What FOIA fees can a commercial requester be charged that other requesters cannot?

Under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the fees an agency may charge depend on which fee category your request falls into. A “commercial use” requester can be billed for the widest set of costs, while other categories receive partial or full fee relief.

The three things agencies can charge for

FOIA recognizes three kinds of chargeable costs:

• Search — staff time spent locating responsive records.
• Review — staff time spent examining records and applying exemptions (for example, redacting protected information).
• Duplication — copying records into the format you receive.

The key difference between requester categories is which of these three an agency may bill.

What makes commercial requesters different

A commercial-use requester seeks records to further a business, trade, or profit interest. Agencies may charge a commercial requester for all three cost types: search, review, and duplication.

By contrast:

• Educational and noncommercial scientific institutions and news media are generally charged only for duplication (and even then, often only beyond a baseline amount).
• All other requesters (the typical individual member of the public) are generally charged for search and duplication, but not review, and usually receive some free search time and free copies before fees begin.

In short, review charges and the absence of any free-cost allowance are what most distinguish commercial requesters. Because review can be labor-intensive on large or sensitive requests, this category often produces the highest fees.

Practical notes

• Agencies determine your category based on how you intend to use the records, not solely on who you are. You can explain your intended use in your request.
• Fee waivers or reductions may be available when disclosure is in the public interest and is not primarily commercial. These are separate from category and are evaluated on their own standard.
• Agencies must still respond to a properly submitted request, generally within 20 business days under the federal statute, regardless of fee category.

This explanation covers the federal FOIA. State public-records laws vary, and many use different fee structures and category definitions, so check the specific statute that applies to your request.

For more background, see FOIA and public records topics.