(a) Authority to grant or deny requests. The head of the Office, or his designee, is authorized to grant or deny any request for access to a record.

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(b) Initial action by the Office. When the Office receives a request for access to a record in its possession, the Office shall promptly determine whether another Government agency is better able to determine whether the record is exempt, to any extent, from access. If the Office determines that it is the agency best able to determine whether the record is exempt, to any extent, from access, then the Office shall respond to the request. If the Office determines that it is not the agency best able to determine whether the record is exempt from access, the Office shall respond to the request, after consulting with the agency best able to determine whether the record is exempt from access. Under ordinary circumstances, the agency that generated or originated a requested record shall be presumed to be the agency best able to determine whether the record is exempt from access. However, nothing in this section shall prohibit the agency that generated or originated a requested record from consulting with the Office, if the agency that generated or originated the requested record determines that the Office has an interest in the requested record or the information contained therein.

(c) Law-enforcement information. Whenever a request for access is made for a record containing information that relates to an investigation of a possible violation of criminal law or to a criminal law-enforcement proceeding and that was generated or originated by another agency, the Office shall consult with that other agency, as appropriate.

(d) Classified information. Whenever a request for access is made for a record containing information that has been classified, or that may be eligible for classification, by another agency under the provision of Executive Order 12356 or any other Executive order concerning the classification of records, the Office shall refer the responsibilities for responding to the request to the agency that classified the information or should consider the information for classification. Whenever a record contains information that has been derivatively classified by the Office because it contains information classified by another agency, the Office shall refer the responsibility for responding to the request to the agency that classified the underlying information; however, such referral shall extend only to the information classified by the other agency.

(e) Agreements regarding consultations. No provision of this section shall preclude formal or informal agreements between the Office and another agency, to eliminate the need for consultations concerning requests or classes of requests.

(f) Date for determining responsive records. In determining records responsive to a request for access, the Office ordinarily will include only those records within the Office’s possession and control as of the date of its receipt of the request.