1202.2—What do the terms in this part mean?
Some of the terms you need to understand while reading the regulations in this part are—
Appeals Officer or FOIA Appeals Officer means a person designated by the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to process appeals of denials of requests for FHFA records under the FOIA.
Confidential commercial information means records provided to the government by a submitter that arguably contain material exempt from release under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4), because disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause substantial competitive harm.
Days, unless stated as “calendar days,” are working days and do not include Saturdays, Sundays, and federal holidays. If the last day of any period prescribed herein falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday, the last day of the period will be the next working day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday.
Direct costs means the expenses, including for contract services, incurred by FHFA in search time, or reviewing and duplicating records to respond to a request for information. In the case of a commercial use request, the term also means those expenditures FHFA actually incurs in reviewing records to respond to the request. Direct costs include the cost of the time of the employee performing the work, the cost of any computer searches, and the cost of operating duplication equipment. Direct costs do not include overhead expenses such as costs of space, and heating or lighting the facility in which the records are stored.
Employee, for the purposes of this part, means any person holding an appointment to a position of employment with FHFA or any person who formerly held such an appointment; any conservator appointed by FHFA; or any agent or independent contractor acting on behalf of FHFA, even though the appointment or contract has terminated.
FHFA means the Federal Housing Finance Agency and includes its predecessor agencies, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) and, the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). FHFA is an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions.
FOIA Officer and Chief FOIA Officer are persons designated by the Director of FHFA to process and respond to requests for FHFA records under the FOIA. The mailing address for the FOIA Officer or the Chief FOIA Officer is FHFA, 1700 G Street, NW., Washington, DC 20552.
Readily reproducible means that the requested record or records exist in electronic format and can be downloaded or transferred intact to a computer disk, tape, or other electronic medium with equipment and software currently in use by FHFA.
Record means information or documentary material FHFA maintains in any form or format, including electronic, which FHFA—
(2)
Preserved or determined is appropriate for preservation as evidence of FHFA's operations or activities or because of the value of the information it contains; and
Regulated entities means the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), any Federal Home Loan Bank and/or any affiliate thereof that is subject to the regulatory authority of FHFA.
Requester means any person seeking access to FHFA records under the FOIA.
Search time means the amount of time spent by or on behalf of FHFA in attempting to locate records responsive to a request, manually, or by electronic means, including page-by-page or line-by-line identification of responsive material within a record or extraction of electronic information from electronic storage media.
Submitter means any person or entity providing confidential information to the government. The term submitter includes, but is not limited to corporations, state governments, and foreign governments.
Unusual circumstances means the need to—
(1)
Search for and collect records from agencies, offices, facilities, or locations that are separate from the office processing the request;
(2)
Search, review, and duplicate a voluminous amount of separate and distinct records in order to process a single request; or
(3)
Consult with another agency or among two or more components of FHFA that have a substantial interest in the determination of a request.