[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 5, Volume 3]
[Revised as of January 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 5CFR2604.103]

[Page 455-456]
 
                    TITLE 5--ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
 
                CHAPTER XVI--OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS
 
PART 2604_FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT RULES AND SCHEDULE OF FEES FOR THE 
 
                      Subpart A_General Provisions
 
Sec.  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.

[[Page 456]]

    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 Sec.  
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]