can be located with a reasonable amount of effort. The Agency will also notify you that it will not be able to comply with your request unless the additional information it has requested is received from you in writing within 20 workdays after the Agency has requested it and that you may appeal its determination. If you receive this type of notification, you may wish to discuss it with the Agency's designated FOIA contact or the FOIA Public Liaison (see §2105.63). If the Agency does not receive your written response containing the additional information within 20 workdays after the Agency has requested it, the Agency will presume that you are no longer interested in the records and will close the file on the request.
(b) If the Agency anticipates that the fees for processing the request will exceed the amount you have agreed to pay, or if you did not agree in writing to pay processing fees or request a fee waiver and the Agency anticipates the processing costs will exceed $50 (see §2105.35(g)) or will exceed your entitlements (see §2105.37), the Agency will notify you:
(2) Of its need for either an advance payment (see §2105.48) or your written assurance that you will pay the anticipated fees (or fees up to a specified amount); and
(d) If you are seeking a fee waiver, your request must include a justification that addresses and meets the criteria in §§2105.43 and 2105.46. Failure to provide sufficient justification will result in a denial of the fee waiver request. If you are seeking a fee waiver, you may also indicate the amount you are willing to pay if the fee waiver is denied. This allows the Agency to process the request for records while it considers your fee waiver request.
(a) A request should indicate your fee category (that is, whether you are a commercial-use requester, news media, educational or noncommercial scientific institution, or other requester as described in §§2105.36 and 2105.37).
(c) If your fee category is unclear, the Agency may ask you for additional information (see §2105.49).
(b) The Agency may charge you the direct costs involved in converting records to the requested format if the Agency does not normally maintain the records in that format (see §2105.42).
You may ask for the processing of your request to be expedited. If you are seeking expedited processing, your request must include a justification that addresses and meets the criteria in §2105.18 and includes the certification required at §2105.18(b)(2).
(a) Except as described in §2105.12, the Agency is responsible for responding to the request and for making a reasonable effort to search for responsive records.
(d) If the Agency receives a request for records in its possession that it did not create or that another Federal agency is substantially concerned with, it may undertake consultations and/or referrals as described in §2105.12.
(c) If the Agency refers records to another agency, it will document the referral and maintain a copy of the records that it refers and notify you of the referral in writing. When the Agency notifies you of the referral, it will tell you whether the referral was for part or all of your request and provide the name and contact information for the other agency. You may treat such a response as a denial of records and file an appeal, in accordance with the procedures in §2105.56.
(g) If the Agency receives a request for records not in its possession, but that the Agency believes may be in the possession of a Federal agency outside the Agency, the Agency will return the request to you, may advise you to submit it directly to the other agency, will notify you that the Agency cannot comply with the request, and will close the request. If you believe this response was in error, you may file an appeal in accordance with the procedures in §2105.56.
(4) Voluminous: Requests in this track involve very complex processing challenges, which may include a large number of potentially responsive records, and will take over sixty workdays to process.
(d) The Agency also has a specific processing track for requests that are granted expedited processing under the standards in §2105.18. These requests will be processed as soon as practicable.
(f) The use of multitrack processing does not alter the statutory deadline for an Agency to determine whether to comply with your FOIA request (see §2105.15).
(g) You may inquire about the status of your request, including its estimated processing completion date, by contacting the FOIA Public Liaison, whose contact information may be found at https://www.cfa.gov/foia.
(a) Ordinarily, the Agency has 20 workdays (including the date of receipt) to determine whether to comply with a request, but unusual circumstances may allow the Agency to take longer than 20 workdays (see §2105.17).
(b) A consultation or referral under §2105.12 does not restart the statutory time limit for responding to a request.
(a) The basic time limit in §2105.15 may be temporarily suspended for the time it takes you to respond to one written communication from the Agency reasonably asking for clarifying information.
(b) The basic time limit in §2105.15 may also repeatedly be temporarily suspended for the time it takes you to respond to written communications from the Agency that are necessary to clarify issues regarding fee assessment (see §2105.49).
(2) Make available its FOIA Public Liaison (see §2105.63) to assist in resolving any disputes between you and the Agency, and notify you of your right to seek dispute resolution from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS).
(c) If the Agency extends the time limit under this section and you do not receive a response in accordance with §2105.15(a) in that time period, you may consider the request denied and file an appeal in accordance with the procedures in §2105.56.
(g) If you appeal the Agency's expedited processing decision, that portion of your appeal (if it is properly formatted under §2105.56) will be processed before appeals that do not challenge expedited processing decisions.
(h) If the Agency has not responded to the request for expedited processing within 10 calendar days, you may file an appeal (for nonresponse in accordance with §2105.54(a)(8)).
(b) If the Agency determines that your request will take longer than 10 workdays to process, the Agency immediately will send you a written acknowledgment that includes the request's individualized tracking number and processing track (see §2105.14(e)). The acknowledgement may also include a brief description of the subject of your request.
If responsive records contain both exempt and nonexempt material, the Agency will consult with legal counsel, as discussed in §2105.21(c). After consultation, the Agency will partially grant and partially deny the request by:
(b) The designations discussed in paragraph (a) of this section assist the Agency in identifying what information obtained from the submitter is possibly confidential and triggers the requirement for Agency-provided notifications under §2105.25(a)(1).
(a) Except as outlined in §2105.27, an Agency must promptly notify a submitter in writing when it receives a FOIA request if:
(1) The requested information has been designated by the submitter as confidential information under §2105.24(a); or
(2) The requested information has not been designated as confidential information by the submitter under §2105.24(a), but the Agency identifies it as possibly confidential information.
(a) Either a copy of the request, the exact language of the request, or (for notices published under §2 105.25(b)) a general description of the request;
(c) A description of the procedures for objecting to the release of the possibly confidential information under §§2105.28 and 2105.29;
(d) A time limit for responding to the Agency—no less than 10 workdays from receipt or publication of the notice (as set forth in §2105.25(b))—to object to the release and to explain the basis for the objection;
The notice requirements of §2105.26 will not apply if:
(a) If a submitter has any objections to the disclosure of confidential information, the submitter should provide a detailed written statement to the Agency that specifies all grounds for withholding the particular information under any FOIA exemption (see §2105.29 for further discussion of Exemption 4 objection statements).
(b) A submitter who does not respond within the time period specified under §2105.26(d) will be considered to have no objection to disclosure of the information. Responses received by the Agency after this time period will not be considered by the Agency unless the appropriate Agency FOIA contact determines, in his or her sole discretion, that good cause exists to accept the late response.
(2)(i) If the Agency has determined that unusual circumstances apply (as the term is defined in §2105.67) and the Agency provided you a timely written notice to extend the basic time limit in accordance with §2105.17, the noncompliance is excused for an additional 10 workdays.
(ii) If the Agency has determined that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request, the noncompliance is excused if the Agency has provided you a timely written notice in accordance with §2105.17 and has discussed with you via written mail, email, or telephone (or made not less than 3 good-faith attempts to do so) how you could effectively limit the scope of the request.
(iii) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist (as that term is defined in §2105.67), the noncompliance is excused for the length of time provided by the court order.
(g) If the fee for processing your request is less than $50, you will not be charged unless multiple requests are aggregated under §2105.52 to an amount that is $50 or more.
(i) If you would like to reformulate your request so it will meet your needs at a lower cost, you may wish to seek assistance from the Agency's designated FOIA contact or its FOIA Public Liaison (see §2105.63).
(b) If you do not submit sufficient information in your FOIA request for the Agency to determine your proper fee category, the Agency may ask you to provide additional information (see §2105.49). If you request placement in a particular fee category but the Agency places you in a different fee category, the Agency will provide you with an explanation of why you were not placed in the fee category you requested (for example, if you were placed in the commercial use requester category rather than the category you requested, the Agency will describe how the records would further your commercial, trade, or profit interests).
(c) See §2105.67 for the definitions of each of these fee categories.
Table 1 to §2105.37
(a) The Agency will charge the types of fees discussed in this subpart unless a waiver of fees is required under §2105.37 or has been granted under §2105.43.
(a) The Agency will charge search fees for all requests, subject to the restrictions of §§2105.35(f), 2105.37, and 2105.38(a). The Agency may charge you for time spent searching even if it does not locate any responsive records or if it determines that the records are entirely exempt from disclosure.
(c) You can review the current fee schedule for the categories discussed in paragraph (b) of this section at https://www.cfa.gov/foia.
(a) The Agency will charge duplication fees, subject to the restrictions of §§2105.35(f), 2105.37, and 2105.38(a).
(c) For other forms of duplication, the Agency will charge the actual costs of producing the copy, including the time spent by personnel duplicating the requested records. For each quarter hour spent by personnel duplicating the requested records, the fees will be the same as those charged for a search under §2105.39(b).
(d) If the Agency must scan paper records to accommodate your preference to receive records in an electronic format or print electronic records to accommodate your preference to receive records in a paper format, you will pay both the per page amount noted in appendix A to this part and the time spent by personnel scanning or printing the requested records. For each quarter hour spent by personnel scanning or printing the requested records, the fees will be the same as those charged for a search under §2105.39(b).
(a) The Agency will charge review fees if you make a commercial-use request, subject to the restrictions of §§2105.35(f), 2105.37, and 2105.38(a).
(d) The Agency will charge review fees at the same rates as those charged for a search under §2105.39(b).
(b) Examples of these services include providing multiple copies of the same record, converting records that are not already maintained in a requested format to the requested format, obtaining research data under §2105.66, sending records by means other than first class mail, and conducting a search that requires the creation of a new computer search program to locate the requested records.
(c) The Agency will notify you of these fees before they accrue and will obtain your written assurance of payment or an advance payment before proceeding (see §§2105.47 and 2105.48).
(a) The Agency will release records responsive to a request without charge (in other words, it will give you a full fee waiver) or at a reduced charge (in other words, it will give you a partial fee waiver, as discussed further in paragraph (b) of this section) if the Agency determines, based on all available information, that you have demonstrated (by addressing and meeting each of the criteria listed in §2105.46) that disclosing the information is:
(c) When deciding whether to waive or reduce fees, the Agency will rely on the fee waiver justification submitted in your request letter. If the letter does not include sufficient justification, the Agency will deny the fee waiver request. The Agency may, at its discretion, request additional information from you (see §2105.49).
(d) The burden is on you to justify entitlement to a fee waiver. Requests for fee waivers are decided on a case-by-case basis under the criteria discussed in paragraph (a) of this section and §2105.46. If you have received a fee waiver in the past, that does not mean you are automatically entitled to a fee waiver for every request submitted.
(a) You should request a fee waiver when your request is first submitted to the Agency (see §2105.5).
(a) The basis for the denial, including a full explanation of why the fee waiver request does not meet the Agency's fee waiver criteria in §2105.46;
(f) Your anticipated fees, in accordance with §2105.47.
(a) In deciding whether your fee waiver request meets the requirements of §2105.43(a)(1), the Agency will consider the criteria listed in paragraphs (a)(1) through (4) of this section.
(v) Your ability and intent to disseminate the information to a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject (for example, how and to whom do you intend to disseminate the information). If we have categorized you as a representative of the news media under §2105.36, we will presume you have this ability and intent.
(b) In deciding whether the fee waiver meets the requirements in §2105.43(a)(2), the Agency will consider any commercial interest of yours that would be furthered by the requested disclosure.
(1) The anticipated fee is less than $50 (see §2105.35(g));
(2) Pay any unpaid amount of the previous fee, plus any applicable interest penalties (see §2105.51), and pay in advance the estimated fee for the new request.
(7) The Agency did not make a decision within the time limits in §2105.15 or, if applicable, §2105.16; or
(8) The Agency denied, or was late in responding to, a request for expedited processing filed under the procedures in §2105.18.
(b) An appeal under paragraph (a)(8) of this section relates only to the request for expedited processing and does not constitute an appeal of the underlying request for records. Special procedures apply to requests for expedited processing of an appeal (see §2105.60).
(c) Before filing an appeal, you may wish to communicate with the contact person listed in the FOIA response, the Agency's FOIA Officer, and/or the FOIA Public Liaison to see if the issue can be resolved informally. However, appeals must be received by the FOIA Appeals Officer within the time limits in §2105.55 or they will not be processed.
(a) Appeals covered by §2105.54(a)(1) through (5) must be received by the FOIA Appeals Officer no later than 90 days from the date of the final response.
(b) Appeals covered by §2105.54(a)(6) must be received by the FOIA Appeals Officer no later than 90 days from the date of the letter denying the fee waiver.
(c) Appeals covered by §2105.54(a)(7) may be filed any time after the time limit for responding to the request has passed.
(d) Appeals covered by §2105.54(a)(8) should be filed as soon as possible.
(a) You must submit the appeal in writing by mail, fax or email to the FOIA Appeals Officer (using the address available at https://www.cfa.gov/foia/). Your failure to send an appeal directly to the FOIA Appeals Officer may delay processing.
(d) An appeal concerning a denial of expedited processing or a fee waiver denial should also demonstrate fully how the criteria in §2105.18 or §§2105.43 and 2105.46 are met.
(a) The basic time limit for responding to an appeal is 20 workdays after receipt of an appeal meeting the requirements of §2105.56.
(a) To receive expedited processing of an appeal, you must demonstrate to the Agency's satisfaction that the appeal meets one of the criteria under §2105.18 and include a statement that the need for expedited processing is true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief.
(a) The Agency has a FOIA Officer or Public Liaison who can assist requesters who have concerns about the service they received when seeking records or who are seeking assistance under §2105.3 or §2105.35(i).
(d) A list of the Agency's FOIA Public Liaisons is available at https://www.cfa.gov/foia.
Fee category means one of the three categories, discussed in §§2105.36 and 2105.37, that agencies place you in for the purpose of determining whether you will be charged fees for search, review, and duplication.
Published means, for the purposes of §2105.66 only, when:
Recipient means, for the purposes of §2105.66 only, an organization receiving financial assistance directly from Federal awarding agencies to carry out a project or program. The term includes public and private institutions of higher education, public and private hospitals, and other quasi-public and private non-profit organizations. The term may include commercial organizations, foreign or international organizations (such as agencies of the United Nations) which are recipients, subrecipients, or contractors or subcontractors of recipients or subrecipients at the discretion of the Federal awarding agency. The term does not include Government-owned contractor-operated facilities or research centers providing continued support for mission-oriented, large-scale programs that are Government-owned or controlled, or are designated as federally-funded research and development centers.
Research data means, for the purposes of §2105.66 only, the recorded factual material commonly accepted in the historic and/or architectural communities as necessary to validate research findings, but not any of the following: Preliminary analyses, drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, or communications with colleagues. The term recorded as used in this definition excludes physical objects (e.g., laboratory samples). Research data also do not include: