§ 1410.40 - Processing of FOIA requests.

(a) Where a request complies with § 1410.25 as to specificity and statement of willingness to pay or request for fee waiver or reduction, the Designated FOIA Officer shall acknowledge receipt of the request and commence processing of the request. The Designated FOIA Officer shall prepare a written response:

(1) Granting the request;

(2) Denying the request;

(3) Granting or denying it in part;

(4) Stating that the request has been referred to another agency under § 1410.25; or

(5) Informing the requester that responsive Review Board records cannot be located or do not exist.

(b) Action pursuant to this section to provide access to requested Review Board records shall be taken within 10 working days of receipt of a request for Review Board records, as defined in § 1410.25, except that where unusual circumstances require an extension of time before a decision on a request can be reached and the person requesting Review Board records is promptly informed in writing by the Designated FOIA Officer of the reason for such extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be made, the Designated FOIA Officer may take an extension not to exceed 10 working days.

(c) For purposes of this section and § 1410.45, the term “unusual circumstances” may include but is not limited to the following:

(1) The need to search, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct Review Board records that are demanded in a single request; or

(2) 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.