[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 34, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 34CFR5.60]

[Page 10]
 
                           TITLE 34--EDUCATION
 
PART 5--AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC PURSUANT TO PUB. L. 90-23
--Table of Contents
 
                       Subpart E--Fees and Charges
 
Sec. 5.60  Schedule of fees.

    Source: 52 FR 32525, Aug. 27, 1987, unless otherwise noted.


    (a) Fees and charges are charged under this part as follows:
    (1) Search for records--(i) General. Full search fees are charged 
for records requested by commercial use requesters. For records 
requested by representatives of the news media or educational or 
noncommercial scientific institutions whose purpose is scholarly or 
scientific research, no search fee is charged if the records requested 
are not for commercial use. For other requesters, if the records 
requested are not for commercial use, the first two hours of search time 
are provided without charge, except as limited in paragraph (a)(1)(iii) 
of this section. Search fees are recorded and assessed to the nearest 
quarter hour.
    (ii) Manual search. The charge for a manual search is calculated by 
determining the search time to the nearest quarter hour and multiplying 
that figure by the sum of the basic rate of pay per hour of the employee 
conducting the search plus 16 percent of that rate.
    (iii) Computer search. The charge for a computer search is 
calculated by determining the search time to the nearest quarter hour 
and multiplying that figure by the sum of the basic rate of pay per hour 
of the computer operator plus 16% of that rate plus $287 per hour for 
computer operation. Two hours of search time on a computer search is 
deemed to have been spent if the cost of the search equals the 
equivalent of two hours of the computer operator's basic rate of pay per 
hour plus 16 percent of that rate.
    (2) Review of records. Review fees are charged only for commercial 
use requests and only for the initial review. The review rate is 
calculated by determining the review time to the nearest quarter hour 
and multiplying that figure by the sum of the basic rate of pay per hour 
of the employee conducting the review plus 16% of that rate. If records 
requested under this part are stored elsewhere than the headquarters of 
the Department at Washington, DC, the mailing and handling costs of 
returning those records to the headquarters for review is added to the 
review costs.
    (3) Duplication of records. No duplication fee is charged for the 
first 100 pages, except for commercial use requests. Duplication charges 
for paper copy reproduction of documents on photocopy machines is $0.10 
per page.
    (4) Certification of records. The charge for certifying records is 
$5 per record certified.
    (5) Other. If no specific fee has been established for a service, or 
the request for a service does not fall under one of the categories in 
paragraphs (a)(1)-(4) of this section due to the amount or type of 
service, the Secretary is authorized to establish an appropriate fee, 
based on direct costs on a case-by-case basis as provided in the FOIA.
    (b) If the Secretary awards a contract for a search or duplication 
of records for a FOI request, the fees charged are the actual costs 
under the contract.
    (c) Fees are not charged if the total amount of the fee is less than 
$5. If the total amount of the fee is $5, or more, applicable search and 
review costs are charged even if no records are located or disclosed. 
The Secretary does not refund fees paid for services actually rendered.
    (d) If the FOI Officer reasonably believes that a requester or group 
of requesters acting in concert is attempting to break down a request 
into multiple requests for the purpose of avoiding fee assessment, those 
requests and fees are aggregated and charged accordingly.