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the affairs of the Commission, including but not limited to: (1) The appointment of personnel employed under the Commission; (2) the direction of employees of the Commission and the supervision of their official duties; (3) the distribution of business among employees and organizational units under the Commission; (4) the preparation of budget estimates; and (5) the use and expenditures of funds of the Commission available for expenses of administration.

(e) The Chairman also has the control and direction of the Micronesian Claims Commission, established under the Micronesian Claims Act of 1971 (85 Stat. 92), for the purpose of settling certain war and post-secure claims of Micronesian inhabitants of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

(f) Request for records shall be made in writing by mail or presented in person, to the Executive Director, Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

(g) The offices of the Commission are located at 1111 20th Street NW (Vanguard Building), Washington, D.C. An information center for the convenience of the public is located on the fourth floor.

§ 503.2 Material to be published in the Federal Register pursuant to Pub. L. 89-487.

The Commission shall separately state and concurrently publish the following materials in the FEDERAL REGISTER for the guidance of the public:

(a) Descriptions of its central and field organization and the established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby, the public may secure information, make submittals or requests, or obtain decisions.

(b) Statements of the general course and method by which its functions are channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of all formal and informal procedures available.

(c) Rules of procedure, descriptions of forms available or the places at which forms may be obtained, and instructions as to the scope and contents of all papers, reports, or examinations.

(d) Substantive rules of general applicability adopted as authorized by law, and statements of general policy or interpretations of general applicability formulated and adopted by the agency.

(e) Every amendment, revision, or repeal of the foregoing.

§ 503.3 Effect of nonpublication.

Except to the extent that a person has actual and timely notice of the terms thereof, no person shall in any manner be required to resort to, or be adversely affected by, any matter required to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER and not so published.

§ 503.4 Incorporation by reference.

For purposes of this part, matter which is reasonably available to the class of persons affected thereby shall be deemed published in the FEDERAL REGISTER when incorporated by reference therein with the approval of the Director of the Federal Register.

§ 503.5 Records generally available.

The Commission will make promptly available to any member of the public the following documents:

(a) Proposed and Final Decisions (including dissenting opinions) and all orders made with respect thereto;

(b) Statements of policy and interpretations which have been adopted by the Commission which have not been published in the FEDERAL REGISTER; and

(c) A current index, which shall be updated at least quarterly, covering the foregoing material adopted, issued or promulgated after July 4, 1957. Publication of an index is deemed both unnecessary and impractical. However, copies of the index are available upon request for a fee of the direct cost of duplication.

§ 503.6 Current index.

The Commission shall maintain and make available for public inspection and copying, current indexes providing identifying information for the public as to any matter issued, adopted, or promulgated after July 4, 1967, as required to be indexed by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2).

§ 503.7 Additional documents and records generally available for inspection and copying.

The following kinds of documents are also available for inspection and copying at the public information center of the Commission:

(a) Rules of practice and procedure. (b) Annual report of the Commission to the Congress of the United States. (c) Bound volumes of Commission decisions.

(d) International Claims Settlement Act of 1949, with amendments; the War Claims Act of 1948, with amendments; and related Acts.

(e) Claims Agreements with foreign governments effecting the settlement of claims under the jurisdiction of the Commission.

(f) Press releases and other miscellaneous material concerning Commission operations.

(g) Indexes of claims filed under the various claims programs administered by the Commission.

§ 503.8 Effect of noncompliance.

No decision, statement of policy, interpretation, or staff manual or instruction that affects any member of the public will be relied upon, used, or cited, as precedent by the Commission against any private party unless it has been indexed and either made available or published as provided by this subpart, or unless that private party shall have actual and timely notice of the terms thereof.

§ 503.9 Availability of records.

(a) Each person desiring access to a record covered by this part must comply with the following provisions:

(1) A written request must be made for the record.

(2) Such request must indicate that it is being made under the Freedom of Information Act.

(3) The envelope in which the request is sent must be prominently marked with the letters "FOIA".

(4) The request must be addressed to the appropriate official or employee of the Commission as set forth in paragraph (c) of this section.

(5) The foregoing requirements must be complied with whether the request

is mailed or hand-delivered to the Commission.

(b) If the requirements of paragraph (a) of the section are not met, the ten day time limit described in § 503.10(a) will not begin to run until the request has been identified by an official or employee of the Commission as a request under the Freedom of Information Act and has been received by the appropriate official or employee of the Commission.

(c) Each person desiring access to a record covered in this Part that is located in the Commission, or to obtain a copy of such a record, must make a written request to the Executive Director, Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, 1111 20th Street NW., Washington, D.C. 20579.

(d) Each request should reasonably describe the particular record requested. The request should specify the subject matter, the date when it was made and the person or office that made it. If the description is insufficient, the official or employee handling the request may notify the person making the request and, to the extent possible, indicate the additional data required.

(e) Each record made available under this section is available for inspection and copying during regular working hours. Original documents may be copied but may not be released from custody.

(f) Authority to administer this Part in connection with Commission records is delegated to the Executive Director or Commission employee acting in his stead.

§ 503.10 Actions or requests.

(a) The Executive Director or any employee acting in his stead shall determine within ten days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays) after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with such request. Upon receipt of a request for a Commission record which is available, the Executive Director or any employee acting in his stead shall notify the requester as to the time the record is available, and shall promptly make the record available after advising such requester of the applicable fees

under § 503.14. The person making such request shall be notified immediately after any adverse determination, the reasons for making such adverse determination and the right of such person to appeal.

(b) Any denial of a request for a record shall be written and signed by the Executive Director or Commission employee acting in his stead, including a statement for the reason of denial. Such statement shall contain, as applicable:

(1) A reference to the specific exemption under the Freedom of Information Act authorizing the withholding of a record, and to the extent consistent with the purpose of the exemption of how the exemption applies to the record withheld.

(2) If a record requested does not exist or has been legally disposed of, the requester shall be so notified.

(c) In unusual circumstances, the time limits prescribed in paragraph (a) may be extended by written notice to the person making such request setting forth the reasons for such extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. No such notice shall specify a date that would result in an extension for more than ten working days. As used in this paragraph, "unusual circumstances" means, but only to the extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the particular request

(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request;

(2) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records which are demanded in a single request; or

(3) The need 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 components of the agency having substantial subject-matter interest therein.

(d) With respect to determinations on appeals, such determinations shall be made within twenty days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after the receipt of

such appeal. If, on appeal, the denial of the request for records is in whole or in part upheld, the Commission shall notify the person making such request of the provisions for judicial review of that determination under section 552(a)(4) of title 5, U.S.C.

(e) The General Counsel is designated to make determinations on appeals.

§ 503.11 Appeal.

(a) Any person to whom a record has not been made available within the time limits established by paragraph (d) of § 503.10, and any person who has been given an adverse determination pursuant to paragraph (b) of § 503.10, that a record he has requested will not be disclosed, may apply to the General Counsel of the Commission, for reconsideration of the request. A determination that a record will not be disclosed is not administratively final for the purpose of judicial review unless it was made by the Executive Director (or his designee), or the General Counsel, as the case may be, unless the applicable time limit has passed without a determination of the appeal having been made.

(b) Each application for reconsideration must be made in writing within thirty days from the date of receipt of the original denial and must include all information and arguments relied upon by the person making the request. Such application must indicate that it is an appeal from a denial of a request made under the Freedom of Information Act. The envelope in which the application is sent must be prominently marked with the letters "FOIA". If these requirements are not met, the twenty day time limit described in § 503.10 will not begin to run until the application has been identified by an employee of the Commission as an application under the Freedom of Information Act and has been received by the appropriate office.

(c) Whenever the Executive Director or the General Counsel, as the case may be, determines it to be necessary, he may require the person making the request to furnish additional information, or proof of factual allegations, and may order other proceedings appropriate in the circumstances. The

decision of the Executive Director or the General Counsel, as the case may be, as to the availability of the record is administratively final.

(d) The decision by the Executive Director, or the General Counsel, as the case may be, not to disclose a record under this part is considered to be a withholding for the purposes of section 552(a)(3) of Title 5, U.S.C.

(e) Any final decision by the Executive Director or his delegee not to disclose a record under this part is subject to concurrence by the General Counsel.

§ 503.12 Exemptions.

In the event any document or record requested hereunder shall contain material which is exempt from disclosure under this section, any reasonably segregable portion of such record shall, notwithstanding such fact, and to the extent feasible, be provided to any person requesting same, after deletion of the portions which are exempt under this section. Documents or records determined to be exempt from disclosure hereunder may nonetheless be provided upon request in the event it is determined that the provision of such document would not violate the public interest or the right of any person to whom such information may pertain, and the disclosure is not prohibited by law or Executive Order. The following categories of records are exempt from disclosure under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(b):

(a) Records specifically required by Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such executive order. This exception may apply to records in the custody of the Commission which have been transmitted to the Commission by another agency which has designated the record as nonpublic under Executive Order.

(b) Records related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Commission.

(c) Records specifically exempted from disclosure by statute.

(d) Information given in confidence. This includes information obtained by or given to the Commission which constitutes confidential commercial or fi

nancial information, privileged information, or other information which was given to the Commission in confidence or would not customarily be released by the person from whom it was obtained.

(e) Interagency or intraagency memoranda or letters which would not be available by law to a private party in litigation with the Commission. Such communications include interagency memoranda, drafts, staff memoranda transmitted to the Commission, written communications between the Commission, the Executive Director, and the General Counsel, regarding the preparation of Commission decisions, other documents received or generated in the process of issuing a decision, or regulation, and reports and other work papers of staff attorneys, accountants, and investigators.

(f) Personnel and medical files and similar files, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

(g) Investigatory files compiled for law enforcement purposes but only to the extent that the production of such records would (1) interfere with enforcement proceedings; (2) deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; (3) constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (4) disclose the identity of a confidential source and, in the case of a record compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful security intelligence investigation, confidential information furnished only by the confidential source; (5) disclose investigative techniques and procedure; or (6) endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel.

§ 503.14 Fees for services.

Unless otherwise waived by paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section, the following fees shall be imposed for the reproduction of any record disclosed pursuant to this part.

(a) Copying of records and documents. Twelve cents per copy for each page.

(b) Search fees. (1) Clerical searches. $1.25 for each quarter hour spent by clerical personnel searching for and producing a requested record or document, including time spent copying any record. (2) $3 for each one quarter hour spent by professional or supervisory personnel searching for and producing a requested record, including time spent copying any record.

(c) Certification and validation of records. $1 per certification or authentication.

(d) The Executive Director may reduce or waive payment of fees in whole or in part when he determines that such reduction or waiver is in the public interest because furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public, or unless the requester is a government agency or indigent.

(e) No fees will be charged (1) for time spent in examining the requested records for the purpose of determining whether an exemption can and should be asserted, (2) for time spent in deleting exempt matters being withheld from records to furnish, (3) for time spent in monitoring a requester's inspection of agency records made available to him in this manner, or (4) for records not found or determined to be totally exempt from disclosure.

(f) Payment of fees under this part should be made by check or money order payable to the Treasury of the United States.

(g) Unless the request for services where fees are chargeable under this part, specifically states that whatever cost is involved will be acceptable, or acceptable up to a specified limit that covers anticipated costs, a request that is expected to involve assessed fees in excess of $50 will not be deemed to have been received until the requester is advised promptly at the time of receipt of the request of the anticipated cost and agrees to bear it. When the anticipated fees exceed $50, a deposit of $25 must be made within 5 days of advising the requester of such costs.

(h) Transcripts of testimony and of oral argument taken by a private firm may be purchased directly from the reporting firm.

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§ 504.1 General policies-Privacy Act.

The Foreign Claims Settlement Commission will protect the privacy of an individual identified in any information or record systems which it maintains. Accordingly, its officials and employees, except as otherwise provided by law or regulation, will:

(a) Permit an individual to determine what records pertaining to such individual are collected, maintained, used or disseminated by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

(b) Permit an individual to prevent records pertaining to such individual obtained by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission for a particular pur

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