§ 303.8 - Timing of responses to requests.

§ 303.8 Requests for records.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 25523, Apr. 11, 2024.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 25524, Apr. 11, 2024.

(a) Except for records required by the FOIA to be published in the Federal Register or to be made available in the public reading room, the Peace Corps will make its records promptly available, upon request, to any person in accordance with this section, unless it is determined that such records should be withheld and are exempt from mandatory disclosure under the FOIA.

(b) Requests. Requests for records under this section shall be made in writing via regular mail, email, facsimile, or online web portal and, as applicable, the envelope and the letter or other form of request should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Request.” All requests shall be addressed to the FOIA Officer. Requests by letter shall use the address given in § 303.5(a). Requests by email must be sent to the FOIA electronic mailbox, [e-mail]. Regarding requests submitted via online web portal (accessible on the agency Web site, www.peacecorps.gov), requesters shall fill in all of the fields as required. Any request not marked and addressed as specified in this paragraph will be so marked by Peace Corps personnel as soon as the request is properly identified. The request will be forwarded immediately to the FOIA Officer. A request improperly addressed will not be deemed to have been received for purposes of the time period set out in paragraph (h) of this section until it has been received by the FOIA Officer. Upon receipt of an improperly addressed request, the FOIA Officer shall notify the requester of the date on which the time period began. Requests by letter shall be stamped “received” on the date received by the FOIA Office. Requests by email shall be “received” on the date the email arrived, if a business day, or on the next business day. Requests by online web portal will be entered automatically in the FOIA tracking system. Requests sent via mail or email will be entered manually in the FOIA tracking system. Requesters may utilize the online web portal for purpose of checking status of requests (open/closed) for requests from all sources.

(c) A request must reasonably describe the records requested so that employees of the Peace Corps who are familiar with the subject area of the request are able, with a reasonable amount of effort, to determine which particular records are within the scope of the request. If it is determined that a request does not reasonably describe the records sought, the requester shall be so informed and provided an opportunity to confer with Peace Corps personnel in order to attempt to reformulate the request in a manner that will meet the needs of the requester and the requirements of this paragraph (c). If the Agency cannot identify the requested records after a 2 hour search, it may determine that the records were not adequately described and ask the requester to provide a more specific request.

(d) To facilitate the location of records by the Peace Corps, a requester should try to provide the following kinds of information, if known;

(1) The specific event or action to which the record refers;

(2) The unit or program of the Peace Corps which may be responsible for or may have produced the record;

(3) The date of the record or the date or period to which it refers or relates;

(4) The type of record, such as an application, a particular form, a contract, or a report;

(5) Personnel of the Peace Corps who may have prepared or have knowledge of the record; or

(6) Citations to newspapers or publications which have referred to the record.

(e) The Peace Corps is not required to create a record or to perform research to satisfy a request.

(f) Any request for a waiver or reduction of fees should be included in the FOIA request, and any such request should indicate the grounds for a waiver or reduction of fees, as set out in § 303.13(f). The Peace Corps shall respond to such request as promptly as possible.

(g) Format. The Peace Corps will provide records in the form or format indicated by the requester to the extent such records are readily reproducible in the requested form or format.

(h) Initial response/delays.

(1) The FOIA Officer, upon request for any records made in accordance with this section, except in the case of a request for OIG records, shall assign a tracking number to each individual request and send an acknowledgement letter or email to each requester. The acknowledgement letter or email will inform the requester of the assigned tracking number. The FOIA Officer will make an initial determination of whether to comply with or deny such request and dispatch such determination to the requester within 20 business days after receipt of such request. Peace Corps will acknowledge all FOIA requests within 20 working days, except for unusual circumstances, in which case the time limit may be extended for up to 10 business days by written notice to the requester setting forth the reasons for such extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched.

(2) If the FOIA Officer determines that a request or portion thereof is for OIG records, the FOIA Officer shall promptly refer the request or portion thereof to the OIG and send notice of such referral to the requester. In such case, the OIG FOIA Officer shall make an initial determination of whether to comply with or deny such request and dispatch such determination to the requester within 20 business days after receipt of such request, except for unusual circumstances, in which case the time limit may be extended for up to 10 business days by written notice to the requester setting forth the reasons for such extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. If for any reason, a request for Agency information goes directly to the OIG rather than through the FOIA Officer, the OIG shall provide notice to the FOIA Officer of its receipt of the request. The FOIA Office and the OIG should normally consult with each other whenever they receive requests for the same or similar records.

(3) Unusual circumstances. As used in this part, “unusual circumstances” are limited to the following, but only to the extent reasonably necessary for the proper processing of the particular request:

(i) The need to search for and collect the requested records from components or locations 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 or organization having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more components of the Peace Corps having a substantial subject matter interest therin.

(i) If a request is particularly broad or complex so that it cannot be completed within the time periods stated in paragraph (h) of this section, the Peace Corps may ask the requester to narrow the request or agree to an additional delay.

(j) When no determination can be dispatched within the applicable time limit, the FOIA Officer or the OIG FOIA Officer shall inform the requester of the reason for the delay, the date on which a determination may be expected to be dispatched, and the requester's right to treat the delay as a denial and to appeal to the Associate Director for the Office of Management or the Inspector General, in accordance with § 303.12. If no determination has been dispatched by the end of the 20-day period, or the last extension thereof, the requester may deem the request denied, and exercise a right of appeal in accordance with § 303.12. The FOIA Officer or the OIG FOIA Officer may ask the requester to forego an appeal until a determination is made.

(k) After it has been determined that a request will be granted, the responsible official will act with due diligence in providing a prompt response.

(l) Expedited treatment.

(1) Requests and appeals will be taken out of order and given expedited treatment whenever the requester demonstrates a compelling need. A compelling need means:

(i) Circumstances in which the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual;

(ii) An urgency to inform the public about an actual or alleged Peace Corps or Federal government activity and the request is made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information;

(iii) The loss of substantial due process rights; or

(iv) A matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the Peace Corps' or the Federal government's integrity which affect public confidence.

(2) A request for expedited processing may be made at the time of the initial request for records or at any later time. For a prompt determination, a request for expedited processing must be properly addressed and marked and received by the Peace Corps pursuant to paragraph (b) of this section.

(3) A requester who seeks expedited processing must submit a statement demonstrating a compelling need that is certified by the requester to be true and correct to the best of that person's knowledge and belief, explaining in detail the basis for requesting expedited processing.

(4) Within ten business days of its receipt of a request for expedited processing, the FOIA Officer or the OIG FOIA Officer shall decide whether to grant the request and shall notify the requester of the decision. If a request for expedited treatment is granted, the request shall be given priority and shall be

Timing of responses to requests.

(a) In general. The Peace Corps ordinarily will respond to requests according to their order of receipt. The response time will commence on the date that the request is received by the Peace Corps' FOIA Officer or by the OIG FOIA Officer.

(b) Multitrack processing. The Peace Corps designates a specific track for requests that are granted expedited processing in accordance with the standards set forth in paragraph (e) of this section. The Peace Corps may also designate additional processing tracks that distinguish between simple and more complex requests based on the estimated amount of work or time needed to process the request. Among the factors the Peace Corps may consider are the number of records requested, the number of pages involved in processing the request and the need for consultations or referrals. The Peace Corps will advise requesters of the track into which their request falls and, when appropriate, should offer the requesters an opportunity to narrow or modify their request so that it can be placed in a different processing track.

(c) Unusual circumstances. Whenever the Peace Corps cannot meet the time limit for processing a request because of unusual circumstances as defined in § 303.2 and the Peace Corps extends the time limit on that basis, the Peace Corps will, before expiration of the 20-day period to respond, notify the requester in writing of the unusual circumstances involved and of the date by which the Peace Corps estimates processing of the request will be completed. Where the extension exceeds 10 working days, the Peace Corps will provide the requester with an opportunity to modify the request or arrange an alternative time period for processing the original or modified request. The Peace Corps will make available its designated FOIA contact or its FOIA Public Liaison for this purpose. The Peace Corps FOIA Public Liaison is identified on the agency's FOIA Open Government web page https://www.peacecorps.gov/about/open-government/foia/ and is available at [e-mail]. The Peace Corps will also alert requesters to the availability of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to provide dispute resolution services.

(d) Aggregating requests. To address unusual circumstances as defined in § 303.2, the Peace Corps may aggregate requests in cases where it reasonably appears that multiple requests, submitted either by a requester or by a group of requesters acting in concert, constitute a single request that would otherwise involve unusual circumstances. The Peace Corps will not aggregate multiple requests that involve unrelated matters.

(e) Expedited processing.

(1) The Peace Corps will process requests and appeals on an expedited basis whenever it is determined that they involve a compelling need as defined in § 303.2.

(2) A request for expedited processing of a request for information may be made at any time and submitted to the Peace Corps FOIA Officer or to the OIG FOIA Officer in the case of a request concerning OIG records. When making a request for expedited processing of an administrative appeal, the request should be submitted to the Associate Director for the Office of Management, or in the case of an appeal concerning OIG records, the Inspector General.

(3) A requester who seeks expedited processing will submit a statement, certified to be true and correct, explaining in detail the basis for making the request for expedited processing. For example, in § 303.2, paragraph (2) of the definition for compelling need, a requester who is not a full-time member of the news media must establish that the requester is a person whose primary activity or occupation is information dissemination, though it need not be the requester's sole occupation. Such a requester also must establish a particular urgency to inform the public about the government activity involved in the request—one that extends beyond the public's right to know about government activity generally. The existence of numerous articles published on a given subject may be helpful in establishing the requirement that there be an “urgency to inform” the public on the topic. As a matter of administrative discretion, the Peace Corps may waive the formal certification requirement.

(4) The Peace Corps will notify the requester within 10 calendar days of the receipt of a request for expedited processing of its decision whether to grant or deny expedited processing. If expedited processing is granted, the request will be given priority, placed in the processing track for expedited requests, and processed as soon as practicable. If a request for expedited processing is denied, the Peace Corps will act on any appeal of that decision

shall be acted on

expeditiously

by the Peace Corps

.

(5) Appeals shall be made to the Associate Director for the Office of Management, who shall respond within 10 business days of receipt of the appeal.

[68 FR 66008, Nov. 25, 2003, as amended at 72 FR 27055, May 14, 2007; 79 FR 19818, Apr. 10, 2014[89 FR 25524, Apr. 11, 2024]