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FOIA Fees and Waivers

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) complies with the Department of Interior’s FOIA fee schedule. 

FOIA Fees

  • In general, OIG FOIA can charge FOIA requesters the time it takes to search for records and for printing records. Fees are typically collected before responsive records are released to the requester.  
  • While uncommon, OIG FOIA may charge fees for searches that do not yield records and for processing records that are ultimately not released to the requester.
  • Fees vary based on the GS-level of the staff performing the search and the requester’s fee category.
  • More detailed information about FOIA Fees is available here.

FOIA Fee Waiver

  • Under FOIA, a requester may be eligible for fee waiver if he/she meets the criteria outlined in 43 CFR § 2.48.
  • Requesters should submit fee waiver justification with the corresponding FOIA request.
  • Each fee waiver is judged on its own merit.  There are no “blanket” fee waivers.  If a requester was granted a fee waiver in the past, he/she is not automatically entitled to future FOIA request fee waivers.