§ 9800.15 - Fees.

§ 9800.15 Fees.

(a) The current schedule of fees is maintained on CIGIE's Web site, http://www.ignet.gov.

(b) Under FOIA, as amended, there are four categories of requesters: Commercial use requesters, educational and non-commercial scientific institutions; representatives of the news media; and all other requesters.

(c) For commercial us requesters, CIGIE assesses charges which recover the full direct costs of searching for, reviewing, and duplicating the records requested. Commercial use requesters are not entitled to receive free search time or duplication referenced in paragraphs (d), (e), and (f) of this section. CIGIE may recover the cost of searching for and reviewing records for commercial use requesters even if no records are ultimately disclosed.

(1) A commercial use requester is considered to be a person who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers a commercial, trade, or profit interest of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made.

(2) In order to determine whether a requester properly belongs in this category, CIGIE must consider whether the requester will put the documents to a commercial use. In cases where CIGIE has reasonable cause to doubt a requester's use of the records sought, or where that use is not clearly identified in the request itself, CIGIE may seek additional clarification from the requester.

(d) Fees for educational and non-commercial scientific institution requesters are limited to the cost of providing standard duplication services alone, without charge for the first 100 pages reproduced. To qualify for this category, requesters must show that the request made is authorized by and under the auspices of an eligible institution and that the records are not sought for a commercial use, but are sought in furtherance of scholarly research (if the request is from an educational institution) or scientific research (if the request is from a non-commercial scientific institution).

(1) The term “educational institution” refers to preschools, public or private elementary or secondary schools, institutions of graduate or undergraduate higher education, institutions of professional education, and institutions of vocational education operating one or more programs of scholarly research.

(2) The term “non-commercial scientific institution” refers to an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis, and which is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research.

(e) For requesters who are representatives of the news media, fees will also be limited to the cost of providing duplication services alone, without charge for the first 100 pages reproduced. No fee will be charged for providing search or review services.

(1) The term “representative of the news media” refers to a person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public.

(2) The term “news” means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public.

(3) Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations broadcasting to the public, and publishers of periodicals which disseminate news and who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public.

(4) Freelance journalists may be regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a sufficient basis for expecting publication through that organization, even though not actually employed by it.

(f) Fees for all other requesters who do not fit into any of the above categories will be assessed for the full reasonable direct cost of searching for and duplicating documents that are responsive to a request. No charge will be made to requesters in this category for the first 100 pages reproduced or for the first two hours of search time.

(g) CIGIE will assess fees for searches which fail to locate records or which locate records which are exempt from disclosure at the same rate as searches which result in disclosure of records.

(h) If a fee is incurred in connection with a request or an appeal in accordance with this section, CIGIE will inform the requester of the amount owed and the basis for the fee amount.

(i) Payment for outstanding fees incurred will be billed to the fullest extent possible at the time the requested records are forwarded to the requester. Payments must be made by requesters within 30 days of the date of the billing.

(j) In cases where the estimated fees to be charged exceed $250.00, CIGIE may require payment of the entire fee or a portion of the fee before it provides any of the requested records.

(k) CIGIE shall require full payment of any delinquent fee owed by the requester plus any applicable interest prior to releasing records on a subsequent request or appeal. If a requester declines to remit payment in advance, CIGIE may refuse to process the request or appeal with written notice to that effect provided to the requester. The “date of receipt” appeal for which advance payment has been required shall be the date CIGIE receives payment.