PART 1662—FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) PROCEDURES Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301; 50 U.S.C. 3809; 5 U.S.C. 552 and 552a; 18 U.S.C. 1905; 31 U.S.C. 9701; & E.O. 11623, as amended by E.O. 13286, Feb 28, 2003. Source: 89 FR 66570, Aug. 16, 2024, unless otherwise noted. § 1662.1 Scope and purpose of this part. (a) The purpose of this part is to describe the Selective Service System's (SSS) policies and procedures for implementing the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as set forth at 5 U.S.C. 552. The FOIA mandates disclosure to the public of Federal agency records unless specific exemptions apply. The FOIA also requires an agency to proactively disclose records and make certain records available for public inspection. (b) The rules in this part describe how SSS makes records available to the public, including: (1) What constitutes a proper request for records; (2) How to make a FOIA request; (3) Who has the authority to release and withhold records; (4) What fees may be charged to process a request for records; (5) The timing of determinations regarding release; (6) The exemptions that permit the withholding of records; (7) A requester's right to seek assistance from the FOIA Public Liaison; (8) A requester's right to appeal the Agency's FOIA determination; (9) A requester's right to seek assistance from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) and then go to court if they still disagree with the Agency's release determination; and (10) The records available for public inspection. (c) The rules in this part do not revoke, modify, or supersede the SSS regulations relating to disclosure of information in parts 1660 or 1665 of this chapter. § 1662.2 Definitions. As used in this part: Agency Chief FOIA Officer Commercial interest Component Duplication Educational institution Exemption Expedited processing Fee category Fee waiver FOIA Officer FOIA Public Liaison [email protected]. FOIA request Freedom of Information Act FOIA News Non-commercial scientific institution Online FOIA portal FOIA.gov Other requester Production i.e., Reading room https://www.sss.gov/, https://www.sss.gov/foia/. Record(s) Redact Representative of the news media Request Review, i.e., Search Special services SSS Submitter Tolling Trade secrets and commercial or financial information § 1662.3 SSS's FOIA policy. (a) Presumption of openness. (b) Authority to release and withhold records. (1) Release or withhold records in response to initial requests; (2) Grant or deny expedited processing; and (3) Reduce or waive fees. (c) Records publicly available. (d) Required record production. § 1662.4 Relationship between the FOIA and the Privacy Act of 1974. (a) Coverage. (b) Requesting your own records. § 1662.5 Who can file a FOIA request? Any member of the public may submit a FOIA request to SSS. Under the FOIA, “member of the public” includes requests from individuals, corporations, state, and local agencies, as well as foreign entities. Requests from Federal agencies and Federal or state courts are not covered by the FOIA. § 1662.6 Requirements of a FOIA request. (a) To be considered a FOIA request under this part, the following must occur: (1) The request must be written (either by hand or electronically); (2) The request must be submitted in accordance with § 1662.7; (3) The requester must provide the following required contact information: requester's name, U.S. or foreign postal address, description of records sought, and fee willing to pay. While not required, the Agency encourages requesters to provide us with their email address and phone number; and (4) The request must clearly state and reasonably describe what SSS records are requested. Broad, sweeping requests and vague requests are not reasonably described. The requester must describe the records sought in sufficient detail to enable the Agency to locate the records within a reasonable amount of effort. When known, requests should identify the records sought by providing the name/title of the record, applicable date range, subject matter, offices, or employees involved, and record type. If the request is for electronic communications, such as email records, it would assist SSS if the requestor could provide as much information as possible, such as the names, position titles, or other identifying information about the Agency employees involved, as well as the applicable timeframe. Absent sufficient details, the Agency may be unable to search for or locate the records sought. The greater the date range, the longer it may take to process the request and the greater amount of fees that may be charged. (b) Requests that do not meet the required criteria above are not considered proper FOIA requests. (c) The FOIA requires an Agency to provide the record in any form or format requested by the person if the record is readily reproducible by the Agency in that form or format. SSS will not search or produce records in response to a FOIA request that the FOIA Officer determines would be unduly burdensome (as defined in case law) to process. FOIA requests are unreasonably burdensome when it is a broad, sweeping request that lacks specificity. § 1662.7 Where to submit a FOIA request. Submission of requests. (a) Online FOIA portal: www.sss.gov/foia (b) Email: [email protected]. (c) Mail: § 1662.8 Requests not processed under the FOIA. (a) The Chief FOIA Officer will not process a request under the FOIA and the regulations in this part to the extent it asks for records that are currently publicly available, either from SSS or from another part of the Federal Government, unless the requester does not have access to the internet and cannot retrieve records online. See § 1662.26. (b) The Chief FOIA Officer will not process a request under the FOIA and the regulations in this part if the records sought are distributed by the Agency as part of its regular program activity, for example, public information leaflets distributed by SSS. See §§ 1662.26 through 1662.28. (c) The Chief FOIA Officer will not process a request under the FOIA that does not meet the requirements of a FOIA request as defined in § 1662.21. When a request under FOIA does not meet the requirements of § 1662.21, the Chief FOIA Officer will send written correspondence to the requester: (1) Providing instructions for how to submit a proper FOIA request; or (2) Asking for additional information to make the request a proper FOIA request. § 1662.9 Chief FOIA Officer's authority. (a) Release determination. (1) Release or withholding of records; (2) Expedited processing; (3) Charging or waiver of fees; and (4) Other matters relating to processing a request for records under this part. (b) Determination provided in writing. § 1662.10 Responsibility for responding to requests. (a) In general. (b) Authority to grant or deny requests. (c) Consultation, referral, and coordination. (1) Consultation. (2) Referral. (ii) Whenever the Chief FOIA Officer refers any part of the responsibility for responding to a request to another agency, it will document the referral, maintain a copy of the record that it refers, and notify the requester of the referral, informing the requester of the name(s) of the agency to which the record was referred, including that Agency's FOIA contact information. (3) Coordination. (d) Classified information. (e) Timing of responses to consultations and referrals. (f) Agreements regarding consultations and referrals. § 1662.11 How does SSS process FOIA requests? (a) Acknowledgement. (2) If the Chief FOIA Officer requires clarification to process the FOIA request, the Chief FOIA Officer will contact the requester either via email, U.S. postal mail, or phone call. The Chief FOIA Officer will attempt to contact requesters twice. If the Chief FOIA Officer does not receive a response to their clarification attempts within 30 calendar days from the date of the first contact to the requester, the Chief FOIA Officer will close the FOIA request due to insufficient information. (b) Perfected requests. i.e., (c) Expedited processing. (d) Multi-tracking procedures. (1) Simple. (2) Complex. (e) Unusual circumstances. (i) Search for and collect records from SSS components or locations that are separate from National Headquarters; (ii) Search for, collect, and review a voluminous number of records that are part of a single request; and/or (iii) Consult with two or more SSS components or another agency having substantial interest in the request before releasing the records. (2) Within the unusual circumstances letter to the requester, the Chief FOIA Officer will provide an estimated date that they will contact the requester with the applicable fee notice and/or further correspondence. The Chief FOIA Officer will also advise the requester that they may modify or narrow the scope of their request. (f) Fee notice. (g) Tolling. (i) The Chief FOIA Officer may stop the clock one time if they require additional information regarding the specifics of the request; and (ii) The Chief FOIA Officer may stop the clock as many times as needed regarding fee assessments. (2) The processing time will resume upon the Chief FOIA Officer's receipt of the requester's response. There may be instances when the Chief FOIA Officer requires multiple clarifications on a FOIA request. After the first request for clarification, any additional clarifications are performed without tolling the clock. Should the requester not respond to any correspondence wherein the Chief FOIA Officer requests clarification, or should the correspondence be returned as undeliverable, the Agency reserves the right to administratively close the FOIA request if the Chief FOIA Officer does not receive a response within 30 business days of the date of their correspondence requesting clarification. (h) Retrieving records. (i) Unproductive searches. (j) Furnishing records. § 1662.12 Expedited processing. (a) Expedited processing must be requested at the same time as the FOIA request. The Chief FOIA Officer provides expedited processing when the requester can demonstrate a “compelling need” for the requested information, such as: (1) When there is an imminent threat to the life or safety of a person; (2) When the request is from the media, or others primarily engaged in disseminating information, and shows an immediate urgency to inform the public about actual or alleged government activities; or (3) When the requester can show, in detail and to the Chief FOIA Officer's satisfaction, that a prompt response is needed because the requester may be denied a legal right, benefit, or remedy without the requested information, and that it cannot be obtained elsewhere in a reasonable amount of time. (b) Only the Chief FOIA Officer may make the decision to grant or deny expedited processing. Requests that do not meet the “compelling need” criteria will be processed normally. If the Chief FOIA Officer does not grant the request for expedited processing, the requester may appeal the denial to the Director of Selective Service. In the appeal letter, the requester should explain why they believe their request demonstrates a “compelling need,” such as describing how the request meets the criteria in paragraphs (a)(1) through (3) of this section. The process described in § 1662.16 will apply to these appeals. § 1662.13 Fees associated with processing FOIA requests. (a) Charging fees. (1) Search. (ii) For each quarter hour spent by personnel searching for requested records, including electronic searches that do not require new programming, the fees shall be as follows: professional—$10.00; and clerical/administrative—$4.75. (iii) Requesters shall be charged the direct costs associated with conducting any search that requires the creation of a new computer program to locate the requested records. Requesters shall be notified by the Chief FOIA Officer of the costs associated with creating such a program and must agree to pay the associated costs before the costs may be incurred. (iv) For requests that require the retrieval of records stored by the Agency at a Federal records center operated by NARA, additional costs shall be charged in accordance with the Transactional Billing Rate Schedule established by NARA. (2) Duplication. (3) Review. i.e., (b) Restrictions on charging fees. (2) If the Agency fails to comply with the FOIA's time limits in which to respond to a request, the Chief FOIA Officer may not charge search fees, or, in the instances of requests from requesters described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, may not charge duplication fees, except as described in paragraphs (b)(2)(i) through (iii) of this section. (i) If the Chief FOIA Officer has determined that unusual circumstances as defined by the FOIA apply and they provided timely written notice to the requester in accordance with the FOIA, a failure to comply with the time limit shall be excused for an additional 10 days. (ii) If the Chief FOIA Officer has determined that unusual circumstances as defined by the FOIA apply, and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request, the Chief FOIA Officer may charge search fees, or, in the case of requesters described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, may charge duplication fees if the following steps are taken. The Chief FOIA Officer must have provided timely written notice of unusual circumstances to the requester in accordance with the FOIA and the Chief FOIA Officer must have discussed with the requester via written mail, email, or telephone (or made not less than three good faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)(ii). If this exception is satisfied, the Chief FOIA Officer may charge all applicable fees incurred in the processing of the request. (iii) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist as defined by the FOIA, a failure to comply with the time limits shall be excused for the length of time provided by the court order. (3) No search or review fees will be charged for a quarter-hour period unless more than half of that period is required for search or review. (4) Except for requesters seeking records for a commercial use, the Chief FOIA Officer shall provide without charge: (i) The first 100 pages of duplication (or the cost equivalent for other media); and (ii) The first two hours of search. (5) When, after first deducting the 100 free pages (or its cost equivalent) and the first two hours of search, a total fee calculated under paragraph (a) of this section is $25.00 or less for any request, no fee will be charged. (c) Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25.00. (2) In cases in which a requester has been notified that the actual or estimated fees are in excess of $25.00, the request shall not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the requester commits in writing to pay the actual or estimated total fee, or designates some amount of fees the requester is willing to pay, or in the case of a non-commercial use requester who has not yet been provided with the requester's statutory entitlements, designates that the requester seeks only that which can be provided by the statutory entitlements. The requester must provide the commitment or designation in writing to the Chief FOIA Officer, and must, when applicable, designate an exact dollar amount the requester is willing to pay. The Agency is not required to accept payments in installments. (3) If the requester has indicated a willingness to pay some designated amount of fees, but the Chief FOIA Officer estimates that the total fee will exceed that amount, they shall toll the processing of the request when they notify the requester of the estimated fees more than the amount the requester has indicated a willingness to pay. The Chief FOIA Officer shall inquire whether the requester wishes to revise the amount of fees the requester is willing to pay or modify the request. Once the requester responds, the time to respond will resume from where it was at the date of the notification. (4) The Agency shall make available the FOIA Public Liaison or other FOIA professional to assist any requester in reformulating a request to meet the requester's needs at a lower cost. (d) Charges for other services. (e) Charging interest. (f) Aggregating requests. (g) Advance payments. i.e., (2) When the Chief FOIA Officer determines or estimates that a total fee to be charged under this section will exceed $250.00, they may require that the requester make an advance payment up to the amount of the entire anticipated fee before beginning to process the request. The Chief FOIA Officer may elect to process the request prior to collecting fees when they receive a satisfactory assurance of full payment from a requester with a history of prompt payment. (3) Where a requester has previously failed to pay a properly charged FOIA fee to the Agency within 30 calendar days of the billing date, the Chief FOIA Officer may require that the requester pay the full amount due, plus any applicable interest on that prior request, and the Chief FOIA Officer may require that the requester make an advance payment of the full amount of any anticipated fee before the FOIA Officer begins to process a new request or continues to process a pending request or any pending appeal. Where the Chief FOIA Officer has a reasonable basis to believe that a requester has misrepresented the requester's identity to avoid paying outstanding fees, it may require that the requester provide proof of identity. (4) In cases in which the Chief FOIA Officer requires advance payment, the request shall not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the required payment is received. If the requester does not pay the advance payment within 30 calendar days after the date of the Chief FOIA Officer's fee determination, the request will be closed. (h) Other statutes specifically providing for fees. (i) Requirements for waiver or reduction of fees. (2) The Chief FOIA Officer must furnish records responsive to a request without charge or at a reduced rate when they determine, based on all available information, that disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. In deciding whether this standard is satisfied the component must consider the factors described in paragraphs (i)(2)(i) through (iii) of this section: (i) Disclosure of the requested information would shed light on the operations or activities of the government. The subject of the request must concern identifiable operations or activities of the Federal government with a connection that is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated. (ii) Disclosure of the requested information would be likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations or activities. This factor is satisfied when the following criteria are met: (A) Disclosure of the requested records must be meaningfully informative about government operations or activities. The disclosure of information that already is in the public domain, in either the same or a substantially identical form, would not be meaningfully informative if nothing new would be added to the public's understanding. (B) The disclosure must contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester. A requester's expertise in the subject area as well as the requester's ability and intention to effectively convey information to the public must be considered. The Chief FOIA Officer will presume that a representative of the news media will satisfy this consideration. (iii) The disclosure must not be primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. To determine whether disclosure of the requested information is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester, the Chief FOIA Officer will consider the following criteria: (A) FOIA requires an Agency requester has any commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure. A commercial interest includes any commercial, trade, or profit interest. Requesters must be given an opportunity to provide explanatory information regarding this consideration. (B) If there is an identified commercial interest, the Chief FOIA Officer must determine whether that is the primary interest furthered by the request. A waiver or reduction of fees is justified when the requirements of paragraphs (i)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section are satisfied and any commercial interest is not the primary interest furthered by the request. The Chief FOIA Officer ordinarily will presume that when a news media requester has satisfied the requirements of paragraphs (i)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section, the request is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Disclosure to data brokers or others who merely compile and market government information for direct economic return will not be presumed to primarily serve the public interest. (3) Where only some of the records to be released satisfy the requirements for a waiver of fees, a waiver shall be granted for those records. (4) Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees should be made when the request is first submitted to the Chief FOIA Officer and should address the criteria referenced above. A requester may submit a fee waiver request later so long as the underlying record request is pending or on administrative appeal. When a requester who has committed to pay fees subsequently asks for a waiver of those fees and that waiver is denied, the requester shall be required to pay any costs incurred up to the date the fee waiver request was received. § 1662.14 Release of records. (a) Records previously released. (b) Withholding records. (c) Reading room. www.sss.gov, (d) Poor copy. § 1662.15 FOIA Public Liaison and the Office of Government Information Services. The Chief FOIA Officer notifies requesters of their right to seek dispute resolution from the FOIA Public Liaison or OGIS within the SSS fee notices, responses to determinations identified in § 1662.9(a), and responses to appeals. (a) FOIA Public Liaison. [email protected] (b) OGIS. § 1662.16 Appeals of the Chief FOIA Officer's determination. (a) Appeal requirements. (1) Be submitted in writing via the avenues identified in § 1662.7; (2) Be received within 90 days from the date of the determination the requester is appealing; and (3) Explain what the requester is appealing and include additional information to support the appeal. (b) Acknowledgement. (c) Processing timeframe. (1) Simple. (2) Complex. (d) Final decision. (1) The Director of Selective Service's final decision is provided in writing to the requester via email or, in the absence of the requester's email address, via U.S. postal mail. (2) The final decision letter will explain the basis of the decision (for example, the reasons why an exemption applies). (e) Disagreement with final decision. § 1662.17 U.S. District Court action. If the Director of Selective Service, upon review, affirms the denial of the Chief FOIA Officer's determination of items specified in § 1662.9(a), requesters may ask a U.S. District Court to review that denial. See 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(B). § 1662.18 The FOIA Exemption 1: National defense and foreign policy. The FOIA exempts from disclosure records that are specifically authorized under criteria established by an executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such executive order. § 1662.19 The FOIA Exemption 2: Internal personnel rules and practices. The FOIA exempts from disclosure records that are related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency. § 1662.20 The FOIA Exemption 3: Records exempted by other statutes. The FOIA exempts from disclosure records if another statute specifically allows or requires the agency to withhold them. The Chief FOIA Officer may use another statute to justify withholding only if it prohibits disclosure; it sets forth criteria to guide the Chief FOIA Officer's decision on releasing; or identifies types of material to be withheld. § 1662.21 The FOIA Exemption 4: Trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information. The FOIA exempts from disclosure trade secrets as well as commercial or financial information that is obtained from a person that is either privileged or confidential. SSS will allow submitters to designate information as trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information at the time of submission or within a reasonable time thereafter. Submitters must use good faith efforts to designate, by appropriate markings, any portion of its submission that it considers to be protected from disclosure under the FOIA exemptions. These designations expire ten years after the due date of the submission unless the submitter requests a longer designation period. (a) Steps of submitters notice The submitter's notice. (i) The Chief FOIA Officer determines the information is fully exempt under the FOIA, and therefore will not be disclosed; (ii) The information has been previously published or made generally available; or (iii) Disclosure of the information is required by statute other than the FOIA. (2) Submitter's opportunity to object to disclosure. (ii) If a submitter objects to disclosure, the submitter should provide the Chief FOIA Officer with a detailed written statement that specifies all grounds for withholding the particular information under any exemption of the FOIA. To rely on Exemption 4 as basis for nondisclosure, the submitter must explain why the information constitutes a trade secret or commercial or financial information that is confidential. (iii) The Chief FOIA Officer will consider a submitter's timely made objections and specific grounds for nondisclosure in deciding whether to disclose the requested information. (3) Notice of intent to disclose. (i) A Release Over Objection letter explaining the reasons why each of the submitter's disclosure objections did not meet the requirements for withholding under the FOIA; (ii) A copy of the information as SSS intends to release it; and (iii) A statement of the Chief FOIA Officer's intent to disclose the information five business days from the date on the Release Over Objection letter unless the submitter files an action in a U.S. District Court to prevent the release. (b) Notice of FOIA lawsuit. (c) Requester notification. § 1662.22 The FOIA Exemption 5: Internal documents. This exemption covers inter-agency or intra-agency government documents that fall within an evidentiary privilege recognized in civil discovery. Such internal government communications include an agency's communications with an outside consultant or other outside person, with a court, or with Congress, when those communications are for a purpose similar to the purpose of privileged intra-agency communications. Some of the most commonly applicable privileges are described in the following paragraphs: (a) Deliberative process privilege. (b) Attorney work product privilege. (c) Attorney-client communication privilege. § 1662.23 The FOIA Exemption 6: Clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. The FOIA exempts from disclosure records about individuals if disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy. § 1662.24 The FOIA Exemption 7: Law enforcement. The FOIA exempts from disclosure information or records that the government has compiled for law enforcement purposes. The records may apply to actual or potential violations of either criminal or civil laws or regulations. The Agency can withhold these records only to the extent that releasing them would cause harm in at least one of the following situations: (a) Enforcement proceedings. (b) Fair trial or impartial adjudication. (c) Personal privacy. (d) Confidential sources and information. (e) Techniques and procedures. (f) Life and physical safety. § 1662.25 The FOIA Exemptions 8 and 9: Records on financial institutions; records on wells. Exemption 8 exempts from disclosure records about regulation or supervision of financial institutions. Exemption 9 exempts from disclosure geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells. § 1662.26 Records available for public inspection. Under the FOIA, SSS is required to make available for public inspection in an electronic format: (a) Final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases; (b) The Agency's statements and interpretations of policy that have been adopted but are not published in the Federal Register (c) Administrative staff manuals and instructions that affect the public; and (d) Copies of records, regardless of form or format, that an agency determines will likely become the subject of subsequent requests, as well as records that have been requested and released three or more times, unless said materials are published and copies are offered to sale. § 1662.27 Where records are published. Materials SSS is required to publish pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) and (a)(2) are published in one of the following ways: (a) By publication in the Federal Register (b) By publication in the Federal Register (c) By other forms of publication, when incorporated by reference in the Federal Register § 1662.28 Publications for sale through the Government Publishing Office. The public may purchase publications containing information pertaining to the program, organization, functions, and procedures of SSS from the electronic U.S. Government Bookstore maintained by the Government Publishing Office. The publications for sale include but are not limited to: (a) Title 50, Chapter 49, of the United States Code (the Military Selective Service Act); (b) Title 32, Subtitle B, Chapter XVI, of the Code of Federal Regulations (Selective Service System Regulations); (c) Federal Register (d) Legal Aspects of the Selective Service System.