(a) Generally, the fees charged for requests for records shall cover the full allowable direct costs of searching for, reproducing, and reviewing documents that are responsive to a request for information.

(b) Manual searches for records will be charged at the salary rate(s) (i.e., basic pay plus 16 percent of that rate) of the employee(s) making the search.

(c) Computer searches for records will be charged at the actual direct cost of providing the service. This will include the cost of operating the central processing unit for that portion of operating time that is directly attributable to searching for records and the operator/programmer salary apportionable to the search. A charge shall also be made for any substantial amounts of special supplies or materials used to contain, present, or make available the output of computers, based upon the prevailing levels of costs to the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation for the type and amount of such supplies of materials that are used. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to entitle any person or entity, as a right, to any services in connection with computerized records, other than services to which such person or entity may be entitled under the provisions of this subpart.

(d) Only requesters who are seeking documents for commercial use may be charged for time spent reviewing records to determine whether they are exempt from mandatory disclosure. Charges may be assessed only for the initial review; i.e., the review undertaken the first time the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation analyzes the applicability of a specific exemption to a particular record or portion of a record. Records or portions of records withheld in full under an exemption that is subsequently determined not to apply may be reviewed again to determine the applicability of other exemptions not previously considered. The costs for such a subsequent review is assessable.

(e) Records will be reproduced at a rate of $.15 per page. For copies prepared by computer, such as tapes or printouts, the requester shall be charged the actual cost, including operator time, of production of the tape or printout. For other methods of reproduction, the actual direct costs of producing the document(s) shall be charged.

(f) The Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation will recover the full costs of providing services such as those enumerated below when it elects to provide them:

(1) Certifying that records are true copies; or

(2) Sending records by special methods such as express mail.

(g) Remittances shall be in the form either of a personal check or bank draft drawn on a bank in the United States, or a postal money order. Remittances shall be made payable to the order of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation.

(h) We will not assess fees if we fail to comply with any time limit under the FOIA or these regulations, and have not timely notified the requester, in writing, that an unusual circumstance exists. If an unusual circumstance exists, and timely, written notice is given to the requester, we may be excused an additional 10 working days before fees are automatically waived under this paragraph (h).

(i) If we determine that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to a request, we may charge fees if we provided a timely, written notice to the requester and discussed with the requester via mail, Email, or telephone (or made at least three good faith attempts to do so) how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request.

(j) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, a failure to comply with time limits imposed by these regulations or FOIA shall be excused for the length of time provided by court order.

(k) A receipt for fees paid will be given upon request.

[59 FR 24638, May 12, 1994, as amended at 81 FR 59438, Aug. 30, 2016]