(a) How made and addressed. A requester may make a request under this part for a record of the Office of Independent Counsel by writing to the Office at: FOIA/PA Officer, Office of Independent counsel, Suite 701 West, 555 Thirteenth Street NW., Washington, DC 20004. A request should be sent to the Office at its proper address and both the envelope and the request itself should be clearly marked: “Freedom of Information Act Request.”

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(b) Request must reasonably describe the records sought. A request must describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable Office personnel to locate the records with a reasonable amount of effort. A request for a specific category of records shall be regarded as fulfilling this requirement if it enables responsive records to be identified by a technique or process that is not unreasonably burdensome or disruptive of Office operations. Wherever possible, a request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipient, and subject matter of the record. In addition, if the request seeks records pertaining to pending litigation, the request should indicate the title of the case, the court in which the case was filed, and the nature of the case. If the Office determines that a request does not reasonably describe the records sought, the Office shall either advise the requester what additional information is needed or otherwise state why the request is insufficient. The Office also shall extend to the requester an opportunity to confer with Office personnel with the objective of reformulating the request in a manner that will meet the requirements of this section.

(c) Agreement to pay fees. (1) The filing of a request under this part shall be deemed to constitute an agreement by the requester to pay all applicable fees charged under § 701.18 of this part, up to $25, unless a waiver of fees is sought. The Office shall confirm this agreement in its letter of acknowledgement to the requester. When filing a request, a requester may specify a willingness to pay a greater amount, if applicable.

(2) If a waiver of fees up to $25 is sought in the requester’s request to the Office, the Office will make its determination on the fee waiver (and notify the requester as soon as possible) after receipt of the request. The submission of a request for fee waiver will not delay the Office’s responsibility to search for responsive records.

(3) If the fee waiver is denied by the Office, and the fees involved total $25 or less, the Office will send the responsive documents to the requester, along with a bill for fees. The collection of the unpaid bill shall follow the procedures found herein at § 701.18 (g)(2) and (h).