However, the University's ability to respond, depends, in major part, on the availability of the PI who performed the research, and the availability of the research data. If there is more than one PI on one or more UC campuses, or subawards to non-UC research entities, these PIs may have to be identified and contacted as well. If the PI who performed the research is unavailable, then the responsibility falls on the Department Chair to prepare the response. This assumes the research data is available to the Department. If the research data cannot be found, the FOIA and CPRA requires that a diligent search be done and a good faith effort be made to comply.
Research data refers to raw data.
In making decisions about what is required to be provided, the obligation is limited to providing the raw data. There is no obligation to create a new document which arranges, organizes, documents, or indexes the data. The Department is also responsible for developing a cost assessment to respond to the agency request. NIH guidance states that information will be provided in the near future about estimating costs. This fee should reflect costs incurred by the agency, the recipient, and applicable subrecipients.