(a) Policy. (1) Unless waived pursuant to the provisions of § 2.21, fees for responding to FOIA requests shall be charged in accordance with the provisions of this section and the schedule of charges contained in Appendix A to this part.

(2) Fees shall not be charged if the total amount chargeable does not exceed $15.00.

(3) Where there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a requester or group of requesters acting in concert has divided a request into a series of requests on a single subject or related subjects to avoid assessment of fees, the requests may be aggregated and fees charged accordingly.

(b) Commercial use requests. (1) A requester seeking records for commercial use shall be charged fees for costs incurred in document search, duplication and review.

(2) A commercial use requester may not be charged fees for time spent resolving legal and policy issues affecting access to requested records.

(3) A commercial use request is a request from or on behalf of a person who seeks information for a use or purpose that further the commercial, trade or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made. The intended use of records may be determined on the basis of information submitted by a requester and from reasonable inferences based on the identity of the requester and any other available information.

(c) Educational and noncommercial scientific institution requests. (1) A requester seeking records under the auspices of an educational institution in furtherance of scholarly research or a noncommercial scientific institution in furtherance of scientific research shall be charged for document duplication, except that the first 100 pages of paper copies (or the equivalent cost thereof if the records are in some other form) shall be provided without charge.

(2) Such requesters may not be charged fees for costs incurred in—

(i) Searching for requested records,

(ii) Examining requested records to determine whether they are exempt from mandatory disclosure,

(iii) Deleting reasonably segregable exempt matter,

(iv) Monitoring the requesters’ inspection of agency records, or

(v) Resolving legal and policy issues affecting access to requested records.

(3) An “educational institution” is a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of graduate higher education, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an institution of professional education, or an institution of vocational education, which operates a program or programs of scholarly research.

(4) A “noncommercial scientific institution” is an institution that is not operated for commerce, trade or profit and that is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry.

(d) News media requests. (1) A representative of the new media shall be charged for document duplication, except that the first 100 pages of paper copies (or the equivalent cost thereof if the records are in some other form) shall be provided without charge.

(2) Representatives of the news media may not be charged fees for costs incurred in—

(i) Searching for requested records,

(ii) Examining requested records to determine whether they are exempt from mandatory disclosure,

(iii) Deleting reasonably segregable exempt matter,

(iv) Monitoring the requester's inspection of agency records, or

(v) Resolving legal and policy issues affecting access to requested records.

(3)(i) A “representative of the news media” is any person actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public. The term “news” means information that is about current events or that is (or would be) of current interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include, but are not limited to, television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when they can qualify as disseminators of “news”) who make their products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. As traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g., electronic dissemination of newspapers through telecommunications services), such alternative media would be included in this category.

(ii) Free-lance journalists may be considered “representatives of the news media” if they demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication through a news organization, even though not actually employed by it. A publication contract or past record of publication, or evidence of a specific free-lance assignment from a news organization may indicate a solid basis for expecting publication.

(e) Other requests. (1) A requester not covered by paragraphs (b), (c) or (d) of this section shall be charged fees for document search and duplication, except that the first two hours of search time and the first 100 pages of paper copies (or the equivalent cost thereof if the records are in some other form) shall be provided without charge.

(2) Such requesters may not be charged for costs incurred in—

(i) Examining requested records to determine whether they are exempt from disclosure,

(ii) Deleting reasonably segregable exempt matter,

(iii) Monitoring the requester's inspection of agency records, or

(iv) Resolving legal and policy issues affecting access to requested records.

(f) Requests for clarification. Where a request does not provide sufficient information to determine whether it is covered by paragraph (b), (c), (d) or (e) of this section, the requester should be asked to provide additional clarification. If it is necessary to seek such clarification, the request may be deemed to have not been received for purposes of the time limits established in § 2.17 until the clarification is received. Requests to requesters for clarification shall be made promptly.

(g) Notice of anticipated fees. Where a request does not state a willingness to pay fees as high as anticipated by the Department, and the requester has not sought and been granted a full waiver of fees under § 2.21, the request may be deemed to have not been received for purposes of the time limits established in § 2.17 until the requester has been notified of and agrees to pay the anticipated fee. Advice to requesters with respect to anticipated fees shall be provided promptly.

(h) Advance payment. (1) Where it is anticipated that allowable fees are likely to exceed $250.00 and the requester does not have a history of prompt payment of FOIA fees, the requester may be required to make an advance payment of the entire fee before processing of his or her request.

(2) Where a requester has previously failed to pay a fee within 30 calendar days of the date of billing, processing of any new request from that requester shall ordinarily be suspended until the requester pays any amount still owed, including applicable interest, and makes advance payment of allowable fees anticipated in connection with the new request.

(3) Advance payment of fees may not be required except as described in paragraphs (h) (1) and (2) of this section.

(4) Issuance of a notice requiring payment of overdue fees or advance payment shall toll the time limit in § 2.17 until receipt of payment.

(i) Form of payment. Payment of fees should be made by check or money order payable to the Department of the Interior or the bureau furnishing the information. The term United States or the initials “U.S.” should not be included on the check or money order. Where appropriate, the official responsible for handling a request may require that payment by check be made in the form of a certified check.

(j) Billing procedures. A bill for collection, Form DI-1040, shall be prepared for each request that requires collection of fees. The requester shall be provided the first sheet of the DI-1040. This Accounting Copy of the Form shall be transmitted to the agency's finance office for entry into accounts receivable records. Upon receipt of payment from the requester, the recipient shall forward the payment along with a copy of the DI-1040 to the finance office.

(k) Collection of fees. The bill for collection or an accompanying letter to the requester shall include a statement that interest will be charged in accordance with the Debt Collection Act of 1982, 31 U.S.C. 3717, and implementing regulations, 4 CFR 102.13, if the fees are not paid within 30 calendar days of the date of the bill for collection is mailed or hand-delivered to the requester. This requirement does not apply if the requester is a unit of state or local government. Other authorities of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 shall be used, as appropriate, to collect the fees (see 4 CFR parts 101-105).