(a) In general. EXIM will charge fees to recover the full allowable direct costs it incurs in processing requests under the FOIA in accordance with the provisions of this section and OMB Guidelines. OMB Guidelines are accessible at https://www.justice.gov/oip/foia-resources. Requesters may seek a fee waiver. EXIM will consider requests for fee waiver in accordance with the requirements in § 404.11. To resolve any fee issues that arise under this section, EXIM may contact a requester for additional information. EXIM will attempt to conduct searches in the most efficient manner to minimize costs. EXIM ordinarily will collect all applicable fees before sending copies of records to a requester. Requesters must pay fees by check or money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States, or another method EXIM determines.

(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section:

(1) Commercial use request. A request for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade or profit interest of the requester, which can include furthering those interests through litigation.

(2) Direct costs. Expenditures EXIM incurs in searching for and duplicating (and, in the case of commercial use requests, reviewing) records in response to a FOIA request. For example, direct costs include the salary of the employee performing the work (i.e., the basic rate of pay for the employee, including locality pay adjustment, plus 16 percent of that rate to cover benefits), fees associated with the return of records stored offsite, the cost of operating computers and other electronic equipment, such as photocopiers and scanners. Direct costs do not include overhead expenses such as the costs of space, and of heating or lighting a facility.

(3) Duplication. Is reproducing a copy of a record, or of the information contained in it, necessary to respond to a FOIA request. Copies can take the form of paper, audiovisual materials, or electronic records, among others.

(4) Educational institution. Any school that operates a program of scholarly research. A requester in the fee category in this paragraph (b)(4) must show that the request is made in connection with his or her role at the education institution. EXIM may seek verification from the requester that the request is in furtherance of scholarly research and will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

(i) Example 1. A request from a professor of geology at a university for records relating to soil erosion, written on letterhead of the Department of Geology, would be presumed to be from an educational institution.

(ii) Example 2. A request from the same professor of geology seeking drug information from the Food and Drug Administration in furtherance of a murder mystery he is writing would not be presumed to be an institutional request, regardless of whether it was written on institutional stationery.

(iii) Example 3. A student who makes a request in furtherance of their coursework or other school-sponsored activities and provides a copy of a course syllabus or other reasonable documentation to indicate the research purpose for the request, would qualify as part of this fee category.

(5) Non-commercial scientific institution. An institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis, as defined in paragraph (b)(1) of this section for purposes of a “commercial use request,” and is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry. A requester in the fee category in this paragraph (b)(5) must show that the request is authorized by and is made under the auspices of a qualifying institution and that the records are sought to further scientific research and are not for commercial use. EXIM will advise requesters of their placement in this category.

(6) Representative of the news media. Any person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw material into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience. The term “news” means information that is about current events or that would be of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include television or radio stations that broadcast “news” to the public at large and publishers of periodicals that disseminate “news” and make their products available through a variety of means to the general public, including news organizations that disseminate solely on the internet. A request for records supporting the news-dissemination function of the requester will not be considered to be for a commercial use. “Freelance” journalists who demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through a news media entity will be considered as a representative of the news media. A publishing contract would provide the clearest evidence that publication is expected; however EXIM can also consider a requester's past publication record in making this determination. EXIM will advise requesters of their placement in the fee category in this paragraph (b)(6).

(7) Review. The process of examining a record in response to a request to determine whether any portion is exempt from disclosure. Review time includes processing any record for disclosure, such as doing all that is necessary to prepare the record for disclosure, including the process of redacting the record and marking the appropriate exemptions. Review costs are properly charged even if a record ultimately is not disclosed. Review time also includes time spent both obtaining and considering any formal objection to disclosure made by confidential commercial information submitter under § 404.9, but it does not include time spent resolving general legal or policy issues regarding the application of exemptions.

(8) Search. The process of looking for, identifying, and collecting records responsive to a request. For fee purposes, this refers to all time spent looking for materials that is responsive to a request. Searches may be conducted manually or by electronic means. Search time includes page-by-page or line-by-line identification of information within records and the reasonable efforts expended to locate and retrieve information from electronic records.

(c) Categories of requesters. Fees will be assessed depending on the category of the requester. The specific schedule of fees for each requester category is prescribed as follows:

(1) Commercial use requesters. EXIM will charge the full costs for search, review, and duplication.

(2) Educational, non-commercial scientific institution, and representatives of the news media requesters. When the records are not sought for commercial use, EXIM will charge only for the cost of duplication in excess of 100 pages and no fee will be charged for search or review.

(3) All other requesters. For requesters who are not covered by paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) of this section, EXIM will charge for the cost of search and duplication, except that the first 100 pages of duplication (or the cost equivalent of other media) and two hours of search time will be furnished without charge.

(d) Search and review fees. Subject to the restrictions in paragraph (i) of this section and in accordance with the applicable requester categories in paragraph (c) of this section, EXIM will charge the following fees for search and review, based on:

(1) Clerical. Hourly rate—$33.00.

(2) Professional. Hourly rate—$57.00

(3) Direct cost. Hourly rate—based upon the salary of the employee performing (base salary, including locality pay adjustment, and 16 percent for benefits). May also include fees for the return of records stored offsite, the cost of operating computers and other electronic equipment.

(4) Quarter-hour period. No search or review fees will be charged for a quarter-hour period unless more than half of that period is required for search or review.

(5) No fee. No fee will be charged when the total fee, after deducting the 100 free pages (or its cost equivalent) and the first two hours of search, is equal to or less than $25.

(e) Search. (1) Subject to the restrictions in paragraph (i) of this section EXIM will charge search fees.

(2) EXIM may properly charge for time spent searching even if EXIM does not locate any responsive records or if EXIM determines that the records are entirely exempt from disclosure.

(3) EXIM will charge the direct cost associated with conducting any search that requires the creation of a new computer program to locate the requested records. EXIM must notify the requester of the cost associated with creating such a program, and the requester must agree to pay the associated cost before the costs may be incurred.

(4) For requests that require the retrieval of records stored by EXIM at a records storage facility, including a Federal records center operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), EXIM will charge additional costs in accordance with the Transactional Billing Rate Schedule established by NARA.

(f) Duplication. EXIM will charge duplication fees to all requesters, subject to the restrictions of paragraph (b) of this section. EXIM must honor a requester's preference for receiving a record in a particular form or format where EXIM can readily produce it in the form or format requested. Where photocopies are supplied, EXIM will provide one copy per request at the cost of $.10 per page. For copies of records produced on disk or other media, EXIM will charge the direct cost of producing the copy, including operator time. Where paper documents must be scanned in order to comply with a requester's preference to receive the records in an electronic format, the requester must also pay the direct costs associated with scanning those materials. For other forms of duplication, EXIM will charge the direct costs. EXIM may also offer the requester the opportunity to alter the request in order to reduce duplication costs.

(g) Review. EXIM will charge review fees to requesters who make commercial use requests. Review fees will be assessed in connection with the initial review of the record, i.e., the review conducted by EXIM to determine whether an exemption applies to a particular record or portion of a record. No charge will be made for review at the administrative appeal stage of exemptions applied at the initial review stage. However, if a particular exemption is deemed to no longer apply, any costs associated with EXIM's re-review of the records in order to consider the use of other exemptions may be assessed as review fees. Review fees will be charged at the same rates as those charged for a search under paragraph (e) of this section.

(h) Special services charges. Complying with requests for special services such as those listed in this paragraph (h) is entirely at the discretion of EXIM. EXIM will recover the full costs of providing such services to the extent that it elects to provide them.

(1) Certifications. EXIM will charge $25.00 to certify the authenticity of any EXIM record or any copy of such record.

(2) Special shipping. EXIM may ship by special means (e.g., express mail) if the requester so desires, provided that the requester has paid or has expressly undertaken to pay all costs of such special services. EXIM will not charge for ordinary packaging and mailing.

(i) Restrictions on charging fees. (1) When EXIM determines that a requester is an educational institution, non-commercial scientific institution, or representative of the news media, and the records are not sought for commercial use, it will not charge search fees.

(2) If EXIM fails to comply with the FOIA's time limits in which to respond to a request:

(i) It will not charge search fees, or, in the instance of request from requesters described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, may not charge duplication fees, except as follows in paragraphs (d)(2)(ii) through (iv) of this section.

(ii) If EXIM has determined that unusual circumstances, as defined by the FOIA, apply and EXIM provided timely written notice to the requester in accordance with the FOIA, a failure to comply with the time limit shall be excused for an additional 10 working days.

(iii) If EXIM has determined that unusual circumstances, as defined by the FOIA, apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to the request, EXIM may charge search fees, or in the case of requesters described in paragraph (d)(1) of this section, may charge duplication fees, if the following steps are taken. EXIM must have provided timely written notice of unusual circumstances to the requester in accordance with the FOIA and EXIM must have discussed with the requester via written mail, email, or telephone (or made not less than three good-faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request in accordance 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(B)(ii). If the exception in this paragraph (d)(2)(iii) is satisfied, EXIM may charge all applicable fees incurred in the processing of the request.

(iv) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, as defined by the FOIA, a failure to comply with the time limits shall be excused for the length of time provided by the court order.

(j) Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25.00. (1) When EXIM determines or estimates that the fees to be assessed in accordance with this section will exceed $25.00, EXIM must notify the requester of the actual or estimated amount of the fees, including a breakdown of the fees for search, review, or duplication, unless the requester has indicated a willingness to pay fees as high as those anticipated. If only a portion of the fees can be estimated readily, EXIM will advise the requester accordingly. If the request is not for noncommercial use, the notice will specify that the requester is entitled to the statutory entitlements of 100 pages of duplication at no charge and, if the requester is charged search fees, two hours of search time at no charge, and will advise the requester whether those entitlements have been provided.

(2) If EXIM notifies the requester that the actual or estimated fees are in excess of $25.00, the request will not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the requester commits in writing to pay actual or estimated total fees, or designates some amount of fees the requester is willing to pay, or in the case of a non-commercial use requester who has not yet been provided with the requester's statutory entitlements, designates that the requester seeks only that which can be provided by statutory entitlements. The requester must provide the commitment or designation in writing, and must, when applicable, designate an exact dollar amount the requester is willing to pay. EXIM will not accept payments in installments.

(3) If the requester has indicated a willingness to pay some designated amount of fees, but EXIM estimates that the total fee will exceed that amount, EXIM will toll the processing of the request when it notifies the requester of the estimated fees in excess of the amount the requester has indicated a willingness to pay. EXIM will inquire whether the requester wishes to revise the amount of fees the requester is willing to pay or modify the request. Once the requester responds, the time to respond will resume from where it was at the date of notifications.

(4) EXIM's FOIA Public Liaison or another FOIA professional is available to assist any requester in reformulating a request to meet the requester's needs at a lower cost.

(k) Charging interest. EXIM may charge interest on any unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the date of billing the requester. Interest charges will be assessed at the rate provided by 31 U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the billing date until payment is received by EXIM. EXIM follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 (Pub. L. 97-365, 96 Stat.1749), as amended, and its administrative procedures, including the use of consumer reporting agencies, collection agencies, and offset.

(l) Aggregating requests for fee purposes. When EXIM reasonably believes that a requester or a group of requesters acting in concert is attempting to divide a single request into a series of requests for the purpose of avoiding fees, EXIM may aggregate those requests and charge accordingly. EXIM may presume that multiple requests of this type made within a 30-day period have been made in order to avoid fees. For requests separated by a longer period, EXIM will aggregate them only where there is a reasonable basis for determining that aggregation is warranted in view of all the circumstances involved. Multiple requests involving unrelated matters cannot be aggregated.

(m) Advance payments. (1) For requests other than those described in paragraph (n)(2) or (3) of this section, EXIM cannot require the requester to make an advance payment before work is commenced or continues on a request. Payment owed for work already completed (i.e., payment before copies are sent to the request) is not an advance payment.

(2) When EXIM determines or estimates that a total fee to be charged under this section will exceed $250.00, it may require that the requester make an advance payment up to the amount of the entire anticipated fee before beginning to process the request. EXIM may elect to process the request prior to collecting fees when it receives a satisfactory assurance of full payment from a requester with a history of prompt payment.

(3) Where a requester has previously failed to pay a properly charged FOIA fee to any agency within 30 calendar days of the billing date, EXIM may require that the requester pay the full amount due, plus any applicable interest on that prior request, and EXIM may require that the requester make an advance payment of the full amount of any anticipated fee before EXIM begins to process a new request or continues to process a pending request or any pending appeal. Where EXIM has a reasonable basis to believe that a requester has misrepresented the requester's identity in order to avoid paying outstanding fees, it may require that the requester provide proof of identity.

(4) In cases in which EXIM requires advance payment, the request will not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the required payment is received. If the requester does not pay the advance payment within 30 calendar days after the date of EXIM's fee determination, the request will be closed.

(n) Other statutes specifically providing for fees. The fee schedule of this section does not apply to fees charged under any statute that specifically requires an agency to set and collect fees for particular types of records. In instances where records responsive to a request are subject to a statutorily-based fee schedule program, EXIM must inform the requester of the contact information for that program.