Basic limit. Requests for records shall be processed promptly. A determination whether to grant or deny a request shall be made within no more than ten (10) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) after receipt of a request. This determination shall be communicated immediately to the requester.

Running of basic time limit. For purposes of paragraph (a) of this section, the time limit commences to run when a request is received at the Commission's office in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Extensions of time. In the following unusual circumstances, the time limit for acting upon an initial request may be extended to the extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the particular request, but in no case may the time limit be extended for more than ten (10) working days:

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;

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

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 substantial subject-matter interest therein.

Authority to make extensions. (1) An extension of time under paragraph (c) of this section may be made only by the Freedom of Information Act Officer or such higher authority as the Commission has in writing designated.

The person requesting the records shall be notified in writing of the extension. The written notice shall state the reason for the extension and the date on which a determination on the request is expected to be dispatched.

The Freedom of Information Act Officer shall be responsible for promptly furnishing copies of such notices to the Executive Director and the Commission's legal counsel.

Treatment of delay as denial. (1) If no determination has been reached at the end of the ten (10) day period for deciding an initial request, or the last extension thereof, the requester may deem his request denied and may exercise a right of appeal in accordance with the provisions of § 700.247.

When no determination can be reached within the applicable time limit, the responsible official shall nevertheless continue to process the request. On expiration of the time limit, the responsible official shall inform the requester of the reason for the delay, of the date on which a determination may be expected to be dispatched, and of his right to treat the delay as a denial for purposes of appeal to the Commission in accordance with § 700.247. The requester may be asked to consider delaying use of his right to appeal until the date on which the determination is expected to be dispatched. If the requester so agrees, he is deemed not to have treated the failure to respond within the applicable time limit as a denial for purposes of the running of the twenty (20) working-day appeal period set out in § 700.247. If a determination of the request is not issued by the new agreed upon date, or if the request is denied in whole or part, the requester will have available his full right of appeal under § 700.247, including the entire twenty (20) working-day period for filing of the appeal.