The Board’s Executive Director of his/her designated FOIA Officer is authorized to grant or deny any request for a record and determine appropriate fees. When determining which records are responsive to a request, the Board will include only records in its possession as of the date of the search.

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(a) If no records are responsive to the request, the FOIA Officer will notify the requestor in writing.

(b) When a FOIA Officer denies a request in whole or in part he/she will notify the requestor in writing. The response will be signed by the FOIA Officer and will include:

(1) The name and title or position of the person making the denial;

(2) A brief statement of the reasons for the denial, including the FOIA exemption(s) that the FOIA Officer has relied on the denying the request; and

(3) A statement that the denial may be appealed under § 1303.114 and a description of the requirements of that section.

(c) Consultations and referrals. When a request for a record not produced by the Board is received, the Board shall refer the requestor to the issuing agency in writing. The Board may hold records that contain or refer to non-public information obtained from other federal agencies (co-mingled records). If those co-mingled records are requested, the Board shall determine whether the portion of those records produced by the Board can be released. Before any portion of a co-mingled record is released, the Board shall redact the non-public information obtained from other federal agencies. The Board shall inform the requestor of the reason for the redaction and shall refer the requestor to the issuing agency in writing.

(d) Notice of referral. When the Board refers all or part of a request to another agency, it shall give the requestor the address of the agency contact and the section(s) referred.

(e) Timing of responses to requests sent to other agencies. The Board shall provide, within the FOIA deadline, responses only to those parts of the request not referred. Requests will be referred to other agencies and the requestor notified as soon as it is determined that a referral is appropriate.

(f) Agreements on consultations and referrals. The Board may make agreements with other agencies to eliminate the need for consultations or referrals for particular types of records.