§ 701.42 - Categories of requesters - applicable fees.

§ 701.42 Categories of requesters - applicable fees.

(a) Commercial requesters refers to a request from, or on behalf of one who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interest of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made. In determining whether a requester properly belongs in this category, DON activities must determine the use to which a requester will put the documents requested. More over, where an activity has reasonable cause to doubt the use to which a requester will put the records sought, or where that use is not clear from the request itself, it should seek additional clarification before assigning the request to a specific category.

(1) Fees shall be limited to reasonable standard charges for document search, review and duplication when records are requested for commercial use. Requesters must reasonably describe the records sought.

(2) When DON activities receive a request for documents for commercial use, they should assess charges which recover the full direct costs of searching for, reviewing for release, and duplicating the records sought. Commercial requesters (unlike other requesters) are not entitled to 2 hours of free search time, nor 100 free pages of reproduction of documents. Moreover, commercial requesters are not normally entitled to a waiver or reduction of fees based upon an assertion that disclosure would be in the public interest. However, because use is the exclusive determining criteria, it is possible to envision a commercial enterprise making a request that is not for commercial use. It is also possible that a non-profit organization could make a request that is for commercial use. Such situations must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

(b) Educational Institution refers to a pre-school, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of graduate high education, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an institution of professional education, and an institution of vocational education, which operates a program or programs of scholarly research.

(1) Fees shall be limited to only reasonable standard charges for document duplication (excluding charges for the first 100 pages) when the request is made by an educational institution whose purpose is scholarly research. Requesters must reasonably describe the records sought.

(2) Requesters must show that the request is being made under the auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are not sought for commercial use, but in furtherance of scholarly research.

(3) Fees shall be waived or reduced in the public interest if criteria of § 701.58 have been met.

(c) Non-commercial Scientific Institution refers to an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis 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.

(1) Fees shall be limited to only reasonable standard charges for document duplication (excluding the first 100 pages) when the request is made by a non-commercial scientific institution whose purpose is scientific research. Requesters must reasonably describe the records sought.

(2) Requesters must show that the request is being made under the auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are not sought for commercial use, but in furtherance of or scientific research.

(d) Representative of the news media.

(1) 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 or 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 they can qualify as disseminators of “news”) who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. These examples are not meant to be all-inclusive. Moreover, as traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications services), such alternative media would be included in this category. In the case of “freelance” journalists, they may be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through that organization, even though not actually employed by it. A publication contract would be the clearest proof, but DON activities may also look to the past publication record of a requester in making this determination.

(2) To be eligible for inclusion in this category, a requester must meet the criteria established in paragraph (d)(1), and his or her request must not be made for commercial use. A request for records supporting the news dissemination function of the requester shall not be considered to be a request that is for a commercial use. For example, a document request by a newspaper for records relating to the investigation of a defendant in a current criminal trial of public interest could be presumed to be a request from an entity eligible for inclusion in this category, and entitled to records at the cost of reproduction alone (excluding charges for the first 100 pages).

(3) Representative of the news media does not include private libraries, private repositories of Government records, information vendors, data brokers or similar marketers of information whether to industries and businesses, or other entities.

(4) Fees shall be limited to only reasonable standard charges for document duplication (excluding charges for the first 100 pages) when the request is made by a representative of the news media. Requesters must reasonably describe the records sought. Fees shall be waived or reduced if the fee waiver criteria have been met.

(e) All other requesters. DON activities shall charge requesters who do not fit into any of the categories described in paragraph (a) through (d) fees which recover the full direct cost of searching for and duplicating records, except that the first 2 hours of search time and the first 100 pages of duplication shall be furnished without charge. Requesters must reasonably describe the records sought. Requests from subjects about themselves will continue to be treated under the fee provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974, which permit fees only for duplication. DON activities are reminded that this category of requester may also be eligible for a waiver or reduction of fees if disclosure of the information is in the public interest.