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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| SENATE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY ERICKSON, RAFFERTY, FONTANA, EICHELBERGER, ALLOWAY, BRUBAKER, COSTA, MENSCH, FERLO, McILHINNEY, WASHINGTON AND DINNIMAN, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 |
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| REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending the act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), entitled |
2 | "An act providing for access to public information, for a |
3 | designated open-records officer in each Commonwealth agency, |
4 | local agency, judicial agency and legislative agency, for |
5 | procedure, for appeal of agency determination, for judicial |
6 | review and for the Office of Open Records; imposing |
7 | penalties; providing for reporting by State-related |
8 | institutions; requiring the posting of certain State contract |
9 | information on the Internet; and making related repeals," |
10 | further providing for definitions, for written requests and |
11 | for fee limitations. |
12 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
13 | hereby enacts as follows: |
14 | Section 1. Section 102 of the act of February 14, 2008 |
15 | (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law, is amended by |
16 | adding a definition to read: |
17 | Section 102. Definitions. |
18 | The following words and phrases when used in this act shall |
19 | have the meanings given to them in this section unless the |
20 | context clearly indicates otherwise: |
21 | * * * |
22 | "Commercial purpose." The use of a record: |
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1 | (1) for the purpose of selling or reselling any portion |
2 | of the record; |
3 | (2) to obtain names and addresses from the record for |
4 | the purpose of solicitation; or |
5 | (3) for any other purpose through which the requester |
6 | can reasonably expect to make a profit. |
7 | The term shall not include the use of a public record by an |
8 | educational or noncommercial scientific institution for |
9 | scholarly or scientific research; or the use of a public record |
10 | by the news media for dissemination in a newspaper, periodical |
11 | or radio or television news broadcast. |
12 | * * * |
13 | Section 2. Section 703 of the act is amended to read: |
14 | Section 703. Written requests. |
15 | (a) Method of submission.-- |
16 | (1) A written request for access to records may be |
17 | submitted in person, by mail, by e-mail, by facsimile or, to |
18 | the extent provided by agency rules, by any other electronic |
19 | means. A written request must be addressed to the open- |
20 | records officer designated pursuant to section 502. Employees |
21 | of an agency shall be directed to forward requests for |
22 | records to the open-records officer. A written request should |
23 | identify or describe the records sought with sufficient |
24 | specificity to enable the agency to ascertain which records |
25 | are being requested and shall include the name and address to |
26 | which the agency should address its response. [A] |
27 | (2) Except as otherwise provided under subsection (b), a |
28 | written request need not include any explanation of the |
29 | requester's reason for requesting or intended use of the |
30 | records unless otherwise required by law. |
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1 | (b) Statement relating to commercial purpose.-- |
2 | (1) A written request for the duplication of a record |
3 | should include a statement indicating whether or not the |
4 | requester intends to use the record for a commercial purpose. |
5 | (2) If a requester does not disclose his or her |
6 | intention to use the records for a commercial purpose, the |
7 | requester may not use the record for a commercial purpose. |
8 | (3) An agency may deny a written request for access to a |
9 | record on the basis that the written request fails to include |
10 | the statement specified in paragraph (1). |
11 | (4) If the written request includes the statement |
12 | specified in paragraph (1), it shall be presumed that the |
13 | statement is true and correct. The request and the |
14 | information contained in the request shall be subject to the |
15 | provisions of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 (relating to unsworn |
16 | falsification to authorities). |
17 | Section 3. Section 1307 of the act is amended by adding a |
18 | subsection to read: |
19 | Section 1307. Fee limitations. |
20 | * * * |
21 | (i) Search and review fees.--In addition to fees charged |
22 | under subsection (b), additional reasonable standard fees for |
23 | the search and review of records may be assessed as follows when |
24 | records are requested for a commercial purpose: |
25 | (1) Search and review fees may be assessed at a per- |
26 | quarter-hour rate determined by each agency to cover the |
27 | actual cost associated with time expended by agency employees |
28 | in fulfilling a request for records to be used for a |
29 | commercial purpose. |
30 | (2) The search and review fee rate shall not exceed the |
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1 | quarter-hour rate of pay of the agency employees fulfilling |
2 | the request plus 20%. |
3 | (3) An agency may waive or reduce the search and review |
4 | fees if the agency deems the disclosure of the information is |
5 | in the public interest. |
6 | Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
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