How to make a request

To submit a Freedom of Information Act request,

Send a written request to the TVA FOIA Officer
Describe the records you want as specifically as possible
Tell us how much you’re willing to pay
Furnish any facts or clues about the dates, places, persons, events, or subjects you’re interested in, or other details of the information or records you want.

This will help us decide where to search to determine what records pertain to your request. It can also save you and the government time and money, and you may get what you want faster.

You do not have to complete a special form. Mail or fax your request, making sure you mark the request and envelope “FOIA.” Please provide your phone number and mailing address so that we can contact you to clarify your request, if necessary.

A FOIA request may seek only records that exist at the time the request is received, and may not require that new records be created in response to the request.

FOIA exemptions

The FOIA provides access to federal-agency records (or parts of such records), except those protected from release by nine specific exemptions. Some TVA records may not be released because they contain:

Classified material
Material referring to internal personnel rules and practices
Material that is exempt by other statute
Commercial business information submitted by an outside source
Predecisional deliberative information; government confidential commercial information; attorney-client information; and witness statements
Material whose release would constitute an invasion of personal privacy
Material compiled for law-enforcement purposes
Financial-institution oversight records
Geological information about wells.

FOIA Public Liaison

TVA welcomes any feedback you may have regarding the FOIA requester service center. Please forward any comments to the FOIA Public Liaison.

Appealing a decision

You have the right to appeal any denial decision within 30 days. Send an appeal to TVA’s Appeals Official (see the “Contacts” section of this Web site).

FOIA fees

Agencies are authorized by law to recover the direct costs of providing information to a requester under the FOIA. If you make such a request, you may be required to pay fees for searching, reviewing, and copying records. You will be notified in advance if these fees will exceed $25.

Fee categories

For fee purposes, the FOIA requires that requesters be placed in one of the following categories:

Commercial use (requester pays search, review, and reproduction fees)
News media, educational institution, or noncommercial scientific institution (requester pays reproduction fees; first 100 pages provided at no cost)
All others (requester pays search and reproduction fees; first two hours of search and first 100 pages provided at no cost).

Please specify the fee category into which you feel your request falls, and state the maximum amount of fees that you are willing to pay, or include a request for a fee waiver.

Fee waivers

The FOIA permits agencies to waive fees if disclosure of the records requested is in the public interest for both of the following reasons:

It is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government (Do the records concern government operations or activities? Is disclosure likely to contribute to public understanding of these operations or activities? Will that contribution be significant?)
It is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

A request for a fee waiver must be fully documented and justified by written explanation. The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees FOIA compliance throughout the federal government, sets out a six-part test for agencies to follow in evaluating requests for fee waivers.

Response time

Normally, you can expect a response to your FOIA request within 20 workdays from the date the request is received by TVA’s FOIA Officer. If a special situations exists, the FOIA office will contact you with an estimated completion date and will explain the reason(s) for any delay. TVA assigns requests to multitracks and processes requests within each track on a first-in, first-out basis.

Privacy Act

Under the Privacy Act (PA), a person may seek access to records that are retrieved by that person’s name or other personal identifier, such as Social Security number or employee identification number. Such records will be made available unless they fall within the exemptions of the PA and the FOIA. Detailed information about TVA policies and procedures for obtaining access to information under the FOIA and the PA is available in 18 CFR Part 1301, or you can call the TVA FOIA Officer at 865-632-6945 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Last modified: 20000229. Comments or questions about the TVA FOIA Web site: FOIA@tva.gov.