[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR7.31]

[Page 65-66]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
          Subtitle A--Office of the Secretary of Transportation
 
PART 7_PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION--Table of Contents
 
                          Subpart E_Time Limits
 
Sec.  7.31  Initial determinations.


    An initial determination whether to release a record requested 
pursuant to subpart C of this part will be made within twenty Federal 
working days after the request is received by the appropriate office in 
accordance with Sec.  7.14, except that this time limit may be extended 
by up to ten Federal working days in accordance with Sec.  7.33. The 
person making the request will be notified immediately of such 
determination. If the determination is to grant the request, the desired 
record will be made available as promptly as possible. If the 
determination is to deny the request, the person making the request will 
be notified in writing, at the same time he or she is notified of such 
determination, of the reason for the determination, the right of such 
person to appeal the determination, and the name and title of each 
person responsible for the initial determination to deny the request.
    (a) In general. Components ordinarily will respond to requests 
according to their order of receipt.
    (b) Multitrack processing. (1) A component may use two or more 
processing tracks by distinguishing between simple and more complex 
requests based on the amount of work and/or time needed to process the 
request, or on the number of pages involved.
    (2) A component using multitrack processing may provide requesters 
in its slower track(s) with an opportunity to limit the scope of their 
requests in order to qualify for faster processing within the specified 
limits of the component's faster track(s). A component doing so will 
contact the requestor either by telephone, letter, facsimile, or 
electronic mail, whichever is most efficient in each case.
    (c) Expedited processing. (1) Requests and appeals will be taken out 
of order and given expedited treatment whenever a compelling need is 
demonstrated and it is determined that the compelling need involves:
    (i) 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;
    (ii) Requests made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating 
information, with an urgency to inform the public of actual or alleged 
Federal Government activity.
    (2) A request for expedited processing may be made at the time of 
the initial request for records or at any later time. For a prompt 
determination, a request for expedited processing must

[[Page 66]]

be received by the proper component. Requests must be submitted to the 
component that maintains the records requested.
    (3) A requestor who seeks expedited processing must submit a 
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 requestor within the category in 
paragraph (c)(1)(ii) 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 requestor within the 
category in paragraph (c)(1)(ii) of this section also must 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. The formality of certification may be 
waived as a matter of discretion.
    (4) Within ten calendar days of receipt of a request for expedited 
processing, the proper component will decide whether to grant it and 
will notify the requestor of the decision. If a request for expedited 
treatment is granted, the request will be given priority and will be 
processed as soon as practicable. If a request for expedited processing 
is denied, any appeal of that decision will be acted on expeditiously.