Reply #18: You may ask for a fee waiver.... [View All]

You may ask the agency to waive or reduce search and copy fees if you think the fees are too high, or if the fees are fair but the total charges make the request prohibitively expensive. The law provides that the agency “shall” waive or reduce fees if you meet the public interest test described below. And you may be entitled to fee benefits if you fall within a certain category of requester.

The FOI Reform Act of 1986 set out specific fee provisions for four categories of requesters: (1) commercial use requesters must pay fees for document search, duplication, and review; (2) non-commercial requesters from educational or scientific institutions pay no search fees and receive 100 pages of free duplication; (3) representatives of the news media pay no search fees and receive copies of 100 pages free; (4) all other requesters receive two hours of search time and copies of 100 pages free.10

Continued @ http://www.rcfp.org/foiact/guide_j.html