5 C.F.R. Subpart E—Schedule of Fees
Title 5 - Administrative Personnel
(a) Policy. Fees shall be assessed according to the schedule contained in paragraph (b) of this section and the category of requesters described in §2604.502 for services rendered in responding to and processing requests for records under subpart C of this part. All fees shall be charged to the requester, except where the charging of fees is limited under §2604.503(a) and (b) or where a waiver or reduction of fees is granted under §2604.503(c). Requesters shall pay fees by check or money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States. (b) Types of charges. The types of charges that may be assessed in connection with the production of records in response to a FOIA request are as follows: (1) Searches—(i) Manual searches for records. Whenever feasible, the Office will charge at the salary rate (i.e., basic pay plus 16%) of the employee making the search. However, where a homogeneous class of personnel is used exclusively in a search (e.g., all clerical time or all professional time) the Office will charge $11.00 per hour for clerical time and $22.00 per hour for professional time. Charges for search time will be billed by fifteen minute segments. (ii) Computer searches for records. Requesters will be charged the actual direct cost of conducting a search using existing programming. These direct costs shall include the cost of operating a central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly attributable to searching for records responsive to a request, as well as the cost of operator/programmer salary apportionable to the search. The Office will not alter or develop programming to conduct a search. (iii) Unproductive searches. The Office will charge search fees even if no records are found which are responsive to the request, or if the records found are exempt from disclosure. (2) Duplication. The standard copying charge for documents in paper copy is $.15 per page. When responsive information is provided in a format other than paper copy, such as in the form of computer tapes and discs, the requester may be charged the direct costs of the tape, disc, or whatever medium is used to produce the information, as well as any related reproduction costs. (3) Review. Costs associated with the review of documents, as defined in §2604.103, will be charged at the salary rate (i.e., basic pay plus 16%) of the employee conducting the review. Except as noted below, charges may be assessed only for review at the initial level, i.e., the review undertaken the first time the documents are analyzed to determine the applicability of specific exemptions to a particular record or portion of the records. A requester will not be charged for review at the administrative appeal level concerning the applicability of an exemption already applied at the initial level. However, when a record has been withheld pursuant to an exemption which is subsequently determined not to apply and the record is reviewed again at the appeal level to determine the potential applicability of other exemptions, the costs of such additional review may be assessed. (4) Other services and materials. Where the Office elects, as a matter of administrative discretion, to comply with a request for a special service or materials, such as certifying that records are true copies or sending records by special methods, the actual direct costs of providing the service or materials will be charged. [60 FR 10007, Feb. 23, 1995, as amended at 64 FR 28091, May 25, 1999] (a) Fees for various requester categories. The paragraphs below state, for each category of requester, the type of fees generally charged by the Office. However, for each of these categories, the fees may be limited, waived or reduced in accordance with the provisions set forth in §2604.503. In determining whether a requester belongs in any of the following categories, the Office will determine the use to which the requester will put the documents requested. If the Office has reasonable cause to doubt the use to which the requester will put the records sought, or where the use is not clear from the request itself, the Office will seek clarification before assigning the request to a specific category. (b) Commercial use requester. The Office will charge the full costs of search, review, and duplication. Commercial use requesters are not entitled to two hours of free search time or 100 free pages of reproduction as described in §2604.503(a); however, the de minimis fees provision of §2604.503(b) does apply to such requesters. (c) Educational and noncommercial scientific institutions and news media. If the request is from an educational institution or a noncommercial scientific institution, operated for scholarly or scientific research, or a representative of the news media, and the request is not for a commercial use, the Office will charge only for duplication of documents, excluding charges for the first 100 pages. (d) All other requesters. If the request is not one described in paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, the Office will charge the full and direct costs of searching for and reproducing records that are responsive to the request, excluding the first 100 pages of duplication and the first two hours of search time. (a) In general. Except for requesters seeking records for a commercial use as described in §2604.502(b), the Office will provide, without charge, the first 100 pages of duplication and the first two hours of search time, or their cost equivalent. (b) De minimis fees. The Office will not assess fees for individual requests if the total charge would be $10.00 or less. (c) Waiver or reduction of fees. Records responsive to a request under 5 U.S.C. 552 will be furnished without charge or at a reduced charge where the Office determines, based upon information provided by a requester in support of a fee waiver request, that 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. Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees will be considered on a case-by-case basis. (1) In determining whether disclosure is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government, the Office will consider the following factors: (i) The subject of the request: Whether the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the Government. The subject matter of the requested records, in the context of the request, must specifically and directly concern identifiable operations or activities of the Federal Government. Furthermore, the records must be sought for their informative value with respect to those Government operations or activities; (ii) The informative value of the information to be disclosed: Whether the information is likely to contribute to an understanding of Government operations or activities. The disclosable portions of the requested records must be meaningfully informative on specific Government operations or activities in order to hold potential for contributing to increased public understanding of those operations and activities. The disclosure of information which is already in the public domain, in either a duplicative or substantially identical form, would not be likely to contribute to such understanding, as nothing new would be added to the public record; (iii) The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the public likely to result from disclosure: Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to public understanding. The disclosure must 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. A requester's identity and qualifications—e.g., expertise in the subject area and ability and intention to convey information to the general public—will be considered; and (iv) The significance of the contribution to public understanding: Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of Government operations or activities. The public's understanding of the subject matter in question, as compared to the level of public understanding existing prior to the disclosure, must be likely to be significantly enhanced by the disclosure. (2) In determining whether disclosure of the requested information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester, the Office will consider the following factors: (i) The existence and magnitude of a commercial interest: Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure. The Office will consider all commercial interests of the requester, or any person on whose behalf the requester may be acting, which would be furthered by the requested disclosure. In assessing the magnitude of identified commercial interests, consideration will be given to the effect that the information disclosed would have on those commercial interests; and (ii) The primary interest in disclosure: Whether the magnitude of the 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. A fee waiver or reduction is warranted only where the public interest can fairly be regarded as greater in magnitude than the requester's commercial interest in disclosure. The Office will ordinarily presume that, where a news media requester has satisfied the public interest standard, the public interest will be served primarily by disclosure to that requester. Disclosure to data brokers and others who compile and market Government information for direct economic return will not be presumed to primarily serve the public interest. (3) Where only a portion of the requested record satisfies the requirements for a waiver or reduction of fees under this paragraph, a waiver or reduction shall be granted only as to that portion. (4) A request for a waiver or reduction of fees must accompany the request for disclosure of records, and should include: (i) A clear statement of the requester's interest in the documents; (ii) The proposed use of the documents and whether the requester will derive income or other benefit from such use; (iii) A statement of how the public will benefit from release of the requested documents; and (iv) If specialized use of the documents is contemplated, a statement of the requester's qualifications that are relevant to the specialized use. (5) A requester may appeal the denial of a request for a waiver or reduction of fees in accordance with the provisions of §2604.304. (a) Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25.00. Where the Office determines or estimates that the fees to be assessed under this section may amount to more than $25.00, the Office shall notify the requester as soon as practicable of the actual or estimated amount of fees, unless the requester has indicated in advance his willingness to pay fees as high as those anticipated. Where a requester has been notified that the actual or estimated fees may exceed $25.00, the request will be deemed not to have been received until the requester has agreed to pay the anticipated total fee. A notice to the requester pursuant to this paragraph will include the opportunity to confer with Office personnel in order to reformulate the request to meet the requester's needs at a lower cost. (b) Aggregating requests. A requester may not file multiple requests, each seeking portions of a document or documents in order to avoid the payment of fees. Where there is reason to believe that a requester or group of requesters acting in concert, is attempting to divide a request into a series of requests for the purpose of evading the assessment of fees, the Office may aggregate the requests and charge accordingly. The Office will presume that multiple requests of this type made within a 30-day period have been made in order to evade fees. Multiple requests regarding unrelated matters will not be aggregated. (c) Advance payments. An advance payment before work is commenced or continued will not be required unless: (1) The Office estimates or determines that the total fee to be assessed under this section is likely to exceed $250.00. When a determination is made that the allowable charges are likely to exceed $250.00, the requester will be notified of the likely cost and will be required to provide satisfactory assurance of full payment where the requester has a history of prompt payment of FOIA fees, or will be required to submit an advance payment of an amount up to the full estimated charges in the case of requesters with no history of payment; or (2) A requester has previously failed to pay a fee charged in a timely fashion (i.e., within 30 days of the date of the billing). In such cases the requester may be required to pay the full amount owed plus any applicable interest as provided by paragraph (e) of this section, and to make an advance payment of the full amount of the estimated fee before the Office begins to process a new request. (3) When the Office requests an advance payment of fees, the administrative time limits described in subsection (a)(6) of the FOIA will begin to run only after the Office has received the advance payment. (d) Billing and payment. Normally the Office will require a requester to pay all fees before furnishing the requested records. However, the Office may send a bill along with, or following the furnishing of records, in cases where the requester has a history of prompt payment. (e) Interest charges. Interest charges on an unpaid bill may be assessed starting on the 31st day following the day on which the billing was sent. Interest shall be at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and shall accrue from the date of billing. To collect unpaid bills, the Office will follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982, as amended (96 Stat. 1749 et seq.) including the use of consumer reporting agencies, collection agencies, and offset.
Title 5: Administrative Personnel
PART 2604—FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT RULES AND SCHEDULE OF FEES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF PUBLIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORTS
Subpart E—Schedule of Fees
§ 2604.501 Fees to be charged—general.
§ 2604.502 Fees to be charged—categories of requesters.
§ 2604.503 Limitations on charging fees.
§ 2604.504 Miscellaneous fee provisions.
