§ 1703.108 — Processing Of Foia Requests

(a) Where a request complies with § 1703.105 as to specificity and statement of willingness to pay or request for fee waiver or reduction, the Designated FOIA Officer shall acknowledge receipt of the request and commence processing of the request. The Designated FOIA Officer shall prepare a written response:

(1) Granting the request,

(2) Denying the request,

(3) Granting or denying it in part,

(4) Stating that the request has been referred to another agency under § 1703.105, or

(5) Informing the requester that responsive records cannot be located or do not exist.

(b) Action pursuant to this section to provide access to requested records shall be taken within twenty working days. This time period may be extended up to ten additional working days, in unusual circumstances, by written notice to the requester. If the Board will be unable to satisfy the request in this additional period of time, the requester will be so notified and given the opportunity to—

(1) Limit the scope of the request so that it can be processed within the time limit, or

(2) Arrange with the Designated FOIA Officer an alternative time frame for processing the original request or a modified request.

(c) The Board ordinarily will respond to requests according to their order of receipt. In instances involving misdirected requests, the response time will commence on the date that the request is first received by any Board office.

(d) The Board will designate a specific track for requests that are granted expedited processing, in accordance with the standards set forth in § 1703.105(e). The Board may also designate additional processing tracks that distinguish between simple and more complex requests based on the estimated amount of work or time needed to process the request. Among the factors the Board may consider are the number of pages involved in processing the request and the need for consultations or referrals. The Board shall advise requesters of the track into which their request falls and, when appropriate, shall offer the requesters an opportunity to narrow their request so that it can be placed in a different processing track.

(e) For the purposes of satisfying unusual circumstances under the FOIA, the Board may aggregate requests in cases where it reasonably appears that multiple requests, submitted either by a requester or by a group of requesters acting in concert, constitute a single request that would otherwise involve unusual circumstances. The Board shall not aggregate multiple requests that involve unrelated matters.

(f) For purposes of this section and § 1703.109, the term unusual circumstances may include but is not limited to the following:

(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the Board's Washington, DC offices:

(2) The need to search for, collect and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which may be responsive to a single request; or

(3) The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency pursuant to § 1703.105(d).

(g) If no determination has been made at the end of the ten day period, or the last extension thereof, the requester may deem his administrative remedies to have been exhausted, giving rise to a right of review in a district court of the United States as specified in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4). When no determination can be made within the applicable time limit, the Board will nevertheless continue to process the request. If the Board is unable to provide a response within the statutory period, the Designated FOIA Officer shall inform the requester of the reason for the delay; the date on which a determination may be expected to be made; and that the requester can seek remedy through the courts but shall ask the requester to forgo such action until a determination is made. The Board must also alert requesters to the availability of the Office of Government Information Services to provide dispute resolution services.

(h) Nothing in this part shall preclude the Designated FOIA Officer and a requester from agreeing to an extension of time for the initial determination on a request. Any such agreement shall be confirmed in writing and shall clearly specify the total time agreed upon.

(i) The procedure for appeal of denial of a request for Board records is set forth in § 1703.109.

(j) The denial of a request shall be signed by the Designated FOIA Officer and shall include:

(1) The name and title or position of the person responsible for denial;

(2) A brief statement of reasons for the denial, including any FOIA exemption applied by the Board in denying the request;

(3) An estimate of the volume of any records or information withheld, such as the number of pages or some other reasonable form of estimation, although such an estimate is not required if the volume is otherwise indicated by deletions marked on records that are disclosed in part or if providing an estimate would harm an interest protected by an applicable exemption;

(4) A statement that the denial may be appealed and a description of the requirements under § 1703.109; and

(5) A statement notifying the requester of the assistance available from the FOIA Public Liaison, and the dispute resolution services offered by the Office of Government Information Services.