[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49929-49931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25067]



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NATIONAL CAPITAL PLANNING COMMISSION


Notice for Publication of Proposed Freedom of Information Access 
Procedures

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Electronic Freedom of Information Act 
of 1996 this document sets out procedures for obtaining records and 
information from the National Capital Planning Commission (Commission). 
Certain information may also be obtained from the Commission's Web Site 
(www.ncpc.gov).

DATES: These procedures will become effective November 17, 1998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following are procedures by which 
information may be obtained from the Commission pursuant to the 
Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, 5 U.S.C. 552, 
as amended by Public Law 104-231, 110 Stat. 3048 (hereinafter the 
``Act''). The Commission is the central planning agency for the Federal 
Government in the National Capital Region. The Commission is composed 
of the following members (1) five citizens, three of whom are appointed 
by the President of the Untied States, and two of whom are appointed by 
the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Of the three citizens appointed 
by the President at least one shall be a bona fide resident of Virginia 
and at least one shall be a bona fide resident of Maryland. 
Presidential appointments are for six-year terms; Mayoral appointments 
are for four-year terms. The two mayoral appointees shall be bona fide 
residents of the District of Columbia. The President designates the 
Chairman of the Commission, and (2) ex-officio, the Secretary of the 
Interior, the Secretary of Defense; the Administrator of General 
Services; the Mayor of the District of Columbia; the Chairman of the 
Council of the District of Columbia; the Chairman of the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs, Untied States Senate; and the Chairman of the 
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, U.S. House of 
Representatives; or their alternates.
    A staff headed by an Executive Director assists the Commission. The 
staff is organized functionally as follows:

(a) Office of the Executive Director
(b) Office of the General Counsel
(c) Office of the Secretariat
(d) Office of Administration
(e) Office of Long Range Planning
(f) Office of Plans Review
(g) Technology Development and Applications Team

a. General Policy

    It is the Commission's general policy to facilitate the broadest 
possible availability and dissemination of information to the public. 
The Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer and the Information 
Resource Specialist are available to assist the public in obtaining 
information formally by using the procedures herein or informally by 
discussions with the staff. The Commission's staff may, therefore, 
furnish information informally to the public, provided that it is in a 
manner not inconsistent with these procedures. In addition, the 
Commission will make available records which it is authorized to 
withhold under the Act, when it determines that such disclosure is in 
the public interest.
    Some information and documents may be available in an electronic 
format upon request. In addition some documents, such as the Extending 
the Legacy, are available on the NCPC website at www.ncpc.gov. For 
information on electronic retrieval, please contact the Freedom of 
Information Act Officer.

b. Established Place to Obtain Information

    Information may be obtained from the Commission's offices, located 
at 801 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 301, Washington, D.C. 20576, 
Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., excluding legal 
holidays.

c. Information Sources Within the Commission

    Requests for publications or informal requests for general 
information should be directed to the Information Resource Specialist. 
All formal requests for agency records pursuant to the Act must be 
directed to the Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer. The 
Commission's staff will correctly route any information request 
directed initially to the wrong information source and the requesting 
party will be notified. The 20-day time period within which the 
Commission is required to determine whether to comply with a request 
shall not begin to run until the request reaches, or with the exercise 
of due diligence should have reached, the appropriate information 
source.

d. Information Routinely Available

    The following types of information shall be routinely available for 
public dissemination, unless such information falls within one of the 
exemptions to agency disclosure listed in 5 U.S.C. 552(b):

(1) Publications
(2) Correspondence between the Commission and the Congress, other 
Federal and local agencies, and the public
(3) Commission actions, including decisions, and official 
correspondence
(4) Executive Director's Recommendations
(5) Committee Reports
(6) Commission Memoranda of Actions
(7) Transcripts of Commission Proceedings
(8) Maps (record drawings)
(9) Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital
(10) Master Plan Submission Requirements
(11) Project Plans Submissions Requirements
(12) Environmental Policies and Procedures;
(13) Procedures for Intergovernmental Cooperation
(14) Guidelines and Submission Requirements for Antennas on Federal 
Property in the National Capital Region
(15) Policies relating to the Recognition of Private Contributions to 
Memorials, Museums, and other Cultural Facilities on Pubic Lands in the 
National Capital
(16) Federal Capital improvements Programs for the National Capital 
Region
(17) Development Controls for the Chancery Section of the International 
Center in the District of Columbia
(18) Extending the Legacy, Planning America's Capital for the 21 
Century

    Requests for any of the above information, with the exception of 
publications and maps, which do not require formal requests, should be 
directed to the Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer. 
Requests for publications should be directed to the Information 
Resource Specialist, and map requests should be directed to the 
Technology Development and Applications Team.

e. Formal Requests for Information

    All formal requests for information pursuant to the Act should be 
made in writing to the Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer. 
To expedite internal handling of such requests, the words ``Freedom of 
Information Act Request'' should appear on the face of the 
correspondence bearing such request. The request should state that it 
is being made pursuant to the Act, and should reasonably describe the 
information sought, including the date the Commission received or 
produced

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the requested information, if known. The request should also state, 
pursuant to the fee schedule set forth infra, the maximum fee the party 
making the request would be willing to pay for the duplication of the 
requested records, and shall, if possible, provide a telephone number 
at which the requesting party can be contacted to facilitate the 
handling of the request.

f. Commission Response to Formal Requests

    The Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer, upon request 
for information made in compliance with these regulations, shall 
determine within 20 days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal 
holidays) after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with 
such request and shall immediately notify the person making such 
request of such determination and the reasons therefor and of the 
rights of such person to appeal to the head of the agency any adverse 
determination. In unusual circumstances as specified, infra, the 20-day 
time limit may be extended by written notice to the person making the 
request setting forth the reasons for such extension and the date on 
which a determination is expected to be dispatched. No extension shall 
be for more than 20 working days. As used in this paragraph, ``unusual 
circumstances'' means, but only to the extent reasonably necessary for 
the proper processing of the particular request:
    (1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from 
establishments that may be separate from the Commission's offices;
    (2) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a 
voluminous number 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.

g. Determination to Grant Request

    If the Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer makes a 
determination to grant a request in whole or in part, the person making 
such request will be so notified in writing. If the information cannot 
be included with the above notification, the response shall also 
include a description of the information to be made available, a 
statement of the time when and the place where such information may be 
inspected or, alternatively, the procedure for duplication and delivery 
(by mail or other means) of the information to the requesting party, 
and a statement of the total fees chargeable to the requesting person 
pursuant to the free schedule, infra.

h. Determination to Deny Requests--Appeal Procedure

    If the Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer makes a 
determination to deny, in whole or in part, a request for information; 
he/she shall so notify the party making the request in writing. Any 
appeal of such determination shall be made in writing to the Executive 
Director of the Commission and shall include a brief statement of the 
legal, factual, or other basis for the party's objection to the initial 
decision. The Executive Director shall, within twenty (20) days 
(excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) of the receipt of 
any such appeal determine whether to grant or deny the appeal and 
shall, immediately upon making his decision, give written notice of the 
decision to the party, including a brief statement of the reasons.

i. Waiver

    Whenever a waiver of any of the procedures set forth herein would 
further the purpose of the Act by causing the public disclosure of non-
confidential information within the time period required by the Act, 
the Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer may, in the context 
of individual requests for information, waive any of the procedural 
requirements herein.

j. Schedule of Fees

    (1) The Commission may charge the following fees for the production 
of information pursuant to the Act:

(i) Publications offered for sale--as marked
(ii) Commission reports--$0.25/page
(iii) Committee reports--$0.25/page
(iv) Commission Memoranda of Actions--$0.25/page
(v) Transcripts of Commission/Committee Proceedings--$0.25/page
(vi) Other records--$0.25/page
(vii) Projects Maps--$5.00 each

    Manual Record Research: $5.00 per quarter hour

Fees for information and products processed through the Washington 
Geographic Information System (WGIS) are set out in NCPC's WGIS 
distribution policy.
    (2) The Commission keeps on file a limited quantity of copies of 
Executive Director's Recommendations and other documents. The 
Commission will first attempt to fill specific requests for these 
documents from its supply at no charge until the supply is exhausted. 
Once the supply is exhausted, the requested documents will be provided 
in accordance with the fee schedule.
    (3) The first 100 pages of information are provided at no cost to 
the requestor. All requests in excess of the allowable 100 pages will 
be chargeable in accordance with the above fee schedule. The 
Commission's Freedom of Information Act Officer may waive fees when it 
is deemed to be in the public interest to do so. Such a waiver will be 
in the public interest, for example, when that officer determines that 
the request will not impose an undue burden or expense and the request 
is: (i) from another government organization, Federal, state or local; 
(ii) for the purpose of obtaining information primarily for the benefit 
of the general public rather than for the primary benefit of the 
requester, as will be the case with certain requests from the news 
media and from organizations engaged in a non-profit activity designed 
for public safety, health, welfare, or education; (iii) from employees 
and former employees seeking information from their own personnel 
records; (iv) from or on behalf of the defending party in connection 
with a proceeding against such party by the Federal government; and (v) 
from a low-income individual upon whom the fee would impose a financial 
hardship.

NCPC Publications

Extending the Legacy, Planning America's Capital for the 21st Century 
(final)
Extending the Legacy, Planning America's Capital for the 21st Century 
(draft)
Extending the Legacy, Fact Sheets
NCPC Quarterly
    Winter 1998
    Spring 1998
Changing in Place, Smithsonian Brochure
Streetscape Manual
Federal Capital Improvements Programs
Fiscal Years 1999-2003
Fiscal Years 1998-2002
Fiscal Years 1997-2001
Fiscal Years 1996-2000
Fiscal Years 1995-1999
Fiscal Years 1994-1998
Fiscal Years 1993-1997
A Vision for Monumental Washington
Worthy of the Nation
Federal Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital
Foreign Missions Manual
Special Streets Plan
Boundary Markers of the Nation's Capital

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The Pennsylvania Avenue Plan
The Urban River
Federal Employment in the National Capital Region, Report #4

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Sandra H. Shapiro, National 
Capital Planning Commission, 801 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Suite 301, 
Washington, D.C. 20576, Phone: (202) 482-7200.
Sandra H. Shapiro,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 98-25067 Filed 9-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7520-01-M