Exceptional circumstances.
Exceptional circumstances. A requester may be notified in certain exceptional circumstances, when it appears that a request cannot be completed within the allowable time, and will be provided an opportunity to limit the scope of the request so that it may be processed in the time limit, or to agree to a reasonable alternative time frame for processing. When notifying a requester under this paragraph, the NRC, to aid the requester, shall make available its FOIA Public Liaison to assist in the resolution of any disputes between the requester and the agency and shall notify the requester of the requester's right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services within the National Archives and Records Administration. For purposes of this paragraph, the term exceptional circumstances does not include delays that result from the normal predictable workload of FOIA requests or a failure by the NRC to exercise due diligence in processing the request. A requester's unwillingness to agree to reasonable modification of the request or an alternative time for processing the request may be considered as factors in determining whether exceptional circumstances exist and whether the agency exercised due diligence in responding to the request.