September 26, 2002
MEMORANDUM FOR ALL FOIA COORDINATORS
FROM: MIRIAM MILLER, Co-Counsel for Administrative Law
SUBJECT: Fees and Fee Waivers
The purpose of this memorandum is to ensure that the
Department’s procedures for assessing fees and for appraising fee waiver
requests are applied consistently and fairly by all DOL agencies in compliance
with the statutory requirements of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Attached are brief discussions of the
categories of requesters and fees and the fee waiver standard.
FOIA has always provided that fees should be assessed when
records are requested pursuant to that statute’s authority. In 1986 amendments to the FOIA, Congress
established the current fee structure and fee waiver standard. Specific limitations and restrictions were
set for the assessment of fees. The
amended fee waiver provision set a standard for waiving fees when disclosure of
the records would inform the public about government operations.
In April 1987, to assist federal agencies in addressing fee
waivers requests, the Department of Justice issued its "New FOIA Fee
Waiver Policy Guidance" to the heads of all federal departments and
agencies, which remains in effect today.
That Guidance advised that:
The Department of Justice
stands committed to encouraging agencies to waive fees under FOIA whenever the
statutory fee waiver standard is met.
By the same token, of course, agencies also are expected to respect the
balance drawn in the statute, safeguarding federal funds by granting waivers or
reductions only where it is determined that the statutory standard is
satisfied.
With respect to charging fees, agencies must ensure that
requesters are placed into the correct category for assessing fees; and that
those fees are correctly assessed. With
respect to fee waivers, it is particularly important to remember that no group
is presumptively entitled to a fee waiver; and that fee waiver determinations
are made on a case-by-case basis. It is
entirely irrelevant that a requester may have received a fee waiver for another
request.
Please disseminate this memo and its attachments to all FOIA
Disclosure Officers and Processors. As
always, if you have any questions concerning this memorandum or wish to discuss
how to handle a particular request, do not hesitate to contact me. A copy of this memo and the attachments
discussing categories of requesters and fees, and the fee waiver standard, will
be posted on the SOL Web site. You may wish to direct your Disclosure
Officers and FOIA requesters to this site, as well as to the discussion of fees
and fee waivers at the
Department of Justice’s FOIA Web site.
Attachments
A - Categories of Requesters and Fees
B - Application of FOIA's Fee Waiver Standard