ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
ORDER
RV 1550.1
REGION V
REGIONAL FREEDOM OF INFORMATION PROGRAM
REGIONAL FREEDOM.OF INFORMATION PROCEDURES
1. PURPOSE. This, order establishes regional policy and procedures,
and. delegates the authority governing the response to requests for
information under this program.
2. POLICY. It is Agency policy to make fullest possible disclosure
of information without unjustifiable expense or delay to any person
who requests information,subject to the provisions of EPA Order 1550.18
dated May 13, 1975.
3. COVERAGE. Any written request to EPA for existing records is con-
.sidered to be a request for records pursuant to the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act, 5 U. S. C. 552, whether or not that statute is mentioned
in the request. The detailed procedures of this order apply only to
written requests for existing identifiable and unpublished records con-
tained in EPA files which are not available for routine public distri-
bution.
4- AUTHORITY. Authority for delegation EPA Order 1550.IB dated May
13, 1975. . f
5. DESIGNATIONS. The following designations are made with respect
to implementation of the Freedom of Information Act.
a. Regional Freedom of Information Officer. Director of Regional
Public Affairs Office.
b. Responsible Official. The authority to make positive deter-
minations to release information, waive payment of fees, or extend
the date for mailing a determination is delegated to the Division .
Director level. The authority to make negative determinations is
EPA905-F-75-002 c-1
U.S Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5 Library
77 W. Jackson Blvd. (PL-16J)
Chicago, IL 60604-3507
Initiated by:
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ORDER
REGION V
RV 1550.1
reserved to the Regional Administrator and Deputy Regional Administrator.
(In cases of necessity to meet a deadline, the Acting Regional Adminis-
trator may make negative determinations).
6. PROCEDURES FOR RESPONDING.
a. Correspondence marked Freedom of Information on the envelope
will he delivered directly to the Regional Freedom of Information
Officer (Director, Public Affairs Office] where it will be date and.
time stamped., assigned a. Request Identification Number, and logged
in as a Freedom of Information Request. PAO will complete EPA Form
5180-1 (Mail Control Schedule) and attach it to the original request.
All requests for records (marked Freedom of Information or not) received
by program offices will be hand carried immediately to PAO for pro-
cessing.
b. PAQ;wtn hand carry each request for information to the appro-
priate. Division/Office. Director for: action. PAO will send an acknow-
ledgement of receipt of the correspondence to the. requesting party
immediately'after logging. This acknowledgement, EPA Form 1550-3, will
inform the requesting party of the date of receipt by EPA. A copy of
each request for information (i'ncluding a copy of the Mail Control
Schedule) will be hand carried to the. Office of Regional Counsel.
c. The Responsible Official- shall make the determinations de-
tailed in paragraph 5(a), (b), and (c) of EPA Order 1550.18. In
accordance with sub-paragraph (a) (8) of that paragraph, the Responsible
Official shall notify PAO of the disposition of all requests for in-
formation. If the requestor personally inspects records in the region-
al office, the Division/Office Director shall be responsible for main-
taining the integrity of inspected records in his possession.
d. Generally, the Responsible Official has ten (10) working days
from the date of receipt to issue a written determination to the
requestor stating which of the requested records will and which will
not be released together with the reason for any denial of a request,
(A written determination is not necessary if within the ten-working
day period all requested records are actually furnished to the re-
questor). The Division/Office Director is authorized to sign the
response to the requestor, with a copy forwarded to the Freedom of
Information Officer. The Division/Office will be the contact point
for the requestor coming to the Regional Office to review documents
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ORDER
REGION V
RV 1550.T
or files. The ten day period may be temporarily suspended if either
of the two conditions listed in paragraph 6(d) of EPA Order 1550.18
occur.
e. Extensions of-the ten (10) working day time limit are dis-
cussed in paragraph 9 of EPA Order 1550.IB. Written notice shall be
provided the- requestor if an extension as described in paragraph
9 is-necessary, citing the anticipated, date of determination (no more
than twenty (20) days after the receipt of the request for records).
A copy of this- notice should be provided to PAO.
7. PROCEDURES FOR'MAKING'NEGATIVE DETERMINATIONS; If the Responsible
Official ,. (.within ten (JO) working days of the stamped receipt date)
determines that all or any part of the. requested records will not be
provided, based on the nine categories of matters which are exempt
from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Act as outlined in
paragraph 7 of EPA Order 1550.18, he will:
a. Contact the Regional Freedom of Information Officer in the
case, of a possible negative determination. Discussions will be held
with, the Responsible Official, .Regional Freedom of Information Officer
and the Regional Counsel. If agreement can not be reached on a deter-
mination, the Regional Administrator will make the decision. In the
event of a negative, determination, the Responsible Official will per-
sonally contact the Director of the Office of Public Affairs in Wash-
ington to discuss the impact of the negative determination on EPA's
relationships with the public. If a negative determination to withhold
information is made, the. Responsible Official will prepare a written
response to the requestor for the Regional Administrator's signature,
notifying him that all or part of the request has been denied.
b. In preparing the written denial, cite the section in Part 2,
Title 40, CFR, which provides the statutory basis for nondisclosure
and specify the name(s) and title(s) or position(s) of the person(s)
responsible for the denial. The denial letter must state that the
individual has thirty (30) days after receipt of the denial to make
an administrative appeal, addressed to the EPA Freedom, of Information
Officer, A-101, U. s'. EPA, 401 M Street, S. W., Washington, D. C. 20460.
Figure 1 shows .a sample written denial letter. A copy of the denial
letter shall be forwarded to PAO.
c. The Regional Freedom of Information Officer will immediately
forward to Executive Communications a copy of the request for infor-
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ORDER
REGION V
RV 1550.1
mation, a copy of the negative determination, a sample or description
'of the records being withheld, and any other appropriate correspondence.
This will serve to alert the EPA Freedom of Information Officer of a
possible, appeal,
8. CREATION OF RECORDS. Generally, documents will not be created
by compiling selected items from other documents at the request of
a member of the public, nor will records be created to provide the
requesting party with data- such as ratios, proportions, percentages,
frequency distribution, trends, correlations, or comparisons. The
responding office will provide the information in the form deemed
most appropriate.
9. PAYMENT..
a. EPA will charge fees for copies of records which are furnished
to a requestor and for time spent in locating and reproducing the re-
cords in accordance with the fee schedule below. Fees will not be
charged for periods of less than one-half hour spent in connection with
a search for records or computer programming.
Record Search Time .. —' $2.50 per half hr.
In-house computer programming time $4.50 per half hr.
Reproduction of documents $ .20 per page
If the information requested exists as a computer record and a printout
or tape is a means by which that information may be made available, the
fee will be the actual direct cost of the computer system time added to
any applicable search, in-house programming, reproduction, or contract
programming costs.
b. Fee authorization.
(1) The Responsible Official will determine as accurately as
possible the amount of fee payment that would become due upon completion
of EPA's search and/or copying activities and, in the event that pending
requests for information would require the payment of fees in excess of
$25 or the amount authorized by the requestor, will inform the request-
ing party (by telephone if possible) of the expected charge.
(2) Once.the requestor has agreed to the actual or approximate
fee, and advance payment is received or acceptable payment arrangements
are made, the information to be made available will be released.
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ORDER
REGION V
RV 1550.1
(3) Payments must be made in the form of a check or money order,
made payable to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and delivered
to the Freedom of Information Officer, who will assure that the checks
are received in the Management Office.
10. WAIVER. A Responsible Official may reduce or waive payment of fees
if such a reduction or waiver is determined to be in the public interest.
This procedure will be observed'in a consistent and objective manner in
consonance with EPA policy-. In questionable instances, the Freedom of
Information Officer should be consulted.
11.' ANNUAL REVIEW.. On or before February 15, the Regional Freedom of
Information Officer will prepare a regional report on information requests
following the outline set forth in paragraph 14 of EPA Order 1550.18.
12. ACCOUNTABILITY AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION. Responsible Officials will
.be held individually accountable for their decisions with respect to
the release or withholding of information, the waiver of payment, and/or
the. appeals process.
13. INTERNAL ASSISTANCE AND ADVICE. Responsible Officials should he
aware of the opportunity to seek legal assistance, especially in in-
stances involving possible exempted material, from the Office of Regional
Counsel. Likewise, the Headquarters Office of Public Affairs and the
Regional Public Affairs Office are available for consultation when assess-
ing the probable public response to a negative determination or deciding
whether .to reduce or waive fees for providing information.
14. REDELESATION. This authority may not baredelegated.
15. EFFECTIVE DATE. July 18, 1975. /
rancis T. Mayo (, A
Regional Administrator^/
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UNITED STATES
\ ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
O REGION V
^ 230 SOUTH DEARBORN ST.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60604
Mr, George S. Straffin
Northwestern Life Insurance Company
65 Partridge Road
Chicago, Illinois 60611
Dear Mr. Straffin:
This is in response to your request received
April 25, 1975, for copies of Messrs. Prentice
Hart's and Dean Bradley's personnel records.
I have determined that I will not release
these records as their disclosure would con-
stitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy. These records are exempt
from disclosure under 40 C.. F. R. Part 2,
Section 2,113 (a) (6).
If you wish to appeal this denial, you may
address such an appeal in writing to the EPA
Freedom of Information Officer, A-101, RN-
U. S'. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M
Street, S. W., Washington, D. C. 20460 within
thirty (30) days of receipt of this negative
determination.
The Responsible Official in this matter
is:
(TYPED IN NAME) (TITLE OR POSITION)
Sincerely yours,
Francis T. Mayo
Regional Administrator
NOTE THE DATE RECEIVED
BY AGENCY
CITE PARAG.RAPH AUTHORIZING
DENIAL OF RECORDS WITH EX-
PLANATION, IF APPROPRIATE
NOTE APPEAL OPTION; SPECIFY
APPROPRIATE RN- NUMBER IN
ADDRESS
FIGURE 1 Example of negative determination letter.
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