[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 9]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR2201.8]
[Page 302-303]
TITLE 29--LABOR
CHAPTER XX--OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
PART 2201_REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
--Table of Contents
Sec. 2201.8 Fees for copying, searching, and review.
(a) Discretion in charging fees--(1) Fees required unless waived.
The Freedom of Information Act Officer shall charge the fees in
paragraph (b) of this section unless the fees for a request are less
than $10, in which case no fees shall be charged. The Freedom of
Information Act Officer shall, however, waive the fees in the
circumstances stated in Sec. 2201.9.
(2) News media requests deemed not commercial. Requests made for a
commercial use are generally subject to higher fees than requests from a
representative of the news media. For the purpose of this section, a
request from a representative of the news media that supports the news
dissemination function of the requester will not be considered to be for
a commercial use.
(3) Determination of commercial use request. A commercial use
request refers to a request from or on behalf of one who seeks
information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade or
profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the
request is made. Where the Freedom of Information Act Officer has
reasonable cause to doubt the use to which a requester will put the
records sought, or where that use is not clear from the request itself,
the Freedom of Information Act Officer may seek clarification from the
requester before assigning the request to a specific category for fee
assessment purposes.
(b) Types of fees--(1) Copying fee. The fee per copy of each page up
to 8\1/2\x14 shall be $.25 per copy per page.
Copying fees shall not be charged for the first 100 pages of copies
unless the copies are requested for a commercial use. One copy of a
Commission or judge's decision will be provided free of charge. See
Sec. 2201.5(a).
(2) Search fee. The fee for searching for information and records
shall be $19 per hour of clerical time and $46 per hour of professional
time. Fees for searches of computerized records shall be the actual cost
to the Commission but shall not exceed $300 per hour. This fee includes
machine time and that of the operator and clerical personnel. The fee
for computer printouts shall be $.40 per page. Commercial requesters
shall be charged for all search time. Time spent on unsuccessful
searches shall be fully charged. However, search fees shall be limited
or not charged as follows:
(i) Easily identifiable decisions. Search fees shall not be charged
for searching for decisions that the requester identifies by name and
date, or by docket number, or that are otherwise easily identifiable.
(ii) Educational, scientific or news media requests. No fee shall be
charged if the request is not for a commercial use and is by an
educational or scientific institution, whose purpose is scholarly or
scientific research, or by a representative of the news media.
(iii) Other non-commercial requests. No fee shall be charged for the
first two hours of searching if the request is not for a commercial use
and is not by an educational or scientific institution, or a
representative of the news media.
(iv) Requests for records about self. No fee shall be charged to
search for records filed in the Commission's systems of records if the
requester is the subject of the requested records. See the Privacy Act
of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(5) (fees to be charged only for copying).
(3) Review fee. A review fee shall be charged only for commercial
requests. The review fee shall be charged for the initial examination of
documents located in response to a request to determine if it may be
withheld from disclosure, and for the excision of withholdable portions,
but shall not be charged for review by the Chairman under Sec.
2201.7(c). The review fee is $20 per hour.
(c) Aggregation of requests. When the Freedom of Information Act
Officer 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 Freedom
of Information Act Officer may aggregate any such requests and charge
accordingly.
(d) Certification or authentication. The fee for certification or
authentication shall be $3 per document.
(e) Fees likely to exceed $25. If copying or search charges are
likely to exceed $25, the Freedom of Information Act
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Officer shall notify the requester of the estimated amount of the
charges, unless the requester has indicated in advance a willingness to
pay fees as high as those anticipated. The notification shall offer the
requester an opportunity to confer with the Freedom of Information Act
Officer to reformulate the request to meet the requester's needs at a
lower cost.
(f) Advance payments. Advance payment of fees will generally not be
required. If, however, charges are likely to exceed $250, the Freedom of
Information Act Officer shall notify the requester of the likely cost
and: if the requester has a history of prompt payment of FOIA charges,
obtain satisfactory assurance of full payment; or if the requester has
no history of payment, require an advance payment of an amount up to the
full estimated charge. If the requester has previously failed to pay a
fee within 30 days of the date of billing, the Freedom of Information
Act Officer may request the requester to pay the full amount owed plus
any interest owed as provided in paragraph (g) of this section or
demonstrate that he has, in fact, paid the fee, and to make an advance
payment of the full amount of the estimated charges before the Freedom
of Information Act Officer begins to process the new request or a
pending request from that requester.
(g) Interest on unpaid bills. The Freedom of Information Act Officer
shall begin assessing interest charges on unpaid bills starting on the
thirty-first day after the date the bill was sent. The accrual of
interest will be stayed when the Freedom of Information Act Officer
receives a check in payment. Interest will be at the rate described in
31 U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the date of billing.
(h) Debt collection procedures. If bills are unpaid 60 days after
the mailing of a written notice to the requester, the Freedom of
Information Act Officer may resort to the debt collection procedures set
out in the Debt Collection Act of 1982, Pub. L. 97-365, including
disclosure to consumer credit reporting agencies (see 26 U.S.C. 6103)
and use of collection agencies to encourage payment. See 31 U.S.C. 3718
and 3302.
[53 FR 17930, May 19, 1988, as amended at 61 FR 14025, Mar. 29, 1996]