(a) Act means section 552 of Title 5, United States Code, sometimes referred to as the “Freedom of Information Act”, and Pub. L. 104-231, 110 Stat. 3048, sometimes referred to as the “Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996.”

(b) Agency means any executive department, military department, government corporation, or other establishment in the executive branch of the Federal Government, or any independent regulatory agency. Thus, the Corporation is a Federal agency.

(c) Commercial use request means a request from, or on behalf of, a person 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. The use to which the requester will put the records sought will be considered in determining whether the request is a commercial use request.

(d) Corporation means the Corporation for National and Community Service.

(e) Educational institution means a pre-school, elementary or secondary school, institution of undergraduate or graduate higher education, or institution of professional or vocational education, which operates a program of scholarly research.

(f) Electronic data means records and information (including e-mail) which are created, stored, and retrievable by electronic means.

(g) Freedom of Information Act Officer (FOIA Officer) means the Corporation official who has been delegated the authority to make the initial determination on whether to release or withhold records, and to assess, waive, or reduce fees in response to FOIA requests.

(h) Non-commercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated substantially for purposes of furthering its own or someone else's business trade, or profit interests, and that is operated for purposes of conducting scientific research whose results are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.

(i) Public interest means the interest in obtaining official information that sheds light on an agency's performance of its statutory duties because the information falls within the statutory purpose of the FOIA to inform citizens about what their government is doing.

(j) Record includes books, brochures, electronic mail messages, punch cards, magnetic tapes, cards, discs, paper tapes, audio or video recordings, maps, pamphlets, photographs, slides, microfilm, and motion pictures, or other documentary materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by the Corporation pursuant to Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public business and preserved by the Corporation as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, programs, or other activities. Record does not include objects or articles such as tangible exhibits, models, equipment, or processing materials; or formulas, designs, drawings, or other items of valuable property. Record does not include books, magazines, pamphlets or other materials acquired solely for reference purposes. Record does not include personal records of an individual not subject to agency creation or retention requirements, created and maintained primarily for the convenience of an agency employee, and not distributed to other agency employees for their official use. Record does not include information stored within a computer for which there is no existing computer program for retrieval of the requested information. A record must exist and be in the possession and control of the Corporation at the time of the request to be considered subject to this part and the FOIA. There is no obligation to create, compile, or obtain a record to satisfy a FOIA request. See § 2507.5(d) with respect to creating a record in the electronic environment.

(k) Representative of the news media means a person who is actively gathering information for an entity organized to publish, broadcast or otherwise disseminate news to the public. News media entities include television and radio broadcasters, publishers of periodicals who distribute their products to the general public or who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public, and entities that may disseminate news through other media (e.g., electronic dissemination of text). Freelance journalists will be treated as representatives of a new media entity if they can show a likelihood of publication through such an entity. A publication contract would be the clearest proof, but the Corporation may also look to the past publication record of a requester in making this determination.

(l) FOIA request means a written request for Corporation records, made by any person, including a member of the public (U.S. or foreign citizen), an organization, or a business, but not including a Federal agency, an order from a court, or a fugitive from the law, that either explicitly or implicitly involves the FOIA, or this part. Written requests may be received by postal service or by facsimile.

(m) Review means the process of examining records located in response to a request to determine whether any record or portion of a record is permitted to be withheld. It also includes processing records for disclosure (i.e., excising portions not subject to disclosure under the Act and otherwise preparing them for release). Review does not include time spent resolving legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions under the Act.

(n) Search means looking for records or portions of records responsive to a request. It includes reading and interpreting a request, and also page-by-page and line-by-line examination to identify responsive portions of a document. However, it does not include line-by-line examination where merely duplicating the entire page would be a less expensive and quicker way to comply with the request.