Fees, Requester Categories, & Few Waivers

Fees Charged

Search and review costs will be calculated based upon the pay scale of the person conducting the search or review. Duplication costs are assessed for only those documents that ultimately are released in full or denied in part; duplication costs are not assessed for documents denied in full or referred to originating agencies for direct reply.

Agreement to Pay Applicable Fees

By making a FOIA request, the requester shall be considered to have agreed to pay all applicable fees up to $25.00 unless a fee waiver has been granted. If the VA estimates that the search costs will exceed $25.00, the requester shall be so notified. Such notice shall offer the requester the opportunity to confer with VA personnel about the possibility of reformulating or narrowing the scope of the request to meet the requester's needs at a lower cost. The request shall not be processed further unless the requester agrees to pay the estimated fees.

When Fees are Assessed

Fees are generally assessed by the VA at the conclusion of processing a request. If it is estimated that allowable charges are likely to exceed $250, the VA may require a requester to make an advanced payment.

Fees Owed in Connection with Prior Requests

Requesters who owe fees incurred in connection with the processing of previous requests should pay the fees owed prior to the VA processing any new requests. Such requests will be designated "invalid" until payment in full is received.

Fee Limits

Requesters may set a limit on the amount that they are willing to pay. If it is anticipated that fees will exceed the fee limit set by the requester, or if in processing the request, fees begin to exceed the requester’s fee limit, the VA will contact the requester. If the requester has provided a telephone number, the VA will attempt to call the requester to resolve the matter quickly.

It is recommended that the requester indicates the maximum amount of fees that they are willing to pay with their initial request.

Search

For both manual and computer searches, the VA will charge the estimated direct cost of each search based on the average current salary rates (including benefits) of the categories of personnel doing the searches.

Review of Records

It is VA policy to charge the same hourly rates for review as for searching. Only requesters who are seeking documents for commercial use may be charged for time spent reviewing records to determine whether they are releasable. Charges may be assessed for the initial review only; i.e., the review undertaken the first time the VA analyzes the applicability of a specific exemption to a particular record or portion of a record.

Search and Review Rates

The categories of personnel that may conduct searches and reviews and the estimated hourly costs based on the average current salary rates (including benefits) for those categories are:

• Clerical Staff (GS-7 and below): $6.75 per 15 minutes, $27 per hour
• Professional Staff (GS-8 through GS-12): $12.00 per 15 minutes, $48 per hour
• Managerial Staff (GS-13 and above): $17.25 per 15 minutes, $69 per hour

Duplication of Records

Records shall be duplicated at a rate of $.15 per page.

Requester Categories

For purposes of fees only, FOIA identifies three categories of FOIA requesters:

Commercial Use Requests

Commercial use request means a request from or on behalf of one who requests information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interest of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made.

The DVA will assess charges that recover the full direct costs of searching for, reviewing for release, and duplicating the record sought.

Educational Institution Requests

Educational institution means a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of undergraduate or graduate higher education, an institution of professional education, or an institution of vocational education, that operates a program or programs of scholarly research.

The DVA shall provide documents to requesters in this category for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages.

Noncommercial Scientific Institution Requests

Non-commercial scientific institution means an institution that is not operated on a "commercial" basis 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.

The VA shall provide documents to requesters in this category for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages.

Representatives of the News Media Requests

Representative of the news media means 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 would be of current interest to the public. News media include 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 by the general public.

The VA shall provide documents to requesters in this category for the cost of reproduction alone, excluding charges for the first 100 pages.

All Others Requests

Requests from persons not falling within any of the above categories.

Fee Waiver

Fees otherwise chargeable in connection with a request for disclosure of a record shall be waived or reduced where it is determined that disclosure is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

In order to determine whether disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government, the VA will consider the following four factors:

1. The subject of the request: the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the government;
2. The informative value of the information to be disclosed: the disclosure of the records is “likely to contribute” to an understanding of government operations or activities;
3. The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the general public likely to result from disclosure, taking in your ability and intent to disseminate the information to the public; and
4. The significance of the contribution to public understanding: whether the disclosure is likely to contribute “significantly” to public understanding of government operations or activities.

In order to determine whether disclosure of the information is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester, the Department will consider the following two factors:

1. The existence and magnitude of a commercial interest: whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and, if so,
2. The primary interest in disclosure: whether the magnitude of the identified commercial interest of the requester is sufficiently large, in comparison with the public interest in disclosure.

The DVA may refuse to consider waiver or reduction of fees for requesters (persons or organizations) from whom unpaid fees remain owed to the DVA for another information access request.