[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR2.102]
[Page 25-26]
TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PART 2_PUBLIC INFORMATION--Table of Contents
Subpart A_Procedures for Disclosure of Records Under the Freedom of
Information Act
Sec. 2.102 Procedures for making requests.
(a) How made and addressed. You may make a request for EPA records
that are not publicly available under Sec. 2.201(a)-(b) by writing
directly to the appropriate FOI Officer, as listed in Sec. 2.101(a).
Only written requests for records will be accepted for processing under
this subpart. For records located at EPA Headquarters, or in those
instances when you cannot determine where to send your request, you may
send it to the Records, FOIA, and Privacy Branch, Office of
Environmental Information, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; e-mail: hq.foia@epa.gov.
That office will forward your request to the regional FOI Office it
believes most likely to have the records that you want. Your
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request will be considered received as of the date it is received by the
correct FOI Office. Misdirected requests will not be considered received
by EPA until the appropriate FOI Office receives the request. For proper
handling, you should mark both your request letter and its envelope or
e-mail subject line ``Freedom of Information Act Request.'' You should
also include your name, mailing address, and daytime telephone number in
the event we need to contact you.
(b) EPA employees may attempt in good faith to comply with oral
requests for inspection or disclosure of EPA records publicly available
under Sec. 2.201(a)-(b) , but such requests are not subject to the FOIA
or the regulations in this part.
(c) Description of records sought. Your request should reasonably
describe the records you are seeking in a way that will permit EPA
employees to identify and locate them. Whenever possible, your request
should include specific information about each record sought, such as
the date, title or name, author, recipient, and subject matter. If
known, you should include any file designations or descriptions for the
records that you want. The more specific you are about the records or
type of records that you want, the more likely EPA will be able to
identify and locate records responsive to your request. If EPA
determines that your request does not reasonably describe the records,
it will tell you either what additional information you need to provide
or why your request is otherwise insufficient. EPA will also give you an
opportunity to discuss and modify your request to meet the requirements
of this section. Should it be necessary for you to provide a revised
description of the records you are seeking, the time necessary to do so
will be excluded from the statutory 20 working day period (or any
authorized extension of time) that EPA has to respond to your request as
discussed in Sec. 2.104.
(d) Agreement to pay fees. If you make a FOIA request, EPA will
consider your request to be an agreement that you will pay all
applicable fees charged under Sec. 2.107, up to $25.00, unless you seek
a waiver of fees. The EPA office responsible for responding to your
request ordinarily will confirm this agreement in writing. When making a
request, you may specify a willingness to pay a greater or lesser
amount. Should it be necessary for you to provide a written agreement to
pay additional fees, the time necessary to do so will be excluded from
the statutory 20 working day period (or any authorized extension of
time).