§ 324.202 - Policy.

(a) The Department's regulation implementing the Freedom of Information Act(FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, as amended, is set forth in 45 CFR part 5.

(b) The contracting officer, upon receiving a FOIA request, shall follow Department and operating division procedures. As necessary, actions should be coordinated with the cognizant Freedom of Information (FOI) Officer and the Business and Administrative Law Division of the Office of General Counsel. The contracting officer must remember that only the FOI Officer has the authority to release or deny release of records. While the contracting officer should be familiar with the entire FOIA regulation in 45 CFR part 5, particular attention should be focused on §§ 5.65 and 5.66; also of interest are §§ 5.32, 5.33, and 5.35.