§ 303.16 - Fees.

§ 303.16 Fees.

(a) In general. The Peace Corps will charge for processing requests under the FOIA in accordance with the provisions of this section and with the Guidelines of OMB. For purposes of assessing fees, the FOIA establishes three categories of requesters:

(1) Commercial use requesters;

(2) Non-commercial scientific or educational institutions or news media requesters; and

(3) All other requesters.

(b) Fee assessment. Different fees are assessed depending on the requester category and approved by the FOIA Officer. Requesters may seek a fee waiver. The Peace Corps will consider individual requests for fee waivers in accordance with the requirements in paragraph (l) of this section. To resolve any fee issues that arise under this section, Peace Corps may contact a requester for additional information. The Peace Corps will ensure that searches, reviews, and duplications are conducted in the most efficient and the least expensive manner. The Peace Corps ordinarily will collect all applicable fees before sending copies of records to a requester. Requesters will pay fees by check or money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States, or by another method as determined by the Peace Corps.

(c) Fee charging considerations.

(1) Whether the request is a commercial use request as defined in § 303.2. The Peace Corps' 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 Peace Corps will notify requesters of their placement in this category.

(2) The sum of direct costs as defined in § 303.2.

(3) The cost of duplication as defined in § 303.2.

(4) Whether the requester is an educational institution as defined in § 303.2. A requester in this fee category will show that the request is made in connection with his or her role at the educational institution. The Peace Corps may seek verification from the requester that the request is in furtherance of scholarly research, and the Peace Corps will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

Example 1 to paragraph (c)(4). 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 to paragraph (c)(4). 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 to paragraph (c)(4). 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.

(5) Whether the requester is a noncommercial scientific institution as defined in § 303.2. A requester in this category will 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 Peace Corps will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

(6) Whether the requester is a representative of the news media as defined in § 303.2. 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 Peace Corps may also consider a requester's past publication record in making this determination. The Peace Corps will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

(7) The cost of the review as defined in § 303.2. 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 § 303.14, but it does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.

(8) The cost of the time involved in the search as defined in § 303.2. 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.

(d) Charging fees. In responding to FOIA requests, the Peace Corps will charge the following fees unless a waiver or reduction of fees has been granted under paragraph (l) of this section. Because the fee amounts provided under paragraph (m) of this section already account for the direct costs associated with a given fee type, the Peace Corps will not add any additional costs to charges calculated under this section.

(1) Search.

(i) Requests made by educational institutions, noncommercial scientific institutions, or representatives of the news media are not subject to search fees. The Peace Corps will charge search fees for all other requesters, subject to the restrictions of paragraph (e) of this section. The Peace Corps may properly charge for time spent searching even if they do not locate any responsive records or if they determine that the records are entirely exempt from disclosure.

(ii) For each quarter hour spent by personnel searching for requested records, including electronic searches that do not require new programming, the fees will be charged.

(iii) The Peace Corps will charge the direct costs associated with conducting any search that requires the creation of a new computer program to locate the requested records. The Peace Corps will notify the requester of the costs associated with creating such a program, and the requester will agree to pay the associated costs before the costs may be incurred.

(iv) For requests that require the retrieval of records stored by the Peace Corps at a Federal records center operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), agencies will charge additional costs in accordance with the Transactional Billing Rate Schedule established by NARA.

(2) Duplication. The Peace Corps will charge duplication fees to all requesters, subject to the restrictions of paragraph (e) of this section. The Peace Corps will honor a requester's preference for receiving a record in a particular form or format where the Peace Corps can readily reproduce it in the form or format requested. Where photocopies are supplied, the Peace Corps will provide one copy per request at no charge up to 100 pages. For copies of records produced on tapes, disks, or other media, the Peace Corps will charge the direct costs of producing the copy, including operator time. Where paper documents will be scanned in order to comply with a requester's preference to receive the records in an electronic format, the requester will also pay the direct costs associated with scanning those materials. For other forms of duplication, the Peace Corps will charge the direct costs.

(3) Review. The Peace Corps will charge review fees to requesters who make commercial use requests. Review fees will be assessed in connection with the initial review of the record, i.e., the review conducted by the Peace Corps to determine whether an exemption applies to a particular record or portion of a record. No charge will be made for review at the administrative appeal stage of exemptions applied at the initial review stage. However, if a particular exemption is deemed to no longer apply, any costs associated with the Peace Corps' re-review of the records in order to consider the use of other exemptions may be assessed as review fees. Review fees will be charged at the same rates as those charged for a search under paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section.

(e) Restrictions on charging fees.

(1) When the Peace Corps determines that a requester is an educational institution, non-commercial scientific institution, or representative of the news media, and the records are not sought for commercial use, it will not charge search fees.

(2)

(i) If the Peace Corps fails to comply with the FOIA's time limits in which to respond to a request, it may not charge search fees, or, in the instances of requests from requesters described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section, may not charge duplication fees, except as described in (e)(2)(ii) through (iv) of this section.

(ii) If the Peace Corps has determined that unusual circumstances as defined in § 303.2 apply and the Peace Corps provided timely written notice to the requester in accordance with the FOIA, a failure to comply with the time limit shall be excused for an additional 10 days.

(iii) If the Peace Corps has determined that unusual circumstances as defined in § 303.2 apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request, the Peace Corps may charge search fees, or, in the case of requesters described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section, may charge duplication fees, if the following steps are taken: the Peace Corps will have provided timely written notice of unusual circumstances to the requester in accordance with the FOIA; and the Peace Corps will have discussed with the requester via written mail, email, 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 in accordance with 5. U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)(ii). If this exception is satisfied, the Peace Corps may charge all applicable fees incurred in the processing of the request.

(iv) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, as defined by the FOIA, a failure to comply with the time limits shall be excused for the length of time provided by the court order.

(3) No search or review fees will be charged for a quarter-hour period unless more than half of that period is required for search or review.

(4) Except for requesters seeking records for a commercial use, the Peace Corps will provide without charge:

(i) The first 100 pages of duplication (or the cost equivalent for other media); and

(ii) The first 2 hours of search.

(5) No fee will be charged when the total fee, after deducting the 100 free pages (or its cost equivalent) and the first 2 hours of search, is equal to or less than $25.

(f) Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25.00.

(1) When the Peace Corps determines or estimates that the fees to be assessed in accordance with this section will exceed $25.00, the Peace Corps will 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 Peace Corps will advise the requester accordingly. If the request is not for noncommercial use, the notice will specify that the requester is entitled to the statutory entitlements of 100 pages of duplication at no charge and, if the requester is charged search fees, 2 hours of search time at no charge, and will advise the requester whether those entitlements have been provided.

(2) If the Peace Corps notifies the requester that the actual or estimated fees are in excess of $25.00, 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 requester's statutory entitlements, designates that the requester seeks only that which can be provided by the statutory entitlements. The requester will provide the commitment or designation in writing, and will, when applicable, designate an exact dollar amount the requester is willing to pay. The Peace Corps will not accept payments in installments.

(3) If the requester has indicated a willingness to pay some designated amount of fees, but the Peace Corps estimates that the total fee will exceed that amount, the Peace Corps 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 Peace Corps 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 Peace Corps will make available their FOIA Public Liaison or other FOIA professional to assist any requester in reformulating a request to meet the requester's needs at a lower cost.

(g) Charges for other services. Although not required to provide special services, if the Peace Corps chooses to do so as a matter of administrative discretion, the direct costs of providing the service will be charged. Examples of such services include certifying that records are true copies, providing multiple copies of the same document, or sending records by means other than first class mail.

(h) Charging interest. The Peace Corps 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 Peace Corps. The Peace Corps will follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365, 96 Stat. 1749), as amended, and its administrative procedures, including the use of consumer reporting agencies, collection agencies, and offset.

(i) Aggregating requests. When the Peace Corps reasonably believes that a requester or a group of requesters acting in concert is attempting to divide a single request into a series of requests for the purpose of avoiding fees, the Peace Corps may aggregate those requests and charge accordingly. The Peace Corps may presume that multiple requests of this type made within a 30-day period have been made in order to avoid fees. For requests separated by a longer period, the Peace Corps will aggregate them only where there is a reasonable basis for determining that aggregation is warranted in view of all the circumstances involved. Multiple requests involving unrelated matters cannot be aggregated.

(j) Advance payments.

(1) For requests other than those described in paragraph (j)(2) or (j)(3) of this section, the Peace Corps may 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 Peace Corps determines or estimates that a total fee to be charged under this section will exceed $250.00, 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. The Peace Corps 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) Where a requester has previously failed to pay a properly charged FOIA fee to the Peace Corps within 30 calendar days of the billing date, the Peace Corps may require that the requester pay the full amount due, plus any applicable interest on that prior request, and the Peace Corps may require that the requester make an advance payment of the full amount of any anticipated fee before the Peace Corps begins to process a new request or continues to process a pending request or any pending appeal. Where the Peace Corps has a reasonable basis to believe that a requester has misrepresented the requester's identity in order to avoid paying outstanding fees, it may require that the requester provide proof of identity.

(4) In cases in which the Peace Corps 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 Peace Corps' fee determination, the request will be closed.

(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 the Peace Corps 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 Peace Corps will inform the requester of the contact information for that program.

(l) Requirements for waiver or reduction of fees.

(1) Requesters may seek a waiver of fees by submitting a written application demonstrating how disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

(2) The Peace Corps will furnish records responsive to a request without charge or at a reduced rate when it determines, based on all available information, that the factors described in paragraphs (l)(2)(i) through (iii) of this section are satisfied:

(i) Disclosure of the requested information would shed light on the operations or activities of the government. The subject of the request will concern identifiable operations or activities of the Federal Government with a connection that is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated; and

(ii) Disclosure of the requested information is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations or activities. This factor is satisfied when the following criteria are met:

(A) Disclosure of the requested records will be meaningfully informative about government operations or activities. The disclosure of information that already is in the public domain, in either the same or a substantially identical form, would not be meaningfully informative if nothing new would be added to the public's understanding; and

(B) The disclosure will contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester. A requester's expertise in the subject area as well as the requester's ability and intention to effectively convey information to the public will be considered. The Peace Corps will presume that a representative of the news media will satisfy this consideration.

(iii) The disclosure will not be primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. To determine whether disclosure of the requested information is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester, the Peace Corps will consider the following criteria:

(A) The Peace Corps will identify whether the requester has any commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure. A commercial interest includes any commercial, trade, or profit interest. Requesters will be given an opportunity to provide explanatory information regarding this consideration; and

(B) If there is an identified commercial interest, the Peace Corps will determine whether that is the primary interest furthered by the request. A waiver or reduction of fees is justified when the requirements of paragraphs (l)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section are satisfied and any commercial interest is not the primary interest furthered by the request. The Peace Corps ordinarily will presume that when a news media requester has satisfied factors of paragraphs (l)(2)(i) and (ii), the request is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Disclosure to data brokers or others who merely compile and market government information for direct economic return will not be presumed to primarily serve the public interest.

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

(4) Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees should be made when the request is first submitted to the Peace Corps and should address the criteria referenced under paragraph (1) of this section. A requester may submit a fee waiver request at a later time so long as the underlying record request is pending or on administrative appeal. When a requester who has committed to pay fees subsequently asks for a waiver of those fees and that waiver is denied, the requester will pay any costs incurred up to the date the fee waiver request was received.

(5) These fee waiver/reduction provisions are subject to appeal in the same manner as appeals from denial under § 303.13.

(m) Minimal amount. No fee will be charged under this section unless the cost of routine collection and processing of the fee payment is likely to exceed the average cost of processing a payment.

(n) Agreement to pay fees. Requesters must agree to pay all fees charged for services associated with their requests.

(o) Charging interest. Interest may be charged to those requesters who fail to pay the fees charged. Interest will be assessed on the amount billed, starting on the 31st day following the day on which the billing was sent. The rate charged will be as prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717.

(p) Nonpayment of fees. The Peace Corps is not required to process a request for a requester who has not paid FOIA fees owed to another Federal agency.

(q) Multiple copies. The Peace Corps reserves the right to charge for multiple copies of any document that will be provided to any one requester or to require that special arrangements for duplication be made in the case of bound volumes or other records representing unusual problems of handling or reproduction.

[89 FR 25527, Apr. 11, 2024]