How to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
FOIA requests to the
U.S. Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office (CBFO) may be
submitted by request form, letter, fax, or e-mail. You may contact
CBFO at the following address:
George W. Hellstrom
Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Public Liaison
U.S. Department of Energy
Carlsbad Field Office
P.O. Box 3090
4021 National Parks Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico
88221-3090
foialiaison@wipp.ws
FOIA requests may be
mailed or faxed to (505) 234-7025, e-mailed to the Freedom of
Information Act /Privacy Act Public Liaison, or submitted
electronically using the FOIA Request form. Clearly mark the
envelope, fax, or e-mail “Freedom of Information Act request.”
Describe the records you are requesting as completely and accurately
as possible, and provide your name, address, and telephone number.
A telephone call between the requester and the FOIA contact person
may be necessary to clarify a request and expedite processing time.
Processing fees may be
chargeable in accordance with provisions of the FOIA. If a request
will result in fees of less than $15.00, no fee will be assessed.
Certain categories of request are exempt from fees. If you wish to
request a fee waiver, please do so in your initial request letter.
This will save time in the FOIA process.
Fee Waiver or reduction. The FOIA, as strengthened by
the 1974 FOIA amendments, authorizes waiver of fees when it is
determined that such action is “in the public interest because
furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting
the general public.” As the Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit Court emphasized, this provision was enacted to
ensure that the public would benefit from any expenditure of public
funds for the disclosure of public records. In January 1983 the
Department of Justice (DOJ) issued fee waiver guidelines that set
forth specific criteria, developed in numerous court decisions, for
federal agencies to apply in determining whether the public interest
warranted a waiver or reduction of fees.
The current fee waiver standard,
which was established by the Freedom of Information Reform Act of
1986, more specifically defines the term “public interest” by
providing that fees should be waived or reduced if disclosure of the
information is in the public interest because it is likely to
contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations
or activities of the government and is not primarily in the
commercial interest to the requester. In accordance with this
provision, the DOJ issued revised fee waiver policy guidance on
April 1, 1987, which superseded its l983 substantive fee waiver
guidance, as well as that issued in 1986. The DOJ advised agencies
of six analytical factors to be considered in applying this
statutory fee waiver standard:
(1) The subject matter of
the requested records, in the context of the request, must
specifically concern identifiable operations or activities of the
government. In most cases, records possessed by a federal agency
will meet this threshold. The records must be sought for their
informative value with respect to specifically identified government
operations or activities.
(2) In order for the
disclosure to be likely to contribute to an understanding of
specific government operations or activities, the disclosable
portions of the requested information must be meaningfully
informative in relation to the subject matter of the request.
Requests for information that is already in the public domain,
either in a duplicative or a substantially identical form, may not
warrant a fee waiver because the disclosure would not be likely to
contribute to an understanding of government operations or
activities when nothing new would be added to the public’s
understanding.
(3) The disclosure must
contribute to the understanding of the public at large, as opposed
to the individual understanding of the requester or a narrow segment
of interested persons. As the proper focus must be on the benefit
derived by the public, any personal benefit to be derived by the
requester or the requester’s particular financial situation are not
factors entitling the requester to a fee waiver. It is well settled
that indigence alone, without a showing of a public benefit, is
insufficient to warrant a fee waiver. The requirement that a
requester demonstrate a contribution to the understanding of the
public at large is not satisfied simply because a fee waiver request
is made by a library or other record repository, or by a requester
who intends merely to disseminate the information to such an
institution. Requests that make no showing of how the information
would be disseminated, rather than through passively making it
available to anyone who might seek access to it, do not meet the
burden of demonstrating with particularity that the information will
be communicated to the public.
(4) The disclosure must
contribute significantly to public understanding of government
operations or activities. To warrant a waiver of reduction of fees,
the public’s understanding of the subject matter in question, as
compared to the requester’s commercial interests, must be likely to
be enhanced by the disclosure to a significant extent.
(5) The FOIA Public Liaison must
determine, as a threshold matter, whether the request involves any
commercial interests of the requester that would be furthered by the
disclosure. A commercial interest is one that furthers a
commercial, trade, or profit interest, as those terms are commonly
understood. However, not only profit-making corporations, but also
individuals or other organizations, may have a commercial interest
to be furthered by the disclosure, depending upon the circumstances
involved. The FOIA Public Liaison may properly consider the
requester’s identity and the circumstances surrounding
the request and draw reasonable inferences regarding the existence
of a commercial interest.
(6) The FOIA Public Liaison must
balance the requester’s commercial interest against the identified
public interest in disclosure and determine which interest is
primary. A fee waiver or reduction must be granted when the public
interest in disclosure is greater.
For a full description of fee
categories and qualifications for fee waivers, see DOE’s
implementing regulations: Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (Section 1004.9)
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