[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: 40CFR1601.33]



[Page 925-926]

 

                   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.  1601.33  Miscellaneous fee provisions.



    (a) Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25. Where the CSB 

determines or estimates that the fees chargeable will amount to more 

than $25, the CSB shall promptly notify the requester of the actual or 

estimated amount of fees or such portion thereof that can be readily 

estimated, unless the requester has indicated his or her willingness to 

pay fees as high as those anticipated. Where a requester has been 

notified that the actual or estimated fees may exceed $25, the request 

will be deemed not to have been received until the requester has agreed 

to pay the anticipated total fee. A notice to the requester pursuant to 

this paragraph will include the opportunity to confer with CSB personnel 

in order to reformulate the request to meet the requester's needs at a 

lower cost.

    (b) Aggregating requests. A requester may not file multiple requests 

at the same time, each seeking portions of a record or records, solely 

in order to avoid the payment of fees. When the CSB reasonably believes 

that a requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, is 

attempting to break a request into a series of requests for the purpose 

of evading the assessment of fees, the CSB may aggregate such requests 

and charge accordingly. One element to be considered in determining 

whether a belief would be reasonable is the time period over which the 

requests have occurred. The CSB will presume that multiple requests of 

this type made within a 30-day period have been made in order to evade 

fees. Where requests are separated by a longer period, the CSB shall 

aggregate them only where there exists a solid basis for determining 

that such aggregation is warranted, e.g., where the requests involve 

clearly related matters. Multiple requests regarding unrelated matters 

will not be aggregated.

    (c) Advance payment of fees. (1) The CSB does not require an advance 

payment before work is commenced or continued, unless:

    (i) The CSB estimates or determines that the fees are likely to 

exceed $250. If it appears that the fees will exceed $250, the CSB will 

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. In the case of requesters with no history of 

payment, the CSB may require an advance payment of fees in an amount up 

to the full estimated charge that will be incurred; or

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

fashion, i.e., within 30 days of the date of a billing. In such cases, 

the CSB may require the requester to pay the full amount owed plus any 

applicable interest, as provided in paragraph (d) of this section, or 

demonstrate that the fee owed has been paid, prior to processing any



[[Page 926]]



further record request. Under these circumstances, the CSB may require 

the requester to make an advance payment of the full amount of the fees 

anticipated before processing a new request or finishing processing of a 

pending request from that requester.

    (2) A request for an advance deposit shall ordinarily include an 

offer to the requester to confer with identified CSB personnel to 

attempt to reformulate the request in a manner which will meet the needs 

of the requester at a lower cost.

    (3) When the CSB requests an advance payment of fees, the 

administrative time limits described in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) begin only 

after the CSB has received the advance payment.

    (d) Interest. The CSB may assess interest charges on an unpaid bill 

starting on the 31st day following the day on which the bill was sent. 

Once a fee payment has been received by the CSB, even if not processed, 

the accrual of interest shall be stayed. Interest charges shall be 

assessed at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and shall accrue from 

the date of the billing.

    (e) Whenever a total fee calculated under paragraph (d) of this 

section is $14.00 or less for any request, no fee will be charged.