methods by which its functions are channeled and determined. 302.3 Rules of procedure, description of forms available, the places at which forms may be obtained, and instructions as to the scope and content of all papers, reports, or examinations. 302.4 Substantive rules of general applicability adopted as authorized by law, and statements of general policy or interpretation of general applicability formulated and adopted by the agency. AUTHORITY: Sec. 4, Pub. L. 87-239, Stat. 612 (22 U.S.C. 2503, as amended); 5 U.S.C. 552; E.O. 12137, 44 FR 29023, 3 CFR, 1979 Comp., p. 389. SOURCE: 52 FR 47715, Dec. 16, 1987, unless otherwise noted. §302.1 Introduction. The regulations of this part are issued pursuant to section 3 of the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, effective July 4, 1967. §302.2 Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby the public may secure information, make submittals, or request, or obtain decisions; and statements of the general course and methods by which its functions are channeled and determined. (a) The following are statements of the central and field organization of the Peace Corps: (1) Central Organization—(i) Director. As head of the Peace Corps, the Director is responsible for all the activities of the agency. He or she is assisted by a Deputy Director, a Chief of Staff, and the following staff units: (A) The Office of the General Counsel which provides legal advice and assistance relating to Peace Corps programs and activities; (B) The Office of Congressional Relations which serves as primary informational contact between Congress and the Peace Corps, advising the Director and other senior managers on governmental and legislative affairs; (C) The Office of Public Affairs which promotes awareness of the Peace Corps, monitors agency news coverage and prepares/disseminates national news releases and other information about the Peace Corps. The Office also coordinates agency activities and maintains files relating to graphic, photographic and audiovisual services and works closely with the Advertising Council on placement on public service announcements; (D) The office of Private Sector Relations/Development Education which coordinates private sector support and participation in Peace Corps activities; (E) The Executive Secretariat which manages correspondence and other documents on behalf of the Director. (ii) Office of the Associate Director for International Operations consists of the Regional Offices for Africa; InterAmerica; and North Africa, Near East, Asia and Pacific; and the Office of Training and Program Support. The immediate office of the Associate Director includes the Overseas Staff Training and the United Nations Volunteer Program staff. (A) The Regional offices are responsible for the negotiation, establishment and operation of Peace Corps projects overseas and for the training of Peace Corps Volunteers for such projects. They also provide, on behalf of the Director, policy guidance and immediate supervision to Peace Corps staff and operations overseas. (B) The Office of Training and Program Support provides technical assistance and policy direction in the development of effective program and training strategies/designs, and coordinates a wide variety of program and training services. (iii) The Office of the Associate Director for Management consists of the following offices: A) The Office of Medical Services which provides medical screening for applicants and health care services to Volunteers and in-country staff. (B) The Office of Special Services which provides personal and administrative support to Peace Corps trainees and Volunteers, and their families. (C) The Office of Personnel Policy and Operations which provides Agency personnel services. (D) The Office of Financial Management which provides accounting, contracting and budget operations. (E) The Office of Planning and Policy Analysis which provides support to the Agency in the areas of policy, planning, assessment and management information. (F) The Office of Administrative Services which provides administrative and logistical support to the Agency. (G) The Office of Information Resources Management which manages the Agency's information resources and central computer facility. (H) The Office of Compliance which carries out Agency audit, investigation, internal controls and equal opportunity functions. (iv) The Office of the Associate Director for Volunteer Recruitment and Selection consists of the following offices: (A) The Office of Recruitment which directs the operational and managerial aspects of headquarters and domestic field recruitment activities in support of the recruitment of qualified Peace Corps trainees. (B) The Office of Placement which conducts final placement, processing and orientation of Peace Corps applicants in preparation for final selection and training. (2) Domestic Field Organization Regional Peace Corps Recruitment Offices: (i) Chicago Regional Office, 175 West Jackson Boulevard, Room A-531, Chicago, Illinois 60604. (Oversees Area Offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City and Minneapolis.) (ii) New York Regional Office, 1515 Broadway, Room 3515, New York, New York 10036. (Oversees Area Offices in Miami, Puerto Rico, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York City and Bos ton.) (iii) San Francisco Regional Office, 211 Main Street, Room 533, San Francisco, California 94105. (Oversees Area Offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Los Angeles, and Dallas.) (3) Foreign Field Organization—(i) Africa Region. Benin, Cotonou Botswana, Gaborone Burundi, Bujumbura Cameroon, Yaounde Central African Republic, Bangui Chad, N'Djamena Gabon, Libreville The Gambia, Banjul Ghana, Accra Guinea, Conakry Kenya, Nairobi Lesotho, Maseru Liberia, Monrovia Malawi, Lilongwe Mali, Bamako Senegal, Dakar Sierra Leone, Freetown (ii) Inter-America Region Belize, Belize City Costa Rica, San Jose Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo Guatemala, Guatemala City Paraguay, Asuncion Turks and Caicos Islands (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) (iii) North Africa, Near East Asia and Pacific Region Cook Islands (Apia, Western Samoa) Federated States of Micronesia, Pohnpei Morocco, Rabat Nepal, Kathmandu Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby Republic of Palau (Pohnpei, F.S.M) Tuvalu (Suva, Fiji) Yemen Arab Republic, Sana's (b) Any person desiring information concerning a matter handled by the Peace Corps, or any persons desiring to make a submittal or request in connection with such a matter, should communicate either orally or in writing with the appropriate office. If the office receiving the communications does not have jurisdiction to handle the matter, the communication, if written, will be forwarded to the proper office, or, if oral, the person will be advised how to proceed. §302.3 Rules of procedure, description of forms available, the places at which forms may be obtained, and instructions as to the scope and content of all papers, reports, or examinations. Forms regarding the following listed matters and instructions relating thereto may be obtained upon application to the offices listed below. Application for Peace Corps, Office of Recruitment, Room P-301. Volunteer Service, Peace Corps, 806 Connecticut Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20526, or the Peace Corps area recruitment offices listed in § 302.2(a)(2). 303.3 Records generally available. 303.4 Availability of records. 303.5 Records which may be exempt from disclosure. 303.6 Manner of requesting records-appeals. 303.7 Authority to release and certify records. 303.8 Location of records. Identification of records. AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 552; Pub. L. 87-293 as amended (22 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.); Pub. L. 97113, sec. 601; Pub. L. 99-570; E.O. 12137, May 16, 1979. SOURCE: 49 FR 28701, July 16, 1984, unless otherwise noted. §303.1 Purpose. The purpose of this part is to prescribe rules for the inspection and copying of opinions, policy statements, staff manuals, instructions, and other records of the Peace Corps pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552. §303.2 Definitions. As used in this part, the following definitions shall apply: (a) The Agency means Peace Corps. (b) Records includes all books, papers, maps, photographs, films, tapes, or other documentary material or copies thereof, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made in or received by the Peace Corps and preserved as evidence of its organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other activities but does not include books, magazines, or other materials acquired solely for library purposes and available in the library of the agency. (c) Identifiable means, in the context of a request for a record, one which is reasonably described in a manner sufficient to permit the location of the material requested. (d) Unit means an office of the Agency headed by a senior official who shall be responsible for making initial determinations of availability of documents or records requested hereunder. The head of any such Unit may delegate his or her responsibility hereunder to his or her Deputy or some other official during any absence of such official. At present, the units of the Agency for the purposes hereof consist of, the Office of the Director; the Executive Secretariat; the Office of Private Sector Development; the Office of Executive Talent Search; the Office of General Counsel and Legislative Liaison; the Office of Public Affairs; the Office of the Associate Director for Marketing, Recruitment, Placement and Staging; the Office of the Associate Director for International Operations; and the Office of the Associate Director for Management. $303.3 Records generally available. The agency will make promptly available to any member of the public the following documents: (a) All final opinions and orders made in the adjudication of cases. (b) Statements of policy and interpretation adopted by the agency which have not been published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. (c) Administrative staff manuals and instructions to the staff which affect a member of the public. (d) A current index, which shall be updated at least quarterly, covering so much of the foregoing materials as may have been issued, adopted or promulgated after July 4, 1967, is maintained by the Agency and copies of same or any portion thereof shall be furnished upon request at a cost not to exceed the cost of duplication. The Agency deems further publication of such index in the FEDERAL REGISTER both unnecessary and impractical. (e) To the extent necessary to prevent a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, the Agency may delete identifying details from materials furnished under this section. (f) Brochures, flyers and other similar material shall be furnished to the extent that same are available. Copies of any such brochures and flyers which are out of print shall be furnished upon request at the cost of duplication, provided, however, that in the event no copy exists, the Agency shall not be responsible for reprinting the same. (g) The Agency will not be required to create or compile selected items from its file and records or to provide a requester with statistical or other data unless such data has been compiled by the Agency and is available in the form of a record in which event such record shall be made available as provided in this part. § 303.4 Availability of records. All records of the Peace Corps, in addition to those ordinarily maintained and disseminated under $303.3 hereof, requested under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3) and reasonably described in any request therefore shall be made promptly available upon request of any member of the public for inspection or copying upon compliance with procedures established in this part, except to the extent that a determination is made, in accord with the procedures set forth herein, that a record is exempt from disclosure, and should be withheld in the public interest. All publications and other documents heretofore provided by the Peace Corps in the normal course of business will continue to be made available upon request to the appropriate unit of the Agency. No charge will be made for such documents unless necessary by reason of the fact that such document is no longer in print in which case the charge shall not exceed the cost of duplication as set forth herein. $303.5 Records which may be exempt from disclosure. The following categories are examples of records maintained by the Peace Corps which, under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(b), may be exempted from disclosure: (a) Records required to be withheld under criteria established by an Executive Order in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and which are in fact properly classified pursuant to any such Executive Order. Included in this category are records required by Executive Order No. 12356, as amended, to be classified in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. (b) Records related solely to internal personnel rules and practices. Included in this category are internal rules and regulations relating to personnel management and operations which cannot be disclosed to the public without substantial prejudice to the effective performance of a significant function of the Agency. (c) Records specifically exempted from disclosure by statute. (d) Information of a commercial or financial nature including trade secrets given in confidence. Included in this category are records containing commercial or financial information obtained from any person and customarily regarded as privileged and confidential by the person from whom they were obtained. (1) It is the policy of the Peace Corps not to release information which is a trade secret, or commercial or financial information which was obtained from a person and is privileged or confidential within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). It is also the policy of the Peace Corps to give submitters of information which may be exempt from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) adequate opportunity to provide information at the administrative level which may establish such exemption. (2) A person submitting information to the Peace Corps, if previously notified by the Peace Corps of his/her right to request confidential treatment for information, must request that the information be considered exempt from disclosure at the time of submission. Failure to do so will be deemed an acknowledgment that the submitter does not wish to claim exempt status. (3) A person submitting information not covered by paragraph (d)(2) of this section which is the subject of a Freedom of Information Request, and which may be exempt from disclosure, shall be given prompt written notification of such request, unless it can be estabIlished that the information should not be disclosed, or that the information has already been lawfully published or made available to the public. Such notice must afford submitters at least ten working days in which to object to the disclosure of any requested information. (4) Each request for exemption from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) as a trade secret or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information must: (i) Specifically identify the exact material claimed to be confidential. (ii) State whether or not the information identified has ever been released to a person not in a confidential relationship with the submitter. (iii) State the basis for submitter's belief that the information is not commonly known or readily ascertainable by outside persons. (iv) State how release of the information would cause harm to the submitter's competitive position. (5) The agency will not normally decide whether material received with a request for exemption from disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) is entitled to be withheld unless a request for disclosure is made. Any reasonably segregable portion of a record will be disclosed after deletion of any portions determined to be exempt. (6) The agency will give careful consideration to all specified grounds for exemption prior to making its administrative determination and, in all cases in which the determination is to disclose, provide the submitter with a statement of the reasons why its disclosure objection was not sustained. The Peace Corps will provide the submitter with at lest ten days advance notice of the proposed release date of information in cases in which an objection to disclosure has been rejected. (7) The Peace Corps will notify the submitter promptly of any instance in which a requester brings suit seeking to compel disclosure of its information. Submitters should not request exemption from disclosure unless they are prepared to assist the agency in the defense of any judicial proceeeding brought to compel disclosure. (e) Interagency or intra-agency memoranda or letters which would not ordinarily be available by law to a party in litigation with the Agency. Included in this category are memoranda, letters, interagency and intraagency communications and internal drafts, opinions and interpretations prepared by staff or consultants and records of deliberations of staff, ordinarily used in arriving at policy determinations and decisions. (f) Personnel, medical and similar files. Included in this category are personnel and medical information files of staff, volunteer applicants, former and current trainees/volunteers, lists of names and home addresses and other files or material containing private or personal information, the disclosure of which would amount to a clearly unwarranted invasion of the privacy of any person to whom the information pertains. pro (g) Investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes. Included in this category are files compiled for the enforcement of all laws, or prepared in connection with government litigation and adjudicative ceedings; provided however, that such records shall be made available to the extent that their production will not (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, |