Term
| Recordkeeping and reporting requirements are another tool of administrative |
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Definition
| This authorization may or may not require that reporting requirements be established through the rulemaking process. Administrative subpoenas may be Some statutes establish such requirements directly and leave it to the agency to provide more detail; others just authorize the agency issued, but the authority to do so must be given to the agency expressly by statute. |
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Term
| The Paperwork Reduction Act |
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Definition
1. requires agencies to subject a new reporting requirement to notice and comment, and to critically analyze the requirements to make sure that it is necessary, compatible with existing requirements, makes allowances for small businesses, not confusing, etc.
applies to any reporting requirement that -affects 10 or more people
-OMB must sign off on it and assign a control number t |
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Term
| The Freedom of Information Act |
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Definition
| anyone the ability to obtain public records from an agency. On the other hand, it is often slow in its workings, and it is subject to numerous exemptions |
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Term
| HOW DO YOU GET FOIA DOCS? |
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Definition
| agencies must have their own rules (promulgated pursuant to FOIA) telling would-be FOIA requestors the who, what, and where of the agency’s records. |
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Term
| HOW SOON WILL I HEAR FROM FOIA AFTER REQUEST? |
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Definition
-agency reply to a request within 20 days
-time limit that is widely violated |
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Term
| CAN I GOT TO COURT FOR FOI CLAIM? |
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Definition
| Courts will allow judicial review after 20 days, and the agency’s ability to collect fees is affected if they violate the limit, but most requesters decide just to wait rather than alienate the agency and spend money on litigation that they might not get back. |
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Term
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Definition
NO, Agencies expend resources in reviewing requests, finding documents, and copying and shipping documents.
Requesters must pay the government for copies after a certain amount.
Non-educational/non-scholarly/non-news requestors must pay some search costs too.
Commercial requestors--who represent the bulk of FOIA requests--must pay for all of this plus some review costs. |
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Term
| FOIA'S BURDEN OF PROOF PROVISION |
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Definition
-Burden of proof on the agency rather than the proponent.
Review is de novo, and not limited to the agency record.
If the agency loses the case it must pay the plaintiff’s fees and costs. |
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Term
| HOW BROAD CAN MY FOIA REQUEST BE? |
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Definition
| A FOIA request must be reasonable in its specificity. This includes not just clarity in what is being sought, but also with reference to the index: agencies have indexes that spell out what records they have and where, and the request must track the index to make it reasonable for the agency to be able to find the documents |
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Term
| WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO UNDER FOIA? |
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Definition
Agencies only must turn over “agency records"
Whether something is an agency record depends on balancing whether the agency or someone else created, stores, controls, and/or uses the record |
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Term
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Definition
| national security, internal personnel rules or agency practices, explicit statutory exemption, trade secrets and confidential business information, privileged material, privacy-sensitive material, and law enforcement materials. |
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Term
| CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFO EXEMPTION UNDER FOIA |
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Definition
Something is exempt under this provision if it was either
(1) voluntarily given to the government but is not of a sort ordinarily disclosed to the public; or
(2) required to be given to the government but its release would cause substantial competitive harm to the submitter. |
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Term
| FOIA exemptions mean that the agency is not required to release the document to the requester |
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Definition
hey do not forbid the agency from releasing the document anyway, if it so chooses
E.O. 12600 requires agencies to set up a process to (in some cases) notify and get the views of the entity that originally submitted the document. |
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Term
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Definition
reverse FOIA” suits allow the submitter of information to sue the government to prevent disclosure.
EX. TRADE SECRETS ACT |
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Term
| WHAT IS THE FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE |
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Definition
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C. App. 2, § 1 et seq., requires that advisory committees that include non-governmental employees must be created only after a showing that the public interest requires it, with a charter setting forth its organizing principles, and a sunset date.
- . Membership must be balanced and inclusive, there must be agency oversight and control of the committee, and the meetings must be noticed and open
- Advice REAGRDING FACTS INSTEAD OF OPINIONS are exempt. |
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Term
| WHAT US THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE ACT? |
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Definition
| requires that agency meetings be open. “Agency” for these purposes is a collegial decision making body (usually an independent agency) appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Thus the FCC or NLRB are subject to the Act, but the Attorney General meeting with subordinates would not be |
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