[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 6]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR1662.6]

[Page 355-358]
 
                        TITLE 32-NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
                  CHAPTER XVI--SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM
 
PART 1662_FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) PROCEDURES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 1662.6  Fee schedule; waiver of fees.

    (a) Definitions. For the purposes of this section:
    (1) Direct costs mean those expenditures which the Selective Service 
System (SSS) actually incurs in searching for and duplicating (and in 
the case of commercial requesters, reviewing) documents to respond to a 
FOIA request. Direct costs include, for example, the salary of the 
employee performing work (the basic rate of pay for the employee plus 16 
percent of the rate to cover benefits) and the cost of operating 
duplicating machinery. Not included in direct costs are overhead 
expenses such as costs of space, and heating or lighting the facility in 
which the records are stored.
    (2) The term search includes all time spent looking for material 
that is responsive to a request, including page-by-page or line-by-line 
identification of material within documents. Search should be 
distinguished from review of material in order to determine whether the 
material is exempt from disclosure (see paragraph (a)(4) of this 
section). Searches may be done manually or by computer using existing 
programming.
    (3) Duplication refers to the process of making a copy of a document 
necessary to respond to an FOIA request. Such copies may take the form 
of paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, or machine readable 
documentation (e.g., magnetic tape or disk), among others.
    (4) Review refers to the process of examining documents located in 
response to a commercial use request to determine whether any portion of 
any document located is permitted to be withheld. It also includes 
processing any documents for disclosure, e.g., doing all that is 
necessary to excise them and

[[Page 356]]

otherwise to prepare them for release. Review does not include time 
spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application 
of exemptions.
    (5) The term  `commercial use' request refers to a request from or 
on behalf of one who seeks information for the use or purpose that 
furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or 
the person on whose behalf the request is made. In determining whether a 
request properly belongs in this category the agency must determine the 
use to which a requester will put the documents requested. Moreover 
where there is 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 agency may seek additional clarification before 
assigning the request to a specific category.
    (6) The term educational institution refers to a preschool, a public 
or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of graduate 
higher education, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an 
institution of professional education, and an institution of vocational 
education, which operates a program or programs of scholarly research.
    (7) The term non-commercial scientific institution refers to an 
institution that is not operated on a commercial basis as that term is 
referenced in paragraph (a)(5) of this section, and which is operated 
solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of 
which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.
    (8) The term representative of the news media refers to any person 
actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to 
publish or broadcast news to the public. The term news means information 
that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the 
public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio 
stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of 
periodicals (but only in those instances when they can qualify as 
disseminators of news) who make their products available for purchase or 
subscription by the general public. These examples are not intended to 
be all-inclusive. Moreover, as traditional methods of news delivery 
evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of newspapers through 
telecommunications services), such alternative media would be included 
in this category. In the case of freelance journalists, they may be 
regarded as working for a news organization if they can demonstrate a 
solid basis for expecting publication through that organization, even 
though not actually employed by it. A publication contract would be the 
clearest proof, but the agency may also look to the past publication 
record of a requester in making this determination.
    (b) Fees to be charged--categories of requesters. There are four 
categories of FOIA requesters: Commercial use requesters; education and 
non-commercial scientific institutions; representatives of the news 
media; and other requesters. The FOI Reform Act prescribes specific 
levels of fees for each of these categories:
    (1) Commercial use requesters. A request for documents for 
commercial use will be assessed charges which recover the full direct 
costs of searching for, reviewing for release, and duplicating the 
records sought. Requesters must reasonably describe the record sought. 
Commercial use requesters are not entitled to two hours of free search 
time nor 100 free pages of reproduction of documents. The cost of 
searching for and reviewing records will be recovered even if there is 
ultimately no disclosure of records (see paragraph (c)(5) of this 
section).
    (2) Educational and non-commercial scientific institution 
requesters. Documents to requesters in this category will be provided 
for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 
pages. To be eligible for inclusion in this category, a requester must 
show that the request is being made as authorized by and under the 
auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are not sought 
for a commercial use, but are sought in furtherance of scholarly (if the 
request is from an educational institution) or scientific (if the 
request is from a non-commercial scientific institution) research. 
Requesters must reasonably describe the records sought.

[[Page 357]]

    (3) Requesters who are representatives of the news media. Documents 
will be provided to requesters in this category for the cost of 
reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages. To be 
eligible for inclusion in this category, a requester must meet the 
criteria in paragraph (a)(8) of this section, and his or her request 
must not be made for a commercial use. A request for records supporting 
the news dissemination function of the requester shall not be considered 
to be a request that is for a commercial use. Requesters must reasonably 
describe the records sought.
    (4) All other requesters. The agency will charge requesters who do 
not fit into any of the categories above fees which recover the full 
reasonable direct cost of searching for and reproducing records that are 
responsive to the request, except that the first 100 pages of 
reproduction and the first two hours of search time shall be furnished 
without charge. Moreover, requests from record subjects for records 
about themselves filed in the agency's systems of records will continue 
to be treated under the fee provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974 which 
permit fees only for reproduction.
    (c) Assessment and collection of fees--(1) Aggregated requests. If 
the Records Manager reasonably believes that a requester or group of 
requesters is attempting to break a request down into a series of 
requests for the purpose of evading the assessment of fees, the Records 
Manager may aggregate any such requests accordingly.
    (2) Payment procedures--(i) Fee payment. The Records Manager may 
assume that a person requesting records pursuant to this part will pay 
the applicable fees, unless a request includes a limitation on fees to 
be paid or seeks a waiver or reduction of fees pursuant to paragraph 
(c)(4) of this section. Unless applicable fees are paid, the agency may 
use the authorities of the Debt Collection Act (Pub. L. 97-365), 
including disclosure to consumer reporting agencies and use of 
collection agencies, where appropriate, to encourage payment.
    (ii) Advance payment. (A) The Records Manager may require advance 
payment of any fee estimated to exceed $250. The Records Manager may 
also require full payment in advance where a requester has previously 
failed to pay fees in a timely fashion.
    (B) If the Records Manager estimates that the fees will likely 
exceed $25, he will notify the requester of the estimated amount of 
fees, unless the requester has indicated in advance his willingness to 
pay fees as high as those anticipated. Such a notice shall offer a 
requester the opportunity to confer with agency personnel with the 
object of reformulating the request to meet his or her needs at a lower 
cost.
    (3) Late charges. The Records Manager may assess interest charges 
when fee payment is not made within 30 days of the date on which the 
billing was sent. Interest will be at the rate prescribed in section 
3717 of title 31 U.S.C.A.
    (4) Waiver or reduction of fees--(i) Standards for determining 
waiver or reduction. The Records Manager shall grant a waiver or 
reduction of fees chargeable under this section where it is determined 
that disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it 
is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the 
operations or activities of the Selective Service System and is not 
primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. The Records 
Manager shall also waive fees that are less than the average cost of 
collecting fees. In determining whether disclosure is in the public 
interest, the following factors may be considered:
    (A) The relation of the records to the operations or activities of 
the System;
    (B) The information value of the information to be disclosed;
    (C) Any contribution to an understanding of the subject by the 
general public likely to result from disclosure;
    (D) The significance of that contribution to the public 
understanding of the subject;
    (E) The nature of the requester's personal interest, if any, in the 
disclosure requested; and
    (F) Whether the disclosure would be primarily in the requester's 
commercial interest.
    (ii) Contents of request for waiver. The Records Manager will 
normally

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deny a request for a waiver of fees that does not include:
    (A) A clear statement of the requester's interest in the requested 
documents;
    (B) The use proposed for the documents and whether the requester 
will derive income or other benefit from such use;
    (C) A statement of how the public will benefit from such use and 
from the release of the requested documents; and
    (D) If specialized use of the documents or information is 
contemplated, a statement of the requester's qualifications that are 
relevant to the specialized use.
    (iii) Burden of proof. In all cases the burden shall be on the 
requester to present evidence or information in support of a request for 
a waiver of fees.
    (5) Fees for nonproductive search. Fees for record searches and 
review may be charged even if not responsive documents are located or if 
the request is denied, particularly if the requester insists upon a 
search after being informed that it is likely to be nonproductive or 
that any records found are likely to be exempt from disclosure. The 
Records Manager shall apply the standards set out in paragraph (c)(4) of 
this section in determining whether to waive or reduce fees.

    Appendix A to Sec. 1662.6-- Freedom of Information Fee Schedule

                              Duplication:

Photocopy, per standard page........................................$.10
Paper Copies of microfiche, per frame...............................$.10

                           Search and review:

    Salary of the employee (the basic rate of pay of the employee plus 
16 percent of that rate to cover benefits), performing the work of 
manual search and review.

                     Computer search and production:

    For each request the Records Manager will separately determine the 
actual direct costs of providing the service, including computer search 
time, tape or printout production, and operator salary.

                            Special services:

    The Records Manager may agree to provide and set fees to recover the 
costs of special services not covered by the Freedom of Information Act, 
such as certifying records or information, packaging and mailing 
records, and sending records by special methods such as express mail. 
The Records Manager may provide self-service photocopy machines and 
microfiche printers as a convenience to requesters and set separate 
perpage fees reflecting the cost of operation and maintenance of those 
machines.

                              Fee waivers:

    For qualifying educational and noncommercial scientific institution 
requesters and representatives of the news media the Records Manager 
will not assess fees for review time, for the first 100 pages of 
reproduction, or, when the records sought are reasonably described, for 
search time. For other noncommercial use requests no fees will be 
assessed for review time, for the first 100 pages of reproduction, or 
for the first two hours of search time.
    The Records Manager will waive in full fees that total less than 
$1.00 or that are less than the average cost of collecting fees.
    The Records Manager will also waive or reduce fees, upon proper 
request, if disclosure of the information is in the public interest 
because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding 
of the operations or activities of the System and is not primarily in 
the commercial interest of the requester.

[52 FR 13665, Apr. 24, 1987]