FOIA Regulations and Guidelines for Requesters and Officers (Smithsonian Institution Office of General Counsel)

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

• The manual that this FOIA office uses to process FOIA requests, or, if no manual exists, other guiding documentation/protocols for processing Freedom of Information Requests.

• All guides to agency Freedom of Information Act request regulations (For reference, see the Department of Justice's Guidance on FOIA Regulations [https://www.justice.gov/oip/oip­guidance/guidance­agency­foia­regulations] and the associated template [https://www.justice.gov/oip/template­agency­foia­regulations])

• All guidelines and regulations regarding the submission and processing of appeals, including but not limited to:
- ­ The appropriate person or position to whom an appeal should be submitted
­ - The appropriate address to which an appeal should be submitted
­ - Any appropriate fax numbers and email addresses available for the submission of appeals ­ All guidelines regarding the processing time and procedures for appeals
­- All rights related to the submission of appeals, including those related to appeal rights for constructive denial

If any responses include direction to an online location or similarly publicly-available material, please provide direct links or file downloads.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Beryl Lipton