Fees You can send in a FOIA request at any time for free. However, the FOIA authorizes BPA to charge fees to recover the costs of searching for, reviewing, and reproducing records. Fees may be waived if they total less than $15, if your response is not completed by the deadline, at the discretion of the FOIA Officer, or upon request if you meet certain circumstances.
Fees vary by requester type. When submitting a FOIA request, please specify your requester type. Most requesters fall into the “Other” category. If you are submitting a FOIA request on behalf of another person or organization (e.g., an attorney submitting a request on the behalf of a client), please specify the identity of that person and their requester type instead of your own.
Commercial Use requesters are requesting information to further their own commercial interests, or the commercial interest of those they represent.
|
Search time: Hourly rate of searching employee plus 16%. Average rate is $42 per hour.
Review time: Hourly rate of searching employee plus 16%. Average rate is $42 per hour.
Duplication: $0.10 per page
|
Educational Institution requesters include schools that operate a program of scholarly research. This category does not include students who are requesting records for personal research or course completion; they are “Other” requesters. See below.
Non-Commercial Scientific requesters are requesting records on behalf of an institution that is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research that is not intended to promote any particular product or industry.
News Media Representatives are requesters actively gathering news for an entity that disseminates news to the public. News media representatives may work for or own television or radio stations, newspapers, periodicals, or alternative media sources such as blogs or list-serves. The publication record of the requester may be considered when determining if someone is a news media representative.
|
Search time: No charge
Review time: No charge
Duplication: 100 free pages, $0.10 per page thereafter
|
Other
|
Search time: No charge for the first two hours; additional hours charged at the hourly rate of searching employee plus 16%. Average rate is $42 per hour.
Review time: No charge
Duplication: 100 free pages, $0.10 per page thereafter
|
In your FOIA request, you are encouraged to make a specific statement limiting the amount of fees you are willing to pay. If the fees total $15 or less, BPA waives the fees and provides records for free. If we estimate that the cost to process your request exceeds the amount you agreed to pay, the FOIA Public Liaison will contact you, in advance of incurring the cost, to give you the opportunity to alter your request in order to reduce the fees. If altering the request is not an option, we will ask you to commit in writing to pay the estimated amount of fees before we process your request
Fee Waivers
BPA will grant fee waivers when the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest. Under FOIA, disclosure is in the public interest whenever: (a) It is likely to contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of the operations and activities of the government, AND (b) the disclosure of the requested information is not primarily in the requester’s commercial interest.
You must request the fee waiver in writing when you file your FOIA request. Your request must demonstrate why you satisfy the above criteria with respect to the requested information. It is not sufficient to simply declare that you meet the criteria.
BPA will notify you in writing of our decision on your fee waiver request. If we deny your request, we will provide an explanation of our decision, and provide information about how to appeal the decision
Payment of Fees
Ordinarily, you will not be required to pay any fees until after the records have been processed and sent to you. You may be required to pay fees in advance, however, if we determine that processing your request will cost more than $250.00 or if you have a history of non-payment or late payment of FOIA fees.
Failure to Pay Fees
In the event FOIA fees are not paid within 30 calendar days from the date of the invoice, you will be charged interest in accordance with the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996. Any subsequent FOIA request made by a requester who is in arrears will not be processed until the outstanding fees have been paid in full.
Return to top