§ 1701.5 Prompt response.

(a) Within ten days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays) of the receipt of a request, the Associate Director shall determine whether to comply with or deny such request and shall dispatch such determination to the requester, unless an extension is made under paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) Only the Associate Director may deny a request and is the “person responsible for the denial” within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 552(a). When a denial is made at the behest of another agency, the person in that agency responsible for urging the denial may also be a “person responsible for the denial” if he is so advised before the Associate Director informs the requester that his request is denied.