5 C.F.R. § 2604.103   Definitions.


Title 5 - Administrative Personnel


Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 2604—FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT RULES AND SCHEDULE OF FEES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS
Subpart A—General Provisions

Browse Previous

§ 2604.103   Definitions.

As used in this part,

Agency has the meaning given in 5 U.S.C. 551(1) and 5 U.S.C. 552(f).

Business information means trade secrets or other commercial or financial information, provided to the Office by a submitter, which arguably is protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act.

Business submitter means any person who provides business information, directly or indirectly, to the Office and who has a proprietary interest in the information.

Commercial use means, when referring to a request, that the request is from, or on behalf of one who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or of a person on whose behalf the request is made. Whether a request is for a commercial use depends on the purpose of the request and the use to which the records will be put. When a request is from a representative of the news media, a purpose or use supporting the requester's news dissemination function is not a commercial use.

Direct costs means those expenditures actually incurred in searching for and duplicating (and, in the case of commercial use requesters, reviewing) records to respond to a FOIA request. Direct costs include the salary of the employee performing the work and the cost of operating duplicating machinery. Not included in direct costs are overhead expenses such as costs of space and heating or lighting of the facility in which the records are stored.

Duplication means the process of making a copy of a record. Such copies include paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, and magnetic tapes, cards, and discs.

Educational institution means a preschool, elementary or secondary school, institution of undergraduate or graduate higher education, or institute of professional or vocational education, which operates a program of scholarly research.

FOIA Officer means the OGE employee designated to handle various initial FOIA matters, including requests and related matters such as fees.

Freedom of Information Act or FOIA means 5 U.S.C. 552.

He, his and him include she, hers and her.

Noncommercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated solely for purposes of furthering its own or someone else's business, trade, or profit interests, and that is operated for purposes of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.

Office or OGE means the United States Office of Government Ethics.

Person has the meaning given in 5 U.S.C. 551(2).

Records means any handwritten, typed, or printed documents (such as memoranda, books, brochures, studies, writings, drafts, letters, transcripts, and minutes) and documentary material in other forms (such as electronic documents, electronic mail, punchcards, magnetic tapes, cards or discs, paper tapes, audio or video recordings, maps, photographs, slides, microfilm and motion pictures) that are either created or obtained by the Office and are under Office control. It does not include objects or articles such as exhibits, models, equipment, and duplication machines or audiovisual processing materials.

Representative of the news media means a person actively gathering information for an entity organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. News media entities include television and radio broadcasters, publishers of periodicals who distribute their products to the general public or who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public, and entities that may disseminate news through other media, such as electronic dissemination of text. Freelance journalists will be considered as representatives of a news media entity if they can show a solid basis for expecting publication through such an entity. A publication contract is such a basis, and the requester's past publication record may show such a basis.

Request means any request for records made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3).

Requester means any person who makes a request for records to OGE.

Review means the process of initially, or upon appeal (see §2604.501(b)(3)), examining documents located in a response to a request to determine whether any portion of any document is permitted to be withheld. It also includes processing documents for disclosure, such as redacting portions which may be withheld. Review does not include time spent resolving general legal and policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.

Search means the time spent looking for material manually or by automated means that is responsive to a request, including page-by-page or line-by-line identification of material within documents.

Working days means calendar days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays.

[60 FR 10007, Feb. 23, 1995, as amended at 64 FR 28090, May 25, 1999; 66 FR 3439, Jan. 16, 2001]

Browse Previous








































































chanrobles.com





ChanRobles Legal Resources:

ChanRobles On-Line Bar Review

ChanRobles Internet Bar Review : www.chanroblesbar.com

ChanRobles MCLE On-line

ChanRobles Lawnet Inc. - ChanRobles MCLE On-line : www.chanroblesmcleonline.com