§ 0.465 Request for copies of materials which are available, or made available, for public inspection. ( a ) The Commission may award a contract to a commercial duplication firm to make copies of Commission records and offer them for sale to the public. In addition to the charge for copying, the contractor may charge a search fee for locating and retrieving the requested documents from the Commission's files. Note to paragraph ( a
):
The name, address, telephone number, and schedule of fees for the current copy contractor, if any, are published at the time of contract award of renewal in a public notice and periodically thereafter. Current information is available at *http://www.fcc.gov/foia* and *http://www.fcc.gov/consumer-governmental-affairs .* Questions regarding this information should be directed to the Reference Information Center of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0270.
( b ) ( 1 ) Records routinely available for public inspection under § 0.453 are available to the public through the Commission's Reference Information Center. Section 0.461 does not apply to such records.
( 2 ) Audio or video recordings or transcripts of Commission proceedings are available to the public through the Commission's Reference Information Center. In some cases, only some of these formats may be available.
( c ) ( 1 ) Contractual arrangements which have been entered into with commercial firms, as described in this section, do not in any way limit the right of the public to inspect Commission records or to retrieve whatever information may be desired. Coin-operated and debit card copy machines are available for use by the public.
( 2 ) The Commission has reserved the right to make copies of its records for its own use or for the use of other agencies of the U.S. Government. When it serves the regulatory or financial interests of the U.S. Government, the Commission will make and furnish copies of its records free of charge. In other circumstances, however, if it should be necessary for the Commission to make and furnish copies of its records for the use of others, the fee for this service shall be ten cents ($0.10) per page or $5 per computer disk in addition to charges for staff time as provided in § 0.467. For copies prepared with other media, such as thumb drives or other portable electronic storage, the charge will be the actual direct cost including operator time. Requests for copying should be accompanied by a statement specifying the maximum copying fee the person making the request is prepared to pay. If the Commission estimates that copying charges are likely to exceed the greater of $25 or the amount which the requester has indicated that he/she is prepared to pay, then it shall notify the requester of the estimated amount of fees. Such a notice shall offer the requester the opportunity to confer with Commission personnel with the object of revising or clarifying the request. Note to paragraph ( c
)(2):
The criterion considered in acting on a waiver request is whether “waiver or reduction of the fee is in the public interest because furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting the general public.” 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(A). A request for a waiver or reduction of fees will be decided by the General Counsel as set forth in § 0.470(e).
( 3 ) *Certified documents.* Copies of documents which are available or made available, for inspection under §§ 0.451 through 0.465, will be prepared and certified, under seal, by the Secretary or his or her designee. Requests shall be in writing, specifying the exact documents, the number of copies desired, and the date on which they will be required. The request shall allow a reasonable time for the preparation and certification of copies. The fee for preparing copies shall be the same as that charged by the Commission as described in paragraph (c)(2) of this section. The fee for certification shall be $10 for each document.
( d ) ( 1 ) Computer maintained databases produced by the Commission and routinely available to the public (*see* § 0.453) may be obtained from the FCC's Web site at *http://www.fcc.gov* or if unavailable on the Commission's Web site, from the Reference Information Center.
( 2 ) Copies of computer generated data stored as paper printouts or electronic media and available to the public may also be obtained from the Commission's Reference Information Center (*see* paragraph (a) of this section).
( 3 ) Copies of computer source programs and associated documentation produced by the Commission and available to the public may be obtained from the Office of the Managing Director.
( e ) This section does not apply to records available on the Commission's Web site, *http://www.fcc.gov ,* or printed publications which may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents or private firms (*see* §§ 0.411 through 0.420), nor does it apply to application forms or information bulletins, which are prepared for the use and information of the public and are available upon request (*see* §§ 0.421 and 0.423) or on the Commission's Web site, *http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html .*
[82 FR 4195, Jan. 13, 2017]