{408.42 Distinguishing requests that should be handled under the FOIA.

(a) An office receiving a request for material which is readily available to the public should treat the request as a routine request rather than a request under FOIA even if it cites FOIA. The material should be provided to the requester within the 20-day time limit. Examples of information that may be routinely provided without a FOIA request are:

(1) Publications, soil surveys, brochures;

(2) Job sheets;

(3) Press releases; and

(4) Permanent directives, including manuals, handbooks, General Manual parts, technical notes, technical releases, and material from the Field Office Technical Guide (FOTG), such as standards and specifications, soil data, resource management systems, cost-return data, and non-copyrighted references (Note: If the request is for materials normally sold to the public through the Government Printing Office, tell the requester where the materials may be purchased).

(b) Requests for information found in NRCS records that is not normally created for or distributed to the public are treated as FOIA requests even in the absence of a FOIA citation.

(c) No written request is required for an employee to see his/her own official personnel file or for an owner, operator, producer, or participant to see his/her own owner, operator, producer, or participant file.