Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection eComments Requested; Extension, Without Change, of a Currently Approved Collection; FBI eFOIA Form, 15499-15500 [2021-05951]

Agencies

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Department of Justice

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 23, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15499-15500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05951]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Federal Bureau of Investigation

[OMB Number 1110-0053]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Proposed eCollection 
eComments Requested; Extension, Without Change, of a Currently Approved 
Collection; FBI eFOIA Form

AGENCY: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice.

ACTION: 30-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice 
(DOJ), will be submitting the following information collection request 
to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

DATES: The Department of Justice encourages public comment and will 
accept input until April 22, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Written comments and suggestions from the 
public and affected agencies concerning the proposed collection of 
information are encouraged. Your comments should address one or more of 
the following four points:

--Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary 
for the proper performance of the functions of the FBI, including 
whether the information will have practical utility;
--Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the 
proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
--Evaluate whether and if so how the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected can be enhanced; and
--Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

    1. Type of Information Collection: Extension, without change, of a 
currently approved collection.
    2. The Title of the Form/Collection: FBI eFOIA form.
    3. The agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of 
the Department sponsoring the collection: The applicable component 
within the Department of Justice is the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation.
    4. Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: The general public who wish to make online 
FOIA request will be the most affected group. This information 
collection is to allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to accept 
and responded to FOIA requester as defined in 28 CFR part 16.3 (a) How 
made and addressed. You may make a request for records of the 
Department of Justice by writing directly to the Department component 
that maintains those records. You may find the Department's ``Freedom 
of Information Act Reference Guide''-which is available electronically 
at the Department's World Wide website, and is available in paper form 
as well-helpful in making your request. For additional information 
about the FOIA, you may refer directly to the statute. If you are 
making a request for records about yourself, see Sec.  16.41(d) for 
additional requirements. If you are making a request for records about 
another individual, either a written authorization signed by that 
individual permitting disclosure of those records to you or proof that 
that individual is deceased (for example, a copy of a death certificate 
or an obituary) will help the processing of your request. Your request 
should be sent to the component's FOIA office at the address listed in 
appendix I to part 16. In most cases, your FOIA request should be sent 
to a component's central FOIA office. For records held by a field 
office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Immigration 
and Naturalization Service (INS), however, you must write directly to 
that FBI or INS field office address, which can be found in most 
telephone books or by calling the component's central FOIA office. (The 
functions of each component are summarized in part 0 of this title and 
in the description of the Department and its components in the ``United 
States Government Manual,'' which is issued annually and is available 
in most libraries, as well as for sale from the Government Printing 
Office's Superintendent of Documents. This manual also can be accessed 
electronically at the Government Printing Office's World Wide website 
(which can be found at https://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs).) If you 
cannot determine where within the Department to send your request, you 
may send it to the FOIA/PA Mail Referral Unit, Justice Management 
Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20530-0001. That office will forward your request to the 
component(s) it believes most likely to have the records that you want. 
Your request will be considered received as of the date it is received 
by the proper component's FOIA office. For the quickest possible 
handling, you should mark both your request letter and the envelope 
``Freedom of Information Act Request.'' (b) Description of records 
sought. You must describe the records that you seek in enough detail to 
enable Department personnel to locate them with a reasonable amount of 
effort. Whenever possible, your request should include specific 
information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, 
author, recipient, and subject matter of the record. In addition, if 
you want records about a court case, you should provide the title of 
the case, the court in which the case was filed, and the nature of the 
case. If known, you should include any file designations or 
descriptions for the records that you want. As a general rule, the more 
specific you are about the records or type of records that you want, 
the more likely the Department will be able to locate those records in 
response to your request. If a component determines that your request 
does not reasonably describe records, it shall tell you either what 
additional information is needed

[[Page 15500]]

or why your request is otherwise insufficient. The component also shall 
give you an opportunity to discuss your request so that you may modify 
it to meet the requirements of this section. If your request does not 
reasonably describe the records you seek, the agency's response to your 
request may be delayed. (c) Agreement to pay fees. If you make a FOIA 
request, it shall be considered an agreement by you to pay all 
applicable fees charged under Sec.  16.11, up to $25.00, unless you 
seek a waiver of fees. The component responsible for responding to your 
request ordinarily will confirm this agreement in an acknowledgement 
letter. When making a request, you may specify a willingness to pay a 
greater or lesser amount.
    5. An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of 
time estimated for an average respondent to respond: An estimated 
14,000 FOIA requests are completed annually. These requests can be 
submitted via free-form letter or the eFOIA form. In FY 2020 
approximately 150 online eFOIA forms were submitted. An average of 8 
minutes per respondent is needed to complete the eFOIA form. The 
estimated range of burden for respondents is expected to be between 4 
minutes to 12 minutes for completion.
    6. An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The estimated public burden associated with this 
collection is .13 hours. It is estimated that respondents will take .13 
hour to complete a questionnaire. The burden hours for collecting 
respondent data sum to 20 hours (150 respondents x .13 hours = 20 
hours).
    If additional information is required contact: Melody Braswell, 
Department Clearance Officer, United States Department of Justice, 
Justice Management Division, Policy and Planning Staff, Two 
Constitution Square, 145 N Street NE, 3E.405A, Washington, DC 20530.

    Dated: March 18, 2021.
Melody Braswell,
Department Clearance Officer for PRA, U.S. Department of Justice.
[FR Doc. 2021-05951 Filed 3-22-21; 8:45 am]
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