PART 602—RELEASING INFORMATION Authority: Secs. 5.9, 5.17, 5.59 of the Farm Credit Act (12 U.S.C. 2243, 2252, 2277a-8); 5 U.S.C 301, 552; 12 U.S.C. 1821(t); 52 FR 10012; E.O. 12600; 52 FR 23781, 3 CFR 1987, p. 235. Source: 64 FR 41770, Aug. 2, 1999, unless otherwise noted. Subpart A—Information and Records Generally § 602.1 Purpose and scope. This part contains FCA's rules for disclosing our records or information; processing requests for records under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552, as amended)(FOIA); FOIA fees; disclosing otherwise exempt information in litigation when FCA is not a party; and getting documents in public rulemaking files. Part 603 of this chapter tells you how to get records about yourself under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a. § 602.2 Disclosing reports of examination and other non-public information. (a) Disclosure by FCA. (b) Disclosure by Farm Credit System institutions. (c) Disclosure to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation. (d) Disclosure to governmental entities. (1) In response to a Federal court order; (2) In response to a request of either House or a Committee or Subcommittee of Congress; or (3) When requested for confidential use in an official investigation by authorized representatives of other Federal agencies. [64 FR 41770, Aug. 2, 1999, as amended at 78 FR 77561, Dec. 24, 2013] Subpart B—Availability of Records of the Farm Credit Administration § 602.3 Definitions. Appeal Business information Business submitter FOIA request Record § 602.4 How to make a request. (a) How to make and address a request. (1) By mail to 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102-5090; (2) By facsimile to (703) 790-0052; or (3) By E-mail to [email protected]. (b) Description of requested records. (c) Faster response. compelling need (1) Someone's life or physical safety may be in danger if we do not respond to the request faster; or (2) You urgently need to tell the public about Federal government activity as a representative of the news media. (d) Request for personal information. (e) Fees. (f) Other requests. § 602.5 FCA response to requests for records. (a) Response time. (b) Extension of response time. (1) Search for and get the requested records from field offices or other locations; (2) Search for, get, and review many records identified in a single request; (3) Consult with another Federal agency having a substantial interest in the request; or (4) Consult with two or more FCA offices having a substantial interest in the request. (c) Referrals. § 602.6 FOIA exemptions. The FOIA allows agencies to withhold documents in certain categories. For instance, we do not have to give you documents that relate to our examination of institutions or that would violate the personal privacy of an individual. If we do not give you a document because the FOIA does not require us to, we will tell you which FOIA exemption applies to our decision. § 602.7 Confidential business information. (a) FCA disclosure. (1) We decide the business submitter has no valid basis to object to disclosure; (2) The information has been published lawfully or made available to the public; or (3) Law (other than the FOIA) requires disclosure of the information. (b) Notice by FCA. (1) The business submitter has in good faith labeled the information a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential. We will provide such notice for 10 years after receiving the information unless the business submitter justifies the need for a longer period; or (2) We believe that disclosing the information may result in commercial or financial injury to the business submitter. (c) Objection to release. (d) FCA response. (2) We will tell the requester and the submitter the proposed disclosure date at the same time. (3) If a submitter sues to prevent release, we will promptly tell the requester and will not disclose the business information until after the court's decision. (4) If a requester sues to compel disclosure, we will promptly tell the business submitter. § 602.8 Appeals. (a) How to appeal. (1) By mail to 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102-5090; (2) By facsimile to (703) 893-2608; or (3) By Email to [email protected]. (b) FCA action on appeal. (c) Unusual circumstances. (d) How to seek dispute resolution services. (1) FCA's FOIA Public Liaison; (i) By mail addressed to FOIA Public Liaison, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22101-5090; (ii) By facsimile at 703-790-3260; or (iii) By Email at [email protected]. (2) Office of Government Information Services; (i) By mail to Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road—OGIS, College Park, Maryland, 20740-6001; (ii) By facsimile at (202) 741-5769; or (iii) By Email at [email protected]. [64 FR 41770, Aug. 2, 1999, as amended at 70 FR 69645, Nov. 17, 2005; 81 FR 47692, July 22, 2016; 81 FR 63366, Sept. 15, 2016] § 602.9 Current FOIA index. FCA will make a current index available for public inspection and copying, as required by the FOIA. We will give you an index for the cost of copying it. Because we rarely receive requests for an index, we have not published one in the Federal Register. Subpart C—FOIA Fees § 602.10 Definitions. Commercial use request Direct costs Educational institution Noncommercial scientific institution Pages Representative of the news media News Reproduce (or reproduction) Review Search § 602.11 Fees by type of requester. Depending on your identity and the purpose of your request, the FCA may charge you the direct costs of searching for responsive records, reviewing the records, and reproducing them. If necessary, we will seek clarification before classifying the request. (a) Educational institutions and noncommercial scientific institutions. (b) Representatives of the news media. (c) Commercial use. (d) All others. (e) Fee table. See Fee Table Type of requester Charges for Reproduction Search time Review time •Educational No Charge No charge First 100 pages free, $ 0.15 a page after that. Commercial Users 1 All direct costs All direct costs $0.15 a page. All others 1 First 2 hours free, all direct costs after that No charge First 100 pages free, $0.15 a page after that. 1 [64 FR 41770, Aug. 2, 1999; 64 FR 45589, Aug. 20, 1999] § 602.12 Fees. (a) FCA may charge: (1) For manual searches for records and for review, the pro rated cost of the salary of the employee doing the work. (2) For computer searches for records, the direct costs of computer search time and supply or material costs. (3) For each page made by photocopy or similar method, fifteen cents a page, and for other forms of copying, the direct costs. (4) The direct costs of elective services, such as certifying records as true copies or sending records by special methods. (b) We will not charge fees when total assessed fees are less than $15.00. (c) You must pay by personal check, bank draft drawn on a United States bank, or postal money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States. (d) We treat a request about yourself under Privacy Act fee rules. (e) The information in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section is presented in the table to this paragraph. Direct costs means the costs FCA incurs in searching for, reviewing, and reproducing documents to respond to a request. Direct costs include pro rated salary and reproduction costs. We will not charge fees when they total less than $15.00. Fee Amounts Table Type of fee Amount of fee Manual Search and Review Pro rated Salary Costs. Computer Search Direct Costs. Photocopy $0.15 a page. Other Reproduction Costs Direct Costs. Elective Services Direct Costs. (f) We will not assess fees if we fail to comply with any time limit under the FOIA or these regulations, and have not timely notified the requester, in writing, that an unusual circumstance exists. If an unusual circumstance exists, and timely, written notice is given to the requester, we may be excused an additional 10 working days before fees are automatically waived under this paragraph. (g) If we determine that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to a request, we may charge fees if we provided a timely, written notice to the requester and discussed with the requester via mail, Email, or telephone (or made at least three good-faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request. (h) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, a failure to comply with time limits imposed by these regulations or FOIA shall be excused for the length of time provided by court order. [64 FR 41770, Aug. 2, 1999, as amended at 81 FR 63366, Sept. 15, 2016] § 602.13 Fee waiver. We may waive or reduce fees if disclosure is not mostly in your commercial interest but, instead, is in the public interest because it will advance public understanding of the Federal government's operations or activities. § 602.14 Advance payments—notice. (a) If fees will be more than $25.00 and you have not told us in advance that you will pay estimated fees, we will tell you the estimated amount and ask that you agree to pay it. Except as noted in this section, we will begin processing the FOIA request when we receive your agreement to pay. (b) If estimated fees exceed $250.00 and you have a history of promptly paying fees charged for information requests, we may respond to your request based on your agreement to pay. (c) If estimated fees exceed $250.00 and you have no history of paying fees, we may require you to pay in advance. (d) If you have previously failed to pay fees for information requests or paid them late, you must pay any fees still owed, plus interest calculated under § 602.15, and the estimated fees before we will respond to a new or a pending request. (e) If we require advance payment or an advance agreement to pay, we will not consider your request to be received and will not respond to it until you meet the requirement. § 602.15 Interest on unpaid fees. If you fail to pay fees on time, FCA may charge you interest starting on the 31st calendar day following the date we bill you. We will charge you interest at the rate allowed by law (31 U.S.C. 3717) on the billing date. § 602.16 Combining requests. You may not avoid paying fees by filing multiple requests at the same time. When FCA reasonably believes that you, alone or with others, are breaking down one request into a series of requests to avoid fees, we will combine the requests and charge accordingly. [81 FR 63366, Sept. 15, 2016] Subpart D—Testimony and Production of Documents in Legal Proceedings in Which FCA is Not a Named Party § 602.17 Policy. (a) The rules in this subpart preserve the confidentiality of FCA's documents and information, conserve employees' time for official duties, uphold fairness in litigation, and help the Chairman decide when to allow testimony and to produce documents. This subpart does not affect access to documents under the FOIA or the Privacy Act. See subpart B of this part and part 603 of this chapter. (b) Generally, we will not produce documents voluntarily and employees will not appear as witnesses voluntarily in any legal proceeding. However, in limited circumstances, the Chairman may allow the production of documents or testimony when the Chairman decides it would be in the best interest of FCA or the public. All privileged documents produced under this subpart remain our property. Any employee having information or privileged documents may disclose them only as allowed by the Chairman. § 602.18 Definitions. Court Demand Direct costs Document Employee FCA Counsel General Counsel Legal proceeding § 602.19 Request for testimony or production of documents. (a) How to make and address a request. (b) Your request must contain the following: (1) Title of the case; (2) Forum; (3) Your interest in the case; (4) Summary of the litigation issues; (5) Reasons for the request; (6) Why the confidential information is important; and (7) An explanation of why the testimony or document you want is not reasonably available from another source. If you want testimony, you must also state how you intend to use the testimony, provide a subject matter summary of the requested testimony, and explain why a document could not be used instead. (c) The General Counsel may ask you to limit your request to make it less burdensome or to give us information to help us decide if providing documents or testimony is in the public interest. § 602.20 Testimony of FCA employees. (a) An employee may testify only as the Chairman approves in writing. Generally, an employee may testify only by deposition or written interrogatory. An employee may give only factual testimony and may not give opinion testimony. (b) If, in response to your request, the Chairman decides that an employee may testify, you must serve the employee with a subpoena under applicable Federal or State rules of procedure and at the same time send a copy of the subpoena by registered mail to the General Counsel. (c) Normally, depositions will be taken at the employee's office, at a time convenient to the employee and the FCA. FCA counsel may represent FCA's interests at the deposition. (d) If you request the deposition, you must give the General Counsel a copy of the deposition transcript at no charge. § 602.21 Production of FCA documents. (a) An FCA employee may produce documents only as the Chairman allows. (b) Before we will release any documents, the requesting party must get an acceptable protective order from the court before which the action is pending that will preserve the confidentiality of the documents to be released. (c) On request, we may provide certified or authenticated copies of documents. § 602.22 Fees. (a) For documents released under this subpart, FCA will charge: (1) The direct costs of searching for responsive records, including the use of a computer, reviewing the records, and reproducing them. We also will charge for the direct costs of any other services and materials that we provide at your request. (2) Fifteen cents a copy for each page made by photocopy or similar process. (3) The direct costs for each certification or authentication of documents. (b) You must pay by personal check, bank draft drawn on a United States bank, or postal money order made payable to FCA. We will waive fees of $15.00 or less. We will send the documents after we receive your payment. § 602.23 Responses to demands served on FCA employees. (a) An employee served with a demand or a subpoena in a legal proceeding must immediately tell the General Counsel of such service, the testimony or documents described in the demand, and all relevant facts. (b) When the Chairman does not allow testimony or production of documents, FCA Counsel will provide the regulations in this subpart to the party or court issuing the demand and explain that the employee may not testify or produce documents without the Chairman's prior approval. (c) If the court rules the employee must comply with the demand regardless of the Chairman's instructions not to do so, the employee must respectfully refuse to comply. (d) FCA's decision under this subpart to comply or not to comply with any demand is not a waiver, an assertion of privilege, or an objection based on relevance, technical deficiency, or any other ground. We may oppose any demand on any legal ground. § 602.24 Responses to demands served on non-FCA employees or entities. If you are not an employee and are served with a demand or a subpoena in a legal proceeding directing you to produce or testify about an FCA report of examination, other document created or adopted by FCA, or any related document, you must object and immediately tell the General Counsel of such service, the testimony or documents described in the demand, and all relevant facts. You also must object to the production of any documents on the basis that they are FCA's property and cannot be released without FCA's consent. You should tell the requester the production of documents or testimony must follow the procedures in this part. Subpart E—Release of Records in Public Rulemaking Files § 602.25 General. FCA has a public rulemaking file for each regulation. You may get copies of documents in the public rulemaking file by sending a written request to the Director, Office of Regulatory Policy, Farm Credit Administration, 1501 Farm Credit Drive, McLean, Virginia 22102-5090. We will charge fifteen cents a copy for each page. We will waive fees of $15.00 or less. [64 FR 41770, Aug. 2, 1999, as amended at 81 FR 47692, July 22, 2016]