describe the records sought. Commercial use requestors are not entitled to two hours of free search time nor 100 free pages of reproduction of documents. OA may recover the cost of searching for and reviewing records even if there is ultimately no disclosure of records (see § 2502.14).

(b) Educational and non-commercial scientific institution requestors. OA shall provide documents to requestors in this category for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages. To be eligible for inclusion in this category, requestors must show that the request is being made as authorized by and under the auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are not sought for a commercial use, but are sought in furtherance of scholarly if the request is from an education institution) or scientific (if the request is from a non-commercial scientific institution) research. Requestors must reasonably describe the records sought.

(c) Requestors who are representatives of the news media. OA shall provide documents to requestors in this category for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages. To be eligible for inclusion in this category, a requestor must meet the criteria in §2502.11(j), and his or her request must not be made for commercial use. In reference to this class of requestors a request for records supporting the news dissemination function of the requestor shall not be considered to be a request that is for a commercial use. Requestors must reasonably describe the records sought.

(d) All other requestors. OA shall charge requestors who do not fit into any of the categories above fees that recover the full, reasonable, direct cost of searching for and reproducing the records that are responsive to the request, except that the first 100 pages and the first two hours of search time shall be furnished without charge. Moreover, requests for records about the requestors filed in OA's system of records will continue to be treated under the fee provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 which permit fees only for reproduction. Requestors must reasonably describe the records sought.

[56 FR 5742, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.14 Miscellaneous fee provisions.

(a) Charging interest-notice and rate. OA may begin assessing interest on an unpaid bill starting on the 31st day of the month following the date on which billing was sent. The fact that the fee has been received by OA within the thirty day grace period, even if not processed, will suffice to stay the accrual of interest. Interest will be at the rate prescribed in section 3717 of title 31 of the United States Code and will accrue from the date of billing.

(b) Charges for an unsuccessful search. OA may assess charges for time spent searching, even if it fails to locate the records or if records located are determined to be exempt from disclosure. If OA estimates that search charges are likely to exceed $25.00, it shall notify the requestor of the estimated amount of fees, unless the requestor has indicated in advance his willingness to pay fees as high as those anticipated. Such a notice shall offer the requestor the opportunity to confer with agency personnel with the object of reformulating the request to meet his or her needs at a lower cost.

(c) Aggregation results. A requestor may not file multiple requests at the same time, each seeking portions of a document or documents solely in order to avoid payment of fees. When OA reasonably believes that a requestor, or on rare occasions, a group of requestors acting in concert is attempting to break a request down into a series of requests for the purpose of evading the assessment of fees, OA may aggregate any such request and charge accordingly. One element to be considered in determining whether a belief would be reasonable is the time period over which the requests have occurred.

(d) Advance payments. OA may not require a requestor to make an advance payment, i.e., payment before work is commenced or continued on a request unless:

(1) OA estimates or determines that allowable charges that a requestor may be required to pay are likely to exceed $250.00. Then, OA will notify the requestor of the likely cost and obtain satisfactory assurance of full payment where the requestor has a history of prompt payment of FOIA fees, or require an advance payment of an

amount up to the full estimated charges in the case of requestors with no history of payment; or

(2) A requestor has previously failed to pay a fee charged in a timely fashion (i.e., within thirty days of the date of the billing). OA may require the requestor to pay the full amount owed plus any applicable interest as provided above or demonstate that he or she has in fact paid the fee, and to make an advance payment of the full amount of the estimated fee before the agency begins to process a new request, or a pending request from that requestor. When OA acts under paragraph (d) (1) or (2) of this section, the administrative time limits prescribed in the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) (i.e., ten working days from receipt of initial request and 20 working days from receipt of appeals from initial denial, plus permissible extensions of these time limits) will begin only after OA has received fee payments described above.

(e) Effect of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97–365). OA should comply with the provisions of the Debt Collection Act, including disclosure to consumer reporting agencies and use of collection agencies, where appropriate, to encourage repayment.

[56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.15 Waiver or reduction of charges.

Fees otherwise chargeable in connection with a request for disclosure of a record shall be waived or reduced where it is determined that disclosure is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor.

[56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.16 Information to be disclosed. (a) In general, all records of the Office of Administration are available to the public, as required by the Freedom of Information Act. However, the Office claims the right, where it is applicable, to withhold material under the provisions specified in the Freedom of Information Act as amended (5 U.S.C. 552(b)).

(b) Records from Non-U.S. Government Source. (1) Upon receipt of a request for a record that was obtained from a nonU.S. Government source, or for a record containing information clearly identified as having been provided by a non-U.S. Government source, including a contract proposal or contract material, the Office will contact the source of the requested record or information requesting advice as to whether release of the record would adversely affect the source's competitive position or invade anyone's privacy. Subsequent to receipt of such advice, the Office will independently examine the requested document and will notify the requester of the final decision.

(2) OA personnel will generally consider two exemptions in the FOIA in deciding whether to withhold from disclosure material from a non-U.S. Government source. Exemption 4 permits withholding of "trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential." Exemption 6 permits withholding certain information, the disclosure of which "would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." The source whose material has been requested will be asked to supply convincing justification for any material it wishes withheld under the Act, in accordance with the following general guidelines.

(i) For consideration under exemption 4, the supplier of the record or information should identify material that would be likely to cause substantial harm to its present or future competitive position if it were released. If a contractor, the provider should assume that the material will be released to a competitor, even if that is not always the case. A contractor must provide detailed information on why release would be harmful, e.g., the general custom or usage in the business; the number and situation of the persons who have access to the information; the type and degree of risk of financial injury that release would cause; and the length of time the information will need to be kept confidential.

(A) In this respect, the Office of Administration will-as a general rulelook favorably upon recommendations for withholding information about

ideas, methods, and processes that are unique; about equipment, materials, or systems that are potentially patentable; or about a unique use of equipment which is specifically outlined.

(B) OA will not withhold information that is known through custom or usage in the relevant trade, business, or profession, or information that is generally known to any reasonably educated person. Self-evident statements or reviews of the general state of the art will not ordinarily be withheld.

(C) OA will withhold all cost data submitted except the total estimated cost for each year of the contract. Where appropriate, OA will release unit pricing data except where that information would disclose confidential information such as profit margins. It will release these total estimated costs and ordinarily release explanatory material and headings associated with the cost data, withholding only the figures themselves. If a contractor believes some of the explanatory material should be withheld, that material must be identified and a justification be presented as to why it should not be released.

(ii) Exemption 6 is not a blanket exemption for all personal information. The Office will balance the need to keep a person's private affairs from unnecessary public scrutiny with protection of the public's right to information on Government records.

(A) As a general practice, the Office will release information about any person named in a contract itself or about any person who signed a contract as well as information given in a proposal about any officer of a corporation submitting that proposal. Except for names and other identifying details, the Office usually releases all information in resumes concerning employees, including education and experience. Efforts will be made to identify information that should be deleted and offerors are urged to point out such material for guidance. Any information in the proposal which might constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy if released should be identified and a justification for non-release provided in order to receive proper consideration.

(B) The Office can protect the names of and identifying details about other staff members who are described in a contract proposal if it is clear that identification of these employees would assist competitors in raiding and hiring them away. In this regard, names and other identifying details could be protected under Exemption 4 (harmful to competitive position) and also under Exemption 6 (it would be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy to release them). In such a case, the Office would withhold names, home addresses, salaries, telephone numbers, social security numbers, marital status and, if these served to identify them, perhaps some details about past employment or professional activities of these persons.

[45 FR 47112, July 14, 1980. Redesignated and amended at 49 FR 28234, July 11, 1984. Redesignated and amended at 56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

(b) Executive Order 12028 (December 4, 1977) provides that the Office of Administration shall upon request, assist the White House office in performing its role of providing those administrative services which are primarily in direct support of the President. Due to this role of providing direct support of the President, members of the public should presume that communications between the Director of the Office of Administration and the President (and their staffs) are confidential or ordinarily will not be released; they will usually fall, at a minimum, within Exemption 5 of the Act.

(c) The records of the Office of Administration which are part of systems of records subject to the Privacy Act of 1974 are exempt from disclosure to the

public except as provided by 5 CFR part 2504.

[45 FR 47112, July 14, 1980. Redesignated at 49 FR 28235, July 11, 1984, and further redesignated at 56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.18 Deletion of exempted information.

Where requested records contain matters which are exempted under 5 U.S.C. 552(b) but which matters are reasonably segregable from the remainder of the records, they shall be disclosed by the Office with deletions. To each such record, the Office shall attach a written justification for making deletions. A single such justification shall suffice for deletions made in a group of similar or related records.

[45 FR 47112, July 14, 1980. Redesignated at 49 FR 28235, July 11, 1984, and further redesignated 56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.30 Purpose and scope.

This subpart contains the regulations of the Office concerning procedures to be followed when a subpoena, order or other demand (hereinafter in this subpart referred to as a "demand") of a court or other authority is issued for the production or disclosure of:

(a) Any material contained in the files of the Office of Administration;

(b) Any information relating to materials contained in the files of the Office; or

(c) Any information or material acquired by any person while such person as an employee of the Office of Administration as a part of the performance

of his official duties or because of his official status.

§ 2502.31 Production prohibited unless approved by the Deputy Director.

No employee or former employee of the Office of Administration shall, in response to a demand of a court or other authority, produce any material contained in the files of the Office of Administration or disclose any information or produce any material acquired as part of the performance of his official status without the prior approval of the Deputy Director.

[45 FR 47112, July 14, 1980, as amended at 56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.32 Procedure in the event of a demand for disclosure.

(a) Whenever a demand is made upon an employee or former employee of the Office of Administration for the production of material or the disclosure of information described in §2502.31, he shall immediately notify the Deputy Director. If possible, the Deputy Director shall be notified before the employee or former employee concerned replies to or appears before the court or other authority.

(b) If response to the demand is required before instructions from the Deputy Director are received, an attorney designated for that purpose by the Office of Administration shall appear with the employee or former employee upon whom the demand has been made, and shall furnish the court or other authority with a copy of the regulations contained in this part and inform the court or other authority that the demand has been or is being, as the case may be, referred for prompt consideration by the Deputy Director. The court or other authority shall be requested respectfully to stay the demand pending receipt of the requested instructions from the Deputy Director. [45 FR 47112, July 14, 1980, as amended at 56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

§ 2502.33 Procedure in the event of an adverse ruling.

If the court or other authority declines to stay the effect of the demand in response to a request made in accordance with §2502.32(b) pending receipt of instructions from the Deputy

Director, or if the court or other authority rules that the demand must be complied with irrespective of the instructions from the Deputy Director not to produce the material or disclose the information sought, the employee or former employee upon whom the demand has been made shall respectfully decline to comply with the demand. (United States ex rel. Touhy v. Ragen, 340 U.S. 462 (1951)).

[45 FR 47112, July 14, 1980, as amended at 56 FR 5744, Feb. 13, 1991]

those records, and (c) permit an individual to request the amendment or correction of records about him.

$2504.2 Definitions.

For the purposes of this part—(a) Office means the Office of Administration, Executive Office of the President;

(b) Individual means a citizen of the United States or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence.

(c) Maintain means collect, use or distribute;

(d) Record means any item collection or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by the Office, including but not limited to education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contain's the individual's name, identifying number, symbol, or other identifiers assigned to the individual, such as a finger or voice print or photograph;

(e) System of records means a group of any records controlled by the Office and from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual;

(f) System manager means the employee of the Office who is responsible for the maintenance, collection, use or distribution of information contained in a system of records;

(g) Routine use means, with respect to the disclosure of a record, the use of that record for a purpose consistent with the purpose for which it was collected;

(h) Subject individual means the individual by whose name or other personal identifier a record is maintained or retrieved;

(1) Statistical record means record in a system of records maintained for statistical research or reporting purposes only and not used in whole or in part in making any determination about an identifiable individual, except as provided by section 8 of title 13 U.S.C.;

(j) Agency means agency as defined in 5 U.S.C. 552(e);

(k) Work days as used in calculating the date when response is due does not include Saturdays, Sundays and legal public holidays.