Title 40

SECTION 1515.7

1515.7 Expedited processing.

§ 1515.7 Expedited processing.

(a) Requests and appeals will be taken out of order and given expedited treatment whenever it is determined that they involve:

(1) Circumstances in which the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; or

(2) An urgency to inform the public about an actual or alleged Federal Government activity, if made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information.

(b) A request for expedited processing may be made at the time of the initial request for records or at any later time.

(c) A requester who seeks expedited processing must submit a written statement, certified to be true and correct to the best of that person's knowledge and belief, explaining in detail the basis for requesting expedited processing. For example, a requester within the category described in paragraph (a)(2) of this section, if not a full-time member of the news media, must establish that he or she is a person whose main professional activity or occupation is information dissemination, though it need not be his or her sole occupation. A requester within the category (a)(2) of this section must also establish a particular urgency to inform the public about the government activity involved in the request, beyond the public's right to know about government activity generally. Formal certification may be waived as a matter of administrative discretion.

(d) Within 10 days of its receipt of a request for expedited processing, the CEQ FOIA Officer will decide whether to grant it and will notify the requester of the decision. If a request for expedited treatment is granted, the request will be placed in the expedited processing track, given priority, and processed as soon as practicable. If a request for expedited processing is denied, any appeal of that decision will be acted on expeditiously.

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