Link to an amendment published at 89 FR 25521, Apr. 11, 2024.

As used in this part—

(a) 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 the person on whose behalf the request is made. In determining whether a requester has made a commercial use request, the Peace Corps will look to the use to which a requester will put the documents requested. When the Peace Corps has reasonable cause to doubt the requester's stated use of the records sought, or where the use is not clear from the request itself, it will seek additional clarification before assigning the request to a category.

(b) Duplication means the process of making a copy of a record requested pursuant to this part. Such copies can take the form of paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, or machine readable electronic documents, among others.

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

(d) Expedited processing means the process set forth in the FOIA that allows requesters to ask for expedited processing of their FOIA request if they can demonstrate a compelling need.

(e) Fee waiver means the waiver or reduction of processing fees if a requester can demonstrate that certain statutory standards are satisfied including that the information is in the public interest and is not requested for a commercial interest.

(f) FOIA Public Liaison means an agency official who is responsible for assisting in reducing delays, increasing transparency and understanding of the status of requests, and assisting in the resolution of disputes.

(g) Non-commercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis 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.

(h) OIG records means those records as defined generally in this section which originated with or are in the possession and control of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Peace Corps which have been compiled for law enforcement, audit, and investigative functions and/or any other purpose authorized under the IG Act of 1978, as amended.

(i) Records means books, papers, maps, photographs, or other documentary materials, regardless of whether the format is physical or electronic, made or received by the Peace Corps in connection with the transaction of Peace Corps' business and preserved by the Peace Corps as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the Peace Corps, or because of the informational value of data in them. The term does not include, inter alia, books, magazines, or other materials acquired solely for library purpose, or that are otherwise publicly available.

(j) 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 entities 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. These examples are not intended to be all-inclusive. Moreover, as traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications services), such alternative media would be included in this category. In the case of “freelance” journalists, they will be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization, even though not actually employed by it.

(k) Requester category means one of the three categories that agencies place requesters in for the purpose of determining whether a requester will be charged fees for search, review and duplication, including commercial requesters; non-commercial scientific or educational institutions or news media requesters, and all other requesters.

(l) Review means the process of examining a document located in response to a request to determine whether any portion of such document is exempt from disclosure. It also includes processing any such document for disclosure. Review does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.

(m) Search means the process of looking for and retrieving records that are responsive to a request for records. It includes page-by-page or line-by-line identification of material within documents and also includes reasonable efforts to locate and retrieve information from records maintained in electronic form or format. Searches may be conducted manually or by automated means and will be conducted in the most efficient and least expensive manner. If the Agency cannot identify the requested records after a 2 hour search, it can determine that the records were not adequately described and ask the requester to provide a more specific request.

(n) Submitter means any person or entity providing potentially confidential commercial information to an agency, which information may be subject to a FOIA request. The term submitter includes, but is not limited to, individuals, corporations, state governments, and foreign governments.

[68 FR 66008, Nov. 25, 2003, as amended at 79 FR 19818, Apr. 10, 2014]