NASA shall withhold records only when it reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected by an exemption or disclosure is prohibited by law.

(a) If the FOIA office denies records in response to a request either in full or in part, it will advise the requester in writing that:

(1) The requested record(s) is exempt in full or in part; or

(2) Records do not exist, cannot be located, are not in the Agency's control, or the request does not reasonably describe the records sought; or

(3) A record is not readily reproducible in the form or format requested; and or

(4) Denial is based on a procedural issue only and not access to the underlying records when it makes a decision that:

(i) A fee waiver or another fee-related issue will not be granted; or

(ii) Expedited processing will not be provided.

(b) The denial notification must include:

(1) The name, title, or position of the person(s) responsible for the denial;

(2) A brief statement of the reasons for the denial, including a reference to any FOIA exemption(s) applied by the FOIA office to withhold records in full or in part;

(3) An estimate of the volume of any records or information withheld, i.e., the number of pages or a reasonable form of estimation, unless such an estimate would harm an interest protected by the exemption(s) used to withhold the records or information; and

(4) A statement that the denial may be appealed under subpart G of this part and a description of the requirements set forth therein. NASA shall also inform the requester of the availability of its FOIA Public Liaison to offer assistance and include a statement notifying the requester of the dispute resolution services offered by the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). Should the requester elect to mediate any dispute related to the FOIA request with OGIS, NASA will participate in the mediation process in good faith.

(c) If the requested records contain both exempt and non-exempt material, the FOIA office will:

(1) Segregate and release the non-exempt material unless the non-exempt material is so intertwined with the exempt material that disclosure of it would leave only meaningless words and phrases;

(2) Indicate on the released portion(s) of the records the amount of information redacted and the FOIA exemption(s) under which the redaction was made, unless doing so would harm an interest protected by the FOIA exemption used to withhold the information; and

(3) If technically feasible, place the exemption at the place of excision.

[79 FR 46678, Aug. 11, 2014, as amended at NASA-2019-0005, 84 FR 54775, Oct. 11, 2019]