General Guidance on the FOI Fund's Casework
1. Indicative Guideline on Eligibility
citizen's groups
whistleblowers
academic researchers
individuals (request in the public interest)
international requesters in the above categoriesfor-profit entities
governmental entities
requests by authors for paid articles
inventors, weapons designers, etc.
personal requests (not in broader public interest)
2.
Appropriate Subject Matter
Biodefense laboratory operations
Weapons programs
Contract research involving biological weapons agents
Federal policy-related records
Other relevant records
(e.g. think tank exercises on future warfare)Research on former offensive programs
(e.g. records of pre-1969 US BW activities)
Items primarily related to site-specific security
Records primarily related to bioterrorism response
Requests related to vaccine safety
Insufficiently well-defined requests
Records previously denied
3. Types of Requests
US Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA)
State Open Records Acts
Other US laws mandating public disclosureRequests involving foreign freedom of information laws may be
accepted when the Fund has the ability to pursue them.
4. Requirements & Terms
Subject
The proposed case must fall within the mission of the FOI Fund.Relevance
The proposed case must be for records the release of which would significantly contribute to public understanding of current issues related to biological weapons control.
Historical requests are only filed in cases that directly pertain to current issues.Non-Profit Purpose
The Fund only considers cases whose purpose is entirely non-commercial.Non-Exclusivity
The Fund must distribute records released to it. Records returned are by definition public and will be made available on cbwtransparency.org to other organizations, persons, and the general public.
By prior arrangement, the Fund may delay posting of records to afford time to prepare analysis of them.Citation
Requesters agree to acknowledge the FOI Fund's assistance in all publications that utilize records released to it.Management Committee
The Management Committee has sole discretion over the Fund's casework.Not Legal Counsel
The Fund does not offer legal counsel, rather, it pursues those cases that it accepts in cooperation with the proposing person or non-profit.FOI Fund Services
The Fund will make record requests, tend to their administration, prompt agencies as necessary, assess quality of search and disclosure, and file fee waiver requests and administrative appeals as warranted. The Fund will provide hard copy of all correspondence and records released.Fund Priorities
The FOI Fund prioritizes requests from non-profit and citizens' organizations and then academic and individual researchers.Contingent Acceptance
Acceptance may be contingent on approval of a fee waiver by the relevant government agency(ies), or a committment by the proposing person or non-profit to pay fees assessed to obtain records.