[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 40, Volume 31]

[Revised as of July 1, 2006]

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

[CITE: 40CFR1601.31]



[Page 922-923]

 

                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT

 

       CHAPTER VI--CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD

 

PART 1601_PROCEDURES FOR DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS UNDER THE FREEDOM OF 

INFORMATION ACT--Table of Contents

 

                             Subpart D_Fees

 

Sec.  1601.31  Fees to be charged--categories of requesters.



    (a) Fees for various requester categories. Paragraphs (b) through 

(e) of this section state, for each category of requester, the types of 

fees generally charged by the CSB. However, for each of these 

categories, the fees may be limited, waived or reduced in accordance 

with the provisions set forth in Sec.  1601.32(c). If the CSB has 

reasonable cause to doubt the purpose specified in the request for which 

a requester will use the records sought, or where the purpose is not 

clear from the request itself, the CSB will seek clarification



[[Page 923]]



before assigning the request a specific category.

    (b) Commercial use requester. The CSB shall charge fees for records 

requested by persons or entities making a commercial use request in an 

amount that equals the full direct costs for searching for, reviewing 

for release, and reproducing the records sought. Commercial use 

requesters are not entitled to 2 hours of free search time nor 100 free 

pages of reproduction of records. In accordance with Sec.  1601.30, 

commercial use requesters may be charged the costs of searching for and 

reviewing records even if there is ultimately no disclosure of records.

    (c) Educational and noncommercial scientific institutions. The CSB 

shall charge fees for records requested by, or on behalf of, educational 

institutions and noncommercial scientific institutions in an amount 

which equals the cost of reproducing the records responsive to the 

request, excluding the cost of reproducing the first 100 pages. No 

search fee shall be charged with respect to requests by educational and 

noncommercial scientific institutions. For a request to be included in 

this category, requesters must show that the request being made is 

authorized by and under the auspices of a qualifying institution, and 

that the records are not sought for commercial use but are sought in 

furtherance of scholarly research (if the request is from an educational 

institution) or scientific research (if the request is from a 

noncommercial scientific institution).

    (d) News media. The CSB shall charge fees for records requested by 

representatives of the news media in an amount which equals the cost of 

reproducing the records responsive to the request, excluding the costs 

of reproducing the first 100 pages. No search fee shall be charged with 

respect to requests by representatives of the news media. For a request 

to be included in this category, the requester must qualify as a 

representative of the news media and the 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 commercial use.

    (e) All other requesters. The CSB shall charge fees for records 

requested by persons or entities that are not classified in any of the 

categories listed in paragraphs (b), (c), or (d) of this section in an 

amount that equals the full reasonable direct cost of searching for and 

reproducing records that are responsive to the request, excluding the 

first 2 hours of search time and the cost of reproducing the first 100 

pages of records. In accordance with Sec.  1601.30, requesters in this 

category may be charged the cost of searching for records even if there 

is ultimately no disclosure of records, excluding the first 2 hours of 

search time.

    (f) For purposes of the exceptions contained in this section on 

assessment of fees, the word pages refers to paper copies of 8\1/2\ x 11 

inches or 11 x 14 inches. Thus, requesters are not entitled to 100 

microfiche or 100 computer disks, for example. A microfiche containing 

the equivalent of 100 pages or a computer disk containing the equivalent 

of 100 pages of computer printout meets the terms of the exception.

    (g) For purposes of paragraph (e) of this section, the term search 

time has as its basis, manual search. To apply this term to searches 

made by computer, the CSB will determine the hourly cost of operating 

the central processing unit and the operator's hourly salary plus 16 

percent. When the cost of the search (including the operator time and 

the cost of operating the computer to process a request) equals the 

equivalent dollar amount of 2 hours of the salary plus 16 percent of the 

person performing the search, i.e., the operator, the CSB will begin 

assessing charges for the computer.