[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 28]
[Revised as of July 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR1601.33]

[Page 520]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
       CHAPTER VI--CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD
 
PART 1601--PROCEDURES FOR DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT--Table of Contents
 
                             Subpart D--Fees
 
Sec. 1601.33  Miscellaneous fee provisions.

    (a) Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25. Where the CSB 
determines or estimates that the fees chargeable will amount to more 
than $25, the CSB shall promptly notify the requester of the actual or 
estimated amount of fees or such portion thereof that can be readily 
estimated, unless the requester has indicated his or her willingness to 
pay fees as high as those anticipated. Where a requester has been 
notified that the actual or estimated fees may exceed $25, the request 
will be deemed not to have been received until the requester has agreed 
to pay the anticipated total fee. A notice to the requester pursuant to 
this paragraph will include the opportunity to confer with CSB personnel 
in order to reformulate the request to meet the requester's needs at a 
lower cost.
    (b) Aggregating requests. A requester may not file multiple requests 
at the same time, each seeking portions of a record or records, solely 
in order to avoid the payment of fees. When the CSB reasonably believes 
that a requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, is 
attempting to break a request into a series of requests for the purpose 
of evading the assessment of fees, the CSB may aggregate such requests 
and charge accordingly. One element to be considered in determining 
whether a belief would be reasonable is the time period over which the 
requests have occurred. The CSB will presume that multiple requests of 
this type made within a 30-day period have been made in order to evade 
fees. Where requests are separated by a longer period, the CSB shall 
aggregate them only where there exists a solid basis for determining 
that such aggregation is warranted, e.g., where the requests involve 
clearly related matters. Multiple requests regarding unrelated matters 
will not be aggregated.
    (c) Advance payment of fees. (1) The CSB does not require an advance 
payment before work is commenced or continued, unless:
    (i) The CSB estimates or determines that the fees are likely to 
exceed $250. If it appears that the fees will exceed $250, the CSB will 
notify the requester of the likely cost and obtain satisfactory 
assurance of full payment where the requester has a history of prompt 
payment of FOIA fees. In the case of requesters with no history of 
payment, the CSB may require an advance payment of fees in an amount up 
to the full estimated charge that will be incurred; or
    (ii) The requester has previously failed to pay a fee in a timely 
fashion, i.e., within 30 days of the date of a billing. In such cases, 
the CSB may require the requester to pay the full amount owed plus any 
applicable interest, as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, or 
demonstrate that the fee owed has been paid, prior to processing any 
further record request. Under these circumstances, the CSB may require 
the requester to make an advance payment of the full amount of the fees 
anticipated before processing a new request or finishing processing of a 
pending request from that requester.
    (2) A request for an advance deposit shall ordinarily include an 
offer to the requester to confer with identified CSB personnel to 
attempt to reformulate the request in a manner which will meet the needs 
of the requester at a lower cost.
    (3) When the CSB requests an advance payment of fees, the 
administrative time limits described in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) begin only 
after the CSB has received the advance payment.
    (d) Interest. The CSB may assess interest charges on an unpaid bill 
starting on the 31st day following the day on which the bill was sent. 
Once a fee payment has been received by the CSB, even if not processed, 
the accrual of interest shall be stayed. Interest charges shall be 
assessed at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and shall accrue from 
the date of the billing.
    (e) Whenever a total fee calculated under paragraph (d) of this 
section is $14.00 or less for any request, no fee will be charged.

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