[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 25, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 25CFR517]
[Page 866-868]
TITLE 25--INDIANS
CHAPTER III--NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE
INTERIOR
PART 517_FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
Sec. 517.8 Fees.
(a) In general. Fees pursuant to the FOIA shall be assessed
according to the schedule contained in paragraph (b) of this section for
services rendered by the Commission in response to requests for records
under this part. All fees shall be charged to the requester, except
where the charging of fees is limited under paragraph (d) of this
section or where a waiver or reduction of fees is granted under
paragraph (c) of this section. Requesters shall pay fees by check or
money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States.
(b) Charges for responding to FOIA requests. The following fees
shall be assessed in responding to requests for records submitted under
this part, unless a waiver or reduction of fees has been granted
pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section:
(1) Copies. The Commission shall charge $0.10 per page for copies of
documents up to 8\1/2\x14. For copies prepared by
computer, the Commission will charge actual costs of production of the
computer printouts, including operator time. For other methods of
reproduction, the Commission shall charge the actual costs of producing
the documents.
(2) Searches. (i) Manual searches. Whenever feasible, the Commission
will charge at the salary rate (basic pay plus a percent for benefits)
of the employee or employees performing the search. However, where a
homogenous class of personnel is used exclusively in
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a search (e.g. all administrative/clerical or all professional/
executive), the Commission shall charge $12.50 per hour for clerical
time and $30.00 per hour for professional time. Charges for search time
less than a full hour will be in increments of quarter hours.
(ii) Computer searches. The Commission will charge the actual direct
costs of conducting computer searches. These direct costs shall include
the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of
operating time that is directly attributable to searching for requested
records, as well as the costs of operator/programmer salary
apportionable to the search. The Commission is not required to alter or
develop programming to conduct searches.
(3) Review fees. Review fees shall be assessed only with respect to
those requesters who seek records for a commercial use under paragraph
(d)(1) of this section. Review fees shall be assessed at the same rates
as those listed under paragraph (b)(2)(i) of this section. Review fees
shall be assessed only for the initial record review, for example,
review undertaken when the Commission analyzes the applicability of a
particular exemption to a particular record or portion thereof at the
initial request level. No charge shall be assessed at the administrative
appeal level of an exemption already applied.
(c) Statutory waiver. Documents shall be furnished without charge or
at a charge below that listed in paragraphs (b) of this section where it
is determined, based upon information provided by a requester or
otherwise made known to the FOIA Officer, that disclosure of the
requested information is in the public interest. Disclosure is in the
public interest if it is likely to contribute significantly to public
understanding of government operations and is not primarily for
commercial purposes. Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees shall be
considered on a case by case basis. In order to determine whether the
fee waiver requirement is met, the FOIA Officer shall consider the
following six factors:
(1) The subject of the request. Whether the subject of the requested
records concerns the operations or activities of the government;
(2) The informative value of the information to be disclosed.
Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute to an understanding of
government operations or activities;
(3) The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the
general public likely to result from disclosure. Whether disclosure of
the requested information will contribute to public understanding;
(4) The significance of the contribution to public understanding.
Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public
understanding of government operations or activities;
(5) The existence and magnitude of commercial interest. Whether the
requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the
requested disclosure; and, if so
(6) 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.
(d) Types of requesters. There are four categories of FOIA
requesters: commercial use requesters, educational and non-commercial
scientific institutional requesters, representatives of the news media,
and all other requesters. These terms are defined in Sec. 517.2.
Specific levels of fees are prescribed below for each of these
categories.
(1) Commercial-use requesters. The FOIA Officer shall charge
commercial use requesters the full direct costs of searching for,
reviewing, and duplicating requested records.
(2) Educational and non-commercial scientific institution
requesters. The FOIA Officer shall charge educational and non-commercial
scientific institution requesters for document duplication only, except
that the first 100 pages of copies shall be provided without charge.
(3) News media requesters. The FOIA Officer shall charge news media
requesters for document duplication costs only, except that the first
100 pages of paper copies shall be provided without charge.
(4) All other requesters. The FOIA Officer shall charge requesters
who do not
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fall into any of the above categories fees which recover the full
reasonable direct costs incurred for searching for and reproducing
records if that total cost exceeds $15.00, except that the first 100
pages and the first two hours of manual search time shall not be
charged. To apply this term to computer searches, the FOIA Officer will
determine the total hourly cost of operating the central processing unit
and the operator's salary (plus 16 percent for benefits). When the cost
of the search equals the equivalent dollar amount of two hours of the
salary of the person performing the search, the FOIA Officer will begin
assessing charges for the computer search.
(e) Charges for unsuccessful searches. Ordinarily, no charge will be
assessed when requested records are not found or when the records
located are withheld as exempt. However, if the requester has been
notified of the estimated cost of the search time and has been advised
specifically that the requested records may not exist or may be withheld
as exempt, fees may be charged.
(f) Charges for interest. The FOIA Officer may assess interest
charges on an unpaid bill, accrued under previous FOIA request(s),
starting on the 31st day following the day on which the bill was sent to
the requester. A fee received by the FOIA Officer, even if not
processed, will result in a stay of the accrual of interest. The
Commission shall follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of
1982 and the implementing procedures to recover any indebtedness owed to
the Commission.
(g) Aggregating requests. A requester or a group of requesters may
not submit multiple requests at the same time, each seeking portions of
a document or documents solely in order to avoid payment of fees. When
the Commission reasonably believes that a requester is attempting to
divide a request into a series of requests to evade an assessment of
fees, the Commission may aggregate such request and charge accordingly.
(h) Advance payment of fees. Fees may be paid upon provision of the
requested records, except that payment may be required prior to that
time if the requester has previously failed to pay fees or if the FOIA
Officer determines the total fee will exceed $250. When payment is
required in advance of the processing of a request, the time limits
prescribed in Sec. 517.6 shall not be deemed to begin until the FOIA
Officer has received payment of the assessed fee.
(i) Payment of fees. Where it is anticipated that the cost of
providing the requested record will exceed $25.00 after the free
duplication and search time has been calculated, and the requester has
not indicated in advance a willingness to pay a fee greater than $25.00,
the FOIA Officer shall promptly notify the requester of the amount of
the anticipated fee or a portion thereof, which can readily be
estimated. The notification shall offer the requesting party an
opportunity to confer with agency representatives for the purpose of
reformulating the request so as to meet the requester's needs at a
reduced cost.