Code of Federal Regulations Title 49. Transportation § 49.701.3 Policy

(a) Amtrak will make records of the Corporation available to the public to the greatest practicable extent in keeping with the spirit of the law. Therefore, records of the Corporation are available electronically, which can be accessed at the Amtrak FOIA Web site http://www.amtrak.com/foia and www.amtrak.com, as provided in this part with the exception of those that the Corporation specifically determines should not be disclosed either in the public interest, for the protection of private rights, or for the efficient conduct of public or corporate business, but only to the extent withholding is permitted by law.

(b) A record of the Corporation, or parts thereof, may be withheld from disclosure if the Corporation reasonably foresees that disclosure would harm an interest protected by a FOIA exemption or when disclosure is prohibited by law. Disclosure to a properly constituted advisory committee, to Congress, or to Federal agencies does not waive the exemption.

(c) In the event full disclosure of a requested record is not possible, any reasonably segregable portion of the record will be made available to the requesting person after deletion of the exempt portions. The entire record may be withheld if a determination is made that nonexempt material is so inextricably intertwined that disclosure would leave only essentially meaningless words or phrases, or when it can be reasonably assumed that a skillful and knowledgeable person could reconstruct the deleted information.

(d) The procedures in this part apply only to records in existence at the time of a request. The Corporation has no obligation to create a record solely for the purpose of making it available under the FOIA or to provide a record that will be created in the future.

(e) Each officer and employee of the Corporation dealing with FOIA requests is directed to cooperate in making records available for disclosure under the Act in a prompt manner consistent with this part.

(f) The FOIA time limits will not begin to run until a request has been identified as being made under the Act and deemed received by the FOIA Office.

(g) Generally, when a member of the public complies with the procedures established in this part for obtaining records under the FOIA, the request shall receive prompt attention, and a response shall be made within twenty business days.