Blog Post
FOIA Post (2002): NTIS: An Available Means of Record Disclosure
NTIS: An Available
Means of Record Disclosure
All agency Freedom
of Information Act personnel should be familiar with the role played by the
National Technical Information Service (NTIS), a component of the Department
of Commerce, in the dissemination of federal records and information to interested
parties. NTIS operates as a central source to the public for obtaining federal
government scientific, technical, and business information -- and it is available
for the efficient dissemination of other types of federal records and information
as well.
In relation to
the FOIA, NTIS occupies a special status as established by the Freedom of Information
Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. No. 99-570 (1986). Under a statutory provision enacted
as part of those FOIA amendments, subsection (a)(4)(A)(vi) of the Act, the FOIA's
fee provisions can be "supersede[d]" by a fee schedule that is specified in
another federal statute for "particular types of records." 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(vi).
The Office of Management
and Budget's Uniform Freedom of Information Act Fee Schedule and Guidelines
(OMB Fee Guidelines), which implement that particular provision of the Act,
specifically recognize NTIS's statutory scheme as qualifying under it. See
OMB Fee Guidelines, 52 Fed. Reg. at 10017 (Mar. 27, 1987). Those guidelines
advise that "agencies should ensure that when documents that would be responsive
to a [FOIA] request are maintained for distribution by agencies operating statutory-based
fee schedule programs . . . such as the NTIS, they inform requesters of the
steps necessary to obtain records from those sources." Id. at 10018;
see also Freedom of Information
Act Guide & Privacy Act Overview (May 2002), at 584-85 & n.85-86
(citing National Technical Information Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1151-57 (2000)); Wade
v. Dep't of Commerce, No. 96-0717, slip op. at 5-6 (D.D.C. Mar. 26, 1998)
(approving disposition of FOIA request under terms of NTIS's fee schedule).
Accordingly, several
federal agencies submit various categories of records, or what NTIS refers to
as "information products," to NTIS and then refer FOIA requesters to NTIS to
obtain them. The Department of the Army, for example, regularly submits a wide
range of military publications to NTIS and then refers requesters to NTIS for
the particular publications that are of interest to them. This is particularly
effective, of course, for records that are routinely disclosed in their entireties
under the FOIA.
Additionally, NTIS
handles "electronic products" as well as "paper products." For example, the
Internal Revenue Service provides NTIS with the Tax Practitioners Mailing File
for routine distribution to interested members of the public. NTIS also provides
mailing labels to requesters in the formats of computer tape, diskettes, or
paper labels.
NTIS is quite receptive
to such use of its services by other federal agencies. According to Thomas P.
Bold, Jr., Director of its Office of Agency Liaison, NTIS welcomes any "reminder
to FOIA officers on how to make best use of NTIS's services in the Internet
era." NTIS suggests that all agencies:
Evaluate
the categories of records regularly requested from them under the FOIA, determine
whether they should be submitted to NTIS as an efficient alternative and, if
so, submit them to NTIS for that purpose.
Ensure that
significant information products that are posted on their Web sites are sent
to NTIS electronically, which can be done through transmittal to the following
electronic address: Input@NTIS.gov
Place links
on their Web sites to NTIS using the following URL (http://www.ntis.gov),
so that requesters may order information products in paper form from NTIS in
any instance in which they might prefer not to download and print or whenever
they need an official copy for legal proceedings.
NTIS also is available
to assist agencies in "customizing" certain types agency records and information,
most particularly electronic data, in order to meeting unique requester needs.
The use of NTIS's services in such cases, in conjunction with a cooperative
working relationship with a FOIA requester, can be beneficial for all parties
involved.
Agencies interested
in pursuing this available aid to FOIA administration should contact Jeanette Young-Reese, Agency Liaison Specialist, at (703) 605-6536, or at JYoung@NTIS.gov, for
further information and assistance. (posted 8/30/02; supplemented 9/23/02)
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Updated December 19, 2024
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