(a) The only fees to be charged to or collected from an individual under the provisions of this part are for copying records at the request of the individual.

(1) No fees shall be charged or collected for the following: Search for and retrieval of the records; review of the records; copying at the initiative of the Department without a request from the individual; transportation of records and personnel; and first class postage.

(2) It is the policy of the Department to provide an individual with one copy of each record corrected or amended pursuant to his or her request without charge as evidence of the correction or amendment.

(3) As requested by the United States Civil Service Commission in its published regulations implementing the Act, the Department will charge no fee to an individual who requests copies of a personnel record covered by that Commission's Government-wide published notice of systems of records. However, when such records are voluminous and the cost of copying would be in excess of five dollars ($5) the Department may, in its discretion, charge a fee.

(b) The copying fees prescribed by paragraph (a) of this section are:

(c) Payment of fees under this section shall be made in cash, or preferably by check or money order payable to the “Treasurer of the United States.” Payment shall be delivered or sent to the office stated in the billing notice or, if none is stated, to the Privacy Act Officer processing the request. Payment may be required in the form of a certified check in appropriate circumstances. Postage stamps will not be accepted.

(d) A copying fee totaling $1 or less shall be waived, but the copying fees for contemporaneous requests by the same individual shall be aggregated to determine the total fee. A copying fee shall not be charged or collected, or alternatively, it may be reduced when such action is determined by the Privacy Act Officer to be in the public interest.

(e) Special and additional services provided at the request of the individual, such as certification or authentication, postal insurance and special mailing arrangement costs, will be charged to the individual in accordance with other published regulations of the Department pursuant to statute (for example, 31 U.S.C. 433a).

(f) This section applies only to individuals making requests under this part. All other persons shall remain subject to fees and charges prescribed by other and appropriate authorities.

[40 FR 39729, Aug. 28, 1975, as amended at 42 FR 29479, June 9, 1977]