- if they need to consult with other NOAA components to prepare responses to FOIA requests;
- if they need to search for voluminous information in order to respond to FOIA requests; or
- if interagency consultation by the NOAA FOIA Officer is necessary.
FOIA liaisons are permitted to extend FOIA requests by an additional 10 business days beyond the 20-business-day timeframe required by E-FOIA, either by asking the permission of FOIA requesters, or taking the 10-day extension themselves and notifying the requesters. The reason for the extension must be documented. If FOIA liaisons anticipate that the request may take longer than the time allotted by law to respond to FOIA requests, the FOIA requesters can grant voluntary extensions for whatever timeframe is acceptable to the requesters.
Until a FOIA request is "properly received" by NOAA (which means that the NOAA FOIA Office has been notified of the FOIA request, assigned a FOIA number, and has logged the request into the NOAA Electronic FOIA database), NOAA does not have an obligation to search, meet deadlines, or to release documents. When FOIA liaisons receive FOIA requests, they should request FOIA control numbers and provide requester information immediately to the NOAA FOIA Office. Any member of the NOAA FOIA Staff will be happy to assign a number to the FOIA request. A faxed copy of the CD-244 and the incoming correspondence must also be faxed to the NOAA FOIA Office.
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Last Updated June 2003