[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 43, Volume 1] [Revised as of October 1, 2002] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 43CFR2.14] [Page 10-11] TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR PART 2--RECORDS AND TESTIMONY; FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT--Table of Contents Subpart B--Requests for Records Sec. 2.14 Requests for records. (a) Submission of requests. (1) A request to inspect or copy records shall be made to the installation where the records are located. If the records are located at more than one installation or if the specific location of the records is not known to the requester, he or she may direct a request to the head of the appropriate bureau or to the bureau's FOIA officer. Addresses for bureau heads and FOIA officers are contained in Appendix B to this part. (2) Exceptions. (i) A request for records located in all components of the Office of the Secretary (other than the Office of Hearings and Appeals) shall be submitted to: Director, Office of Administrative Services, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240. A request for records located in the Office of Hearings and Appeals shall be submitted to: Director, Office of Hearings and Appeals, 801 North Quincy Street, Arlington, Virginia 22203. (ii) A request for records of the Office of Inspector General shall be submitted to: Inspector General, Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240. (iii) A request for records of the Office of the Solicitor shall be submitted to: Solicitor, Office of the Solicitor, [[Page 11]] U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240. (b) Form of requests. (1) Requests under this subpart shall be in writing and must specifically invoke the Act. (2) A request must reasonably describe the records requested. A request reasonably describes the records requested if it will enable an employee of the Department familiar with the subject area of the request to locate the record with a reasonable amount of effort. If such information is available, the request should identify the subject matter of the record, the date when it was made, the place where it was made, the person or office that made it, the present custodian of the record, and any other information that will assist in locating the requested record. If the request involves a matter known by the requester to be in litigation, the request should also state the case name and court hearing the case. (3)(i) A request shall-- (A) Specify the fee category (commercial use, news media, educational institution, noncommercial scientific institution, or other) in which the requester claims the request to fall and the basis of this claim (see Sec. 2.20(b) through (e) for definitions) and (B) State the maximum amount of fees that the requester is willing to pay or include a request for a fee waiver. (ii) Requesters are advised that, under Sec. 2.20 (f) and (g), the time for responding to requests may be delayed-- (A) If a requester has not sufficiently identified the fee category applicable to the request, (B) If a requester has not stated a willingness to pay fees as high as anticipated by the Department or (C) If a fee waiver request is denied and the requester has not included an alternative statement of willingness to pay fees as high as anticipated by the Department. (4) A request seeking a fee waiver shall, to the extent possible, address why the requester believes that the criteria for fee waivers set out in Sec. 2.21 are met. (5) To ensure expeditious handling, requests should be prominently marked, both the envelope and on the face of the request, with the legend ``FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST.'' (c) Creation of records. A request may seek only records that are in existence at the time the request is received. A request may not seek records that come into existence after the date on which it is received and may not require that new records be created in response to the request by, for example, combining or compiling selected items from manual files, preparing a new computer program, or calculating proportions, percentages, frequency distributions, trends or comparisons. In those instances where the Department determines that creating a new record will be less burdensome than disclosing large volumes of unassembled material, the Department may, in its discretion, agree to creation of a new record as an alternative to disclosing existing records. [52 FR 45586, Nov. 30, 1987, as amended at 67 FR 4368, Jan. 30, 2002]