[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 22, Volume 1]

[Revised as of April 1, 2006]

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

[CITE: 22CFR171.16]



[Page 755-756]

 

                       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 756]]



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.