PART 2002—AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552; 5 U.S.C. App. 3; 42 U.S.C. 3535(d); Delegation of Authority, 46 FR 2389. Source: 83 FR 7391, Feb. 21, 2018, unless otherwise noted. § 2002.1 Scope of this part and applicability of other HUD regulations. (a) General. (b) Applicability of HUD's FOIA regulations. (c) Limited applicability of §§ 15.2 and 15.106 of this title. § 2002.3 OIG's overall policy concerning disclosable records. (a) The OIG will administer its FOIA program with a presumption of openness. This policy does not create any right enforceable in court. The OIG will fully and responsibly disclose its identifiable records and information consistent with competing public interests, such as national security, personal privacy, grand jury and investigative secrecy, complainant confidentiality, and agency deliberative process, as are recognized by FOIA and other Federal statutes. The OIG will apply the FOIA exemptions if release could foreseeably harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption. Release of records will be made as promptly as possible. (b) The OIG FOIA Public Liaison is the Deputy Counsel to the Inspector General. Requesters who have questions or comments concerning their FOIA request may contact the FOIA Public Liaison at 202-708-1613, or through the FOIA email at [email protected]. § 2002.5 How to make a request for OIG records; records produced. (a) Any request for OIG records must be made in writing. The easiest way to make a FOIA request is electronically through our public website at www.hudoig.gov. (b) Each request must reasonably describe the desired record, including the title or name, author, subject matter, and number or date, where possible, so that the record may be identified and located. The more specific the FOIA request for records, the more likely OIG officials will be able to locate the records requested. The request should also include the name, address and telephone number of the requester, the fee category that the requester believes applies to the request, and the form or format in which the requester would like the desired record to be reproduced, if the requester has a preference. In order to enable the OIG to comply with the time limitations set forth in § 2002.15, both the envelope containing a written request and the letter itself should clearly indicate that the subject is a Freedom of Information Act request. (c) The request must be accompanied by the fee or an offer to pay the fee as determined in § 15.106 of this title and § 2002.13. (d) The OIG may require information verifying the requester's identity, if the requester requests agency records pertaining to the requester, a minor, or an individual who is legally incompetent. Failure to provide the information when requested will result in the request being found insufficient and closed. It will not prevent the future refiling of the request. (e) Duplication of available records will be made as promptly as possible. Such duplication can take the form of paper copy, audiovisual materials, or machine-readable documentation ( e.g., (f) The OIG shall honor a requester's specified preference of form or format of disclosure if the record is readily reproducible with reasonable efforts in the requested form or format by the office responding to the request. (g) If the requester makes a request for expedited processing, the request must provide a detailed explanation of the basis for the request. The requester should also include a statement certifying the truth of the circumstances supporting the requester's compelling need. Requests for expedited processing that simply recite the statutory language are generally not granted. § 2002.7 OIG processing of requests, multi-tracking, and expedited processing. (a) Tracking number. (b) Multi-track processing Types of tracks. (2) Unusual circumstances. (3) Misdirected requests. (i) The date on which the request was referred to the appropriate office; or (ii) The end of the 10 working-day period in which the request should have been referred to the appropriate office. (c) Expedited processing. (2) The OIG will grant requests for expedited processing if it finds a compelling need under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(E). Evidence of a compelling need by a person making a request for expedited processing must be made in a statement certified by such person to be true and correct to the best of such person's knowledge and belief. A compelling need exists if: (i) Your failure to obtain the requested records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; (ii) You are primarily engaged in disseminating information and there is an urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity; or (iii) Your failure to obtain the requested records on an expedited basis could result in the loss of substantial due process rights. (3) If the OIG grants the request for expedited processing, the OIG will give the request priority and will process it as soon as practicable. § 2002.9 Proactive disclosures of records. (a) You may review records that section 552(a)(2) of FOIA requires the OIG to make available to the public in the electronic reading rooms identified in paragraph (b) of this section. That is the preferable method; however, you may also ask to review those documents that are in hardcopy at the Headquarters offices at HUD's Library, 451 Seventh Street SW, Suite 8141, Washington, DC 20410. This request should be coordinated through Office of Legal Counsel, Office of Inspector General, Suite 8254. Local offices may coordinate local requests for hardcopy reviews. (b) As required by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2), the OIG makes records created on or after November 1, 1996, available through its Electronic FOIA Reading Room, located at https://www.hudoig.gov/foia. (1) Copies of all records, regardless of form or format that have been released to any person under this part: and (i) Because of the nature of their subject matter, the agency determines that the records have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records; or (ii) Have been requested three or more times. (2) Report for the preceding fiscal year submitted to the U.S. Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Government Information Services as required by 5 U.S.C. 552(e) and the raw statistical data used in each report. This report will be made available: (i) Without charge, license, or registration requirement; (ii) In an aggregated, searchable format; and (iii) In a format that may be downloaded in bulk. (c) The OIG also makes other documents, such as audits and semiannual reports, available to the public at https://www.hudoig.gov/. § 2002.11 Agency review of records and aggregating requests. (a) Review of records. i.e., (b) Aggregating requests. (i) Certain requests from the same requester or from a group of requesters acting in concert actually constitute a single request; and (ii) The requests involve clearly related matters. (2) Aggregation of requests for this purpose will be conducted independent of aggregation of requests for fee purposes under § 15.106(h) of this title. § 2002.13 Fee schedule, advance payment, interest charges, and waiving or reducing fees. The OIG will charge for processing requests under the FOIA in accordance with § 15.106 of this title, except where those provisions conflict with provisions of this part; more specifically, where § 15.106 references § 15.103 of this title replace such reference with § 2002.15. § 2002.15 Time limitations. (a) General. (b) Scope of responsive records. (c) Unusual circumstances. (1) To search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request; (2) To search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records that are demanded in a single request ( e.g. (3) For consultation, which shall be conducted with all practicable speed, with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more offices of the Office of Inspector General having a substantial interest in the subject matter of the request. § 2002.17 Authority to release records or duplications. Any Assistant Inspector General or an appointed designee is authorized to release any record (or duplication) pertaining to activities for which he or she has primary responsibility, unless disclosure is clearly inappropriate under this part. No authorized person may release records for which another officer has primary responsibility without the consent of the officer or his or her designee. § 2002.19 Authority to deny requests for records and form of denial, exemptions, and exclusions. (a) Process for denying requests. (1) Be in writing; (2) State simply the reasons for the denial; (3) Provide an estimate of the volume of records or information withheld, when appropriate, in number of pages or in some other reasonable form of estimation. This estimate does not need to be provided if the volume is otherwise indicated through deletions on records disclosed in part, or if providing an estimate would harm an interest protected by an applicable exemption; (4) Identify the person(s) responsible for the denial by name and title; (5) Provide notice of the right of the requester to appeal to the Deputy Inspector General, within a period determined by the head of the agency that is not less than 90 days after the date of such adverse determination, consistent with § 2002.23; and (6) Provide notice of the right of the requester to seek dispute resolution services from the FOIA Public Liaison of the agency or the Office of Government Information Services. (b) Denying requests generally. (c) FOIA exemptions. (1) Classified documents. (2) Internal agency rules and practices. (3) Information prohibited from disclosure by another statute. (4) Commercial or financial information. (5) Certain interagency or intra-agency communications. (6) Personal privacy. i.e. (7) Law enforcement records. (8) Supervision of financial institutions. (9) Wells. (d) FOIA exclusion. (1) The subject of the investigation or proceeding is not aware of its pendency; and (2) Disclosure of the existence of the records could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings, in which case the agency may, during only such time as that circumstance continues, treat the records as not subject to the requirements of the FOIA. Section 552(c)(2) of FOIA allows the exclusion of informant records, unless the existence of the informant has been officially confirmed. § 2002.21 Effect of denial of request. Denial of a request shall terminate the authority of the Assistant Inspector General or his or her designee to release or disclose the requested record, which thereafter may not be made publicly available except with express authorization of the Inspector General, Deputy Inspector General, or Counsel to the Inspector General. § 2002.23 Administrative review. (a) Review is available only from a written determination denying a request for a record and only if a written request for review is filed within 90 days after issuance of the written determination. If mailed, the requester's letter of appeal must be postmarked within 90 calendar days of the date of the letter of determination. If the letter of appeal is transmitted electronically or by a means other than the United States Postal Service, it must be received in the appropriate office by the close of business on the 90th calendar day after the date of the letter of determination. Before seeking court review of an adverse determination, a requester must exhaust their administrative remedies under this section. (b) A review may be initiated by sending a request for review to the Office of Inspector General; Department of Housing and Urban Development; 451 Seventh Street SW, Room 8256, Washington, DC 20410 or to [email protected]. (1) A copy of the original request; (2) A copy of the written denial; and (3) A statement of the circumstances, reasons, or arguments advanced in support of disclosure of the original records requested. (c) Review will be made promptly by the Deputy Inspector General, or designee, on the basis of the written record. The OIG will decide an appeal of a denial of a request to expedite processing of a FOIA request within 10 working days of receipt of the appeal. The OIG will make a determination on all other appeals within 20 working days of receipt, unless unusual circumstances require the OIG to extend the time for an additional 10 working days. (d) The time of receipt for processing of a request is the time it is received by the Inspector General. If a request is misdirected by the requester and is received by one other than the Inspector General, the OIG official who receives the request will forward it promptly to the Inspector General and will advise the requester about the delayed time of receipt. (e) The decision after review will be in writing, will constitute final agency action on the request, and, if the denial of the request for records is in full or in part upheld, the Inspector General will notify the person making the request of his or her right to seek judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4). (f) Adverse decisions will include the name and contact information of dispute resolution services that offer mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a nonexclusive alternative to litigation.