31 C.F.R. § 1.1 General.
Title 31 - Money and Finance: Treasury
(a) Purpose and scope. (1) This subpart contains the regulations of the Department of the Treasury implementing the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, as amended by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996. The regulations set forth procedures for requesting access to records maintained by the Department of the Treasury. These regulations apply to all bureaus of the Department of the Treasury. Any reference in this subpart to the Department or its officials, employees, or records shall be deemed to refer also to the bureaus or their officials, employees, or records. Persons interested in the records of a particular bureau should also consult the appendix to this subpart that pertains to that bureau. The head of each bureau is hereby authorized to substitute the officials designated and change the addresses specified in the appendix to this subpart applicable to the bureau. The bureaus of the Department of the Treasury for the purposes of this subpart are: (i) The Departmental Offices, which include the offices of: (A) The Secretary of the Treasury, including immediate staff; (B) The Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, including immediate staff; (C) The Chief of Staff, including immediate staff; (D) The Executive Secretary and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (E) The Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (F) The Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (G) The Under Secretary for Enforcement and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (H) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (I) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (J) The Fiscal Assistant Secretary and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (K) The General Counsel and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; except legal counsel to the components listed in paragraphs (a)(1)(i)(L), and (a)(1)(i)(S), and (a)(1)(ii) through (xiii) of this section; (L) The Inspector General and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (M) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (N) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs and Public Liaison and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (O) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Management and Chief Financial Officer and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (P) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (Q) The Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff; (R) The Treasurer of the United States, including immediate staff; (S) The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and all offices reporting to such official, including immediate staff. (ii) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. (iii) The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (iv) The United States Customs Service. (v) The Bureau of Engraving and Printing. (vi) The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. (vii) The Financial Management Service. (viii) The Internal Revenue Service. (ix) The United States Mint. (x) The Bureau of the Public Debt. (xi) The United States Secret Service. (xii) The Office of Thrift Supervision. (xiii) The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (2) For purposes of this subpart, the office of the legal counsel for the components listed in paragraphs (a)(1)(ii) through (xiii) of this section are to be considered a part of their respective bureaus. Any office which is now in existence or may hereafter be established, which is not specifically listed or known to be a component of any of those listed in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (xiii) of this section, shall be deemed a part of the Departmental Offices for the purpose of making requests for records under this subpart. (b) Definitions. As used in this subpart, the following terms shall have the following meanings: (1) Agency has the meaning given in 5 U.S.C. 551(1) and 5 U.S.C. 552(f). (2) Appeal means a request for a review of an agency's determination with regard to a fee waiver, category of requester, expedited processing, or denial in whole or in part of a request for access to a record or records. (3) Bureau means an entity of the Department of the Treasury that is authorized to act independently in disclosure matters. (4) Business information means trade secrets or other commercial or financial information. (5) Business submitter means any entity which provides business information to the Department of the Treasury or its bureaus and which has a proprietary interest in the information. (6) Computer software means tools by which records are created, stored, and retrieved. Normally, computer software, including source code, object code, and listings of source and object codes, regardless of medium, are not agency records. However, when data are embedded within the software and cannot be extracted without the software, the software may have to be treated as an agency record. Proprietary (or copyrighted) software is not an agency record. (7) 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. (8) Duplication refers to the process of making a copy of a record in order to respond to a FOIA request. Such copies can take the form of paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, or machine readable documentation (e.g., magnetic tape or disk), among others. (9) Electronic records means those records and information which are created, stored, and retrievable by electronic means. This ordinarily does not include computer software, which is a tool by which to create, store, or retrieve electronic records. (10) Request means any request for records made pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3). (11) Requester means any person who makes a request for access to records. (12) Responsible official means a disclosure officer or the head of the organizational unit having immediate custody of the records requested, or an official designated by the head of the organizational unit. (13) Review, for fee purposes, refers to the process of examining records located in response to a commercial use request to determine whether any portion of any record located is permitted to be withheld. It also includes processing any records for disclosure; e.g., doing all that is necessary to excise them and otherwise prepare them for release. (14) Search includes all time spent looking for material that is responsive to a request, including page-by-page or line-by-line identification of material within records. Searches may be done manually or by automated means. [65 FR 40504, June 30, 2000, as amended at 68 FR 55311, Sept. 25, 2003]
Title 31: Money and Finance: Treasury
PART 1—DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS
Subpart A—Freedom of Information Act
§ 1.1 General.
