§ 7.97 - Services performed without charge or at a reduced charge.

(a) No fee is to be charged to any requester making a request under subpart F for the first two hours of search time unless the records are requested for commercial use. For purposes of this subpart, when a computer search is required two hours of search time will be considered spent when the hourly costs of operating the central processing unit used to perform the search added to the computer operator's salary cost (hourly rate plus 16 per cent) equals two hours of the computer operator's salary costs (hourly rate plus 16 percent).

(b) No fee is to be charged for any time spent searching for a record requested under subpart F if the records are not for commercial use and the requester is a representative of the news media, an educational institution whose purpose is scholarly research, or a non-commercial scientific institution whose purpose is scientific research.

(c) No fee is to be charged for duplication of the first 100 pages (standard paper, not larger than 81/2×14 inches) of records provided to any requester in response to a request under subpart F unless the records are requested for commercial use.

(d) No fee is to be charged to any requester for review of a record requested under subpart F to determine whether it is exempt from disclosure unless the records are requested for commercial use. A review charge may not be charged except with respect to an initial review to determine the applicability of a particular exemption to a particular record or portion of a record. A review charge may not be assessed for review at the administrative appeal level. When records or portions of records withheld in full under an exemption which is subsequently determined not to apply are reviewed again to determine the applicability of other exemptions not previously considered, this is considered an initial review for purposes of assessing a review charge.

(e) Documents will be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge if the Assistant General Counsel for Environmental, Civil Rights, and General Law, or his or her designee, or official(s) having initial denial authority, as the case may be, determine that disclosure of the 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.

(f) Factors to be considered by officials of the Department authorized to determine whether a waiver or reduction of fees will be granted include:

(1) Whether the subject matter of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the Federal government;

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

(3) Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons;

(4) Whether the contribution to public understanding of Federal government operations or activities will be significant;

(5) Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and

(6) Whether the magnitude of any 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.