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The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 United States Code 552, allows you to obtain information from various agencies of the federal government, including the Department of the Navy. FOIA is implemented by the Navy, in Department of the Navy Freedom of Information Act Program (SECNAVINST 5720.42G).
Submitting a FOIA Request Step 1: Submitting Your FOIA Request No matter what form your request takes, you should follow the procedures below to submit a request. Requests may be electronically submitted (preferred) or via either email or in letter format. A verbal request for a record will not be accepted, nor will questions in a FOIA request be answered.
To submit a FOIA request to the Department of the Navy, please do so via the online portal at https://www.securerelease.us/ or through https://www.foia.gov. Either choice is a fast and reliable way to send your request, and both will provide options to ensure you send your request to the correct Navy agency. For more information and additional resources, please visit https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/Pages/default.aspx.
To submit a FOIA via either email or in letter format: 1. Start by stating "this is a Freedom of Information Act request." 2. Describe the specific record(s) you are seeking with enough detail so that a knowledgeable official of the activity may locate the record with a reasonable amount of effort. Such detail should include descriptive information of the document(s) sought, date of document (if known), if unknown then the approximate time-frame to be searched or a description of the event/incident, etc. Because most Navy records are not retained permanently, the more information you can provide, the better chance there is to determine if the records still exist and where they may be. The FOIA clearly states that records must exist at the time the request is submitted to be considered. 3. A requester must state a willingness to pay all fees or fees up to a specified amount, or provide justification to support a fee waiver or reduction of fees. Agreement to pay a fee is considered to include amounts up to $250, unless another greater or lesser amount is specified. Normally we charge search, review (for commercial requester's only) and duplication costs. Total costs will depend on the fee category your request falls under per Secretary of the Navy Instruction 5720.42G. If you are seeking a fee waiver, you should refer to link to 32 C.F.R. § 701.48 http://federal.elaws.us/cfr/title32.part701.section701.48 for qualifying factors, and 32 C.F.R. § 701.53 http://federal.elaws.us/cfr/title32.part701.section701.53 for the current fee schedule. 4. Requesters must provide complete contact information (Full Name, Mailing Address, Telephone Number, and e-mail address, if available). If alternate contact information is available (e.g., other e-mail or telephone numbers), please provide that information as well. 5. Please see a sample FOIA request letter 6. The next step in submitting a request is deciding where to send the request. Because Navy records are maintained in a decentralized system, you will get the fastest response by sending your request to the Department of the Navy component (activity/command) most likely to be holding the record(s) you seek.