§286.7. General provisions. — Inbound Citations

(a) DoD Components ordinarily will respond to requests on a first-in/first-out basis according to their order of receipt. In instances involving misdirected requests that are re-routed pursuant to § 286.7(c), the response time will commence on the date that the request is received by the appropriate DoD Component's FOIA RSC, but in any event not later than 10 working days after the request is first received by any DoD Component's FOIA RSC that is designated to receive requests.

(3) The standard referral procedure is not appropriate where disclosure of the identity of the DoD Component or agency to which the referral would be made could harm an interest protected by an applicable exemption, such as the exemptions that protect personal privacy or national security interests. Under these circumstances, the consultation process is the appropriate means for coordination. See § 286.7(d)(1). For example, if a non-law enforcement agency responding to a request for records on a living third party locates within its files records originating with a law enforcement agency, and if the existence of that law enforcement interest in the third party was not publicly known, then to disclose that law enforcement interest could cause an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the third party. Similarly, if a DoD Component locates within its files material originating with an Intelligence Community agency, and the involvement of that agency in the matter is classified and not publicly acknowledged, then to disclose or give attribution to the involvement of that Intelligence Community agency could cause national security harms. In such instances, in order to avoid harm to an interest protected by an applicable exemption, the DoD Component that received the request should coordinate with the originating DoD Component or agency to seek its views the disclosure of the record. The release determination for the record should then be conveyed to the requester by the DoD Component that originally received the request.