(a) The Secretariat or delegate of the Secretariat shall respond to all written requests for records within twenty (20) working days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays). The time limitations on responses to requests for records submitted by mail shall begin to run at the time a request for records is received and date stamped by the Office of the Secretariat. The Office of the Secretariat shall date stamp the request the same day that it receives the request. The time limitations on responses to requests for records submitted electronically during working hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EST) shall begin to run at the time the request was electronically received, and the time limitations on responses to requests for records submitted electronically during non-working hours will begin to run when working hours resume.

(b) The time for responding to requests for records may be extended by the Secretariat at the initial stage or by the General Counsel of the Commission at the appellate stage up to an additional ten (10) working days under the following unusual circumstances:

(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the Office of the Secretariat.

(2) The need to search for, collect and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which are demanded in a single request.

(3) The need for consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more components of the Commission having substantial subject matter interest therein.

(c) Any extension of time must be accompanied by written notice to the person making the request setting forth the reason(s) for such extension and the time within which a response is expected to be made.

(d) If the Secretariat at the initial stage or the General Counsel at the appellate stage determines that an extension of time greater than ten (10) working days is necessary to respond to a request satisfying the “unusual circumstances” specified in paragraph (b) of this section, the Secretariat or the General Counsel shall so notify the requester and give the requester the opportunity to:

(1) Limit the scope of the request so that it may be processed within the time limit prescribed in paragraph (b); or

(2) Arrange with the Secretariat or the General Counsel an alternative time frame for processing the request or a modified request.

(e) If an extension of time greater than ten (10) working days is necessary, the Commission shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison for this purpose. A list of the Commission FOIA Public Liaisons is available at https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/FOIA. The Commission will also notify requesters in writing to the availability of the Office of Government Information Services of the National Archives and Records Administration to provide dispute resolution services.

(f) The Secretariat or delegate of the Secretariat may aggregate and process as a single request requests by the same requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, if the Secretariat or delegate reasonably believes that the requests actually constitute a single request which would otherwise satisfy the unusual circumstances specified in paragraph (b) of this section, and the requests involve clearly related matters.

(g) The Secretariat or delegate of the Secretariat will provide expedited processing of requests in cases where the requester demonstrates a compelling need for such processing.

(1) The term “compelling need” means:

(i) That a failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; or

(ii) With respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, that there is an urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity.

(2) Requesters for expedited processing must include in their requests, which may be submitted through any of the methods described in §1015.3(a), a statement setting forth the basis for the claim that a “compelling need” exists for the requested information, certified by the requester to be true and correct to the best of his or her knowledge and belief.

(3) The Secretariat or delegate of the Secretariat will determine whether to grant a request for expedited processing and will notify the requester of such determination within ten (10) calendar days of receipt of the request.

(4) Denials of requests for expedited processing may be appealed to the Office of the General Counsel as set forth in §1015.7 of this part. The General Counsel will expeditiously determine any such appeal.

(5) The Secretariat or delegate of the Secretariat will process as soon as practicable the documents responsive to a request for which expedited processing is granted.

(h) The Secretariat may be unable to comply with the time limits set forth in this §1015.5 when disclosure of documents responsive to a request under this part is subject to the requirements of section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2055(b), and the regulations implementing that section, 16 CFR part 1101. The Secretariat or delegate of the Secretariat will notify requesters whose requests will be delayed for this reason.

[42 FR 10490, Feb. 22, 1977, as amended at 62 FR 46197, Sept. 2, 1997; 82 FR 37008, Aug. 8, 2017]