46 C.F.R. Subpart D—Requests for Records Under the Freedom of Information
Title 46 - Shipping
Source: 63 FR 53310, Oct. 5, 1998, unless otherwise noted.
(a) A member of the public may request permission to inspect, copy or be provided with any Commission records not described in subpart C of this part. Such a request must: (1) Reasonably describe the record or records sought; (2) Be submitted in writing to the Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, DC 20573; and (3) Be clearly marked on the exterior with the letters “FOIA”. (b) The Secretary shall evaluate each request in conjunction with the official having responsibility for the subject matter area and the General Counsel, and the Secretary shall determine whether or not to grant the request in accordance with the provisions of this subpart. (c) In making any record available to a person under this subpart, the Secretary shall provide the record in any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by the Secretary in that form or format. (d) Certain fees may be assessed for processing of requests under this subpart as prescribed in subpart E of this part. (a) Determination to grant or deny request. Upon request by any member of the public for documents, made in accordance with the rules of this part, the Commission's Secretary or his or her delegate in his or her absence, shall determine whether or not such request shall be granted. (1) Such determination shall be made by the Secretary within twenty (20) days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays) after receipt of such request, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. (2) Upon granting a request the Secretary shall promptly make records available to the requestor. Upon denial of such a request the Secretary shall promptly notify the requestor of the determination, explain the reason for denial, give an estimate of the volume of matter denied, set forth the names and titles or positions of each person responsible for the denial of the request, and notify the party of its right to appeal that determination to the Chairman. (3)(i) Any party whose request for documents or other information pursuant to this part has been denied in whole or in part by the Secretary may appeal such determination. Any such appeal must: (A) Be addressed to: Chairman, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, D.C. 20573–0001; and (B) Be filed not later than ten (10) working days following receipt of notification of denial or receipt of a part of the records requested. (ii) The Chairman or the Chairman's specific delegate in his or her absence, shall make a determination with respect to that appeal within twenty (20) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays) after receipt of such appeal, except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section. (iii) If, on appeal, the denial is upheld, either in whole or in part, the Chairman shall so notify the party submitting the appeal and shall notify such person of the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4) regarding judicial review of such determination upholding the denial. Notification shall also include the statement that the determination is that of the Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission and the name of the Chairman. (b) Extension of time limits. (1) In unusual circumstances, as defined in paragraph (b)(2) of this section, the time limits prescribed with respect to initial actions in response to a FOIA request or actions on appeal may be extended by written notice from the Secretary of the Commission to the person making such request, setting forth the reasons for such extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. No such notice shall specify a date that would result in an extension for more than ten (10) working days, except as provided in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. (2) As used in this paragraph, unusual circumstances means, but only to the extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the particular request: (i) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request; (ii) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which are demanded in a single request; or (iii) The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more components of the agency having substantial subject matter interest therein. (3) If the time limit is extended as prescribed under this section, and the request cannot be processed within the extended time limit, the Secretary shall notify the requestor, and either provide the requestor with an opportunity to limit the scope of the request so that it may be processed within the time limit, or provide the requestor an opportunity to arrange with the Secretary an alternative time frame for processing the request or a modified request. (c) Aggregation of requests. Certain requests by the same requestor, or by a group of requestors acting in concert, may be aggregated: (1) Upon the Secretary's reasonable belief that such requests actually constitute a single request, which if not aggregated would satisfy the unusual circumstances specified in paragraph (b)(2) of this section; and (2) If the requests involve clearly related matters. (d) Multitrack processing of requests. The Secretary may provide for multitrack processing of requests based on the amount of time or work involved in processing requests. (e) Expedited processing of requests. (1) The Secretary will provide for expedited processing of requests for records when: (i) The person requesting the records can demonstrate a compelling need; or (ii) In other cases, in the Secretary's discretion. (2) The term compelling need means: (i) A failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis under this paragraph could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; or (ii) With respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity. (3) A demonstration of compelling need by a person making a request for expedited processing must be made in the form of a statement describing the circumstances and certified by such person to be true and correct to the best of such person's knowledge and belief. (4) The Secretary shall determine whether to provide expedited processing, and provide notice of the determination to the person making the request, within ten (10) working days after the date of the request. (5) Appeal of the determination not to provide expedited processing should be sought in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a)(3)(i) of §503.32, and will be considered expeditiously. (6) Any request granted expedited processing shall be processed as soon as practicable. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, the following records may be withheld from disclosure: (1) Records specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and which are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order. Records to which this provision applies shall be deemed by the Commission to have been properly classified. This exception may apply to records in the custody of the Commission which have been transmitted to the Commission by another agency which has designated the record as nonpublic under an Executive order. (2) Records related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Commission. (3) Records specifically exempted from disclosure by statute, provided that such statute: (i) Requires that the matter be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (ii) Establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. (4) Trade secrets and commercial financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential. (5) Inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the Commission. (6) Personnel and medical files and similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. (7) Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes, but only to the extent that the production of such law enforcement records or information: (i) Could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings; (ii) Would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; (iii) Could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (iv) Could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source, including a State, local, or foreign agency or authority or any private institution which furnished information on a confidential basis, and, in the case of a record or information compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, information furnished by a confidential source; (v) Would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law; or (vi) Could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual. (b) Nothing in this section authorizes withholding of information or limiting the availability of records to the public except as specifically stated in this part, nor shall this part be authority to withhold information from Congress. (c) Any reasonably segregable portion of a record shall be provided to any person requesting such record after deletion of the portions which are exempt under this part. The amount of information deleted shall be indicated on the released portion of the record, unless including that indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption in this section under which the deletion is made. If technically feasible, the amount of the information deleted shall be indicated at the place in the record where such deletion is made. (d) Whenever a request is made which involves access to records described in paragraph (a)(7)(i) of this section and the investigation or proceeding involves a possible violation of criminal law, and there is reason to believe that the subject of the investigation or proceeding is not aware of its pendency, and disclosure of the existence of the records could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, the Commission may, during only such time as that circumstance continues, treat the records as not subject to the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552 and this subpart. (a) On or before February 1 of each year, the Commission shall submit to the Attorney General of the United States, as required by the Attorney General, a report which shall cover the preceeding fiscal year and which shall include: (1) The number of determinations made not to comply with requests for records made to the Commission under this Subpart and the reasons for each such determination; (2)(i) The number of appeals made by persons under §503.32, the result of such appeals, and the reason for the action upon each appeal that results in a denial of information; and (ii) A complete list of all statutes relied upon to authorize withholding of information under §503.33(a)(3) , a description of whether a court has upheld the Commission's decision to withhold information under each such statute, and a concise description of the scope of any information withheld; (3) The number of requests for records pending before the Commission as of September 30 of the preceding year, and the median number of days that such requests had been pending as of that date; (4) The number of requests for records received by the Commission and the number of requests which the Commission processed; (5) The median number of days taken to process different types of requests; (6) The total amount of fees collected for processing requests; and (7) The number of full-time staff devoted to processing requests for records under this section, and total amount expended for processing such requests. (b) Each such report shall be made available to the public at the Office of the Secretary, Federal Maritime Commission, Washington, D.C. 20573 and on the Commission's web site (www.fmc.gov).
Title 46: Shipping
PART 503—PUBLIC INFORMATION
Subpart D—Requests for Records Under the Freedom of Information
§ 503.31 Records available upon written request under the Freedom of Information Act.
§ 503.32 Procedures for responding to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act.
§ 503.33 Exceptions to availability of records.
§ 503.34 Annual report of public information request activity.
