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 The detailed procedures of this order apply only to written requests for existing identifiable and unpublished records con- tained in EPA files which are not available for routine public distri- bution. 4- AUTHORITY.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: ------- 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 ------- 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- ------- 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. ------- 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^/ ------- 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. ------- |