[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR4.8]
[Page 94-96]
TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
CHAPTER I--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
PART 4_MISCELLANEOUS RULES--Table of Contents
Sec. 4.8 Costs for obtaining Commission records.
(a) Definitions. For the purpose of this section:
(1) The term search includes all time spent looking, manually or by
automated means, for material that is responsive to a request, including
page-by-page or line-by-line identification of material within
documents.
(2) The term duplication refers to the process of making a copy of a
document in order to respond to a request for Commission records.
(3) The term review refers to the examination of documents located
in response to a request to determine whether any portion of such
documents may be withheld, and the reduction or other processing of
documents for disclosure. Review does not include time spent resolving
general legal or policy issues regarding the release of the document.
(4) The term direct costs means expenditures that the Commission
actually incurs in processing requests. Not included in direct costs are
overhead expenses such as costs of document review facilities or the
costs of heating or lighting such a facility or other facilities in
which records are stored. The direct costs of specific services are set
forth in Sec. 4.8(b)(6).
(b) Fees. User fees pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 483(a) and 5 U.S.C. 552(a)
shall be charged according to this paragraph.
(1) Commercial use requesters. Commercial use requesters will be
charged for the direct costs to search for, review, and duplicate
documents. A commercial use requester is a requester 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.
(2) Educational requesters, non-commercial scientific institution
requesters, and representative of the news media. Requesters in these
categories will be charged for the direct costs to duplicate documents,
excluding charges for the first 100 pages. An educational institution is
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. A non-commercial scientific
institution is an institution that is not operated on a commercial basis
as that term is referenced in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, and that
is operated solely to conduct scientific research the results of which
are not intended to promote any particular product or industry. A
representative of the news media is any person actively gathering news
for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast
news to the public. News means information that is about current events
or that would be of current interest to the public.
(3) Other requesters. Other requesters will be charged for the
direct costs to search for and duplicate documents, except that the
first 100 pages of duplication and the first two hours of search time
shall be furnished without charge.
(4) Waiver of small charges. Notwithstanding the provisions of
paragraphs (b)(1), (2), and (3) of this section, charges will be waived
if the total chargeable fees for a request do not exceed $14.00.
(5) Materials available without charge. These provisions do not
apply to recent Commission decisions and other materials that may be
made available to all requesters without charge while supplies last.
[[Page 95]]
(6) Schedule of direct costs. The following uniform schedule of fees
applies to records held by all constituent units of the Commission:
Paper Fees:
Paper copy (up to 8.5x14).
Reproduced by Commission............... $0.14 per page.
Reproduced by Requester................ 0.05 per page.
Microfiche Fees:
Film Copy--Paper to 16mm film.......... 0.04 per frame.
Fiche Copy--Paper to 105mm fiche....... 0.08 per frame.
Film Copy--Duplication of existing 100 9.50 per roll.
ft. roll of 16mm film.
Fiche Copy--Duplication of existing 0.26 per fiche.
105mm fiche.
Paper Copy--Converting existing 16mm 0.26 per page.
film to paper (Conversion by
Commission Staff).
Paper Copy--Converting existing 105mm 0.23 per page.
fiche to paper (Conversion by
Commission Staff).
Film Cassettes......................... 2.00 per cassette.
Electronic Services:
Converting paper into electronic format 2.50 per page.
(scanning).
Computer programming................... 8.00 per qtr. hour.
Other Fees:
Computer Tape.......................... 18.50 each.
Certification.......................... 10.35 each.
Express Mail........................... 3.50 for first pound and
3.67 for each additional
pound (up to $15.00).
Search and Review Fees
Agency staff is divided into three categories: clerical, attorney/
economist, and other professional. Fees for search and review are
assessed on a quarter-hourly basis, and are determined by identifying
the category into which the staff member(s) conducting the search or
review belong(s), determining the average quarter-hourly wages of all
staff members within that category, and adding 16 percent to reflect the
cost of additional benefits accorded to government employees. The exact
fees are calculated and announced periodically and are available from
the Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580; (202) 326-2222.
(c) Information to determine fees. Each request for records shall
set forth whether the request is made for other than commercial purposes
and whether the requester is an educational institution, a noncommercial
scientific institution, or a representative of the news media. The
deciding official (as designated by the General Counsel) initially, or
the General Counsel on appeal, will use this information, any additional
information provided by the requester, and any other relevant
information to determine the appropriate fee category in which to place
the requester.
(d) Agreement to pay fees. (1) Each request that does not contain an
application for a fee waiver shall specifically indicate the requester's
willingness either:
(i) To pay, in accordance with Sec. 4.8(b) of these rules, whatever
fees may be charged for processing the request; or
(ii) A willingness to pay such fees up to a specified amount.
(2) Each request that contains an application for a fee waiver must
specifically indicate:
(i) The requester's willingness to pay, in accordance with Sec.
4.8(b) of the rules, whatever fees may be charged for processing the
request;
(ii) The requester's willingness to pay fees up to a specified
amount; or
(iii) That the requester is not willing to pay fees if the waiver is
not granted.
(3) If the agreement required by this section is absent, and if the
estimated fees exceed $25.00, the requester will be advised of the
estimated fees and the
[[Page 96]]
request will not be processed until the requester agrees to pay such
fees.
(e) Public interest fee waivers--(1) Procedures. A requester may
apply for a waiver of fees. The requester shall explain why a waiver is
appropriate under the standards set forth in this paragraph. The
application shall also include a statement, as provided by paragraph (d)
of this section, of whether the requester agrees to pay costs if the
waiver is denied. The deciding official (as designated by the General
Counsel) initially, or the General Counsel on appeal, will rule on
applications for fee waivers.
(2) Standards. (i) The first requirement for a fee waiver is that
disclosure will likely contribute significantly to public understanding
of the operations or activities of the government. This requirement
shall be met if:
(A) The subject matter of the requested information concerns the
operations or activities of the Federal government;
(B) The disclosure is likely to contribute to an understanding of
these operations or activities;
(C) The understanding to which disclosure is likely to contribute is
the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the
understanding of the individual requester or a narrow segment of
interested persons; and
(D) The likely contribution to public understanding will be
significant.
(ii) The second requirement for a fee waiver is that the request not
be primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Satisfaction
of this requirement shall be determined by considering:
(A) Whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be
furthered by the requested disclosure; and
(B) If so, whether the public interest in disclosure is outweighed
by the identified commercial interest of the requester so as to render
the disclosure primarily in the requester's commercial interest.
(f) Unsuccessful searches. Charges may be assessed for search time
even if the agency fails to locate any responsive records or if it
locates only records that are determined to be exempt from disclosure.
(g) Aggregating requests. If the deciding official (as designated by
the General Counsel) initially, or the General Counsel on appeal,
reasonably believes that a requester, or a group of requesters acting in
concert, is attempting to evade an assessment of fees by dividing a
single request into a series of smaller requests, the requests may be
aggregated and fees charged accordingly.
(h) Advance payment. If the deciding official (as designated by the
General Counsel) initially, or the General Counsel on appeal, estimates
or determines that allowable charges that a requester may be required to
pay are likely to exceed $250.00, or if the requester has previously
failed to pay a fee within 30 days of the date of billing, the requester
may be required to pay some or all of the total estimated charge in
advance. Further, the requester may be required to pay all unpaid bills,
including accrued interest, prior to processing the request.
(i) Means of payment. Payment shall be made by check or money order
payable to the Treasury of the United States.
(j) Interest charges. The Commission will begin assessing interest
charges on an unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the day on
which the bill was sent. Interest will accrue from the date of the
billing, and will be calculated at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C.
3717.
(k) Effect of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365) The
Commission may pursue repayment, where appropriate, by employing the
provisions of the Debt Collection Act, Public Law 97-365), including
disclosure to consumer reporting agencies and use of collection
agencies.
[57 FR 10806, Mar. 31, 1992, as amended at 63 FR 45646, Aug. 26, 1998;
64 FR 3012, Jan. 20, 1999; 66 FR 64144, Dec. 12, 2001]