[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 14, Volume 5]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 14CFR1206.610]

[Page 62-63]
 
                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
 
                   CHAPTER V--NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
                          SPACE ADMINISTRATION
 
PART 1206_AVAILABILITY OF AGENCY RECORDS TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC--Table of 
 
                          Subpart 6_Procedures
 
Sec.  1206.610  Notice to submitters of commercial information.

    (a) General policy. Upon receipt of a request for commercial 
information pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, NASA shall 
provide the submitter with notice of the request in accordance with the 
requirements of this section.
    (b) Notice to submitters. Except as provided in paragraph (g) or (h) 
of this section, the Agency shall make a good faith effort to provide a 
submitter with prompt notice of a request appearing to encompass its 
commercial information whenever required under paragraph (c) of this 
section. Such notice shall identify the commercial information requested 
and shall inform the submitter of the opportunity to object to its 
disclosure in accordance with paragraph (d) of this section. If the 
submitter would not otherwise have access to the document that contains 
the information, upon the request of the submitter, the Agency shall 
provide access to, or copies of, the records or portions thereof 
containing the commercial information. This notice shall be provided in 
writing upon the request of the submitter. Whenever the Agency provides 
notice pursuant to this section, the Agency shall advise the requester 
that notice and opportunity to comment are being provided to the 
submitter.
    (c) When notice is required. Notice shall be given to a submitter 
whenever the information has been designated by the submitter as 
information deemed protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the 
Act, or the Agency otherwise has reason to believe that the information 
may be protected from disclosure under Exemption 4.
    (d) Opportunity to object to disclosure. Through the notice 
described in paragraph (b) of this section, the Agency shall afford a 
submitter a reasonable period within which to provide the Agency with a 
detailed statement of any objection to disclosure. This period shall not 
exceed 10 working days from the date after which the Agency can 
reasonably assume receipt of notice by the submitter, unless the 
submitter provides a reasonable explanation justifying additional time 
to respond. If the Agency does not receive a response from the submitter 
within this period, the Agency shall proceed with its review of the 
information and initial determination. The submitter's response shall 
include all bases, factual or legal, for withholding any of the 
information pursuant to Exemption 4. Information provided by a submitter 
pursuant to this paragraph may itself be subject to disclosure under the 
FOIA. Submitters will not be provided additional opportunities to object 
to disclosure, and, therefore, should provide a complete explanation of 
any and all bases for withholding any information from disclosure.
    (e) Notice of intent to disclose. The Agency shall carefully 
consider any objections of the submitter in the course

[[Page 63]]

of determining whether to disclose commercial information. Whenever the 
Agency decides to disclose commercial information over the objection of 
a submitter, the Agency shall forward to the submitter a written 
statement which shall include the following:
    (1) A brief explanation as to why the Agency did not agree with any 
objections;
    (2) A description of the commercial information to be disclosed, 
sufficient to identify the information to the submitter; and
    (3) A date after which disclosure is expected. Such notice of intent 
to disclose shall be forwarded to the submitter in a reasonable number 
of working days prior to the expected disclosure date.
    (f) Notice of FOIA lawsuit. Whenever a requester brings suit seeking 
to compel disclosure of commercial information covered by paragraph (c) 
of this section, the Agency shall promptly notify the submitter. 
Whenever a submitter brings suit against the Agency in order to prevent 
disclosure of commercial information, the Agency shall promptly notify 
the requester.
    (g) Exceptions to notice requirements. The notice requirements of 
this section do not apply if--
    (1) The information has been published or otherwise made available 
to the public.
    (2) Disclosure of the information is required by law (other than 5 
U.S.C. 552);
    (3) The submitter has received notice of a previous FOIA request 
which encompassed information requested in the later request, and the 
Agency intends to withhold and/or release information in the same manner 
as in the previous FOIA request;
    (4) Upon submitting the information or within a reasonable period 
thereafter,
    (i) The submitter reviewed its information in anticipation of future 
requests pursuant to the FOIA,
    (ii) Provided the Agency a statement of its objections to disclosure 
consistent with that described in paragraph (e) of this section, and
    (iii) The Agency intends to release information consistent with the 
submitter's objections;
    (5) Notice to the submitter may disclose information exempt from 
disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7).
    (h)(1) An additional limited exception to the notice requirements of 
this section, to be used only when all of the following exceptional 
circumstances are found to be present, authorizes the Agency to withhold 
information which is the subject of a FOIA request, based on Exemption 4 
(5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4)), without providing the submitter individual notice:
    (i) The Agency would be required to provide notice to over 10 
submitters, in which case, notification may be accomplished by posting 
or publishing the notice in a place reasonably calculated to accomplish 
notification.
    (ii) Absent any response to the published notice, the Agency 
determines that if it provided notice as is otherwise required by 
paragraph (c) of this section, it is reasonable to assume that the 
submitter would object to disclosure of the information based on 
Exemption 4; and,
    (iii) If the submitter expressed the anticipated objections, the 
Agency would uphold those objections.
    (2) This exemption shall be used only with the approval of the Chief 
Counsel of the Center, the Attorney-Advisor to the Inspector General, or 
the Associate General Counsel responsible for providing advice on the 
request. This exception shall not be used for a class of documents or 
requests, but only as warranted by an individual FOIA request.

[64 FR 39404, July 22, 1999, as amended at 65 FR 19647, Apr. 12, 2000]