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FOIA Processing Fees

Requester Fee Categories

Commercial: Fees are charged for document search, duplication, and review, when records are requested for commercial purposes. Fees (above the minimum fee charge) cannot be waived for this category of requester.

Educational, Non-Commercial Scientific, News Media, and Privacy Act: Fees may be charged only for document duplication when records are not sought for commercial use and the request is made by an Educational or Non-Commercial Scientific Institution, whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research; or a representative of the News Media; or a person requesting his/her own records that are in a Privacy Act system of records. No fee is charged for the first one hundred pages of duplication for this category of requester.

Non-Excepted: For any request not described above (Non-Excepted), fees may be charged for document search and duplication. No fee is charged for the first two hours of search time or for the first one hundred pages of duplication for this category of requester.

Fee Schedules

Fee schedules provide only for the recovery of the direct costs of search, duplication, or review. Review costs include only the costs for initial examination of a document to determine whether it must be disclosed and to determine whether to withhold portions that are exempt from disclosure. The fee schedule is as follows:

Duplication Charges: $.20 per page.

Fees for non-standard search or duplication will be charged at the actual cost (e.g. providing copying of audio tapes or conducting computer searches).

Minimum Fee: No fee will be charged unless the fee is equal to or greater than $15.00.

When to Pay Fees

If we estimate that fees will not exceed $25.00 or you have stated in your request a higher amount that you are willing to pay, we assume your willingness to pay up to $25 or the amount stipulated and you will be billed after we have completed your request.

If we estimate that fees will exceed $25.00 or any amount that has been stated by you in your request, we will not proceed with your request until we have notified you and obtained your agreement to pay the estimated fees.

If we estimate fees will exceed $250, you will be required to pay the estimated fees in advance before we proceed further with your request. If, while processing your request, we find that the actual fees exceed the estimated fee, we will obtain your consent to pay the additional fees before continuing to process your request. If the actual fees to process your request are less than any advance payment you have made, you will be refunded the overpayment amount.

Fee Waivers

A waiver or reduction of fees may be granted for furnishing documents if a requester, by fully addressing the eight factors in 10 CFR 9.41, clearly demonstrates 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.

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Friday, March 07, 2008