(a) In general. The Board delegates authority to grant or deny FOIA requests in whole or in part to the FOIA Officer. When conducting a search for responsive records, the FOIA Officer generally will search for records in existence on the date of the search. If another date is used, the FOIA Officer shall inform the requester of the date used.
(b) Responses. The FOIA Officer will notify you of his or her determination to grant or deny your FOIA request in the time frame stated in Sec. 1001.8. The Board will release reasonably segregable non-exempt information. For any adverse determination, including those regarding any disputed fee matter; a denial of a request for a fee waiver; or a determination to withhold a record, in whole or in part, that a record does not exist or cannot be located; or to deny a request for expedited processing; the notice shall include the following information:
(1) The name(s) of any person responsible for the determination to deny the request in whole or in part;
(2) A brief statement of the reason(s) for the denial, including any FOIA exemption applied in denying the request. The FOIA Officer will indicate, if technically feasible, the amount of information deleted and the exemption under which a deletion is made on the released portion of the record, unless including that indication would harm an interest protected by the exemption;
(3) An estimate of the volume of information withheld, if applicable. This estimate does not need to be provided if it is ascertainable based on redactions in partially disclosed records or if the disclosure of the estimate would harm an interest protected by an applicable FOIA exemption; and
(4) A statement that the adverse determination may be appealed and a description of the requirements for an appeal under Sec. 1001.7.
(c) Consultations and referrals.
(1) Upon receipt of a FOIA request for a record within the Board's possession, the FOIA Officer should determine if the Board or another federal agency is best able to determine eligibility for disclosure under the FOIA. If the FOIA Officer determines that another agency is better able to evaluate the releasibility of the record, the FOIA Officer shall:
(i) Respond to the FOIA requester after consulting with any other federal agency that has a substantial interest in the record; or
(ii) Refer the responsibility for responding to the request to the department or agency best able to determine whether to disclose it (but only if that other department or agency is subject to FOIA). Ordinarily, the department or agency that originated the record will be presumed best able to determine whether to disclose it.
(2) Whenever a request is made for information that is classified, the FOIA Officer shall refer the responsibility for responding to that portion of the request to the agency that originated the information, or has the primary interest in it, as appropriate. Whenever a record contains information that the Board has derivatively classified because it contains information classified by another agency, the FOIA Officer shall refer the responsibility for responding to the request regarding that information to the agency that classified the underlying information or originated the record.
(3) If responsibility for responding to a request is referred to another department or agency, the FOIA Officer shall notify you of the referral. This notice shall identify the part of the request that has been referred and the name of each department or agency to which the request, or part of the request, has been referred, when appropriate and available, the notice will include a point of contact for the referral agency or department.