§9.23. Requirements for making requests. — Inbound Citations

This subpart prescribes procedures pursuant to which NRC meetings shall be open to public observation pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552b. This subpart does not affect the procedures pursuant to which NRC records are made available to the public for inspection and copying which remain governed by subpart A, except that the exemptions set forth in § 9.104(a) shall govern in the case of any request made pursuant to § 9.23 to copy or inspect the transcripts, recordings, or minutes described in § 9.108. Access to records considered at NRC meetings shall continue to be governed by subpart A of this part.

(2) Records solely in the possession and control of NRC contractors;

The NRC will make available for public inspection and copying any reasonably described agency record in the possession and control of the NRC under the provisions of this subpart, and upon request by any person. Records will be made available in any form or format requested by a person if the record is readily reproducible by NRC in that form or format. The NRC will make reasonable efforts to maintain its records in forms or formats that are reproducible. The NRC will make reasonable efforts to search for records in electronic form or format when requested, except when these efforts would significantly interfere with the operation of any of the NRC's automated information systems. Records that the NRC routinely makes publicly available are described in § 9.21. Procedures and conditions governing requests for records are set forth in § 9.23.

(b) In responding to a request for information submitted under § 9.23, in which it has been determined to withhold exempt information, the NRC will segregate—

(1) Information that is exempt from public disclosure under § 9.17 from nonexempt information; and

(2) Factual information from advice, opinions, and recommendations in predecisional records unless the information is inextricably intertwined, or is contained in drafts, legal work products, and records covered by the attorney-client privilege, or is otherwise exempt from disclosure.

(g) All consultations and referrals received by the NRC will be handled according to the date that the first agency received the perfected FOIA request as described in § 9.23.

(iii) Be submitted as part of a request for records in accordance with § 9.23; and

(2) The date of receipt, as determined in accordance with § 9.23;

(b) The approved information collection requirements contained in this part appear in §§ 9.23, 9.25, 9.26, 9.28, 9.29, 9.37, 9.53, 9.54, 9.55, 9.65, 9.66, and 9.67.

(4) Non-substantive information in logs or schedule books of the Chairman or Commissioners, uncirculated except for typing or recording purposes.

Business information means commercial or financial information obtained by the NRC from a submitter that may be protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

Commercial-use request means a request made under § 9.23 and for information for a use or purpose that furthers a commercial, trade, or profit interest of the requester, which can include furthering those interests through litigation. The NRC's decision to place a requester in the commercial use category will be made on a case-by-case basis based on the requester's intended use of the information.

Compelling need means—

(1) On receipt of any request potentially involving information exempt from disclosure (e.g., nonpublic information), the NRC will determine whether the information is exempt from disclosure under § 9.17. Whenever a request involves a record containing information that may be exempt from disclosure, but the responsible office, as specified in paragraph (a) of this section, determines that, although exempt, the disclosure of the agency records will not be contrary to the public health and safety, will not be harmful to the common defense or security, and will not affect the rights of any person, the responsible office may authorize disclosure of the agency records. If the responsible office authorizes disclosure of the agency records, the head of the office will furnish the agency records to the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer, who will notify the requester of the determination in the manner provided in § 9.27.

(2) Whenever a request involves a record containing information that has been classified or may be appropriate for classification by another agency under any applicable executive order concerning the classification of records, the NRC will refer the responsibility for responding to the request regarding that information to the agency that classified the information, or that should consider the information for classification. Whenever an agency's record contains information that has been derivatively classified (e.g., when it contains information classified by another agency), the NRC will refer the responsibility for responding to that portion of the request to the agency that classified the underlying information.

(a) On or before February 1 of each year, the NRC will submit a report covering the preceding fiscal year to the Attorney General of the United States and to the Director of the Office of Government Information Services that will include the information required by 5 U.S.C. 552(e)(1).