Code of Federal Regulations Title 45. Public Welfare § 45.1100.5 Agency procedures for handling requests for documents

(1) The determination shall be made within ten (10) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after receipt of such request.

(2) The requestor shall be notified of the determination and the reasons that support it. When a request is denied in whole or in part, the requestor, will be notified of his or her rights to appeal the determination to the head of the agency.

(b)(1) Any party whose request for documents has been denied in whole or in part may file an appeal no later than ten (10) working days following receipt of the notification of denial. Appeals must be addressed to the Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC 20506.

(2) The head of the agency or his delegatee shall make a determination with respect to the appeal within twenty (20) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the agency has received the appeal, except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section. If, on appeal, the denial is upheld either in whole or in part, the head of the agency shall notify the party submitting the appeal of the judicial review provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(B).

(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or 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 a substantial subject-matter interest in the request.