(a) The burden is on the requester to justify an entitlement to a fee waiver. (See §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 the standards of paragraph (c)(1) of this section are satisfied, the Agency must consider the factors described in paragraphs (d)(1) through (3) of this section:

(1) Disclosure of the requested information would shed light on the operations or activities of the Government. The subject of the request must concern identifiable operations or activities of the Federal Government with a connection that is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated.

(2) Disclosure of the requested information would be likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations or activities. The factor in this paragraph (d)(2) is satisfied when the following criteria are met:

(i) Disclosure of the requested records must be meaningfully informative about Government operations or activities. The disclosure of information that already is in the public domain, in either the same or a substantially identical form, would not be meaningfully informative if nothing new would be added to the public's understanding.

(ii) The disclosure must contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, as opposed to the individual understanding of the requester. A requester's expertise in the subject area as well as the requester's ability and intention to effectively convey information to the public must be considered. NASA will presume that a representative of the news media will satisfy the consideration in this paragraph (d)(2)(ii).

(3) The disclosure must not be primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. To determine whether disclosure of the requested information is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester, components will consider the following criteria:

(i) NASA, and its Centers processing requests, must identify whether the requester has any commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure. A commercial interest includes any commercial, trade, or profit interest. Requesters must be given an opportunity to provide explanatory information regarding the consideration in this paragraph (d)(3)(i).

(ii) If there is an identified commercial interest, NASA must determine whether that is the primary interest furthered by the request. A waiver or reduction of fees is justified when the requirements of paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this section are satisfied and any commercial interest is not the primary interest furthered by the request. NASA ordinarily will presume that when a news media requester has satisfied the requirements of paragraphs (d)(1) and (2) of this section, the request is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Disclosure to data brokers or others who merely compile and market government information for direct economic return will not be presumed to primarily serve the public interest.

(4) Where only some of the records to be released satisfy the requirements for a waiver of fees under this section, a waiver shall be granted for those records.

(5) Requests for a waiver or reduction of fees should be made when the request is first submitted to NASA and should address the criteria referenced in paragraph (d) of this section. 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. When a requester who has committed to pay fees subsequently asks for a waiver of those fees and that waiver is denied, the requester shall be required to pay any costs incurred up to the date the fee waiver request was received.

(e) 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.

(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.

[79 FR 46678, Aug. 11, 2014, as amended at NASA-2019-0005, 84 FR 54777, Oct. 11, 2019]