HOW TO MAKE A FOIA REQUEST

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a Federal statute that affords any person the right to obtain access to Federal agency records, unless the records (or a part of the records) are protected from disclosure by one of the nine exemptions or by one of the three special law enforcement record exclusions contained in the law.  FOIA provides for access to agency records, it is not an appropriate vehicle for posing questions of the agency. 

When making a FOIA request for FRA records:

• You must make your request in writing. 

• You should indicate that you are making a request pursuant to FOIA and your should mark the envelope A FOIA Request @ if you mail your request.  

• Your written request should describe the records requested to the fullest extent possible.  Be reasonably specific as to the record(s) you are seeking (i.e., include the title of the document, for accident reports include the date and location, including city and county, of the accident, FRA Accident Report Number (if known), U.S. DOT-AAR Crossing Number (for crossing accidents), and the age/date of birth of any injured individuals). 

•   Include your telephone number and fax number so that we can contact you if we have any questions and a return address so we can send any responsive records. 

•   Requests may be submitted by email , mail,  fax or in person at the address or fax number identified above.  Please do not submit duplicate copies of the same request.   

•   Indicate whether you are requesting information in a form or format other than paper. 

•   Fees may be charged.  Please indicate your willingness to pay fees and state the maximum amount of fees that you are willing to pay. Our fee schedule is addressed in section 7.41 of the Department = s FOIA Regulation . 

(Include subpage with text of section 7.41)