[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 22, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 22CFR171.16]

[Page 710-711]
 
                       TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS
 
                     CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT OF STATE
 
PART 171_AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION AND RECORDS TO THE PUBLIC
--Table of Contents
 
             Subpart B_Freedom of Information Act Provisions
 
Sec. 171.16  Miscellaneous fee provisions.

    (a) Charging interest. The Department shall begin assessing interest 
charges on an unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the day on 
which the bill was sent. The fact that the fee has been received by the 
Department within the thirty-day grace period, even if not processed, 
shall stay the accrual of interest. Interest will be at the rate 
prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and shall accrue from the date of the 
billing.
    (b) Charges for unsuccessful search or if records are withheld. The 
Department may assess charges for time spent

[[Page 711]]

searching, even if it fails to locate the records or if the records 
located are determined to be exempt from disclosure.
    (c) Advance payment. The Department may not require a requester to 
make an advance payment, i.e., payment before work is commenced or 
continued on a request, unless:
    (1) It estimates or determines that allowable charges that a 
requester may be required to pay are likely to exceed $250. In such a 
case, the Department shall 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, or shall require an advance 
payment of an amount up to the full estimated charges in the case of 
requesters with no history of payment; or
    (2) A requester has previously failed to pay within 30 days of the 
date of the billing a fee charged. In such a case, the Department shall 
require the requester to pay the full amount previously owed plus any 
applicable interest and to make an advance payment of the full amount of 
the estimated fee before the Department begins to process a new or 
pending request from that requester. If a requester has failed to pay a 
fee charged by another U.S. Government agency in an information access 
case, the Department may require proof that such fee has been paid 
before processing a new or pending request from that requester.
    (3) When the Department acts under paragraph (c)(1) or (2) of this 
section, the administrative time limits prescribed in the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(6) (i.e., 20 working days from receipt of initial requests and 20 
working days from receipt of appeals from initial denial, plus 
permissible extensions of these time limits), will begin only after the 
Department has received fee payments described in paragraphs (c)(1) and 
(2) of this section.
    (d) Aggregating requests. When the Department reasonably believes 
that a requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, has 
submitted multiple requests involving related matters solely to avoid 
payment of fees, the Department may aggregate those requests for 
purposes of assessing processing fees.
    (e) Effect of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365). The 
Department shall comply with provisions of the Debt Collection Act, 
including disclosure to consumer reporting agencies and use of 
collection agencies, where appropriate, to effect repayment.