§ 388.109 - Fees for record requests.

§ 388.109 Fees for record requests.

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 88 FR 74033, Oct. 30, 2023.

(a) Fees for records available through the Public Reference Room —Commission's website.

(1) General rule. The fee for finding and duplicating records available in from the Commission's Public Reference Room website, https://www.ferc.gov, will vary depending on the size and complexity of the request. A person can obtain a copy of the schedule of fees in person or by mail from the Public Reference Room. This schedule is also available on the Commission's Web site. Copies of documents also may be made on self-service duplicating machines located in the Public Reference Room. website, https://www.ferc.gov. In addition, copies of data extracted from the Commission's files through electronic media are available on a reimbursable basis, upon written request to the Public Reference RoomCommission.

(2) Stenographic reports of Commission hearings are made by a private contractor. Interested persons may obtain copies of public hearing transcripts from the contractor at prices set in the contract, or through the search and duplication service noted above. Copies of the contract are available for public inspection in the Public Reference Room.

(3) Copies of transcripts, electronic recordings, or minutes of Commission meetings closed to public observation containing material nonexempt pursuant to § 375.206(f) of this chapter are also available at the actual cost of duplication or transcription.

on the Commission's website, https://www.ferc.gov.

(b) Fees for records not available through the Public Reference Room Commission's website (FOIA or CEII requests). The cost of duplication of records not available in the Public Reference Room from the Commission's website, https://www.ferc.gov, will depend on the number of documents requested, the time necessary to locate the documents requested, and the category of the persons requesting the records. The procedures for appeal of denial of requests for fee waiver or reduction are set forth in § 388.110.

(1) Definitions: For the purpose of paragraph (b) of this section.

(i) Commercial use request means a request from or on behalf of one who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers commercial trade, or profit interests as these phrases are commonly known or have been interpreted by the courts in the context of the Freedom of Information Act.

(ii) Educational institution refers to a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of graduate higher education, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an institution of professional education, and an institution of vocational education, which operates a program of scholarly research.

(iii) Noncommercial scientific institution refers to an installation that is not operated on a commercial basis and which is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.

(iv) Representatives of the news media refers to any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. The term news means information that is about current events that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when the periodicals can qualify as disseminations of “news”) who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. These examples are not intended to be all-inclusive. Moreover, as traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g. electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunication services), such alternative media may be included in this category. A freelance journalist may be regarded as working for a news organization if the journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization, even though the journalist is not actually employed by the news organization. A publication contract would be the clearest proof, but the Commission may also look to the past publication record of a requester in making this determination.

(2) Fees.

(i) If documents are requested for commercial use, the Commission will charge the employee's hourly pay rate plus 16% for benefits for document search time and for document review time, and 15 cents per page for duplication. Commercial use requests are not entitled to two hours of free search time or 100 free pages of reproduction of documents.

(ii) If documents are not sought for commercial use and the request is made by an educational or non-commercial scientific institution, whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research, or a representative of the news media, the Commission will charge 15 cents per page for duplication. There is no charge for the first 100 pages.

(iii) For a request not described in paragraphs (b)(2)(i) or (ii) of this section, the Commission will charge the employees hourly pay rate plus 16 percent for benefits for document search and 15 cents per page for duplication. There is no charge for the first 100 pages of reproduction and the first two hours of search time will be furnished without charge.

(iv) The Director, Office of External Affairs, will normally provide documents by regular mail, with postage prepaid by the Commission. However, the requester may authorize special delivery, such as express mail, at the requester's own expense.

(v) The Commission, or its designee, may establish minimum fees below which no charges will be collected, if it determines that the costs of routine collection and processing of the fees are likely to equal or exceed the amount of the fees. If total fees assessed by Commission staff for a Freedom of Information Act request are less than the appropriate threshold, the Commission may not charge the requesters.

(vi) Payment of fees must be by check or money order made payable to the U.S. Treasury.

(vii) Requesters may not file multiple requests at the same time, each seeking portions of a document or documents, solely in order to avoid payment of fees. When the Commission reasonably believes that a requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, is attempting to break a request down into a series of requests for the purpose of evading assessment of fees, or otherwise reasonably believes that two or more requests constitute a single request, the Commission may aggregate any such requests accordingly. The Commission will not aggregate multiple requests on unrelated subjects from a requester. Aggregated requests may qualify for an extension of time under § 388.110(b).

(3) Fees for unsuccessful search. The Commission may assess charges for time spent searching, even if it fails to locate the records, or if records located are determined to be exempt from disclosure. If the Commission estimates that search charges are likely to exceed $25, it will notify the requester of the estimated amount of search fees, unless the requester has indicated in advance willingness to pay fees as high as those anticipated. The requester can meet with Commission personnel with the object of reformulating the request to meet his or her needs at a lower cost.

(4) Interest—notice and rate. The Commission will assess interest charges on an unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the day on which the billing was sent. Interest will be at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the date of the billing.

(5) Advance payments. The Commission will require a requester to make an advance payment, i.e., payments before work is commenced or continued on a request, if:

(i) The Commission estimates or determines that allowable charges that a requester may be required to pay are likely to exceed $250. The Commission will notify the requester of the estimated cost and either require satisfactory assurance of full payment where the requester has a history of prompt payment of fees, or require advance payment of charges if a requester has no history of payment; or

(ii) A requester has previously failed to pay a fee charged in a timely fashion. The Commission will require the requester to pay the full amount owed plus any applicable interest, and to make an advance payment of the full amount of the estimated fee before the Commission will begin to process a new request or a pending request from that requester. When the Commission requires advance payment or an agreement to pay under this paragraph, or under § 388.108(a)(5), the administrative time limits prescribed in this part will begin only after the Commission has received the required payments, or agreements.

(c) Fee reduction or waiver.

(1) Any fee described in this section may be reduced or waived if the requester demonstrates that disclosure of the information sought is:

(i) In the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, and

(ii) Not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

(2) The Commission will consider the following criteria to determine the public interest standard:

(i) Whether the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the government;

(ii) Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute to an understanding of government operations or activities;

(iii) Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to public understanding; and

(iv) Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations or facilities.

(3) The Commission will consider the following criteria to determine the commercial interest of the requester:

(i) Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and, if so

(ii) Whether the magnitude of the identified commercial interest of the requester is sufficiently large, in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

(4) This request for fee reduction or waiver must accompany the initial request for records and will be decided under the same procedures used for record requests.

(d) Debt collection. The Commission will use the authorities mandated in the Debt Collection Act of 1982, 31 U.S.C. 3711, 3716–3719 (1982), including disclosure to consumer reporting agencies and use of collection agencies, where appropriate, to encourage payment of outstanding unpaid FOIA invoices.

(e) Annual adjustment of fees —

(1) Update and publication. The Commission, by its designee, the Executive Director, will update the fees established in this section each fiscal year. The Executive Director will publish the fees in the Federal Register.

(2) Payment of updated fees. The fee applicable to a particular Freedom of Information Act request will be the fee in effect on the date that the request is received.

(f) The Commission will not charge search fees (or duplication fees for requesters with preferred fee status) where, after extending the time limit for unusual circumstances, as described in § 388.110, the Director does not provide a timely determination.

(1) If there are unusual circumstances, as described in § 388.110, and there are more than 5,000 responsive pages to the request, the Commission may charge search fees (or, for requesters in preferred fee status, may charge duplication fees) where the requester received timely written notice and the Commission has discussed with the requester via written mail, electronic mail, or telephone (or made not less than 3 good-faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request; or

(2) If a court determines that exceptional circumstances exist, the Commission's failure to comply with a time limit will be excused for the length of time provided by the court order.

[Order 488, 53 FR 1473, Jan. 20, 1988, as amended by Order 597, 63 FR 5454, Feb. 3, 1998; Order 640, 65 FR 33448, May 24, 2000; Order 625, 67 FR 21996, May 2, 2002; Order 648, 69 FR 41191, July 8, 2004; 72 FR 63985, Nov. 14, 2007; 73 FR 45609, Aug. 6, 2008; Order 832, 81 FR 86575, Dec. 1, 2016; Order 899, 88 FR 74033, Oct. 30, 2023]