[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 10, Volume 4]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 10CFR1004.4]

[Page 717-719]
 
                            TITLE 10--ENERGY
 
          CHAPTER X--DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (GENERAL PROVISIONS)
 
PART 1004_FREEDOM OF INFORMATION--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1004.4  Elements of a request.

    (a) Addressed to the Freedom of Information Officer. A request for a 
record of the DOE which is not available in a public reading facility, 
as described in Sec. 1004.3, shall be addressed to the appropriate 
Headquarters or field Freedom of Information Officer, Department of 
Energy, at a location listed in Sec. 1004.2(h) of this part, and both 
the envelope and the letter shall be clearly marked ``Freedom of 
Information Request.'' Except as provided in Sec. 1004.4(e), a request 
will be considered to be received by the DOE for purposes of 5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(6) upon actual receipt by the Freedom of Information Officer.

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Requests delivered after regular business hours of the Freedom of 
Information Office are considered received on the next regular business 
day.
    (b) Request must be in writing and for reasonably described records. 
A request for access to records must be submitted in writing and must 
reasonably describe the records requested to enable DOE personnel to 
locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Where possible, specific 
information regarding dates, titles, file designations, and other 
information which may help identify the records should be supplied by 
the requester, including the names and titles of any DOE officers or 
employees who have been contacted regarding the request prior to the 
submission of a written request. If the request relates to a matter in 
pending litigation, the court and its location should be identified to 
aid in locating the documents. If the records are known to be in a 
particular office of the DOE, the request should identify that office.
    (c) Categorical requests. (1) Must meet reasonably described records 
requirement. A request for all records falling within a reasonably 
specific and well-defined category shall be regarded as conforming to 
the statutory requirement that records be reasonably described if DOE 
personnel can reasonably determine which particular records are sought 
in the request. The request must enable the DOE to identify and locate 
the records sought by a process that is not unreasonably burdensome or 
disruptive of DOE operations. The Freedom of Information Officer may 
take into consideration problems of search which are associated with the 
files of an individual office within the Department and determine that a 
request is not one for reasonably described documents as it pertains to 
that office.
    (2) Assistance in reformulating a non-conforming request. If a 
request does not reasonably describe the records sought, as specified in 
paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the DOE response will specify the 
reasons why the request failed to meet the requiremnts of paragraph 
(c)(1) of this section and will invite the requester to confer with 
knowledgeable DOE personnel in an attempt to restate the request or 
reduce the request to managable proportions by reformulation or by 
agreeing on an orderly procedure for the production of the records. If 
DOE responds that additional information is needed from the requester to 
render records reasonably described, any reformulated request submitted 
by the requester will be treated as an initial request for purposes of 
calculating the time for DOE response.
    (d) Nonexistent records. (1) 5 U.S.C. 552 does not require the 
compilation or creation of a record for the purpose of satisfying a 
request for records.
    (2) 5 U.S.C. 552 does not require the DOE to honor a request for a 
record not yet in existence, even where such a document may be expected 
to come into existence at a later time.
    (3) If a requested record is known to have been destroyed or 
otherwise disposed of, or if no such record is known to exist, the 
requester will be so notified.
    (e) Assurance of willingness to pay fees. A request shall include 
(1) an assurance to pay whatever fees will be assessed in accordance 
with Sec. 1004.9, (2) an assurance to pay those fees not exceeding some 
specified dollar amount, or (3) a request for a waiver or reduction of 
fees. No request will be deemed to have been received until the DOE has 
received some valid assurance of willingness to bear fees anticipated to 
be associated with the processing of the request or a specific request 
of a waiver or reduction of fees.
    (f) Requests for records or information of other agencies. Some of 
the records in the files of the DOE have been obtained from other 
Federal agencies or contain information obtained from other Federal 
agencies.
    (1) Where a document originated in another Federal agency, the 
Authorizing Official will refer the request to the originating agency 
and so inform the requester, unless the originator agrees to direct 
release by DOE.
    (2) Requests for DOE records containing information received from 
another agency, or records prepared jointly by DOE and other agencies, 
will be treated as requests for DOE records except that the Authorizing 
Official

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will coordinate with the appropriate official of the other agency. The 
notice of determinaton to the requester, in the event part or all of the 
record is recommended for denial by the other agency, will cite the 
other agency Denying Official as well as the appropriate DOE Denying 
Official if a denial by DOE is also involved.