[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 39, Volume 1]

[Revised as of July 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 39CFR265.9]



[Page 108-112]

 

                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE

 

                 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

 

PART 265_RELEASE OF INFORMATION--Table of Contents

 

Sec. 265.9  Schedule of fees.



    (a) Policy. The purpose of this section is to establish fair and 

equitable fees to permit the furnishing of records to members of the 

public while recovering the full allowable direct costs incurred by the 

Postal Service. The Postal Service will use the most efficient and least 

costly methods available to it when complying with requests for records.

    (b) Standard rates--(1) Record retrieval. Searches may be done 

manually or by computer using existing programming.

    (i) Manual search. The fee for a manual search is $32 per hour 

(fractions of an hour are rounded to the nearest half hour).

    (ii) Computer search. The fee for retrieving data by computer is the 

actual direct cost of the retrieval, including computer search time, and 

personnel cost in effect at the time that the retrieval services are 

performed. The fees are subject to periodic revision. A copy of the fees 

are included within the public index. (See appendix A.)

    (2) Duplication. (i) Except where otherwise specifically provided in 

postal regulations, the fee for duplicating any record or publication is 

$.15 per page.

    (ii) The Postal Service may at its discretion make coin-operated 

copy machines available at any location or otherwise give the requester 

the opportunity to make copies of Postal Service records at his own 

expense. Unless authorized by the Records Office, however, no off-site 

copying shall be permitted of records which, if lost, could not be 

replaced without inconvenience to the Postal Service.

    (iii) The Postal Service will normally furnish only one copy of any 

record. If duplicate copies are furnished at the request of the 

requester, the $.15 per-page fee shall be charged for each copy of each 

duplicate page without regard to whether the requester is eligible for 

free copies pursuant to paragraph (c) or (g) of this section. At his or 

her discretion, when it is reasonably necessary because of a lack of 

adequate copying facilities or other circumstances, the custodian may 

make the requested record available to the requester for inspection 

under reasonable conditions and need not furnish a copy thereof.

    (3) Review. The fee for reviewing records located in response to a 

commercial use request is $32 per hour (fractions of an hour are rounded 

to the nearest half hour). Only requesters who are seeking documents for 

commercial use may be charged for review. ``Review'' is defined in 

paragraph (h)(4) of this section; ``commercial use'' is defined in 

paragraph (h)(5) of this section.

    (4) Micrographics. Paragraphs (b) (1), (2) and (3) of this section 

also apply to information stored within micrographic systems.

    (c) Four categories of fees to be charged. For the purpose of 

assessing fees under this section, a requester shall be classified into 

one of four categories: commercial use requesters; educational and 

noncommercial scientific institutions; representatives of the news 

media; and all other requesters. Requesters in each category must 

reasonably describe the records sought. Fees shall be charged requesters 

in each category in accordance with the following.

    (1) Commercial use requesters. Fees shall be charged to recover the 

full direct costs of search, review and duplication in accordance with 

the rates prescribed in paragraphs (b) (1) through (3) of this section, 

subject only to the general waiver set out in paragraph (g)(1) of this 

section. The term ``commercial use request'' is defined in paragraph 

(h)(5).

    (2) Educational and noncommercial scientific institutions. Fees 

shall be charged only for duplication in accordance with paragraph 

(b)(2) of this section, except that the first 100 pages furnished in 

response to a particular request shall be furnished without charge. (See 

also the general waiver provision in paragraph (g)(1) of this section.) 

To be eligible for the reduction of fees applicable to this category, 

the 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 or scientific research. These institutions



[[Page 109]]



are defined in paragraphs (h)(6) and (h)(7) of this section, 

respectively.

    (3) Representatives of the news media. Fees shall be charged only 

for duplication in accordance with paragraph (b)(2) of this section, 

except that the first 100 pages furnished in response to a particular 

request shall be furnished without charge. (See also the general waiver 

provision in paragraph (g)(1) of this section.) To be eligible for the 

reduction of fees applicable to this category, the requester must meet 

the criteria in paragraph (h)(8) of this section, and the request must 

not be made for a commercial use.

    (4) All other requesters. Fees shall be charged for search and 

duplication in accordance with paragraphs (b) (1) and (2) of this 

section, except that the first 100 pages of duplication and the first 

two hours of search time shall be furnished without charge. (See also 

paragraphs (g)(1) and (g)(2) of this section.)

    (d) Aggregating requests. When the custodian reasonably believes 

that a requester is attempting to break a request down into a series of 

requests in order to evade the assessment of fees, the custodian may 

aggregate the requests and charge accordingly. The custodian shall not 

aggregate multiple requests when the requests pertain to unrelated 

subject matter. Requests made by more than one requester may be 

aggregated only when the custodian has a concrete basis on which to 

conclude that the requesters are acting in concert specifically to avoid 

payment of fees.

    (e) Other costs--(1) Publications. Publications and other printed 

materials may, to the extent that they are available in sufficient 

quantity, be made available at the established price, if any, or at cost 

to the Postal Service. Fees established for printed materials pursuant 

to laws, other than the Freedom of Information Act, that specifically 

provide for the setting of fees for particular types of records are not 

subject to waiver or reduction under this section.

    (2) Other charges. When a response to a request requires services or 

materials other than the common one listed in paragraph (b) of this 

section, the direct cost of such services or materials to the Postal 

Service may be charged, but only if the requester has been notified of 

the nature and estimated amount of such cost before it is incurred.

    (f) Advance notice and payment of fees--(1) Liability and payment. 

The requester is responsible, subject to limitations on liability 

provided by this section, for the payment of all fees for services 

resulting from his request, even if responsive records are not located 

or are determined to be exempt from disclosure. Checks in payment of 

fees should be made payable to ``U.S. Postal Service.''

    (2) Advance notice. To protect members of the public from 

unwittingly incurring liability for unexpectedly large fees, the 

custodian shall notify the requester if the estimated cost is expected 

to exceed $25. When search fees are expected to exceed $25, but it 

cannot be determined in advance whether any records will be located or 

made available, the custodian shall notify the requester of the 

estimated amount and of the responsibility to pay search fees even 

through records are not located or are determined to be exempt from 

disclosure. The notification shall be transmitted as soon as possible 

after physical receipt of the request, giving the best estimate then 

available. It shall include a brief explanatory statement of the nature 

and extent of the services upon which the estimate is based and shall 

offer the requester an opportunity to confer with the custodian or his 

representative in an attempt to reformulate the request so as to meet 

his needs at lower cost. The time period for responding to the request 

shall not run during the interval between the date such notification is 

transmitted and the date of receipt of the requester's agreement to bear 

the cost. No notification is required if the request specifically states 

that whatever cost is involved is acceptable or is acceptable up to a 

specified amount that covers estimated costs or if payment of all fees 

in excess of $25 has been waived.

    (3) Advance payment. Advance payment of fees shall not be required, 

except: (i) When it is estimated that the fees chargeable under this 

section are likely to exceed $250. If the requester has a history of 

prompt payment of FOIA fees, the custodian shall notify



[[Page 110]]



the requester of the likely cost and obtain satisfactory assurance of 

full payment before commencing work on the request. If the requester has 

no history of payment, the custodian may require an advance payment of 

an amount up to the full estimated charge before commencing work on the 

request.

    (ii) When a requester has previously failed to pay a fee in a timely 

fashion (i.e., within 30 days of the date of the billing), the requester 

shall be required to pay the full amount owed, and to make an advance 

payment of the full amount of the estimated fee before processing will 

begin on a new or pending request.

    (iii) When advance payment is required under paragraphs (f)(3)(i) or 

(ii) of this section, the time periods for responding to the initial 

request or to an appeal shall not run during the interval between the 

date that notice of the requirement is transmitted and the date that the 

required payment or assurance of payment is received.

    (g) Restrictions on assessing fees--(1) General waiver. No fees 

shall be charged to any requester if they would amount, in the 

aggregate, for a request or a series of related requests, to $10 or 

less. When the fees for the first 100 pages or the first two hours of 

search time are excludable under paragraph (c) of this section, 

additional costs will not be assessed unless they exceed $10.

    (2) Certain fees not charged--(i) All requests except those for 

commercial use. Fees shall not be charged for the first 100 pages of 

duplication and the first two hours of search time except when the 

request is for a commercial use as defined in paragraph (h)(5) of this 

section. When search is done by computer, the fees to be excluded for 

the first two hours of search time shall be determined on the basis of 

fee for computer searches then in effect. (See appendix A.) Assessment 

of search fees will begin at the point when the cost of the search 

(including the cost of personnel and computer processing time) reaches 

the equivalent dollar amount of personnel fees for 2 hours.

    (ii) Requests of educational and noncommercial scientific 

institutions, and representatives of the news media. Fees shall not be 

charged for time spent searching for records in response to requests 

submitted by educational and noncommercial scientific institutions or 

representatives of the news media.

    (3) Public interest waiver. The custodian shall waive a fee, in 

whole or in part, and any requirement for advance payment of such a fee, 

when he determines that furnishing the records is deemed to be in the 

public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to 

public understanding of the operations or activities of the federal 

government, and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the 

requester. This waiver may be granted notwithstanding the applicability 

of other fee reductions prescribed by this section for requesters in 

certain categories. In determining whether disclosure is in the public 

interest for the purposes of this waiver, the following factors may be 

considered:

    (i) The relation of the records to the operations or activities of 

the Postal Services;

    (ii) The informative value of the information to be disclosed;

    (iii) Any contribution to an understanding of the subject by the 

general public likely to result from disclosure;

    (iv) The significance of that contribution to the public 

understanding of the subject;

    (v) The nature of the requester's personal interest, if any, in the 

disclosure requested; and

    (vi) Whether the disclosure would be primarily in the requester's 

commercial interest.

    (4) Waiver by officer. Any officer of the Postal Service, as defined 

in Sec. 221.8, his designee, or the Manager, Records Office may waive 

in whole or in part any fee required by this part or the requirement for 

advance payment of any fee.

    (5) Fee for other services. Waivers do not apply for fees for 

address correction services performed in accordance with section R900 of 

the Domestic Mail Manual.

    (h) Definitions. As used in this section, the term:

    (1) Direct costs include expenditures actually incurred 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



[[Page 111]]



salary of the employee performing work (the basic rate of pay for the 

employee plus a factor 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) 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. Searches may be done 

manually or by computer using existing programming. A line-by-line 

search will be conducted only when necessary to determine whether the 

document contains responsive information and will not be employed in 

those instances in which duplication of the entire document would be the 

less expensive and quicker method of complying with a request. Search 

does not include review of material to determine whether the material is 

exempt from disclosure (see paragraph (h)(4) of this section).

    (3) Duplication refers to the process of making a copy of a document 

necessary to respond to a FOIA request. Such copies can take the form of 

paper copy, microform, audio-visual materials, or machine readable 

documentation (e.g., magnetic tape or disk), among others. The copy 

provided must be in a form that is reasonably usable by requesters.

    (4) Review refers to the process of examining documents located in 

response to a request that is for a commercial use (see paragraph (h)(5) 

of this section) to determine whether any portion of any document 

located is exempt from mandatory disclosure. It also includes processing 

any documents for disclosure, e.g., doing all that is necessary to 

excise them and otherwise prepare them for release. Review does not 

include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding 

the application of exemptions. Charges may be assessed only for the 

initial review, i.e., the first time the applicability of a specific 

exemption is analyzed. Costs for a subsequent review are properly 

assessable only when a record or portion of a record withheld solely on 

the basis of an exemption later determined not to apply must be reviewed 

again to determine the applicability of other exemptions not previously 

considered.

    (5) 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. In determining whether a request 

properly belongs in this category, the Postal Service will look to the 

use to which the requester will put the documents requested. If the use 

is not clear from the request itself, or if there is reasonable cause to 

doubt the requester's stated use, the custodian shall seek additional 

clarification from the requester before assigning the request to this 

category.

    (6) Educational institution refers to a pre-school, 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) Noncommercial scientific institution refers to an institution 

that is not operated on a ``commercial'' basis as that term is defined 

in paragraph (h)(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) 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. Requests by news organizations for information that will be used 

for the furtherance of the organization's commercial interests, rather 

than for the dissemination of news to the public, shall be considered 

commercial use requests. 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



[[Page 112]]



available for purchase or subscription by the general public. These 

examples are not intended to be all-inclusive. A ``freelance'' 

journalist will be regarded as a representative of the news media if he 

can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through a news 

organization, even though not actually employed by it. This may be 

demonstrated either by a publication contract with the news organization 

or by the past publication record of the requester.



[52 FR 13668, Apr. 24, 1987, as amended at 53 FR 49983, Dec. 13, 1988; 

54 FR 7417, Feb. 21, 1989. Redesignated at 56 FR 56934, Nov. 7, 1991, 

and amended at 56 FR 57805, Nov. 14, 1991; 59 FR 11550, Mar. 11, 1994; 

60 FR 57345, Nov. 15, 1995; 64 FR 41290, July 30, 1999; 68 FR 56559, 

Oct. 1, 2003; 69 FR 34935, June 23, 2004]