§ 426.210 - Fees.

§ 426.210 Fees.

(a) In general. The Commission shall charge the requester for processing a request under the FOIA in accordance with the provisions of this section and with the OMB Guidelines. For purposes of assessing fees, the FOIA establishes three categories of requesters: Commercial use requesters, non-commercial scientific or educational institutions or news media requesters, and all other requesters. Different fees are assessed depending on the category. Requesters may seek a fee waiver, and the Commission will consider fee waiver requests in accordance with the requirements in paragraph (f) of this section. To resolve any fee issues that arise under this section, the Commission will contact a requester for additional information. No fees shall be charged if the amount of fees incurred in processing the request is below $25. The Commission ordinarily will collect all applicable fees before sending copies of records to a requester. Requesters must pay fees by check or money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States, or by another method as determined by the Commission.

(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section:

Commercial use request means a request that asks for information for a use or a purpose that furthers a commercial, trade, or profit interest, which can include furthering those interests through litigation. The Commission's decision to place a requester in the commercial use category will be made on a case-by-case basis based on the requester's intended use of the information. The Commission will notify requesters of their placement in this category.

Direct costs means those expenses that the Commission incurs in searching for and duplicating (and, in the case of commercial use requests, reviewing) records in order to respond to a FOIA request. For example, direct costs include the salary of the employee performing the work (i.e., the basic rate of pay for the employee, plus 16 percent of that rate to cover benefits) and the cost of operating computers and other electronic equipment, such as photocopiers and scanners. Direct costs do not include overhead expenses such as the costs of space, and of heating or lighting a facility.

Duplication means reproducing a copy of a record, or of the information contained in it, necessary to respond to a FOIA request. Copies can take the form of paper, audiovisual materials, or electronic records, among others.

Educational institution means any school that operates a program of scholarly research. A requester in this fee category must show that the request is made in connection with his or her role at the educational institution. The Commission may seek verification from the requester that the request is in furtherance of scholarly research and the Commission will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

Example 1.

A request from a professor of geology at a university for records relating to soil erosion, written on letterhead of the Department of Geology, would be presumed to be from an educational institution.

Example 2.

A request from the same professor of geology seeking drug information from the Food and Drug Administration in furtherance of a murder mystery he is writing would not be presumed to be an institutional request, regardless of whether it was written on institutional stationery.

Example 3.

A student who makes a request in furtherance of their coursework or other school-sponsored activities and provides a copy of a course syllabus or other reasonable documentation to indicate the research purpose for the request, would qualify as part of this fee category.

Noncommercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis, as defined in this paragraph (b) and that is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry. A requester in this category must show that the request is authorized by and is made under the auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are sought to further scientific research and are not for a commercial use. The Commission will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

Representative of the news media means any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. The term “news” means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations that broadcast news to the public at large and publishers of periodicals that disseminate news and make their products available through a variety of means to the general public, including news organizations that disseminate solely on the internet. A request for records supporting the news-dissemination function of the requester will not be considered to be for a commercial use. “Freelance” journalists who demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through a news media entity will be considered as a representative of the news media. A publishing contract would provide the clearest evidence that publication is expected; however, the Commission can also consider a requester's past publication record in making this determination. The Commission will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

Review means the examination of a record located in response to a request in order to determine whether any portion of it is exempt from disclosure. Review time includes processing any record for disclosure, such as doing all that is necessary to prepare the record for disclosure, including the process of redacting the record and marking the appropriate exemptions. Review costs are properly charged even if a record ultimately is not disclosed. Review time also includes time spent both obtaining and considering any formal objection to disclosure made by a confidential commercial information submitter under § 426.207 of this subpart, but it does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.

Search means the process of looking for and retrieving records or information responsive to a request. Search time includes page-by-page or line-by-line identification of information within records and the reasonable efforts expended to locate and retrieve information from electronic records.

(c) Fees chargeable for specific services. In responding to FOIA requests, the Commission will charge the following fees unless a waiver or reduction of fees has been granted under paragraph (f) of this section. No additional costs will be added to charges calculated under this section.

(1) Duplicating records. The Commission shall assess requester fees for the cost of copying records. The charge will be $0.12 per page, up to 81⁄2 x 14, made by photocopy or similar process. The charge will be the actual cost for duplicating photographs, films, and other materials. Where paper documents must be scanned so they can be sent electronically, the requester must pay the direct costs associated with scanning those materials. The Commission will honor a requester's preference for receiving a record in a particular form or format where the agency can readily reproduce it in the form or format requested.

(2) Search services. The Commission shall charge a requester for all time spent by its employees searching for records that are responsive to a request, even if no responsive records are found or the records are exempt from disclosure. For non-electronic searches, the Commission shall charge for search time at the salary rate (basic pay plus 16 percent) of the employee who conducts the search. For electronic records, the Commission shall charge the requester for the actual direct cost of the search, including computer search time, runs, and the operator's salary.

(3) Review of records. The Commission shall only charge review fees to requesters who make commercial use requests. Review fees will be assessed in connection with the initial review of the record, but no charge will be made for review at the administrative appeal stage. However, if a particular exemption is deemed to no longer apply, any costs associated with an agency's re-review of the records in order to consider the use of other exemptions may be assess as review fees. The Commission shall charge a requester for time spent reviewing records at the salary rate(s) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent) of the employees who conduct the review.

(4) Inspection of records in the reading room. Fees for all services provided shall be charged whether or not copies are made available to the requester for inspection. However, no fee shall be charged for monitoring a requester's inspection of records in the physical reading room.

(5) Other services. Although not required to provide special services, if the Commission chooses to do so as a matter of administrative discretion, the requested services are charged at the actual cost to the Commission. Examples of such services include certifying that records are true copies or sending records by express mail.

(d) Fees applicable to each category of requester. The Commission shall apply the fees set forth in this paragraph, for each category described in paragraph (c) of this section, to FOIA requests processed by the Commission.

(1) Commercial use. A requester seeking records for commercial use shall be charged the full direct cost of searching for, reviewing, and duplicating the records they request as set forth in paragraph (c) of this section. The Commission is not required to consider a waiver request based upon the assertion that disclosure would be in the public interest from a commercial use requester.

(2) Educational and non-commercial scientific uses. A requester seeking records for educational or non-commercial scientific use shall be charged only for the cost of duplicating the records they request, except that the Commission shall provide the first 100 pages of duplication (or cost equivalent for other media) free of charge. To be eligible, the requester must show that the records are not sought for a commercial use, but rather in furtherance of scholarly or scientific research.

(3) News media uses. A requester seeking records under the news media use category shall be charged only the cost of duplicating the records they request, except that the Commission shall provide the requester with the first 100 pages of duplication (or cost equivalent for the other media) free of charge.

(4) Other requests. A requester seeking records for any other use shall be charged the full direct cost of searching for and duplicating records that are responsive to the request, as set out in paragraph (b) of this section, except that the Commission shall provide the first 100 pages of duplication and the first two hours of search time free of charge.

(e) Other circumstances when fees are not charged. Notwithstanding paragraphs (c) and (d) of this section, the Commission may not charge a requester a fee for processing a FOIA request if the total fee is equal to or less than $25. Additionally, the Commission may not charge a requester a search or duplication fee if the Commission fails to comply with any time limit under § 426.205 or § 426.208, unless:

(1) A court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, as defined by the FOIA, then a failure to comply with such time limit shall be excused for the length of time provided by the court order;

(2) The Commission has determined that unusual circumstances, as defined by the FOIA, apply and the Commission provides timely written notice to the requester in accordance with § 426.205(d), then the time limit shall be excused for an additional 10 days; or

(3) The Commission has determined that unusual circumstances apply; more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request; the Commission has provided a timely written notice to the requester in accordance with § 426.205(d), and the Commission has discussed with the requester via written mail, electronic mail, or telephone (or made not less than three good-faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request. Then the Commission may charge a requester all applicable fees.

(f) Waiver or reduction of fees.

(1) A requester may request a waiver or reduction of fees otherwise applicable to a FOIA request in writing during the initial FOIA request. The waiver must demonstrate that the fee reduction or waiver is in the public interest because it furnishes information that is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, and the information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

(2) To determine whether the requester has satisfied the waiver request requirements, the Commission shall consider whether the subject of the requested records has a direct connection to government operations or activities; the disclosable portion of the requested records is meaningfully informative, and is not already in the public domain; the disclosure would contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience, as opposed to the individual requester; and the public's understanding would be significantly enhanced by the disclosure. The Commission shall also consider whether the requester, or any person on whose behalf the requester may be acting, has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the disclosure, and whether the public interest is greater in magnitude than that of any identified commercial interest in disclosure.

(3) Where only some of the records to be released satisfy the requirements for a waiver or reduction of fees, a waiver or reduction shall be granted for those records.

(4) The Commission shall notify the requester in writing regarding its determination to reduce or waive fees.

(5) If the Commission denies a request to reduce or waive fees, then the Commission shall advise the requester, in the denial notification letter, that the requester may incur fees as a result of processing the request. In the denial notification letter, the Commission shall advise the requester that the Commission will not proceed to process the request further unless the requester, in writing, directs the Commission to do so and either agrees to pay any fees that may apply to processing the request or specifies an upper limit (of not less than $25) that the requester is willing to pay to process the request. If the Commission does not receive this written direction and agreement within 30 days of the date of the denial notification letter, then the Commission shall deem the FOIA request to be withdrawn.

(6) If the Commission denies a request to reduce or waive fees, then the requester shall have the right to submit an appeal in accordance with § 426.208. The Commission shall communicate this appeal right as part of its denial notification to the requester.

(g) Notice of estimated fees.

(1) When an agency determines or estimates that the fees to be assessed in accordance with this section will exceed $25, the agency must notify the requester of the actual or estimated amount of the fees, including a breakdown of the fees for search, review or duplication, unless the requester has indicated a willingness to pay fees as high as those anticipated. If only a portion of the fee can be estimated readily the Commission will advise the requester accordingly. The notice will specify what duplication and search time the requester is entitled to and how they have been accounted for in the estimate.

(2) If the agency notifies the requester that the actual or estimated fees are in excess of $25, the request will not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the requester commits in writing to pay the actual or estimated total fee, or designates some amount of fees the requester is willing to pay, or in the case of a noncommercial use requester who has not yet been provided with the statutory entitlements, designates that the requester seeks only that which can be provided by the statutory entitlements. The requester must provide the commitment or designation in writing, and must, when applicable designate an exact dollar amount the requester is willing to pay. Agencies are not required to accept payments in installments.

(3) If the requester has indicated a willingness to pay some designated amount of fees, but the Commission estimates that the total fee will exceed that amount, the Commission will toll the processing of the request when it notifies the requester of the estimated fees in excess of the amount the requester has indicated a willingness to pay. The Commission will inquire whether the requester wishes to revise the amount of fees the requester is willing to pay or modify the request. Once the requester responds, the time to respond will resume from where it was at the date of the notification.

(4) The FOIA Public Liaison will be available to assist any requester in reformulating a request to meet the requester's needs at a lower cost.

(h) Advance payment.

(1) For requests other than those described in paragraphs (h)(2) and (3) of this section, the Commission will not require the requester to make an advance payment before work is commenced or continued on a request. Payment owed for work already completed (i.e., payment before copies are sent to a requester) is not an advance payment.

(2) When the Commission determines or estimates that a total fee to be charged under this section will exceed $250, it may require that the requester make an advance payment up to the amount of the entire anticipated fee before beginning to process the request. An agency may elect to process the request prior to collecting fees when it receives a satisfactory assurance of full payment from a requester with a history of prompt payment.

(3) If a requester previously has failed to pay a fee within 30 calendar days of the date of the billing, the requester shall be required 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 begins to process a new request.

(4) In cases in which an agency requires advance payment, the request will not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the required payment is received. If the requester does not pay the advance payment within 30 calendar days after the date of the agency's fee determination, the request will be closed.

(i) Charging interest. The Commission may charge interest on any unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the date of billing the requester. Interest charges will be assessed at the rate provided in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the billing date until payment is received by the Commission. The Commission will follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365, 96 Stat. 1749), as amended, and its administrative procedures.

(j) Aggregating requests. If the Commission reasonably determines that a requester or a group of requesters acting together is attempting to divide a request into a series of requests for the purpose of avoiding fees, the Commission may aggregate those requests and charge accordingly. The Commission may presume that multiple requests involving related matters submitted within a 30 calendar day period have been made in order to avoid fees. For requests separated by a longer period, the Commission will aggregate them only where there is a reasonable basis for determining that aggregation is warranted in view of all the circumstances involved. The Commission shall not aggregate multiple requests involving unrelated matters.

(k) Other statutes specifically providing for fees. The fee schedule of this section does not apply to fees charged under any statute that specifically requires an agency to set and collect fees for particular types of records. In instances where records responsive to a request are subject to a statutorily-based fee schedule program, the Commission must inform the requester of the contact information for that program.