(a) The burden is on the requester to justify an entitlement to a fee waiver. (See Sec. 1206.507 for a discussion on fee categories.)
(b) Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees shall be considered on a case-by-case basis using the criteria in this section. These statutory requirements must be satisfied by the requester before properly assessable fees are waived or reduced under the statutory standard.
(c) Records shall be furnished without charge or at a reduced rate if the requester has demonstrated, based on all available information, that disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it:
(1) Is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government; and
(2) Is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.
(d) In deciding whether a request for a fee waiver meets the requirements in Sec. 1206.506(c)(1), the FOIA office will use the following factors, which must be addressed by the requester:
(1) Does the subject of the request specifically concern identifiable operations or activities of the Agency with a connection that is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated? For example, is the information requested clearly associated to current events?
(2) If the record(s) concern the operations or activities of the Government, is disclosure likely to contribute to an increased public understanding of those operations or activities? For example, are the disclosable contents of the record(s) meaningfully informative in relation to the subject matter of the request?
(3) Is the focus of the requester on contributing to public understanding, rather than on the individual understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons? The requester must demonstrate how he/she plans to disseminate the information. The dissemination of information must be to the general public or a reasonably broad audience. (Dissemination to a wide audience is not merely posting the documents on a Web site, but using his/her editorial skills to turn raw materials into a distinct work.)
(4) If there is likely to be a contribution to public understanding, will that contribution be significant? A contribution to public understanding will be significant if the information disclosed is new, clearly supports public oversight of Agency operations, including the quality of Agency activities and the effect of policy and regulations on public health and safety, or otherwise confirms or clarifies data on past or present operations of the Agency.
(e) In deciding whether the fee waiver meets the requirements in Sec. 1206.506(c)(2), the FOIA office will consider any commercial interest of the requester that would be furthered by the requested disclosure.
(1) Requesters are encouraged to provide explanatory information regarding this consideration.
(2) A waiver or reduction of fees is justified where the public interest is greater than any identified commercial interest in disclosure.
(3) If the requester is a representative of a news media organization seeking information as part of a news gathering process, the FOIA office will presume that the public interest outweighs the requester's commercial interest.
(4) If the requester represents a business, corporation, or is an attorney representing such an organization, the FOIA office will presume that the commercial interest outweighs the public interest unless otherwise demonstrated.
(f) Where only some of the records to be released satisfy the requirements for a waiver of fees, a partial waiver shall be granted for those records.
(g) Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees should be made when the request is first submitted to the Agency and should address the criteria referenced above. A requester may submit a fee waiver request at a later time so long as the underlying record request is pending or on administrative appeal.
(h) When a requester who has committed to pay fees subsequently asks for a waiver of those fees and that waiver is denied, the requester will be required to pay any costs incurred up to the date the fee waiver request was received by the office processing the original request.
(i) When deciding whether to waive or reduce fees, the FOIA office will rely on the fee waiver justification submitted in the request letter. If the request letter does not include sufficient justification, the FOIA office will either deny the fee waiver request or at its discretion, ask for additional justification from the requester.
(j) FOIA offices may make available their FOIA Public Liaison or other FOIA professional to assist any requester in reformulating a request in an effort to reduce fees; however, the FOIA staff may not assist a requester in composing a request, advising what specific records to request, or how to write a request to qualify for a fee waiver.