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Policies

Accessibility Policy

DVRPC is committed to the principles of the Americans with Disabilities Act. It is DVRPC's policy to provide equal access for individuals with disabilities, which includes this website. The DVRPC website is designed to comply with two different standards for website accessibility: compliance with the Priority Level One standards recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and compliance with the legal requirements of Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Popular screen readers can be used effectively by the visually impaired on this website.

Unfortunately, in the day-to-day update and maintenance of our site, we realize that errors may occur and that there may be individual pages that do not meet these criteria. If you encounter a webpage that does not meet our accessibility standards, please let us know so that we may resolve the problem. Also, some advanced tools on our website (such as Online Mapping) may not be fully useful to those using screen reading software, but we feel strongly that this information should be made available to the many visitors who are able to access it.

For more information about DVRPC's Website, please visit the About our Site webpage.

Digital Data Disclaimer

The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) excludes any and all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for any digital file obtained from the Commission. No guarantees are expressed or implied as to the use or application of the digital information supplied. DVRPC assumes no responsibility to maintain them in any manner or form.

DVRPC will not be liable for and the user agrees to hold DVRPC harmless from and against any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the material supplied, or arising out of any inaccuracy or defect in the digital information supplied.

Recipients of DVRPC digital files are not entitled to any file revisions, updates, corrections or new releases.

Recipients of DVRPC digital files are expressly prohibited from copying or releasing these files to any other individuals or agencies, under any circumstances.

Recipients of DVRPC digital files are expressly prohibited from making these files available for download from the Internet or World Wide Web, under any circumstances.

Recipients of DVRPC digital files will credit DVRPC as the source of the data when producing maps, publications, reports, or other documents that utilize DVRPC files.

Any questions regarding digital files may be directed to Will Stevens, GIS Manager, at (215) 238-2835, or FAX (215) 592-9125.

This website contains links to websites that are not maintained by DVRPC. These links are provided for the benefit of our website visitors to provide related information outside of DVRPC sponsored programs. The majority of these links are to member governments, federal government resources, and planning partners in the nonprofit and private sectors. Link suggestions and requests should be directed to the DVRPC Webmaster, who will make the final determiniation if a link is appropriate for our website.

Please be aware that DVRPC is not responsible for the content and/or privacy practices of such other sites. In order to clarify this, all links to non-DVRPC materials should open in a new browser window. This policy only applies to the www.dvrpc.org website.

Title VI Statement

DVRPC fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. Publications and other public documents can be made available in alternative languages or formats, if requested. For more information, please call (215) 238-2871.

Public Records Policy

Public Disclosure Request Form [51k .pdf]

Introduction

The State of New Jersey has enacted PL 2001c. 404, an Open Public Records Act, as of January 8, 2002. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is subject to the provisions of this statute. This statute requires DVRPC to adopt a policy for the release of "Public Records" as defined in the act and to prominently post such policy. While it has been determined that DVRPC is not subject to the analogous statute in Pennsylvania (Right-to-Know Law (PL 390) as amended with Act No. 2002-100 enacted June 29, 2002), DVRPC serves both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and will treat all requests for disclosure of public records uniformly. However, nothing in the DVRPC Disclosure of Public Records Policy is intended to subject DVRPC to any statute or regulation which otherwise would not apply. DVRPC periodically reviews, and updates, as necessary, its Public Records Policy to ensure that it adheres to all applicable state laws.

For the purpose of this DVRPC Disclosure of Public Records Policy: A public record is defined as any record, including, but not limited to, financial documents, meeting minutes, contracts, studies, etc. created and maintained by DVRPC except: (a) Personnel records that would impair or impugn a person's reputation or personal security; (b) those records prohibited from release by other statutes of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State of New Jersey, or by federal law; (c) those data, or data fields, that are an inextricable part of a larger record or database and cannot be reasonably extracted; and (d) those publications, maps and data - both hard copy and electronic - that may be purchased from DVRPC. Records available to the public are limited to those in DVRPC's posession according to its Records Retention Plan. A requester is defined as an individual resident of the State of New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or such other legal entity as may be entitled by law, or applicable court determination, to ask for public records from DVRPC.

Procedure

To request a public record from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, the requester must complete the attached Public Records Request Form and mail or fax it to:

Custodian of Public Records
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
190 North Independence Mall West, 8th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1520
Fax 215.592.9125

Copies of the request form are available on the DVRPC website, in DVRPC's Public Participation Plan or from the Custodian of Public Records. If the request is to be provided in a medium other than hard copy, the requester must specify such medium, including, in the case of electronic transmittal, the appropriate format. DVRPC will endeavor to comply with non-hard copy requests. Upon receipt of a request, the Custodian of Public Records will review the request for: (a) completeness (b) the Commission's obligation to fill the request in accordance with the definition of a public record cited above and (c) the ability to fulfill the request in the medium selected. The Custodian of Public Records will then recommend to the Executive Director that the request be fulfilled or denied.

If the request is to be fulfilled, the Custodian of Public Records will notify the requester, in writing, by mail, by facsimile, or by e-mail that the request is being fulfilled, and of any applicable fees as defined below, within seven (7) business days of the receipt of the request. Such notification will also indicate an estimate of when the requested information will be available, except that the fulfillment date shall be no later than thirty (30) business days following the date of the notification. If the Executive Director deems it appropriate to deny the request, the Custodian of Public Records will notify the requester, in writing, by mail, by facsimile, or by e-mail, that the request is being denied, along with the reason for denial, and the name, business address, business telephone number and signature of the person making the denial, within seven (7) business days of the receipt of the request. Such notification of denial will also indicate the appeals procedure, as defined below, available to the requester.

Appeals Procedure

Whenever a request for a DVRPC public record is denied, the requester may appeal that decision to the Board of the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. To do so the requester must:

Address the appeal, in writing, by mail, or by facsimile, to the:
Chairman of the Board
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
190 North Independence Mall West, 8th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1520
Fax 215.592.9125

The appeal must include all information, including copies of the original request and all DVRPC responses, as well as any other information deemed appropriate for DVRPC Board review. Upon receipt of an appeal to a denial issued under this policy, the appeal will be placed on the next available Board meeting agenda for review and action. If the Board finds that the Executive Director correctly denied the request, a written explanation of the Board's affirmation of the denial will be provided to the requester.

Fees

For reproduction of existing hard copy information, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will charge a reproduction fee of $0.10 per page for the first fifty (50) pages and $0.05 per page for each page thereafter. Whenever fulfillment of the request will require the use of DVRPC personnel to complete, the requester will be provided an estimate of such cost in conjunction with notification that the request will be fulfilled. If the cost estimate of fulfilling the request is less than $100.00, the fee is due at the time the request is completed. Should the cost estimate of fulfilling the request exceed $100.00, the fee must be paid before fulfillment is begun and the thirty (30) business day time limit will begin upon receipt of the fee. If the requester refuses to pay the applicable fee, the request will be deemed denied and subject to the applicable appeal procedures outlined above. Note: The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission will waive all fees that total ten dollars ($10.00) or less.