(a) The bureau will charge for processing requests under the FOIA in accordance with this subpart and with the OMB Fee Guidelines.

(b) The bureau may contact you for additional information to resolve fee issues.

(c) The bureau ordinarily will collect all applicable fees before sending copies of records to you.

(d) You may usually pay fees by check, certified check, or money order made payable to the “Department of the Interior” or the bureau.

(1) Where appropriate, the bureau may require that your payment be made in the form of a certified check.

(2) You may also be able to pay your fees by credit card. You may contact the bureau to determine what forms of payment it accepts.

(e) The bureau should ensure that it conducts searches, review, and duplication in the most efficient and the least expensive manner so as to minimize costs for both you and the bureau.

(f) If the bureau does not comply with any time limit in the FOIA:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (f)(2) of this section, the bureau cannot assess any search fees (or, if you are in the fee category of a representative of the news media or an educational and noncommercial scientific institution, duplication fees).

(2)(i) If the bureau has determined that unusual circumstances apply (as the term is defined in § 2.70) and the bureau provided you a timely written notice to extend the basic time limit in accordance with § 2.19, the noncompliance is excused for an additional 10 workdays.

(ii) If the bureau has determined that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request, the noncompliance is excused if the bureau has provided you a timely written notice in accordance with § 2.19 and has discussed with you via written mail, email, or telephone (or made not less than 3 good-faith attempts to do so) how you could effectively limit the scope of the request.

(iii) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist (as that term is defined in § 2.70), the noncompliance is excused for the length of time provided by the court order.

(g) If the fee for processing your request is less than $50, you will not be charged unless multiple requests are aggregated under § 2.54 of this subpart to an amount that is $50 or more.

(h) If you fail to pay any FOIA-related fee within 30 calendar days of the date of billing, the processing of any new or ongoing requests and/or appeals from you shall ordinarily be suspended.

(i) If you would like to reformulate your request so it will meet your needs at a lower cost, you may wish to seek assistance from the bureau's designated FOIA contact or its FOIA Requester Center(see § 2.66 of this part).

(a) There are four categories of requesters for the purposes of determining fees—commercial-use, educational and noncommercial scientific institutions, representatives of news media, and all others.

(b) The bureau's decision to place you in a particular fee category will be made on a case-by-case basis based on your intended use of the information and, in most cases, your identity. If you do not submit sufficient information in your FOIA request for the bureau to determine your proper fee category, the bureau may ask you to provide additional information (see § 2.51 of this subpart). If you request placement in a particular fee category but the bureau places you in a different fee category, the bureau will provide you with an explanation of why you were not placed in the fee category you requested (for example, if you were placed in the commercial use requester category rather than the category you requested, the bureau will describe how the records would further your commercial, trade, or profit interests).

(c) See § 2.70 of this part for the definitions of each of these fee categories.

You will be charged as shown in the following table:

(a) The bureau will charge the types of fees discussed below unless a waiver of fees is required under § 2.39 of this subpart or has been granted under § 2.45 or § 2.56.

(b) Because the types of fees discussed below already account for the overhead costs associated with a given fee type, the bureau should not add any additional costs to those charges.

(a) The bureau will charge search fees for all requests, subject to the restrictions of §§ 2.37(f), 2.39, and 2.40(a) of this subpart. The bureau may charge you for time spent searching even if it does not locate any responsive records or if it determines that the records are entirely exempt from disclosure.

(b) For each quarter hour spent by personnel searching for requested records, including electronic searches that do not require new programming, the fees will be the average hourly General Schedule (GS) base salary, plus the District of Columbia locality payment, plus 16 percent for benefits, of employees in the following three categories, as applicable:

(1) Clerical—Based on GS-6, Step 5, pay (all employees at GS-7 and below are classified as clerical for this purpose);

(2) Professional—Based on GS-11, Step 7, pay (all employees at GS-8 through GS-12 are classified as professional for this purpose); and

(3) Managerial—Based on GS-14, Step 2, pay (all employees at GS-13 and above are classified as managerial for this purpose).

(c) You can review the current fee schedule for the categories discussed above in paragraph (b) of this section at http://www.doi.gov/foia/fees-waivers.

(d) Some requests may require retrieval of records stored at a Federal records center operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. For these requests, bureaus will charge additional costs in accordance with the Transactional Billing Rate Schedule established by the National Archives and Records Administration.

(a) The bureau will charge duplication fees, subject to the restrictions of §§ 2.37(f), 2.39, and 2.40(a) of this subpart.

(b) If photocopies or scans are supplied, the bureau will provide one copy per request at the cost determined by the table in appendix A to this part.

(c) For other forms of duplication, the bureau will charge the actual costs of producing the copy, including the time spent by personnel duplicating the requested records. For each quarter hour spent by personnel duplicating the requested records, the fees will be the same as those charged for a search under § 2.41(b) of this subpart.

(d) If the bureau must scan paper records to accommodate your preference to receive records in an electronic format or print electronic records to accommodate your preference to receive records in a paper format, you will pay both the per page amount noted in Appendix A to this part and the time spent by personnel scanning or printing the requested records. For each quarter hour spent by personnel scanning or printing the requested records, the fees will be the same as those charged for a search under § 2.41(b) of this subpart.

(a) The bureau will charge review fees if you make a commercial-use request, subject to the restrictions of §§ 2.37(f), 2.39, and 2.40(a) of this subpart.

(b) The bureau will assess review fees in connection with the initial review of the record (the review conducted by the bureau to determine whether an exemption applies to a particular record or portion of a record).

(c) The Department will not charge for reviews at the administrative appeal stage of exemptions applied at the initial review stage. However, if the appellate authority determines that an exemption no longer applies, any costs associated with the bureau's re-review of the records to consider the use of other exemptions may be assessed as review fees.

(d) The bureau will charge review fees at the same rates as those charged for a search under § 2.41(b) of this subpart.

(e) The bureau can charge review fees even if the record(s) reviewed ultimately is not disclosed.

(a) Although not required to provide special services, if the bureau chooses to do so as a matter of administrative discretion, it will charge you the direct costs of providing the service.

(b) Examples of these services include providing multiple copies of the same record, converting records that are not already maintained in a requested format to the requested format, obtaining research data under § 2.69 of this part, sending records by means other than first class mail, and conducting a search that requires the creation of a new computer search program to locate the requested records.

(c) The bureau will notify you of these fees before they accrue and will obtain your written assurance of payment or an advance payment before proceeding. See §§ 2.49 and 2.50 of this subpart.

(a) The bureau will release records responsive to a request without charge (in other words, it will give you a full fee waiver) or at a reduced charge (in other words, it will give you a partial fee waiver, as discussed further in paragraph (b) of this section) if the bureau determines, considering the information you have provided, that you have demonstrated (by addressing and meeting each of the criteria listed in § 2.48 of this subpart) that disclosing the information is:

(1) In the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations or activities, and

(2) Not primarily in your commercial interest.

(b) A partial fee waiver may be appropriate if some but not all of the requested records are likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government.

(c) When deciding whether to waive or reduce fees, the bureau will rely on the fee waiver justification submitted in your request letter. If the letter does not include sufficient justification, the bureau will deny the fee waiver request. The bureau may, at its discretion, request additional information from you (see § 2.51 of this subpart).

(d) The burden is on you to justify entitlement to a fee waiver. Requests for fee waivers are decided on a case-by-case basis under the criteria discussed above in paragraph (a) of this section and § 2.48 of this subpart. If you have received a fee waiver in the past, that does not mean you are automatically entitled to a fee waiver for every request submitted.

(e) Discretionary fee waivers are addressed in § 2.56 of this subpart.

(f) The bureau must not make value judgments about whether the information at issue is “important” enough to be made public; it is not the bureau's role to attempt to determine the level of public interest in requested information.

(a) You should request a fee waiver when your request is first submitted to the bureau (see § 2.6 of this part).

(b) You may submit a fee waiver request at a later time if the bureau has not yet completed processing your request.

If the bureau denies your request for a fee waiver, it will notify you, in writing, of the following:

(a) The basis for the denial, including a full explanation of why the fee waiver request does not meet the Department's fee waiver criteria in § 2.48 of this subpart;

(b) The name and title or position of each person responsible for the denial;

(c) The name and title of the Office of the Solicitor attorney consulted;

(d) Your right to appeal the denial under subpart H of this part and a description of the requirements set forth therein, within 90 workdays from the date of the fee waiver denial letter; and

(e) Your anticipated fees, in accordance with § 2.49 of this subpart.

(a) In deciding whether your fee waiver request meets the requirements of § 2.45(a)(1) of this subpart, the bureau will consider the criteria listed in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(4) of this section. You must address and meet each of these criteria in order to demonstrate that you are entitled to a fee waiver.

(1) How the records concern the operations or activities of the Federal government. The subject of the request must concern discrete, identifiable agency activities, operations, or programs with a connection that is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated.

(2) How disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations or activities, including:

(i) How the contents of the records are meaningfully informative. The disclosure of information that is already readily available to you from other sources or easily accessible to the public, in either the same or a substantially identical form, would not be meaningfully informative if nothing new would be added to the public's understanding and the bureau informs you of where the requested information is already available;

(ii) What the logical connection is between the content of the records and the operations or activities of the Federal government;

(iii) How disclosure will contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, as opposed to your individual understanding;

(iv) Your expertise in the subject area as well as your identity, vocation, qualifications, and your plan to disclose the information in a manner that will be informative to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, as opposed to furthering your individual understanding;

(v) Your ability and intent to disseminate the information to a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject (for example, how and to whom you intend to disseminate the information). If we have categorized you as a representative of the news media under § 2.38, we will presume you have this ability and intent;

(vi) Whether the records would confirm or clarify data that has been released previously; and

(vii) How the public's understanding of the subject in question will be enhanced to a significant extent by the disclosure.

(b) In deciding whether the fee waiver request meets the requirements in § 2.45(a)(2) of this subpart, the bureau will consider any commercial interest of yours that would be furthered by the requested disclosure. To determine whether disclosure of the requested records is primarily in your commercial interest (based on your intended use of the information), the bureau will consider:

(1) Whether the requested disclosure would further any commercial interest of yours.

(2) If you have a commercial interest, the bureau must determine whether that is the primary interest furthered by the request by balancing the commercial interest against the public interest in disclosure of the records. When the requirements of paragraph (a) are satisfied and any commercial interest is not the primary interest furthered by the request, this balancing test shows a waiver or reduction of fees is justified. Bureaus ordinarily will presume that, when a news media requester has satisfied paragraph (a) above, the request is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

(3) You are encouraged to provide explanatory information regarding these considerations.

(4) The bureau will not find that disclosing the requested records will be primarily in your commercial interest where the public interest is greater than any identified commercial interest in disclosure.

(5) If you have a commercial interest that would be furthered by disclosure, explain how the public interest in disclosure would be greater than any commercial interest you may have in the documents.

(i) Your identity, vocation, and intended use of the requested records are all factors to be considered in determining whether disclosure would be primarily in your commercial interest.

(ii) If you are a representative of a news media organization seeking records as part of the news gathering process, we will ordinarily presume that the public interest outweighs your commercial interest. Disclosure to data brokers or others who merely compile and market government information for direct economic return will not be presumed to primarily serve the public interest.

(iii) If you represent a business/corporation/association or you are an attorney representing such an organization, we will presume that your commercial interest outweighs the public interest unless you demonstrate otherwise.

(a) The bureau will notify you under this section unless:

(1) The anticipated fee is less than $50 (see § 2.37(g) of this subpart).

(2) You have been granted a full fee waiver;

(3)Your request does not reasonably describe the records sought and/or does not explicitly state that you will pay all fees associated with the processing of the request, that you will pay fees up to a specified amount, and/or that you are seeking a fee waiver; or

(4) You have already agreed to pay all the fees associated with the request.

(b) If none of the above exceptions apply, the bureau will:

(1) Promptly notify you of the estimated costs for search, review, and/or duplication;

(2) Ask you to provide written assurance within 20 workdays that you will pay all fees or fees up to a designated amount;

(3) Notify you that it will not be able to comply with your FOIA request unless you provide the written assurance requested; and

(4) Give you an opportunity to reduce the fee by modifying the request.

(c) If the bureau does not receive your written response containing the additional information that resolves any fee issues, in accordance with paragraphs (b)(2) and/or (b)(4) of this section, within 20 workdays after the bureau has requested it, the bureau will presume that you are no longer interested in the records and will close the file on the request.

(d) After the bureau begins processing a request, if it finds that the actual cost will exceed the amount you previously agreed to pay, the bureau will:

(1) Stop processing the request;

(2) Promptly notify you of the higher amount and ask you to provide written assurance of payment; and

(3) Notify you that it will not be able to fully comply with your FOIA request unless you provide the written assurance requested; and

(4) Give you an opportunity to reduce the fee by modifying the request.

(e) If you wish to modify your request in an effort to reduce fees, the bureau's FOIA Requester Center can assist you.

(a) The bureau will require advance payment before starting further work when it finds the estimated fee is over $250 and:

(1) You have never made a FOIA request to the Department requiring the payment of fees; or

(2) You did not pay a previous FOIA fee within 30 calendar days of the date of billing.

(b) If the bureau believes that you did not pay a previous FOIA fee within 30 calendar days of the date of billing, the bureau will require you to either:

(1) Demonstrate you paid prior fee within 30 calendar days of the date of billing; or

(2) Pay any unpaid amount of the previous fee, plus any applicable interest penalties (see § 2.53 of this subpart), and pay in advance the estimated fee for the new request.

(c) When the bureau notifies you that an advance payment is due under paragraph (a) of this section, it will give you an opportunity to reduce the fee by modifying the request.

(d) Your payment of the funds you owe the bureau for work it has already completed before records are sent to you is not an advance payment under paragraph (a) of this section.

(e) If the bureau requires advance payment, it will start further work only after receiving the advance payment. It will also notify you that it will not be able to comply with your FOIA request unless you provide the advance payment. Unless you pay the advance payment within 20 workdays after the date of the bureau's fee letter, the bureau will presume that you are no longer interested and will close the file on the request.

(a) If your FOIA request does not contain sufficient information for the bureau to determine your proper fee category or leaves another fee issue unclear, the bureau may ask you to provide additional clarification. If it does so, the bureau will notify you that it will not be able to comply with your FOIA request unless you provide the clarification requested.

(b) If the bureau asks you to provide clarification, the 20-workday statutory time limit for the bureau to respond to the request is temporarily suspended.

(1) If the bureau receives a written response within 20 workdays after the bureau has requested the additional clarification, the 20-workday statutory time limit for processing the request will resume (see § 2.16 of this part).

(2) If you still have not provided sufficient information to resolve the fee issue, the bureau may ask you again to provide additional clarification and notify you that it will not be able to comply with your FOIA request unless you provide the additional information requested within 20 workdays after the bureau has requested the additional clarification.

(3) If the bureau asks you again for additional clarification, the statutory time limit for response will be temporarily suspended again and will resume again if the bureau receives a written response from you within 20 workdays after the bureau has requested the additional clarification.

(c) If the bureau asks for clarification about a fee issue and does not receive a written response from you within 20 workdays after the bureau has requested the additional clarification, it will presume that you are no longer interested and will close the file on the request.

If you are required to pay a fee associated with a FOIA request, the bureau processing the request will send a bill for collection.

(a) The bureau may charge interest on any unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the billing date.

(b) The bureau will assess interest charges at the rate provided in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and implementing regulations and interest will accrue from the billing date until the bureau receives payment.

(c) The bureau will follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-365, 96 Stat. 1749), as amended, and its administrative procedures, including the use of consumer reporting agencies, collection agencies, and offset to collect overdue amounts and interest.

(d) This section does not apply if you are a state, local, or tribal government.

(a) The bureau may aggregate requests and charge accordingly when it reasonably believes that you, or a group of requesters acting in concert with you, are attempting to avoid fees by dividing a single request into a series of requests on a single subject or related subjects.

(1) The bureau may presume that multiple requests of this type made within a 30-day period have been made to avoid fees.

(2) The bureau may aggregate requests separated by a longer period only where there is a reasonable basis for determining that aggregation is warranted in view of all the circumstances involved.

(b) The bureau will not aggregate multiple requests involving unrelated matters.

(c) The bureau may administratively aggregate requests without charging fees accordingly when it reasonably believes you, or a group of requesters acting in concert with you, are dividing a single request into a series of requests on a single subject or related subjects.

(1) The bureau may presume that multiple requests on a single subject or related subjects made within a 30-day period are dividing a single request into a series of requests.

(2) The bureau may administratively aggregate requests separated by a longer period only where there is a reasonable basis for determining that aggregation is warranted in view of all the circumstances involved.

(a) The fee schedule in appendix A to this part does not apply to fees charged under any statute that specifically requires the bureau to set and collect fees for particular types of records.

(b) If records otherwise responsive to a request are subject to a statutorily-based fee schedule, the bureau will inform you whom to contact to obtain the records.

(a) The bureau may waive or reduce fees at its discretion if a request involves furnishing:

(1) A copy of a record that the bureau has reproduced for free distribution;

(2) One copy of a personal document (for example, a birth certificate) to a person who has been required to furnish it for retention by the Department;

(3) One copy of the transcript of a hearing before a hearing officer in a grievance or similar proceeding to the employee for whom the hearing was held;

(4) Records to donors with respect to their gifts;

(5) Records to individuals or private nonprofit organizations having an official, voluntary, or cooperative relationship with the Department if it will assist their work with the Department;

(6) A reasonable number of records to members of the U.S. Congress; state, local, and foreign governments; public international organizations; or Indian tribes, when to do so is an appropriate courtesy, or when the recipient is carrying on a function related to a Departmental function and the waiver will help accomplish the Department's work;

(7) Records in conformance with generally established business custom (for example, furnishing personal reference data to prospective employers of current or former Department employees); or

(8) One copy of a single record to assist you in obtaining financial benefits to which you may be entitled (for example, veterans or their dependents, employees with Government employee compensation claims).

(b) You cannot appeal the denial of a discretionary fee waiver or reduction.