§801.21. Initial determination. — Inbound Citations

(a) In unusual circumstances as specified in this section, the time limits prescribed in either § 801.21 or § 801.22 may be extended by no more than 10 days (excluding Saturdays, Sunday, and legal public holidays) by providing written notice to the requester setting forth the reasons for the extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched.

(1) The NTSB will not charge fees if it fails to comply with the time limits in §§ 801.21 or 801.22, including an extension of time pursuant to § 801.23(a), except:

(i) If the NTSB determines there are unusual circumstances, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)(iii) and § 801.23(c), and more than 5,000 pages are responsive to the request, the FOIA Office may charge fees if timely written notice of the unusual circumstances has been provided to the requester and the FOIA Office has discussed with the requestor (or made not less than three good-faith attempts to do so) how the requester could limit the scope of the request.

(ii) If a court determines there are exceptional circumstances, as defined by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(C), a failure to comply with the time limits will be excused for the length of time provided by the court order.

Requesters seeking an appeal of the FOIA Office's fee or fee waiver determination must send a written appeal to the Managing Director within 90 calendar days. The Managing Director will determine whether to grant or deny any appeal made pursuant to § 801.21 within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after receipt of such appeal, except that this time limit may be extended for as many as 10 additional days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays), in accordance with § 801.23.

(h) In general, the NTSB will deny requests for records concerning a pending investigation, pursuant to appropriate exemptions under the FOIA. The FOIA Office will notify the requester of this denial in accordance with § 801.21(b), and provide the requester additional information regarding how the requester may receive information on the investigation once the investigation is complete.

(1) A requester may submit a statement demonstrating with reasonable particularity that the requester has a compelling need for expedited processing in Track 1. The requester must certify that the statement is true and correct to the best of the requester's knowledge. Within 10 calendar days after receipt of the statement, the FOIA Office will inform the requester whether the request qualifies for expedited processing, and if not, provide the requester with the information in § 801.21(b).