Commercial use request means a request from or on behalf of a person who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers his or her commercial, trade, or profit interests. This includes the furtherance of commercial interests through litigation. When it appears that the requester will use the requested records for a commercial purpose, either because of the nature of the request or because the NTSB has reasonable cause to doubt a requester's stated use, the NTSB will provide the requester with a reasonable opportunity to submit further clarification.
Direct costs mean those expenses that an agency incurs in searching for, reviewing, and duplicating records in response to a FOIA request. This includes the salaries of NTSB employees performing the work, as listed below, but does not include overhead expenses such as the costs of office space.
Duplication means the copying of a record, or of the information contained in a record, in response to a FOIA request. Copies can take the form of paper, audiovisual materials, or electronic records, among others.
Educational institution means any school, or institution of vocational education that operates a program of scholarly research. In order for a requester to demonstrate that their request falls within the category of an "educational institution," the requester must show that the request is authorized by the qualifying institution and that the requester does not seek the records for commercial use, but only to further scholarly research.
Representative of the news media or news media requester means any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. For "freelance" journalists to be regarded as working for a news organization, they must demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization (for example, a journalist may submit a copy of a publication contract for which the journalist needs NTSB records).
Review means the examination of a record located in response to a request in order to determine whether any portion of it is exempt from disclosure. Review also includes processing the record(s) for disclosure, which includes redacting and otherwise preparing releasable records for disclosure. Review does not include time spent resolving legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions nor will the NTSB charge for review during the administrative appeal stage, if applicable. The NTSB may recover review costs even if the NTSB ultimately does not release the record(s).
Search means the process of looking for and retrieving records or information within the scope of a request. Search includes page-by-page or line-by-line identification of information within records and also includes reasonable efforts to locate and retrieve electronic records. The NTSB will make an effort to conduct such searches in the least expensive manner.
49 C.F.R. § 801.60