103.10—Fees for services.

(a) In general. (1) The fees prescribed in this section are for search and duplication and under no circumstances is there a fee for determining whether an exemption can or should be asserted, for deleting exempt matter being withheld from records to be furnished, or for monitoring a requester's inspection of records made available in this manner.

(2) Customs publications which are available for sale through the Government Printing Office are on the shelves of the reading rooms and similar public inspection facilities, but those publications are not available for sale at those facilities. Those publications may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. However, pages from those publications may be copied at the public inspection facilities in accordance with the schedule of fees set forth in paragraph (g) of this section.

(b) When charged. Unless charges are inapplicable, or are waived or reduced in accordance with paragraph (c) or (d) of this section, fees are charged in accordance with the schedule contained in paragraph (g) of this section for services rendered in responding to requests for records.

(c) Services performed without charge— (1) Certain classes of records. The Commissioner of Customs or any of the Commissioner's designees may determine, under the rulemaking procedures of 5 U.S.C. 553, which classes or records under their control may be provided to the public without charge, or at a reduced charge.

(2) Records provided to government units. Normally, in accordance with paragraph (d)(2)(ii) of this section, no charge is made for providing records to Federal, State, or foreign governments, international governmental organizations, or local governmental agencies or offices.

(d) Waiver or reduction of fees— (1) Records unavailable or exempt. Fees may be waived or reduced at the discretion of the Customs officer who determines the availability of records, if the record is not found or is exempt from disclosure.

(2) Request for waiver or reduction of fees. Fees may be waived or reduced on a case by case basis in accordance with this paragraph by the Customs officer who determines whether to release the record. A request for a waiver or reduction of fees must be in writing. The appropriate Customs officer shall waive or reduce a fee if the officer determines either that:

(i) The records are being requested by, or on behalf of, an individual who in writing, under penalty or perjury, demonstrates indigency to the satisfaction of the officer and that compliance with the request does not constitute an unreasonable burden on the United States Customs Service; or

(ii) A waiver or reduction of the fees is in the public interest because furnishing the information primarily benefits the general public.

(3) Appeal from denial of request. An appeal from a denial of a request for waiver or reduction of fees is decided under the criteria set forth in paragraph (d)(2) of this section by the FOIA Appeals Officer. An appeal shall be in writing and mailed to the FOIA Appeals Officer within 35 days of the denial of the initial request for waiver or reduction. An appeal under this paragraph is entitled to a prompt decision.

(e) Avoidance of unexpected fees. In order to protect a requester from unexpected fees, a requester is required to state in the request an agreement to pay the fees determined in accordance with paragraph (g) of this section or to state an acceptable upper limit on the cost of processing the request. If the fee for processing the request is estimated to exceed that limit, or if the requester has failed to state a limit and the cost is estimated to exceed $50 and there is no decision to waive or reduce the fees, the appropriate Customs officer shall:

(1) Inform the requester of the estimated costs;

(2) Extend an offer to the requester to confer with Customs personnel in an attempt to reformulate the request in a manner which will reduce the fee and still meet the needs of the requester, and

(3) Inform the requester that the running of the time period within which a determination on the request must be made is suspended until the request is reformulated in manner to reduce the cost or until the requester pays or agrees to pay the estimated cost.

(f) Form of payment. (1) A requester shall pay by a check or money order that is payable to the order of the United States Customs Service.

(2) If the estimated cost exceeds $50, the requester may be required to enter into a contract for the payment of actual costs, as determined in accordance with paragraph (g) of this section, which contract may provide for prepayment of the estimated costs in whole or in part.

(g) Amount to be charged for specified services. A fee for a service performed is imposed and collected as set forth in this paragraph. The Commissioner of Customs or the Commissioner's designee may set an appropriate fee for any service not described below. These extraordinary fees are imposed and collected pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 483a, subject to the constraints imposed by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A).

(1) Duplication. (i) The charge for photocopies per page up to 8 1/2 ″×14″ is at the rate of $0.15 each.

(ii) The charge for photographs, films and other materials is their actual cost. The Customs Service may furnish the records to be released to a private contractor for copying and charge the person requesting the records the actual cost of duplication charged by the private contractor. No fee is charged where the requester furnishes the supplies and equipment and makes the copies at the Government location.

(2) Unpriced printed materials. The charge for unpriced printed material, which is available at the location where requested and which does not require duplication for copies to be furnished, is at the rate of $0.25 for each twenty-five pages or fraction thereof.

(3) Search services. The charge for services of personnel involved in locating records is $10.00 for each hour or fraction thereof. If a computer search is required because of the nature of the records sought and the manner in which the records are stored, the fee is $10.00 for each hour or fraction thereof of personnel time associated with the search plus the actual cost of extracting the stored information in the format in which it is normally produced. This actual cost of extracting information is based on computer time and supplies necessary to comply with the request.

(4) Searches requiring travel or transportation. The charge for transporting a record from one location to another, or for transporting a Customs officer or employee to the site of requested records when it is necessary to locate rather then examine the records, is the actual cost of the transportation.

Code of Federal Regulations

[T.D. 81-168, 46 FR 32565, June 24, 1981, as amended by T.D. 84-149, 49 FR 28699, July 16, 1984]

CFR

103.10—Fees for services.

Code of Federal Regulations