Section 8.  Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)

4-8-1. ACCIDENT/INCIDENT RECORDINGS

The original ATC voice tape or DAT will not ordinarily be used in response to requests for copies. The copies will be made from the original rerecording. When filling a request, do not use a cassette that has a previous recording on it.

a. With the prior approval of the Service Area office and Director of Safety Investigations, a requesting party shall be permitted to obtain a direct rerecording of the original tape or DAT. The facility air traffic manager shall ensure that a qualified FAA employee retains custody of the original recording and is present during reproduction. Recordings will be continuous, thus eliminating starting and stopping of the original tape or DAT to the maximum extent possible.

b. A certified rerecording shall be made of all portions of tape(s) or DAT(s) copied by the requesting party. This recording shall be retained in the facility in accordance with the appropriate records retention criteria; i.e., accidents or incidents, etc. The original tape(s) or DAT(s), will be returned to service.

4-8-2. REQUESTS TO PRESERVE TAPE OR DAT UNDER FOIA

When requests are received to preserve more of the original tape or DAT(s) than required by FAAO 8020.11, Aircraft Accident and Incident Notification, Investigation, and Reporting, or FAAO JO 7210.3, Facility Operation and Administration, the following will apply:

a. Immediately remove the tape(s) or DAT(s) or the pertinent portion thereof from service. During the time a tape(s) or DAT(s) is to be preserved, the reel, or DAT on which it is to be stored shall be labeled as follows: "WARNING this tape or DAT is to be preserved and is not to be returned to service until released by the Service Area office."

b. The requestor shall be notified in writing that the requested tape(s) or DAT(s) will be held for a period of 20 days from the date of FAA's response. Within this time, the requesting party shall make arrangements to obtain a rerecording. If, at the end of the 20-day retention period, there has been no contact by the requesting party, or no follow through in obtaining a rerecording, the requestor will be advised in writing of that fact and be advised that we will hold the tape(s) or DAT(s) for an additional 10 days from the date of this notification. If, at the end of the additional 10 days, there has been no contact or follow through by the requesting party, the portion of tape(s) or DAT(s) that is more than we normally retain shall be returned to service.

4-8-3. COMPUTER DATA

The data on a computer tape/disc is normally useless to a requesting party unless reduced to printed form. Therefore, when filling a request for computer data, the tape/disc will be reduced to printed form. The following disclaimer will be attached to any computer reduction: "This document is derived from computer magnetic recordings of internal computer processing. It is not an exact representation of the control position display."

4-8-4. FEES

a. A request may be received for a certified rerecording on cassette tape or digital audio tape format. Unless otherwise specified in the request, prepare certified rerecordings on cassette tape.

1. Cassette Tape Format: A fee of $30.00 will be charged for each hour or portion thereof of actual recordings. No additional fee will be charged for preparation time or personnel costs.

EXAMPLE-
1. A request is received for a rerecording of 1 hour of Ground Control (GC) and 30 minutes of Local Control (LC). Total time = 1:30. The charges would be computed thus:

$30.00 First hour (GC)
$30.00 Portion of time for the next hour (LC)
$60.00 Total Charge

2. A request is received for a total of 25 minutes of actual recordings. The charge would be $30.00.

3. A request is received for certified rerecordings of Clearance Delivery, GC, and LC with each position placed on a separate cassette. The total recorded time on all 3 positions is 45 minutes. The charge for the 3 cassettes would be computed thus:

$30.00 45 minutes
No additional charges would be assessed for the individual cassettes.

2. DAT: A fee of $25.00 will be charged for each DAT provided under the request. In addition, a flat rate of $30.00 will be charged for each different block of time requested, limited to the daily 24 hour period recorded on the facility's master DAT. In other words, although a request for one block of time (i.e., 0900-0900) is a total of 24 hours, it is spread over a two day period. Therefore, such a request would be considered as two separate blocks of time.

EXAMPLE-
1. A request is received for a voice recording on DAT format for 2 different blocks of time; from 0900-1200 and 1500-1830 on May 5. Since no specific position(s) were specified, the request could include all recorded positions during the time periods. Regardless, the charges for the service would be computed thus:

$25.00 1 DAT
$30.00 1 Block of time (0900-1200)
$30.00 1 Block of time (1500-1830)
$85.00 Total Charge

2. A request is received for a voice recording beginning on June 12, at 0900, through June 13, at 1800. The facility will have stored this information on two separate DATs. However, all of the requested data can be transferred to a single DAT for the customer. The charges would be computed thus:

$25.00 1 DAT
$30.00 1 Block of time (June 12, 0900-2359)
$30.00 1 Block of time (June 13, 0000-1800)
$85.00 Total Charge

3. The same information in example 2 is requested except the customer wants the data to be placed on separate DATs and labeled for each day. The charge would be computed thus:

$50.00 2 DATs @ $25.00 each
$30.00 1 Block of time (June 12, 0900-2359)
$30.00 1 Block of time (June 13, 0000-1800)
$110.00 Total Charge

4. A request is received for a voice recording from 0630-2345. The charge would be computed thus:

$25.00 1 DAT
$30.00 1 Block of time (0630-2345)
$55.00 Total Charge

5. A request is received for voice recordings of: LC, August 2, 1015-2255; GC, August 3, 0700-1635; and LC, August 3, 0700-1635. The charges would be computed thus:

$25.00 1 DAT
$30.00 1 Block of time (LC, August 2, 1015-2255)
$30.00 1 Block of time (GC and LC, August 3, 0700-1635)
$85.00 Total Charge

6. A request is received for a voice recording of: LC, August 2, 1015-2255; LC, August 3, 0700-1635; and GC, August 3, 0700-1530. The charges would be computed thus:

$25.00 1 DAT
$30.00 1 Block of time (LC, August 2, 1015-2255)
$30.00 1 Block of time (LC, August 3, 0700-1635)
$30.00 1 Block of time (GC, August 3, 0700-1530)
$115.00 Total Charge

b.  CPU cost:

1.  AFSS: $13.00

2.  ARTS II/III: $99.00

3.  HOST: $275.00

c.  Fees for a computer search will be computed using the following formula:

EXAMPLE-
For ARTCC given 15 minutes CPU time; 45 minutes programmer time; $30 salary.

NOTE-
⁽¹⁵/₆₀ x $275) + ⁴⁵/₆₀ x $30 x 1.16 = $94.85