[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 28, Volume 1]

[Revised as of July 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 28CFR16.6]



[Page 271-272]

 

                    TITLE 28--JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION

 

                    CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

 

PART 16_PRODUCTION OR DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL OR INFORMATION--Table of 

Contents

 

  Subpart A_Procedures for Disclosure of Records Under the Freedom of 

                             Information Act

 

Sec. 16.6  Responses to requests.



    (a) Acknowledgements of requests. On receipt of a request, a 

component ordinarily shall send an acknowledgement letter to the 

requester which shall confirm the requester's agreement to pay fees 

under Sec. 16.3(c) and provide an assigned request number for further 

reference.

    (b) Grants of requests. Ordinarily, a component shall have twenty 

business days from when a request is received to determine whether to 

grant or deny the request. Once a component makes a determination to 

grant a request in whole or in part, it shall notify the requester in 

writing. The component shall inform the requester in the notice of any 

fee charged under Sec. 16.11 and shall disclose records to the 

requester promptly on payment of any applicable fee. Records disclosed 

in part shall be marked or annotated to show the amount of information 

deleted unless doing so would harm an interest protected by an 

applicable exemption. The location of the information deleted also shall 

be indicated on the record, if technically feasible.

    (c) Adverse determinations of requests. A component making an 

adverse determination denying a request in any respect shall notify the 

requester of that determination in writing. Adverse determinations, or 

denials of requests, consist of: a determination to withhold any 

requested record in whole or in part; a determination that a requested



[[Page 272]]



record does not exist or cannot be located; a determination that a 

record is not readily reproducible in the form or format sought by the 

requester; a determination that what has been requested is not a record 

subject to the FOIA; a determination on any disputed fee matter, 

including a denial of a request for a fee waiver; and a denial of a 

request for expedited treatment. The denial letter shall be signed by 

the head of the component, or the component head's designee, and shall 

include:

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

denial;

    (2) A brief statement of the reason(s) for the denial, including any 

FOIA exemption applied by the component in denying the request;

    (3) An estimate of the volume of records or information withheld, in 

number of pages or in some other reasonable form of estimation. This 

estimate does not need to be provided if the volume is otherwise 

indicated through deletions on records 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 Sec. 16.9(a) 

and a description of the requirements of Sec. 16.9(a).