Portfolio 14-4th: Business Uses of the Freedom of Information Act
I. Introduction
II. Overview of the Act
A. Background B. Mechanics of Operation 1. Coverage of the act 2. Segregability of records 3. Administrative procedures for requests 4. Litigation under the act a. Direct-FOIA actions b. Reverse-FOIA actions c. Intervention C. Exemptions Under the Act 1. Exemption 1 2. Exemption 2 3. Exemption 3 4. Exemption 4 5. Exemption 5 6. Exemption 6 7. Exemption 7 8. Exemption 8 9. Exemption 9 D. Principal Business Uses of the Act
III. Exemption 4: Trade Secrets and Confidential Commercial Information
. Introductory Material A. Legislative History B. Discretionary Release and the Trade Secrets Act C. The Elements of Exemption 4 D. ‘Trade Secret' 33 E. Confidential Commercial Information 1. ‘Commercial or financial' 2. ‘Obtained from a person' 3. ‘Privileged or confidential' a. ‘Privileged' b. ‘Confidential' (1). Information submitted under compulsion (National Parks I test) (a). Substantial harm to competitive position (i). Actual competition (ii). Competitive harm and degree of proof required (b). Impairing the government’s ability to obtain necessary information in the future (2). Information submitted voluntarily (Critical Mass III test) (a). Determining voluntariness (b). Application of the Critical Mass III test to information submitted voluntarily (c). Types of information litigated under Exemption 4 (3). Contract pricing information (4). Other financial information: profit rates, general and administrative rates, labor hours, and rates, etc. (5). Technical information: designs, test results, and other portions of technical proposals (6). Affirmative action and equal opportunity information (7). Other F. Summary IV. Other Exemptions: Business Users’ Access to Government-Generated Information . Introductory Material A. Government Decisionmaking and ‘Commercial' Information (Exemption 5) 1. Inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters 2. Memoranda or letters not available by law to a party in litigation with the agency a. The deliberative process privilege b. Attorney-client, work-product, and Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(c)(7) privileges B. Invasion of Personal Privacy (Exemption 6) C. Government Law Enforcement Information (Exemption 7) 1. Records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes 2. The enumerated harms relating to business users D. Using Other Statutes to Withhold Information (Exemption 3) 1. Trade Secrets Act 2. Contract information under 41 U.S.C. §253b(m) and 10 U.S.C. §2305(g) 3. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) on grand jury secrecy 4. Tax return information (26 U.S.C. §6103) 5. Critical infrastructure information 6. Federal Technology Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. § 3710a(c)(7)) 7. Postal Reorganization Act (39 U.S.C. § 410(c)(2)) E. Information That Would Allow Circumvention of Law or Regulations (Exemption 2) F. Bank Examination Records and Information Pertaining to Wells V. Obtaining Information Under the Act
. Introductory Material A. Initial Requests 1. Basic elements 2. Some considerations 3. Describing the documents 4. Business notification procedures 5. Fees B. Administrative Appeals 1. Basic elements 2. Requirements at the appeal level to explain withholding C. Litigation 1. Standard of review 2. The complaint 3. Expediting FOIA cases 4. Conducting the lawsuit: discovery, summary judgment, and trial VI. Protecting Information From Disclosure Under the Act A. Introduction B. Protecting Information at the Agency Level 1. General guidance 2. Executive Order 12,600 3. Agency responses to Executive Order 12,600 a. The Department of Defense and its components b. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission c. The Department of Energy d. The Food and Drug Administration e. Contracting agencies governed by the Procurement Integrity Act C. Submitter’s Responses to Predisclosure Notification D. Reverse-FOIA Actions 1. Administrative Procedure Act review 2. Procedure and preliminary relief in reverse-FOIA cases E. Intervention in FOIA Actions VII. Recent Legislative and Administrative Changes A. Introduction B. The OPEN Government Act 1. Time limits 2. Request tracking 3. Office of Government Information Services 4. Attorneys' fees C. Executive Order 13,392 D. Changes Under the Obama Administration
Wks. 1 Freedom of Information Act—5 U.S.C. §552
Wks. 2 Agency FOIA Regulations
Wks. 3 Model FOIA Request and Supplemental Provisions to Model FOIA Request
Wks. 4 Model FOIA Appeal Letter and Supplemental Provisions to Model Appeal Letter
Wks. 5 Sample Direct FOIA Complaint Challenging Agency Claims of Exemption
Wks. 6 Sample Direct FOIA Complaint Based on Agency Failure to Make a Timely Determination1
Wks. 7 Sample Reverse FOIA Complaint
Wks. 8 Administration Memoranda Concerning the Freedom of Information Act (March 19, 2009)
Wks. 9 Administration Memoranda Concerning Transparency and Open Government (Jan. 21, 2009)
Wks. 10 Administration Memoranda Concerning the Open Government Directive (Dec. 8, 2009)