105-60.305-1—Definitions.

For the purpose of this part:

(a) A statute specifically providing for setting the level of fees for particular types of records (5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A)(vii)) means any statute that specifically requires a Government agency to set the level of fees for particular types of records, as opposed to a statute that generally discusses such fees. Fees are required by statute to:

(1) Make Government information conveniently available to the public and to private sector organizations;

(2) Ensure that groups and individuals pay the cost of publications and other services which are for their special use so that these costs are not borne by the general taxpaying public;

(3) Operate an information dissemination activity on self-sustaining basis to the maximum extent possible; or

(4) Return revenue to the Treasury for defraying, wholly or in part, appropriated funds used to pay the cost of disseminating Government information.

(b) The term direct costs means those expenditures which GSA actually incurs in searching for and duplicating (and in the case of commercial requesters, reviewing and redacting) documents to respond to a FOIA request. Direct costs include, for example, the salary of the employee performing the work (the basic rate of pay for the employee plus 16 percent of that rate to cover benefits), and the cost of operating duplicating machinery. Overhead expenses such as costs of space, and heating or lighting the facility where the records are stored are not included in direct costs.

(c) The term search includes all time spent looking for material that is responsive to a request, including line-by-line identification of material within documents. Searches will be performed in the most efficient and least expensive manner so as to minimize costs for both the agency and the requester. Line-by-line searches will not be undertaken when it would be more efficient to duplicate the entire document. Search for responsive material is not the same as review of a record to determine whether it is exempt from disclosure in whole or in part (see paragraph (e) of this section. Searches may be done manually or by computer using existing programming or new programming when this would not significantly interfere with the operation of the automated system in question.

(d) The term duplication means the process of making a copy of a document in response to a FOIA request. Copies can take the form of paper, microform audiovisual materials, or magnetic types or disks. To the extent practicable, GSA will provide a copy of the material in the form specified by the requester.

(e) The term review means the process of examining documents located in response to a request to determine if any portion of that document is permitted to be withheld and processing any documents for disclosure. See § 105-60.305-6.

(f) The term commercial-use request means a request 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 person on whose behalf the request is made. GSA will determine whether a requester properly belongs in this category by determining how the requester will use the documents.

(g) The term educational institution means a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of graduate higher education, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an institution of professional education, or an institution of vocational education which operates a program or programs of scholarly research.

(h) The term noncommercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis as that term is used in paragraph (f) of this section and which is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.

(i) The term representative of the news media means any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. The term news means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media include television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when they can qualify as disseminators of “news”) who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. “Freelance” journalists will be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization even though they are not actually employed by it.

CFR

105-60.305-1—Definitions.