FOIA fee requirements

The FOIA Disclosure Officer will charge fees according to the Uniform Freedom of Information Fee Schedule and Guidelines unless a waiver applies. See 2201.8(a).

• Fees follow the agency fee schedule and OMB guidance as stated in 2201.8(a).
• If the total fee is below the agency’s threshold amount in the fee schedule, no fee is charged.
• Fees will be waived in the specific circumstances described in 2201.9, such as qualifying fee waiver requests.

Fees for copying, searching, and reviewing are based on the direct costs of those services using average hourly salary plus 16% for benefits for three employee categories. See 2201.8(b).

• The three categories are clerical (average of GS-9 and below), professional (GS-10 through GS-14), and managerial (GS-15 and above).
• The agency’s schedule of fees is calculated from these direct costs and appears in Appendix A; a copy is available free from the FOIA Disclosure Officer (see 2201.8(b) and 2201.3(d).

Copying fees are charged per-page as shown in the agency fee schedule, but the first 100 pages are not charged unless the request is for commercial use. See 2201.8(b)(1).

• The per-page amount comes from the fee schedule in Appendix A.
• For other forms of duplication, direct costs including operator time are charged.
• No copying fee will be charged for educational, scientific, or news media requests if the agency fails to meet the time limits in 2201.6, provided no unusual or exceptional circumstances apply (see 2201.8(b)(1)).

Commercial requesters are charged for all search time, and search fees apply even if no responsive documents are found or if documents are withheld under an exemption. See 2201.8(b)(2).

• The amount is set by the agency fee schedule (Appendix A).
• There are limited exceptions where search fees are reduced or not charged (see the subsections of 2201.8(b)(2)).

No search fee will be charged when the requester identifies decisions that are easily identifiable by name and date, by docket number, or by other clear identifiers. See 2201.8(b)(2)(i).

• Provide the exact decision name, date, or docket number to avoid search charges.
• This exception helps avoid time-consuming broad searches for clearly identified records.

If a request is non-commercial and comes from an educational or scientific institution conducting scholarly research, or from a representative of the news media, no search fee will be charged. See 2201.8(b)(2)(ii).

• The requester must not be seeking the records for commercial use.
• This exemption covers both search and in some cases duplication fees, subject to other provisions in the part.

For non-commercial requests that are not from educational/scientific institutions or news media, the first two hours of searching are not charged. See 2201.8(b)(2)(iii).

• After the first two free hours, search fees are charged according to the fee schedule.
• This relief applies only to non-commercial requesters as described in the regulation.

No search fee is charged when a requester is seeking records about themselves that are in the Commission’s systems of records; only copying fees may be charged. See 2201.8(b)(2)(iv).

• This is consistent with the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(5).
• Expect only duplication costs, not search time charges, for self-requested Privacy Act records.

If the Commission misses any time limits in 2201.6, no search fee will be charged—unless unusual or exceptional circumstances apply. See 2201.8(b)(3).

• "Unusual circumstances" is defined in 2201.6(b) and "exceptional circumstances" in 2201.4(d).
• If those circumstances apply (and the agency gave timely written notice), fees may still be assessed as allowed by the rules.

If the Commission determines unusual circumstances apply and gives timely written notice to the requester, the failure to meet the time limit is excused for an additional 10 days and fees are assessed as usual. See 2201.8(b)(3)(i).

• The agency may resume processing and charge applicable fees during that extended period.
• The definition of "unusual circumstances" appears in 2201.6(b).

If the Commission determines unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are needed, the Commission may charge search fees (or duplication fees for certain non-commercial requesters) provided it gave timely written notice and tried (or made three good-faith attempts) to discuss narrowing the request. See 2201.8(b)(3)(ii).

• The agency must discuss ways to limit scope by written mail, email, or telephone.
• This step is required before charging fees for extraordinarily large requests.

If a court finds that exceptional circumstances exist, the Commission may be excused from meeting time limits for the length specified in the court order. See 2201.8(b)(4).

• "Exceptional circumstances" is defined in 2201.4(d).
• During that period, the agency may charge applicable fees as permitted.

Review fees are charged only for commercial requests to cover initial examination and excision of withholdable portions, but not for Chairman appeals under 2201.10. See 2201.8(b)(5) and 2201.10.

• Review fees are calculated according to the agency fee schedule (Appendix A).
• No review fee is charged for a Chairman review under 2201.10.

The invoice must include an itemized list of the fees assessed for the request. See 2201.8(c).

• Itemization should show the different fee components (search, copying, review, etc.) so the requester can see how the total was calculated.
• This supports transparency and can help resolve disputes about charges.

The FOIA Disclosure Officer may aggregate two or more requests if they reasonably believe a requester (or group acting together) is breaking one request into several to evade fees. See 2201.8(d).

• Aggregation allows the agency to treat the requests as a single request for fee calculation.
• The officer must have a reasonable belief that the requests were split to avoid fees.

If fees are likely to exceed $25 the FOIA Disclosure Officer must notify the requester of the estimate, offer to confer to narrow the request, and toll the response time until the requester agrees to pay or reformulates the request. See 2201.8(e).

• The notification gives the requester an opportunity to reduce costs by narrowing scope.
• Tolling of the agency’s response time is handled as explained in 2201.6(a)(2).
• Any agreement on fees should be memorialized in writing.

Advance payment is generally not required, but the FOIA Disclosure Officer may require it under specific circumstances such as large estimated charges or when the requester has a history of nonpayment. See 2201.8(f) and the payment rules in 2201.8(g) and the following paragraphs.

• If total charges are likely to exceed $250, the agency will notify the requester and may require advance payment unless the requester has a history of prompt payment or gives satisfactory assurance (see the rules following 2201.8(f)).
• If the requester previously failed to pay within 30 days, the agency may require payment of the past-due amount (plus interest) and an advance payment of the full estimated charge before processing new or pending requests.

Yes; for services not required by FOIA (such as certification/authentication or sending materials by express mail), the FOIA Disclosure Officer may assess the direct costs of those services. See 2201.8(g).

• These charges are optional because the FOIA does not obligate agencies to provide those services.
• The agency will calculate and bill the direct costs if the requester specifically asks for these extra services.

Interest begins accruing on unpaid bills starting on the 31st day after the date the bill was sent, and it accrues at the rate described in 31 U.S.C. 3717 until full payment is received. See 2201.8(h).

• Interest accrues from the original billing date until payment in full.
• The specific interest rate is set by 31 U.S.C. 3717 and may change as that statute is updated.

If bills are unpaid 60 days after mailing a written notice, the Commission may use debt collection procedures under the Debt Collection Act of 1982, including consumer reporting agencies, collection agencies, and administrative offset. See 2201.8(i).

• The Office of the Executive Director may initiate these procedures after the 60-day period.
• Using these tools is intended to collect overdue FOIA charges when other attempts fail.

The Commission calculates a schedule of fees based on the direct costs described in the regulation, and the fee schedule appears in Appendix A; a copy may be obtained at no charge from the FOIA Disclosure Officer. See 2201.8(b) and 2201.3(d).

• The schedule is based on average salary categories plus benefits as described in 2201.8(b).
• Contact the FOIA Disclosure Officer to request the Appendix A fee schedule copy.

To avoid search fees, identify specific decisions by name/date or docket number, or show that your request is non-commercial and from an educational or news-media requester. See 2201.8(b)(2)(i) and 2201.8(b)(2)(ii).

• Exact identifiers (name + date or docket number) can qualify the request as "easily identifiable" and exempt it from search fees.
• If you qualify as an educational or news-media requester and your use is non-commercial, you generally will not be charged search fees.

Before charging search or duplication fees for requests needing more than 5,000 pages, the Commission must give timely written notice of unusual circumstances and discuss (or make at least three good-faith attempts to discuss) with the requester ways to limit the scope. See 2201.8(b)(3)(ii).

• The discussion may be by mail, email, or telephone.
• Only after these steps may the agency charge applicable fees for processing such large requests.

When the FOIA Disclosure Officer notifies a requester that fees are likely to exceed $25, the agency’s response time is tolled under 2201.6(a)(2) until the requester agrees to pay or reformulates the request. See 2201.8(e).

• No further work on the request is done until the requester agrees to the estimated or actual fees.
• Any fee agreement between the requester and the agency should be documented in writing.

Yes—if the agency fails to meet the time limits in 2201.6 and no unusual or exceptional circumstances apply, copying fees will not be charged for educational, scientific, or news media requests. See 2201.8(b)(1) and 2201.8(b)(3).

• The exemption applies only if the request is non-commercial and by the qualifying requester types.
• If unusual or exceptional circumstances apply (see 2201.6(b) and 2201.4(d)), the agency may still assess fees.

No review fee is charged for review by the Chairman under 2201.10. See 2201.8(b)(5).

• Review fees otherwise apply only to commercial requests for initial examination and excision of withheld material.
• The Chairman’s review of denials is exempt from this fee to ensure access to the appeal process.