Title 41

SECTION 105-60.500

105-60.500 Final response procedures and rules.

§ 105-60.500 Final response procedures and rules.

(a) Once GSA determines that it shall grant a request in full or in part, the requester shall be notified of the decision in writing as well. GSA shall also inform the requester of any fees charged under § 105-60.804 of this part and shall disclose the requested records to the requester promptly upon payment of any applicable fees. The agency shall inform the requester of the availability of its FOIA Public Liaison to offer assistance.

(b) If GSA makes an adverse determination on any part of the FOIA request, it shall notify the requester of that determination in writing. Adverse determinations, or denials of requests, include determinations that:

(1) The requested record is exempt from disclosure, in whole or in part;

(2) The FOIA request does not reasonably describe the records sought;

(3) The information requested is not subject to FOIA;

(4) The requested record does not exist, cannot be located, or has been destroyed; or

(5) The requested record is not readily reproducible in the form or format sought by the requester.

(c) Records disclosed in part in response to a FOIA request shall be marked clearly to show the exemption under which the applicable portions of the responsive records were redacted unless doing so would harm an interest protected by an applicable exemption.

(d) Adverse determinations also include denials involving fee waiver requests, denials for expedited processing, and the administrative closure of FOIA requests due to nonpayment of search and review fees for processing the FOIA request.

(e) Any adverse determination of a FOIA request, in full or in part, shall be signed by the Chief FOIA Officer or his or her designee and shall include:

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

(2) A brief statement of the reasons for the adverse determination, including any FOIA exemption that is the basis for GSA's decision;

(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; and

(4) A statement that the denial may be appealed under subpart I of this part, and a description of the appeal requirements.

(5) A statement notifying the requester of the assistance available from the agency's FOIA Public Liaison and the dispute resolution services offered by OGIS.

(f) Use of record exclusions pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(c):

(1) In the event that GSA identifies records that may be subject to exclusion from the requirements of the FOIA pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(c), GSA shall confer with Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP), to obtain approval to apply the exclusion.

(2) If GSA invokes an exclusion, it shall maintain an administrative record of the process of invocation and approval of the exclusion by OIP.

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