§ 2201.3 - Delegation of authority and responsibilities.

§ 2201.3 Delegation of authority and responsibilities.

(a) The Chairman delegates to the Chief FOIA Officer the authority to act upon all requests for agency records. The Chief FOIA Officer shall, subject to the authority of the Chairman:

(1) Have agency-wide responsibility for efficient and appropriate compliance with this section;

(2) Monitor implementation of the FOIA throughout the agency and keep the Chairman and the Attorney General appropriately informed of the agency's performance in implementing this section;

(3) Recommend to the Chairman such adjustments to agency practices, policies, personnel, and funding as may be necessary to improve implementation of this section;

(4) Review and report to the Attorney General, through the Chairman, at such times and in such formats as the Attorney General may direct, on the agency's performance in implementing this section; and

(5) Facilitate public understanding of the purposes of the statutory exemptions of this section by including concise descriptions of the exemptions in both the agency's FOIA Reference Guide, and the agency's annual report on this section, and by providing an overview, where appropriate, of certain general categories of agency records to which those exemptions apply.

(b) The Chief FOIA Officer shall designate the FOIA Disclosure Officer(s), who shall be responsible for processing FOIA requests.

(c) The Chief FOIA Officer shall designate the FOIA Public Liaison(s), who shall serve as the official(s) to whom a FOIA requester can raise concerns about the service the FOIA requester has received following an initial response. FOIA Public Liaisons shall be responsible for assisting in reducing delays, increasing transparency and understanding of the status of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes.

(d) OSHRC establishes a FOIA Requester Service Center that shall be staffed by the FOIA Disclosure Officer(s) and FOIA Public Liaison(s). The address of the FOIA Requester Service Center is 1120 20th Street NW., 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20036-3457. The telephone number, fax number and additional contact information for the FOIA Requester Service Center is located on the agency's Web site at: http://www.oshrc.gov/foia/index.html. The FOIA Requester Service Center is available to provide information about the status of a request to the requester using the assigned tracking number (as described in § 2201.6(h)), including:

(1) The date on which the agency originally received the request; and

(2) An estimated date on which the agency will complete action on the request.

[71 FR 56350, Sept. 27, 2006, as amended at 75 FR 41371, July 16, 2010; 81 FR 95037, Dec. 27, 2016]