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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Proposed Rules
time limit shall be excused for the length of time provided by the court order.
3 If the components FOIA office fails to comply with the time limits in which to respond to a request, and if no unusual or exceptional circumstances, as those terms are defined by the FOIA, apply to the processing of the request, it may not charge search fees, or, in the instances of requests from requesters described in paragraph d1 of this section, may not charge duplication fees.
4 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 Except for requesters seeking records for a commercial use, the components FOIA office shall provide without charge:
i The first 100 pages of duplication or the cost equivalent for other media;
and ii The first two hours of search.
6 When, after first deducting the 100
free pages or its cost equivalent and the first two hours of search, a total fee calculated under paragraph c of this section is $25.00 or less for any request, no fee will be charged.
e Notice of anticipated fees in excess of $25.00. 1 When the components FOIA office determines or estimates that the fees to be assessed in accordance with this section will exceed $25.00, the components FOIA office shall 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 fee can be estimated readily, the components FOIA office shall advise the requester accordingly. If the requester is a noncommercial use requester, the notice shall 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 shall advise the requester whether those entitlements have been provided.
2 In cases in which a requester has been notified that the actual or estimated fees are in excess of $25.00, the request shall not be considered received and further work will not be completed until the requester commits in writing to pay the actual or estimated total fee, or designates some amount of fees the requester is willing to pay, or in the case of a noncommercial use requester who has not yet been provided with the requesters statutory entitlements, designates that the
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requester seeks only that which can be provided by the 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. The components FOIA
office is not required to accept payments in installments.
3 If the requester has indicated a willingness to pay some designated amount of fees, but the components FOIA office estimates that the total fee will exceed that amount, the components FOIA office shall 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. The components FOIA office shall 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 the notification.
4 The components FOIA office shall make available their FOIA Public Liaison or other FOIA Specialists to assist any requester in reformulating a request to meet the requesters needs at a lower cost.
f Charges for other services.
Although not required to provide special services, if the components FOIA office chooses to do so as a matter of administrative discretion, the direct costs of providing the service shall be charged. Examples of such services include certifying that records are true copies, providing multiple copies of the same document, or sending records by means other than first class mail.
g Charging interest. The components FOIA office may charge interest on any unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the date of billing the requester. Interest charges shall be assessed at the rate provided in 31
U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the billing date until payment is received by the components FOIA office. The components FOIA office shall follow the provisions of the Debt Collection Act of 1982 Pub. L. 97365, 96 Stat.
1749, as amended, and its administrative procedures, including the use of consumer reporting agencies, collection agencies, and offset.
h Aggregating requests. When the components FOIA office 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, the components FOIA
office may aggregate those requests and charge accordingly. The components FOIA office may presume that multiple
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requests of this type made within a 30day period have been made in order to avoid fees. For requests separated by a longer period, the components FOIA
office 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 shall not be aggregated.
i Advance payments. 1 For requests other than those described in paragraphs i2 or 3 of this section, the components FOIA office shall not require the requester to make an advance payment before work is commenced or continued on a request.
Payment owed for work already completed i.e., payment before copies are sent to a requester is not an advance payment.
2 When the components FOIA
office 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. The components FOIA office 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 the components FOIA office within 30 calendar days of the billing date, the components FOIA office may require that the requester pay the full amount due, plus any applicable interest on that prior request, and the components FOIA office may require that the requester make an advance payment of the full amount of any anticipated fee before the components FOIA office begins to process a new request or continues to process a pending request or any pending appeal.
If the components FOIA office has a reasonable basis to believe that a requester has misrepresented the requesters identity in order to avoid paying outstanding fees, it may require that the requester provide proof of identity.
4 In cases in which the components FOIA office requires advance payment, the request shall 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 the component FOIA offices fee determination, the request will be closed.

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