Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/02/09/2015-02163/procedures-for-disclosure-of-records-under-the-freedom-of-information-act-and-privacy-act
Timestamp: 2018-03-20 16:19:35
Document Index: 269866294

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A Proposed Rule by the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council on 02/09/2015
6934-6944 (11 pages)
Docket Number: 110142015-1111-01
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-02163 https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2015-02163
This Proposed Rule sets forth the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council's (Council) proposed regulations regarding the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Privacy Act (PA), and declassification and public availability of national security information.
The RESTORE Act, Public Law 112-141 (July 6, 2012), codified at 33 U.S.C. 1321(t) and note, makes funds available for the restoration and protection of the Gulf Coast Region through a new trust fund in the Treasury of the United States, known as the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund (Trust Fund). The Trust Fund will contain 80 percent of the administrative and civil penalties paid by the responsible parties after July 6, 2012, under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These funds will be invested and made available through five components of the RESTORE Act.Start Printed Page 6935
Authority: 33 U.S.C. 1321(f); 5 U.S.C. 552; 5 U.S.C. 552a.
(f) Duplication means the making a copy of a document, or other information contained in it, necessary to respond to a FOIA request. Copies may take the form of paper, microfilm, audio-visual materials, or electronic records, among others. The Council shall honor a requester's specified preference of form or format of disclosure if the record is readily Start Printed Page 6936reproducible with reasonable efforts in the requested form or format.
(k) Perfected request means a written FOIA request that meets all of the criteria set forth in § 1850.5.
(q) Review means the examination of a record located in response to a request in order to determine whether any portion of it is exempt from disclosure. Review time includes processing any record for disclosure, such as doing all that is necessary to prepare the record for disclosure, including the process of redacting it and marking any applicable exemptions. Review costs are recoverable even if a record ultimately is not disclosed. Review time includes time spent obtaining and considering any formal objection to disclosure made by a business submitter under § 1850.12 but does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.
(a) Type of Records Made Available. The Council shall make available upon request, pursuant to the procedures in this section and subject to the exceptions set forth in FOIA, all records of the Council that are not available under § 1850.4 of these procedures. The Council's policy is to make discretionary disclosures of records or information otherwise exempt from disclosure under FOIA unless the Council reasonably foresees that such disclosure would harm an interest protected by one or more FOIA exemptions, or otherwise prohibited by law. This policy does not create any enforceable right in court.
(b) Procedures for Requesting Records. A request for records shall reasonably describe the records in a way that enables Council staff to identify and produce the records with reasonable effort. The requester should include as much specific information as possible regarding dates, titles, and names of individuals. The Council may consider wide-ranging requests that lack specificity, require the production voluminous records, or contain broad descriptions of subject matters without reference to specific records to be “not reasonably described” and, therefore, not subject to further processing. For records “not reasonably described,” the Council may require the requestor or the requestor's agent to confer with a Council representative in order to attempt to verify the scope of the request and, if possible, narrow such request. All requests must be submitted in writing (including by email, fax or mail) to the Council's Records Management Officer. Requesters shall clearly mark a request as a “Freedom of Information Act Request” or “FOIA Start Printed Page 6937Request” on the front of the envelope or in the subject line of the email.
(c) Timing. (1) When a requester submits a request in accordance with § 1850.5, the Records Management Officer shall inform the requester of the determination concerning that request within 20 days from receipt of the request, unless “unusual circumstances” exist, as defined in § 1850.2(t).
(2) When additional time is required as a result of “unusual circumstances,” as defined in § 1850.2(t), the Records Management Officer shall, within the statutory 20 day period, issue to the requester a brief written statement of the reason for the delay and an indication of the date on which it is expected that a determination as to disclosure will be forthcoming. If more than 10 additional days are needed, the requester shall be notified and provided an opportunity to limit the scope of the request or to arrange for an alternate time frame for processing the request.
(2) The Records Management Officer will notify a requester of the determination to grant or deny a request for expedited processing within ten days of receipt of the request. If the Records Management Officer grants the request for expedited processing, the Council staff shall process the request as soon as practicable subject §§ 1850.10(d) and (e). If the Records Management Officer denies the request for expedited processing, the requester may file an appeal in accordance with the process described in § 1850.7.
(2) Whenever the Council refers any part of the responsibility for responding to a request to another agency, it shall document the referral, maintain a copy of the record that it refers, and notify the requester of the referral and inform the requester of the name of the agency to which the record was referred, including that agency's FOIA contact information.Start Printed Page 6938
The Records Management Officer or Council Executive Director, when receiving a request pursuant to these regulations, shall grant or deny such request. That decision shall be final, subject only to administrative appeal as provided in § 1850.7 of this subpart. The Council General Counsel shall deny or grant an administrative appeal requested under § 1850.7 of this subpart.
(3) All other requesters: The fees for search and duplication apply. The Council will provide the first two hours of search time and the first 100 pages of duplication free of charge.Start Printed Page 6940
(5) Where only some of the records to be released satisfy the requirements for a fee waiver, a waiver shall be granted for those records.Start Printed Page 6941
(6) The Records Management Officer shall make a determination on the request for a waiver or reduction of fees and shall notify the requester accordingly. A denial may be appealed to the General Counsel in accordance with § 1850.7 of this subpart.
In processing a request for information classified under Executive Order 13526 or any other Executive Order concerning the classification of records, the information shall be reviewed to determine whether it should remain classified. Ordinarily the Council or other Federal agency that classified the information should conduct the review, except that if a record contains information that has been derivatively classified by the Council because it contains information classified by another agency, the Council shall refer the responsibility for responding to the request to the agency that classified the underlying information. Information determined to no longer require classification shall not be withheld on the basis of FOIA exemption (b)(1) (5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1)), but should be reviewed to assess whether any other FOIA exemption should be invoked. Appeals involving classified information shall be processed in accordance with § 1850.7 of this subpart.
This subpart contains the regulations of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (Council) implementing the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. It sets forth the basic responsibilities of the Council under the Privacy Act (the Act) and offers guidance to members of the public who wish to exercise any of Start Printed Page 6942the rights established by the Act with regard to records maintained by the Council. Council records that are contained in a government-wide system of records established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Department of Labor (DOL) for which those agencies have published systems notices are subject to the publishing agency's Privacy Act regulations. Where the government-wide systems notices permit access to these records through the employing agency, an individual should submit requests for access to, for amendment of or for an accounting of disclosures to the Council in accordance with § 1850.33 of this subpart.
(5) Any additional information required by § 1850.34 of this subpart for proper verification of identity or authority to access the information.
(c) Any person whose request for access under paragraph (a) of this section is denied, may appeal that denial in accordance with § 1850.39 of this subpart.
(a) If a person submitting a request for access under § 1850.33 has asked that the Council authorize a personal inspection of records pertaining to that person, and the appropriate Council official has granted that request, the requester shall present himself or herself at the time and place specified in the Council's response or arrange another, mutually convenient time with the appropriate Council official.
(2) The appropriate Council official shall provide, within 30 working days of receipt of the request, written notification to the requester as to the existence of the records and/or a determination as to whether or not access will be granted. In some cases, such as where records have to be recalled from the Federal Records Center, notification and/or a determination of access may be delayed. Start Printed Page 6943In the event of such a delay, the Council official shall inform the requester of this fact, the reasons for the delay, and an estimate of the date on which notification and/or a determination will be forthcoming.
(c) If a request for access to records is denied pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, the determination shall specify the reasons for the denial and advise the individual how to appeal the denial in accordance with § 1850.39 of this subpart. All appeals must be submitted in writing to the General Counsel at GeneralCounsel@restorethegulf.gov.
(d) If the General Counsel determines to grant all or any portion of a request on an appeal submitted under paragraph Start Printed Page 6944(a) of this section, he or she shall so inform the requester, and the appropriate Council official shall comply with the procedures set forth in § 1850.38(a)(1)(ii) and (iii).