Freedom Of Information Act Requests

The FOIA does not require agencies to do research for you, to analyze data, to answer written questions, or to create documents that can't be reproduced with a reasonable amount of effort.

2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

How to Make a FOIA Request

Submit a written FOIA request (letter, fax, or e-mail) for documents maintained by the Risk Management Agency to:

    Terrie Ray, FOIA Officer
    USDA-RMA-PSS
    Stop 0821
    1400 Independence Ave SW
    Washington, DC 20250
    Fax: (202) 720-6665
    E-mail: Terrie_Ray@wdc.usda.gov

In order to protect your privacy, whenever you request information about yourself, you will be asked to provide either a notarized statement or a statement signed under the penalty of perjury stating that you are the person that you claim to be. If you request information about yourself and do not follow one of these procedures, your request cannot be processed. This requirement helps to ensure that private information about you will not be disclosed to anyone else.

In making your request, identify the documents you want as clearly as possible. The more precise and accurate the request, the more likely you are to get a complete response. For example, include the following in your request:

    Subject
    Office or agency that maintains the information
    Location of documents
    Time documents were probably created
    Grant or contract numbers, if applicable
    Your telephone number, e-mail address, and mailing address
    Fee information (see below)

FOIA requests apply to existing records only. RMA is not required to create a record to answer a FOIA request. If the record requested does not exist on paper or in electronic form, RMA's reply to the requester will explain that.

The FOIA office can charge fees for processing FOIA requests. Therefore, specify the fee category in which you feel your request falls and the amount you are willing to pay. The FOIA divides requesters into four categories:

1. Commercial requesters, who may be charged fees for searching for documents, reviewing the documents, and duplication.
2. Educational or noncommercial scientific institutions, which may be charged only for duplication, minus the first 100 pages.
3. Representatives of the news media, who may be charged only for duplication, minus the first 100 pages.
4. A ll other requesters, who may be charged fees for searching for documents and duplication, minus the first 2 hours of search time and the first 100 pages.

No charge will be made if the cost of collecting a fee would be equal to or greater than the fee itself; for USDA this amount is $25. In cases where no documents are located, the Agency is entitled to charge the requester for any applicable search time involved.

Fee waivers may be granted when disclosure of the documents is in the public interest and 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. When making a request for a fee waiver, consider the following:

1. Does the document concern the operations or activities of the government?
2. Is disclosure likely to contribute to the public understanding of these operations and activities? and
3. Will that contribution be significant?

NOTE: Requests for fee waivers must be fully documented and justified by a written explanation.

Appeals: A person whose initial FOIA request for documents has been denied, either in part or in whole, or who has received a no records response, or whose request for a fee waiver has been denied, has the right to appeal the denial to the appropriate RMA administrator within 45 days after receipt of notification of the denial.

Agencies are required to respond to a FOIA request within 20 business days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. For the Privacy Act, the time limit is 10 business days. This period does not begin until the request is actually received by the FOIA office.

In specific situations, an additional 10-day extension may be granted in responding to a request. The FOIA provides for extensions of initial time limits under unusual circumstances, which are defined as: (1) the need to search for and collect records from separate offices; (2) the need to examine a voluminous amount of records required by the request; and (3) the need to consult with another agency or agency component. We are required to respond to your request within 20 working days of receiving it.

If there is a delay in fulfilling your request beyond the 20-day time frame, we will notify you. Our response might include an explanation of how soon we can provide the records you requested, a copy of all the records you requested, a portion of the records requested with an explanation of why we withheld some records, or an explanation that we have found no records responsive to your request. When we deny records or cannot find them, you have a right to appeal our actions within 45-days of the date of our reply to you.

The Privacy Act (PA), 5 U.S.C. 552a, protects individuals against clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy. The PA informs individuals as to what information is maintained on them and where the information is stored and allows an individual to access documents maintained in a PA System of Records (records retrievable by an individual's name or other personal identifier) and to request an amendment of the records. Documents maintained in a PA System of Records are available to first-party requesters (individuals that the record pertains to) or their representatives unless they fall within the exemptions of both the PA and the FOIA.