Agencies are authorized by law to recover the direct costs of providing information to a FOIA requester. The FDIC has established a fee schedule to recover its direct costs. The fee schedule sets hourly rates for the time it takes an employee to search for the information you request, as well as the time it takes to complete the FOIA review of the information (to determine which information may be released and which is exempt from disclosure). You can also look at our fee schedule to find out how much the FDIC charges for reproduction, computer searches, and information released on electronic media.

When submitting a FOIA request you must specify the maximum amount you are willing to pay for processing of your request. If you do not specify the maximum amount your are willing to pay, or otherwise agree in writing to pay all applicable processing fees, we will not initiate a records search and your request will either be returned to you or held in abeyance until a fee agreement is reached. Your request should include your name, address, an electronic mail address if available, and the telephone number at which you can be reached during normal business hours so that we may contact you.

Fee Categories:
For fee purposes, the FOIA requires that requesters be placed in one of the following three categories:

• commercial use requesters;
• scientific, educational, or news media requesters; and
• all others.

Commercial use requesters are charged the full direct costs of search, review and reproduction associated with processing their requests. Scientific, Educational and News media requesters are charged the costs of reproduction alone, except that the first 100 pages are provided free of charge. All other requesters are charged the direct costs of search and reproduction, except that the first 2 hours of search and the first 100 pages of duplication are free of charge. No review charges are assessed for requesters in this last category.

Fee Waivers:
As part of the initial request, a requester may ask that the FDIC waive or reduce fees if disclosure of the records 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 primarly in the commercial interest of the requester. The U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees FOIA compliance throughout the federal government, sets out a six-part test for agencies to follow when evaluating a request for fee waivers. Determination as to a waiver or reduction of fees will be made by the FOIA/PA Group, and the requester will be notified in writing of the determination.

Payment:
If the processing fees are estimated to be greater than the amount you indicated you are willing to pay, we will contact you before we proceed. Processing fees are charged whether any information within the scope of your request is found or, if found, released to you. If we estimate that the processing costs will exceed $250.00, we will ask you to pay an amount equal to 20 percent of the total estimated costs before we will initiate a records search. Also, please be advised that after your request has been processed to completion, we may require payment of all applicable fees before copies of the records we collected on your behalf will be released to you.