§ 9.13 — Definitions

As used in this part:

Agency record means a record in the possession and control of the NRC that is associated with Government business. Agency record does not include records such as—

(1) Publicly-available books, periodicals, or other publications that are owned or copyrighted by non-Federal sources;

(2) Records solely in the possession and control of NRC contractors;

(3) Personal records in possession of NRC personnel that have not been circulated, were not required to be created or retained by the NRC, and can be retained or discarded at the author's sole discretion, or records of a personal nature that are not associated with any Government business; or

(4) Non-substantive information in logs or schedule books of the Chairman or Commissioners, uncirculated except for typing or recording purposes.

Business information means commercial or financial information obtained by the NRC from a submitter that may be protected from disclosure under Exemption 4 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4).

Commercial-use request means a request made under § 9.23 and for information for a use or purpose that furthers a commercial, trade, or profit interest of the requester, which can include furthering those interests through litigation. The NRC's decision to place a requester in the commercial use category will be made on a case-by-case basis based on the requester's intended use of the information.

Compelling need means—

(1) That a failure to obtain requested records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to the life or physical safety of an individual; or

(2) With respect to a request made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information, urgency to inform the public concerning actual or alleged Federal Government activity.

Direct costs mean the expenditures that an agency incurs in searching for and duplicating agency records. For a commercial-use request, direct costs include the expenditures involved in reviewing records to respond to the request. Direct costs include the salary of the employee category performing the work based on that basic rate of pay plus 16 percent of that rate to cover fringe benefits and the cost of operating duplicating machinery. The NRC will charge the requester for the actual direct costs of conducting an electronic records search, including computer search time, runs, and output. The NRC will also charge time spent by computer operators or programmers who conduct or assist in the conduct of an electronic records search.

Duplication means the process of making a copy of a record, or of the information contained in it, necessary to respond to a request made under § 9.23. Copies may take the form of paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, or electronic records, among others. The NRC will honor a requester's preference for receiving a record in a particular form or format where it can readily reproduce it in the form or format requested.

Educational institution means an institution that operates a program or programs of scholarly research. Educational institution refers to 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. A requester in this fee category must show that the request is made in connection with their role at the educational institution. The NRC may seek verification from the requester that the request is in furtherance of scholarly research.

Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act Officer means the NRC official designated to fulfill the responsibilities for implementing and administering the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act as specifically designated under the regulations in this part.

Noncommercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated on a commercial basis, as the term is referred to in the definition of commercial-use request, and is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research, the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry. A requester in this category must show that the request is authorized by and is made under the direction of a qualifying institution and that the records are sought to further scientific research and are not for a commercial use.

Office, unless otherwise indicated, means all offices, boards, panels, and advisory committees of the NRC.

Other requester refers to a requester that does not fall within the fee categories of Commercial use, Educational institution, Noncommercial scientific institution, or Representative of the news media, as described in this section.

Record means any information that would be an agency record subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act when maintained by the NRC in any format, including an electronic format. Record also includes a book, paper, map, drawing, diagram, photograph, brochure, punch card, magnetic tape, paper tape, sound recording, pamphlet, slide, motion picture, or other documentary material regardless of form or characteristics. Record does not include an object or article such as a structure, furniture, a tangible exhibit or model, a vehicle, or piece of equipment.

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, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. The term “news” means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations broadcasting “news” 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 subscriptions by the general public. Other examples of news media entities include online publications and websites that regularly deliver news content to the public. These examples are not all-inclusive. Moreover, as methods of news delivery evolve (for example the adoption of the electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications services), such alternative media will be considered to be news-media entities. A freelance journalist will be regarded as working for a news-media entity if the journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that entity, whether or not the journalist is actually employed by the entity. A publication contract would present a solid basis for such an expectation; the NRC may consider the past publication of the requester in making such a determination.

Review means the time devoted to examining records located in response to a request to determine whether any portion is exempt from disclosure. Review consists of the time for processing any record for disclosure, including ensuring that the records produced are responsive; de-duplicating records, redacting the record and marking the appropriate exemptions; conducting inter-agency or business submitter consultations; and obtaining and considering any formal objection to disclosure made by a confidential commercial information submitter. Review costs are properly charged even if a record ultimately is not disclosed. Review does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.

Search means the time devoted to looking for agency records responsive to requests. This includes a page-by-page or line-by-line identification of responsive information within the records and the reasonable efforts expended to locate and retrieve information from electronic records.

Submitter means any person from whom the NRC obtains business information, directly or indirectly. The term includes, without limitation, corporations, State, local or Tribal governments, and foreign governments.

Unusual circumstances means—

(1) The need to search for and collect the requested records from field facilities or other establishments that are separate from the office processing the request;

(2) The need to search for, collect, and appropriately examine a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records demanded in a single request; or

(3) The need for consultation, which will be conducted with all practical speed, with another agency having a substantial interest in the determination of the request or among two or more components of the NRC having substantial subject-matter interest therein.