disclosure is likely to contribute "significantly" to public understanding of government operations or activities;

(e) The existence and magnitude of a commercial interest. Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and, if so

The primary interest in disclosure. Whether the magnitude of the identified commercial interest of the requester is sufficiently large, in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is "primary in the commercial interest of the requester."

(iii) A request for a fee waiver based on the public interest under paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section must address these factors as they apply to the request for records in order to be considered by the Authority, the General Counsel, or the Panel.

(c) Level of fees to be charged. The level of fees to be charged by the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel, in accordance with the schedule set forth in paragraph (d) of this section, depends on the category of the requester. The fee levels to be charged are as follows:

(1) A request for documents appearing to be for commercial use will be charged to recover the full direct costs of searching for, reviewing for release, and duplicating the records sought.

(2) A request for documents from an educational or non-commercial scientific institution will be charged for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages. To be eligible for inclusion in this category, requesters must show that the request is being made 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 educational institution) or scientific (if the request is from a noncommercial scientific institution) research.

(3) The Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel shall provide documents to requesters who are representatives of the news media for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages.

(4) The Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel shall charge requesters who do not fit into any of the categories above fees which recover the full direct cost of searching for and reproducing records that are responsive to the request, except that the first 100 pages of reproduction and the first two hours of search time shall be furnished without charge. Requests from record subjects for records about themselves filed in Authority, General Counsel, or Panel systems of records will continue to be treated under the fee provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, which permits fees only for reproduction.

All requesters must reasonably describe the records sought.

be

shall (d) The following fees charged in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section:

(1) Manual searches for records. The salary rate (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent) of the employee(s) making the search. Search time under this paragraph and paragraph (d)(2) of this section may be charged for even if the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel fails to locate records or if records located are determined to be exempt from disclosure.

(2) Computer searches for records. $4.15 per quarter hour, which the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel determined to be the actual direct cost of providing the service, including computer search time directly attributable to searching for records responsive to a FOIA request, runs, and operator salary apportionable to the search.

(3) Review of records. The salary rate (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent) of the employee(s) conducting the review. This charge applies only to requesters who are seeking documents for commercial use, and only to the review necessary at the initial administrative level to determine the applicability of any relevant FOIA exemptions, and not at the administrative appeal level of an exemption already applied.

(4) Duplication of records. Twenty-five cents per page for paper copy reproduction of documents, which the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel determined is the reasonable direct cost of making such copies, taking into account the average salary of the operator and the cost of the reproduction

machinery. For copies of records prepared by computer, such as tapes or printouts, the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel shall charge the actual cost, including operator time, of production of the tape or printout.

(5) Forwarding material to destination. Postage, insurance and special fees will be charged on an actual cost basis.

(e) Aggregating requests. When the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel reasonably believes that a requester or group of requesters is attempting to break a request down into a series of requests for the purpose of evading the assessment of fees, the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel will aggregate any such requests and charge accordingly.

(f) Charging interest. Interest at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 may be charged those requesters who fail to pay fees charged, beginning on the 30th day following the billing date. Receipt of a fee by the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel, whether processed or not, will stay the accrual of interest.

(g) Advanced payments. The Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel will not require a requester to make an advance payment, i.e., payment before work is commenced or continued on a request, unless:

(1) The Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel estimates or determines that allowable charges that a requester may be required to pay are likely to exceed $250. Then the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel will notify the requester of the likely cost and obtain satisfactory assurance of full payment where the requester 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 requesters with no history of payment; or

(2) A requester has previously failed to pay a fee charged in a timely fashion (i.e., within 30 days of the date of the billing), in which case the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel requires the requester to pay the full amount owed plus any applicable interest as provided above or demonstrate that the requester 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 requester. When the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel acts under paragraph (g)(1) or (2) of this section, the administrative time limits prescribed in subsection (a)(6) of the FOIA (i.e., 20 working days from receipt of initial requests and 20 working days from receipt of appeals from initial denial, plus permissible extension of these time limits) will begin only after the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel has received fee payments described above.

(h) Requests for copies of transcripts of hearings should be made to the official hearing reporter. However, a person may request a copy of a transcript of a hearing from the Authority, the Panel or the General Counsel, as appropriate. In such instances, the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel, as appropriate, may, by agreement with the person making the request, make arrangements with commercial firms for required services to be charged directly to the requester.

(i) Payment of fees shall be made by check or money order payable to the U.S. Treasury.

[52 FR 26128, July 13, 1987, as amended at 62 FR 60997, Nov. 14, 1997]

§2411.11 Compliance with subpenas.

No member of the Authority or the Panel, or the General Counsel, or other officer or employee of the Authority, the Panel, or the General Counsel shall produce or present any files, documents, reports, memoranda, or records of the Authority, the Panel or the General Counsel, or testify in behalf of any party to any cause pending in any arbitration or in any court or before the Authority or the Panel, or any other board, commission, or administrative agency of the United States, territory, or the District of Columbia with respect to any information, facts, or other matter to their knowledge in their official capacity or with respect to the contents of any files, documents, reports, memoranda, or records of the Authority, the Panel or the General Counsel, whether in answer to a subpena, subpena duces tecum, or otherwise, without the written consent of

the Authority, the Panel or the General Counsel, as appropriate. Whenever any subpena, the purpose for which is to adduce testimony or require the production of records as described above, shall have been served on any member or other officer or employee of the Authority, the Panel or the General Counsel, such person will, unless otherwise expressly directed by the Authority, the Panel or the General Counsel, as appropriate, and as provided by law, move pursuant to the applicable procedure to have such subpena invalidated on the ground that the evidence sought is privileged against disclosure by this rule.

§ 2411.12 Annual report.

On or before March 1 of each calendar year, the Executive Director of the Authority shall submit a report of the activities of the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel with regard to public information requests during the preceding calendar year to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate for referral to the appropriate committees of the Congress. The report shall include for such calendar year all information required by 5 U.S.C. 552(d) and such other information as indicates the efforts of the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel to administer fully the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, as amended.

2412.16 Exemptions.

AUTHORITY: 5 U.S.C. 552a.

SOURCE: 45 FR 3491, Jan. 17, 1980, unless otherwise noted.

82412.1 Purpose and scope.

This part contains the regulations of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations Authority and the Federal Service Impasses Panel implementing the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 552a. The regulations apply to all records maintained by the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel that are contained in a system of records, as defined herein, and that contain information about an individual. The regulations in this part set forth procedures that: (a) Authorize an individual's access to records maintained about the individual; (b) limit the access of other persons to those records; and (c) permit an individual to request the amendment or correction of records about the individual.

§ 2412.2 Definitions.

For the purposes of this part

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

(b) Maintain includes maintain, collect, use or disseminate.

(c) Record means any item, collection or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel including, but not limited to, the individual's education, financial transactions, medical history and criminal or employment history and that contains the individual's name, or the identifying number, symbol or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a finger or voice print or a photograph.

(d) System of records means a group of any records under the control of the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying particular assigned to the individual.

(e) Routine use means, with respect to the disclosure of a record, the use of such record for a purpose which is compatible with the purpose for which it was collected.

$2412.3 Notice and publication.

The Authority, the General Counsel, and the Panel will publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER such notices describing systems of records as are required by law.

[51 FR 33837, Sept. 23, 1986]

§2412.4 Existence of records requests.

(a) An individual who desires to know if a system of records maintained by the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel contains a record pertaining to the individual must submit a written inquiry as follows:

(1) If the system of records is located in a regional office of the Authority, it should be made to the appropriate Regional Director; and

(2) If the system of records is located in the office of the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel in Washington, DC, it should be made to the Director of Administration of the Authority, Washington, DC.

(b) The request shall be in writing and should be clearly and prominently identified as a Privacy Act request. If the request is submitted by mail or otherwise submitted in an envelope or other cover, it should bear the legend "Privacy Act Request" on the envelope or other cover. If a request does not comply with the provisions of this paragraph, it shall not be deemed received until the time it is actually received by the appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate.

(c) The inquiry must include the name and address of the individual and reasonably describe the system of records in question by the individual. Descriptions of the systems of records maintained by the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel have been published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(d) The appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate, will advise the individual in writing within ten (10) working days from receipt of the request whether the system of records named by the individual contains a record pertaining to the individual.

[45 FR 3491, Jan. 17, 1980, as amended at 51 FR 33837, Sept. 23, 1986]

§ 2412.5 Individual access requests.

(a) Any individual who desires to inspect or receive copies of any record pertaining to the individual which is contained in a system of records maintained by the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel must submit a written request reasonably identifying the records sought to be inspected or copied as follows:

(1) If the system of records is located in a regional office of the Authority, it should be made to the appropriate Regional Director; and

(2) If the system of records is located in the offices of the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel in Washington, DC, it should be made to the Deputy Director of Administration of the Authority, Washington, DC.

(b) The request shall be in writing and should be clearly and prominently identified as a Privacy Act request. If the request is submitted by mail or otherwise submitted in an envelope or other cover, it should bear the legend "Privacy Act Request" on the envelope or other cover. If a request does not comply with the provisions of this paragraph, it shall not be deemed received until the time it is actually received by the appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate.

(c) An individual seeking access to a record may, if desired, be accompanied by another person during review of the records. If the requester does desire to be accompanied by another person during the inspection, the requester must sign a statement, to be furnished to the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel representative, as appropriate, at the time of the inspection, authorizing such other person to accompany the requester.

(d) Satisfactory identification (i.e., employee identification number, current address, and verification of signature) must be provided to the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel representative, as appropriate, prior to review of the record.

[45 FR 3491, Jan. 17, 1980, as amended at 51 FR 33837, Sept. 23, 1986]

§ 2412.6 Initial decision on access requests.

(a) Within ten (10) working days of the receipt of a request pursuant to § 2412.5, the appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate, shall make an initial decision whether the requested records exist and whether they will be made available to the person requesting them. That initial decision shall immediately be communicated, in writing or other appropriate form, to the person who has made the request.

(b) Where the initial decision is to provide access to the requested records, the above writing or other appropriate communication shall:

(1) Briefly describe the records to be made available;

(2) State whether any records maintained, in the system of records in question, about the individual making the request are not being made available;

(3) State that the requested records will be available during ordinary office hours at the appropriate regional office or offices of the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel, as appropriate; and

(4) State whether any further verification of the identity of the requesting individual is necessary.

(c) Where the initial decision is not to provide access to requested records, the appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate, shall by writing or other appropriate communication explain the reason for that decision. The appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate, shall only refuse to provide an individual access where:

(1) There is inadequate verification of identity under § 2412.5(d);

(2) In fact no such records are maintained; or

(3) The requested records have been compiled in a reasonable anticipation of civil or criminal action or proceedings.

[45 FR 3491, Jan. 17, 1980, as amended at 51 FR 33837, Sept. 23, 1986]

$2412.7 Special procedures; medical records.

(a) If medical records are requested for inspection which, in the opinion of the appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the

Authority, as appropriate, may be harmful to the requester if personally inspected by such person, such records will be furnished only to a licensed physician designated to receive such records by the requester. Prior to such disclosure, the requester must furnish a signed written authorization to make such disclosure and the physician must furnish a written request for the physician's receipt of such records to the appropriate Regional Director or the Director of Administration of the Authority, as appropriate.

(b) If such authorization is not executed within the presence of an Authority, General Counsel or Panel representative, the authorization must be accompanied by a notarized statement verifying the identification of the requester.

[45 FR 3491, Jan. 17, 1980, as amended at 51 FR 33837, Sept. 23, 1986]

§ 2412.8 Limitations on disclosures.

(a) Requests for records about an individual made by person other than that individual shall also be directed as follows:

(1) If the system of records is located in a regional office of the Authority, it should be made to the appropriate Regional Director; and

(2) If the system of records is located in the offices of the Authority, the General Counsel or the Panel in Washington, DC, it should be made to the Director of Administration of the Authority, Washington, DC.

(b) Such records shall only be made available to persons other than that individual in the following circumstances:

(1) To any person with the prior written consent of the individual about whom the records are maintained;

(2) To officers and employees of the Authority, the General Counsel and the Panel who need the records in the performance of their official duties;

(3) For a routine use compatible with the purpose for which it was collected;