(a) The FOIA Coordinator of FSIS is authorized to receive requests and to exercise authority under 7 CFR 1.3(a) to -
(1) Make determinations to grant or deny such requests,
(2) Extend the 20-day deadline,
(3) Make discretionary releases of exempt records, except where disclosure is specifically prohibited by Executive Order, statute, and applicable regulations,
(4) Consider expedited processing when appropriate,
(5) Make determinations regarding the charging of fees pursuant to the established schedule, and
(6) Determine the applicability of 7 CFR 1.5 to requests for records.
(b) Requests for FSIS records or information will be made in writing in accordance with 7 CFR 1.5 and submitted to the FSIS Freedom of Information Act Coordinator at the following address:
Freedom of Information Act Coordinator (FOIA Request), Food Safety and Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250-3700
The submitter will identify each record with reasonable specificity as prescribed in 7 CFR 1.3. All requests to inspect or obtain copies of any record or to obtain a fee waiver must be submitted in writing.
(c) In exercising authority under 7 CFR 1.3(a)(3) to grant and deny requests, the Coordinator or designee will comply with subsection (b) of the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552(b)), as amended, which requires that any reasonably segregated portion of a document will be provided to a person requesting the document after deletion of any portions within the scope of the request for which an exemption is being claimed under the Act. Therefore, unless the disclosable and nondisclosable portions are so inextricably linked that it is not reasonably possible to separate them, the document will be released with the nondisclosable portions deleted. The Coordinator or designee may exercise discretion as limited by 7 CFR l.15 to release the entire document or make only a minimum number of deletions. If portions of a document in electronic format have been redacted, the Agency must indicate, on the released portion of the document, the amount of information that has been deleted from a record, unless that indication would harm an interest protected by an applicable exemption.