(a) When charged. The Office shall charge fees pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(5) for the copying of records to afford access to individuals unless the Office, in its discretion, waives or reduces the fees for good cause shown. The Office shall charge fees only at the rate of $0.10 per page. For materials other than paper copies, the Office may charge the direct costs of reproduction, but only if the requester has been notified of such costs before they are incurred. Fees shall not be charged when they would amount, in the aggregate, for one request or for a series of related requests, to less than $3.00. However, the Office may, in its discretion, increase the amount of this minimum fee.

(b) Notice of estimated fees in excess of $25. When the Office determines or estimates that the fees to be charged under this section may amount to more than $25, the Office shall notify the requester as soon as practicable of the actual or estimated amount of the fee, unless the requester has indicated in advance his willingness to pay a fee as high as that anticipated. (If only a portion of the fee can be estimated readily, the Office shall advise the requester that the estimated fee may be only a portion of the total fee.) When the estimated fee exceeds $25 and the Office has so notified the requester, the Office will be deemed not to have received the request for access to records until the requester has agreed to pay the anticipated fee. A notice to a requester pursuant to this paragraph shall offer him the opportunity to confer with Office personnel with the object of reformulating his request to meet his needs at a lower cost.

(c) Form of payment. Requesters must pay fees by check or money order made payable to the Treasury of the United States.

(d) Advance deposits.

(1) When the estimated fee chargeable under this section exceeds $25, the Office may require a requester to make an advance deposit of 25 percent of the estimated fee or an advance payment of $25, whichever is greater.

(2) When a requester has previously failed to pay a fee charged under this part, the requester must pay the Office the full amount owed and make an advance deposit of the full amount of any estimated fee before the Office shall be required to process a new or pending request for access from that requester.