§ 31.1. Definitions.

 The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

   Appeals officer—The individual responsible, under section 503(c)(1) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.503(c)(1)), for appeals from determinations of an open-records officer.

   Bureau—The Legislative Reference Bureau.

   Law—The Right-to-Know Law (65 P. S. § §  67.101—67.3104).

   Legislative agency—Any of the following:

     (i)   The Senate.

     (ii)   The House of Representatives.

     (iii)   The Bureau.

     (iv)   The Capitol Preservation Committee.

     (v)   The Center for Rural Pennsylvania.

     (vi)   The Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee.

     (vii)   The Joint State Government Commission.

     (viii)   The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee.

     (ix)   The Legislative Data Processing Committee.

     (x)   The Independent Regulatory Review Commission.

     (xi)   The Local Government Commission.

     (xii)   The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing.

     (xiii)   The Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

     (xiv)   The Legislative Office for Research Liaison.

     (xv)   The Legislative Audit Advisory Commission.

   Legislative service agency record—A legislative record of a legislative service agency.

   Legislative record—As defined in section 102 of the law (65 P. S. §  67.102).

   Legislative service agency—A legislative agency other than the Senate or the House of Representatives.

   Mass request—A number of requests under the law to which all of the following apply:

     (i)   Each request is for the same legislative record.

     (ii)   Each request is to the same legislative service agency.

     (iii)   The number exceeds the daily average number of requests to the legislative service agency by at least 200%.

     (iv)   The requests are substantially identical in format and language.

 (a)  Designation.

   (1)  Under section 502(a)(2) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.502(a)(2)), the Bureau will coordinate with each nonadjudicative legislative service agency to do one of the following:

     (i)   Accept the nonadjudicative legislative service agency’s designation of the open-records officer.

     (ii)   Designate the head of the nonadjudicative legislative service agency as the open-records officer.

   (2)  The designations under paragraph (1) are as follows:

     (i)   The Bureau’s designation is set forth in §  31.12 (relating to contact information).

     (ii)   The Capitol Preservation Committee:

     Open-Records Officer
 Capitol Preservation Committee
 Room 630, Main Capitol Building
 Harrisburg, PA 17120
 Fax: (717) 772-0742
 E-mail: rtkrequest@cpc.state.pa.us

     (iii)   The Center for Rural Pennsylvania:

     Open-Records Officer
 Center for Rural Pennsylvania
 200 North Third Street, Suite 600
 Harrisburg, PA 17101-1518
 Fax: (717) 772-3587
 E-mail: denkb@ruralpa.org

     (iv)   The Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee:

     Open-Records Officer
 Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Com  mittee
 PA House of Representatives
 Box 202254
 Harrisburg, PA 17120
 Fax: (717) 772-3836
 E-mail: cbrooks@jcc.legis.state.pa.us

     (v)   The Joint State Government Commission:

     Open-Records Officer
 Joint State Government Commission
 108 Finance Building
 Harrisburg, PA 17120
 Fax: (717) 783-9380
 E-mail: jntst02@legis.state.pa.us

     (vi)   The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee:

     Open-Records Officer
 Legislative Budget and Finance Committee
 400 Finance Building
 P. O. Box 8737
 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8737
 Fax: (717) 787-5487
 E-mail: openrecords@lbfc.legis.state.pa.us

     (vii)   The Legislative Data Processing Committee:

     Open-Records Officer
 Legislative Data Processing Center
 G-27 North Office Building
 Harrisburg, PA 17120
 Fax: (717) 772-1652
 Email: ldpc@palegislature.us

     (viii)   The Independent Regulatory Review Commission:

     Open-Records Officer
 Independent Regulatory Review Commission
 14th Floor Harristown 2
 333 Market Street
 Harrisburg, PA 17101
 Fax: (717) 783-2664
 E-mail: irrc@irrc.state.pa.us

     (ix)   The Local Government Commission:

     Open-Records Officer
 Local Government Commission
 Senate Box 203078
 Harrisburg, PA 17120-3078
 Fax: (717) 772-4524
 E-mail: mgasbarre@palegislature.us

     (x)   The Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing:

     Open-Records Officer
 Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing
 P. O. Box 1200
 State College, PA 16804-1200
 Fax: (814) 863-2129
 E-mail: mhb105@psu.edu

     (xi)   The Legislative Office for Research Liaison:

     Open-Records Officer
 Legislative Office for Research Liaison
 P. O. Box 202218
 Harrisburg, PA 17120-2218
 Fax: (717) 783-3485
 E-mail: LORLRTK@legis.state.pa.us

     (xii)   The Legislative Audit Advisory Commission:

     Open-Records Officer
 Legislative Audit Advisory Commission
 Room 105, East Wing Capitol Building
 Harrisburg, PA 17120
 Fax: (717) 780-4754
 E-mail: repjoshshapiro@pahouse.net

   (3)  The designation for the Legislative Reapportionment Commission will be made by August 31 in the year in which the Legislative Reapportionment Commission convenes.

 (b)  Notice. As soon as possible after the designation under subsection (a)(2) and (3), the Bureau will publish the designations in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

 The Bureau will assist nonadjudicative legislative service agencies with all of the following:

   (1)  Request entries under section 502(b)(2)(i) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.502(b)(2)(i)).

   (2)  Time periods under section 502(b)(2)(ii) of the law.

   (3)  Interim responses under section 502(b)(1) of the law.

   (4)  Final responses under section 502(b)(1) of the law.

   (5)  Dispositions under section 502(b)(2)(iii) of the law.

   (6)  Implementation of Subchapter C (relating to appellate procedure).

Subchapter B. OPEN RECORDS PROCEDURES OF THE BUREAU

Sec.

§ 31.11. Hours of access.

 Right to Know requests must be sent to:

 Open-Records Officer
 Legislative Reference Bureau
 Room 641, Main Capitol Building
 Harrisburg, PA 17120-0033
 Fax: (717) 783-2396
 Email: lrbrighttoknow@palrb.net

 Requests must be made in writing, must be clearly marked as a right-to-know request and must be submitted in person or by mail, email or facsimile in one of the following manners:

   (1)  On a form prescribed by the Bureau.

 (a)  Scope. The Bureau will forward a request for a legislative service agency record not generated by the Bureau to the appropriate legislative service agency.

 Subject to §  31.16 (relating to mass requests), the Bureau will process a request for any of the following legislative service agency records generated by the Bureau:

   (1)  A financial record.

   (2)  A bill or resolution that has been introduced, including resolutions to adopt or amend the rules of a chamber.

   (3)  The minutes of, record of attendance of members at and all recorded votes taken in a meeting of the Joint Committee on Documents.

   (4)  The transcript of a public hearing when available.

   (5)  Any administrative staff manuals or written policies.

   (6)  Final or annual reports required by law to be submitted to the General Assembly.

   (7)  A record communicating to the appointing authority the resignation of a legislative appointee.

 If the open-records officer determines that a mass request places an unreasonable burden on the Bureau, in an analogous manner to that described in section 506(a)(1) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.506(a)(1)) for multiple requests by the same requester, the following apply:

   (1)  The open-records officer will respond to the common source identified by the open-records officer; respond to individual requests submitted in writing; and, if the request is granted, will make the legislative record accessible at the Bureau.

   (2)  If the mass request is in electronic format, each requester will be informed of the action under paragraph (1).

 (a)  General rule. Except as set forth in subsection (b), the following apply:

   (1)  The fee for providing a document is $.25 per page.

   (2)  The fee for postage will not exceed actual mailing costs.

   (3)  The fee for certifying a document is $5 per document, regardless of the number of pages. Each document requires separate certification and fee.

   (4)  The fee for redaction of a document is $1 per page.

 (b)  Exception. If the Office of Open Records charges a fee for providing a document of less than the amount set forth in subsection (a), the Bureau will charge the fee charged by the Office of Open Records.

 (c)  Payment.

   (1)  Except as set forth in paragraph (2), payment arrangements shall be made between the requester and the open-records officer.

   (2)  Under section 1307(h) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.1307(h)), if the total fee exceeds $100, payment must be made prior to the initiation of the providing the document. If prepayment is required, a check, certified check or money order shall be made payable to ‘‘Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’’ in the total amount of the fee.

Subchapter C. APPELLATE PROCEDURE

Sec.

 (a)  Authority. This section constitutes the adoption of practice and procedure provisions under section 1309 of the law (65 P. S. §  67.1309).

 (b)  Adoption.

   (1)  Except as set forth in subsection (c), the provisions of 2 Pa.C.S. Chapter 5, Subchapter A and Chapter 7, Subchapter A (relating to Administrative Agency Law) apply to appeals under this subchapter.

   (2)  This subsection applies notwithstanding 2 Pa.C.S. §  501(a) (relating to scope of subchapter).

 (c)  Exceptions.

   (1)  Testimony will be recorded, and a transcript will only be produced if there is an appeal under section 1301(a) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.1301(a)). This paragraph applies notwithstanding 2 Pa.C.S. §  504 (relating to hearing and record).

 (a)  Status. Under section 503(c)(1) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.503(c)(1)), the following apply:

   (1)  Except as set forth in paragraph (2), the Bureau will provide appeals officers for appeals from all legislative service agencies.

   (2)  For an appeal from a denial by the open-records officer of the Bureau, the Bureau will arrange with a nonadjudicative legislative service agency to provide an appeals officer.

 (b)  Requirements.

   (1)  The appeals officer must be an attorney at law.

   (2)  Except as set forth in paragraph (3), the appeals officer may be an employee of or an individual under contract with one of the following:

     (i)   The Bureau for an appeal under subsection (a)(1).

     (ii)   The nonadjudicative legislative agency for an appeal under subsection (a)(2).

 (a)  Original.

   (1)  Under section 1101(a)(1) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.1101(a)(1)), an appeal may be made by a requester with respect to any of the following:

     (i)   A request denied under section 903 of the law (65 P. S. §  67.903).

     (ii)   A request deemed denied under section 901 of the law (65 P. S. §  67.901).

   (2)  Under section 1101(c) of the law, a party with a direct interest in the information subject to the appeal may intervene in the appeal.

 (b)  Procedure.

   (1)  A party under subsection (a) must file two copies of the appeal or petition to intervene with the Bureau. The copies must be in writing. Electronic filing is not permitted. For an appeal under subsection (a)(1)(i), the appeal or petition must refer to any disputed factual or legal matter in the denial under section 903 of the law.

   (2)  Upon receipt of the filing under paragraph (1), the Bureau will send a copy to the open-records officer whose denial or deemed denial is being appealed.

   (3)  The appeals officer may schedule an informal conference with the parties to attempt to resolve the matter.

 (c)  Submission on documents. Except as set forth in subsection (d), the appeal will be resolved under section 1102(b)(1) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.1102(b)(1)), based on the following:

   (1)  The appeal under section 1101(a)(1) of the law.

   (2)  The denial under section 903 of the law.

 (d)  Hearing.

   (1)  A hearing will be held on an appeal only if any of the following apply:

     (i)   The appeal is of a deemed denial under section 901 of the law.

     (ii)   The requester alleges willful misconduct under section 1304(a)(1) of the law (65 P. S. §  67.1304(a)(1)).

     (iii)   In the denial, the open-records officer rules that the request is frivolous under section 1304(b) of the law.

     (iv)   The appeals officer determines that there is good cause for a hearing.

   (2)  Under section 1102(b)(2) of the law, a hearing is subject to 1 Pa. Code Part II (relating to General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure).

 (e)  Determination. Under section 1102(a)(4) of the law, the appeals officer will issue a final determination. The final determination will consist of the following:

   (1)  Title. Identification of the requester and the legislative agency.

   (2)  Procedural history.

     (i)   Recital. A brief recital of the facts up to disposition by the open-records officer.

     (ii)   The disposition by the open-records officer. This subparagraph includes a denial under section 903 of the law and a deemed denial under section 901 of the law.

   (3)  Factual findings. Resolution of disputed facts.

   (4)  Legal conclusions. Includes cited authority.

   (5)  Order. An order affirming the denial or granting the request, in whole or in part. An order under this paragraph is subject to judicial review under Chapter 13 of the law (65 P. S. § §  67.1301—67.1310).