Fees will be charged for copies of records which are furnished to a requester under this part and for the staff time spent in locating and reproducing such records. The fees to be levied for services rendered under this part shall not exceed the Commission's direct cost of processing requests for those records computed on the basis of the actual number of copies produced and the staff time expended in fulfilling the particular request, in accordance with the following schedule of standard fees:

Upon receipt of any request for the production of computer tape or microfilm, the Commission will advise the requester of the identity of the private contractor who will perform the duplication services. The fee for the production of computer tape or microfilm shall be made payable to that private contractor and shall be fowarded to the Commission.

Commission publications for which fees will be charged under 11 CFR 5.6(a) include, but are not limited to, the following:

In the event the anticipated fees for all pending requests from the same requester exceed $25.00, records will not be searched, nor copies furnished, until the requester pays, or makes acceptable arrangements to pay, the total amount due.

Similarly, if the records requested require the production of microfilm or of computer tapes, the Commission will not instruct its contractor to duplicate the records until the requester has submitted payment as directed or has made acceptable arrangements to pay the total amount due. If any fee is not precisely ascertainable, an estimate will be made by the Commission and the requester will be required to forward the fee so estimated. In the event any advance payment differs from the actual fee, an appropriate adjustment will be made at the time the copies are made available by the Commission.

The Commission may reduce or waive payments of fees hereunder if it determines that such waiver or reduction is in the public interest because the furnishing of the requested information to the particular requester involved can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public as opposed to primarily benefiting the person or organization requesting the information.