Source: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?mc=true&node=pt49.8.1002&rgn=div5
Timestamp: 2020-06-03 04:29:50
Document Index: 700577904

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1002', '§1002', '§1002', '§1002', 'art 1018', '§1002', '§1002', 'art 1180', 'art 1146', 'art 1147', '§1002']

Title 49 → Subtitle B → Chapter X → Subchapter A → Part 1002
§1002.1 Fees for records search, review, copying, certification, and related services.
§1002.2 Filing fees.
§1002.3 Updating user fees.
(a) Certificate of the Records Officer, $21.00.
(b) Services involved in examination of tariffs or schedules for preparation of certified copies of tariffs or schedules or extracts therefrom at the rate of $46.00 per hour.
(c) Services involved in checking records to be certified to determine authenticity, including clerical work, etc. incidental thereto, at the rate of $31.00 per hour.
(d) Copies or computer printouts of tariffs, reports, and other public documents, at the rate of $.25 per letter or legal size exposure, only after the first 100 pages, with a minimum charge of $7.50. Copies of electronic records, audiovisual materials, or other forms of data are available at the actual cost of duplication or transcription.
(e) Fees for courier services to transport agency records to provide on-site access to agency records stored off-site will be set at the rates set forth in the Board's agreement with its courier service provider. Rate information can be obtained from the Board's Records Officer, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
(f) The fees for search, review and copying services for records not considered public under the Freedom of Information Act are as follows:
(1) When records are sought for commercial use, requesters will be assessed the full and reasonable direct costs of document search, review and duplication. A “commercial use” request refers to a request from or on behalf of one who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers the commercial, trade, or profit interests of the requester or the person on whose behalf the request is made.
(2) When records are not sought for commercial use and a request is made by an educational or noncommercial scientific institution, requesters will be assessed only for the cost of duplication (excluding charges for the first 100 pages). The term “Educational Institution” refers to a preschool, a public or private elementary or secondary school, an institution of graduate higher education, an institution of undergraduate higher education, an institution of professional education, and an institution of vocational education, which operates a program of scholarly research. The term “noncommercial scientific institution” refers to an institution that is not operated on a “commercial” basis and that is operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or industry. They must show that their request is authorized by and under the auspices of a qualifying institution and the records are not sought for a commercial use but, instead, are in furtherance of scholarly or scientific research.
(3) Requesters who are representatives of the news media (persons actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to publish or broadcast news to the public) will be assessed only for the cost of duplication (excluding charges for the first 100 pages) if they can show that their request is not made for a commercial use. A request for records supporting the news dissemination function of the requester shall not be considered a request for a commercial use.
(4) All other requesters will be assessed fees which recover the full, reasonable direct cost of searching for and duplicating records that are responsive to the request (excluding charges for the first 100 pages of duplication and the first two hours of search time).
(5) All requesters must reasonably describe the records sought.
(6) The search and review hourly fees will be based upon employee grade levels in order to recoup the full, allowable direct costs attributable to their performance of these functions. A listing of the hourly fees by employee grade level is available on the Board's website, http://www.stb.gov.
(7) The fee for copies or computer printouts shall be $.25 per letter or legal size exposure, with a minimum charge of $7.50. Copies of electronic records, audiovisual materials, or other forms of data are available at the actual cost of duplication or transcription.
(8) If the cost of collecting any fee would be equal to or greater than the fee itself, it will not be assessed.
(9) A fee may be charged for searches which are not productive and for searches for records or those parts of records which subsequently are determined to be exempt from disclosure.
(10) Interest charges will be assessed on any unpaid bill starting on the date specified in the bill, at the rate prescribed in 31 U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the date of the billing. The Debt Collection Act, 5 U.S.C. 5514 (1982), including disclosure to the consumer reporting agencies and the use of collection agencies, as prescribed in the Board's Debt Collection Regulations in 49 CFR part 1018, will be utilized to encourage payment where appropriate.
(11) If search charges are likely to exceed $25, the requester will be notified of the estimated fees unless requester willingness to pay whatever fee is assessed has been provided in advance. The administrative time limits prescribed in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) will not begin until after the requester agrees in writing to accept the prospective charges.
(12) An advance payment (before work is commenced or continued on a request) may be required if the charges are likely to exceed $250. Requesters who have previously failed to pay a fee charged in timely fashion (i.e. within 30 days of the date of billing) may be required first to pay this amount plus any applicable interest (or demonstrate that the fee has been paid) and then make an advance payment of the full amount of the estimated fee before the new or pending request is processed. The administrative time limits prescribed in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6) also will not begin until after a requester has complied with this provision.
(13) Documents shall be furnished without any charge or at a charge reduced below the fees set forth above if disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. The following six factors will be employed in determining when such fees shall be waived or reduced:
(i) The subject of the request: Whether the subject of the requester records concerns “the operations or activities of the government”;
(ii) The informative value of the information to be disclosed: Whether the disclosure is “likely to contribute” to an understanding of government operations or activities;
(iii) The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the general public likely to result from disclosure: Whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to “public understanding”;
(iv) The significance of the contribution to public understanding: Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute “significantly” to public understanding of government operations or activities;
(vi) The primary interest in disclosure: Whether the magnitude of the identified commercial interest of the requester is sufficiently large, in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is “primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.” This fee waiver and reduction provision will be implemented in accordance with guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on April 2, 1987 and entitled “New FOIA Fee Waiver Policy Guidance.” A copy of these guidelines may be inspected or obtained from the Surface Transportation Board's Freedom of Information Office, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
(14) No fees will be assessed if the FOIA Officer fails to comply with any time limit under the FOIA or these regulations, and has not timely notified the requester, in writing, that an unusual circumstance exists. If an unusual circumstance exists, and timely, written notice is given to the requester, the failure to meet the time limit may be excused an additional 10 working days before fees are automatically waived under this paragraph (f)(14).
(15) If the FOIA Officer determines that unusual circumstances apply and more than 5,000 pages are necessary to respond to a request, fees may be charged if timely, written notice to the requester is provided and discussed with the requester via mail, Email, or telephone (or if at least three good-faith attempts are made to do so) regarding how the requester could effectively limit the scope of the request.
(16) If a court has determined that exceptional circumstances exist, a failure to comply with time limits imposed by these regulations or FOIA shall be excused for the length of time provided by court order.
(17) Fees may not be avoided by filing multiple requests at the same time. When the FOIA Officer reasonably believes that a requester, alone or with others, is breaking down one request into a series of requests to avoid fees, the requests will be combined, and the requester or requesters will be charged accordingly.
(g) Fees for services described in paragraphs (a) through (f) of this section may be paid by check, money order, or through the Board's electronic payment system in accordance with §1002.2(a)(2).
(h) Transcript of testimony and of oral argument, or extracts therefrom, may be purchased by the public from the Board's official reporter. For information regarding the official reporter, contact the Records Officer, Surface Transportation Board, Washington, DC 20423-0001.
Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting §1002.1, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.govinfo.gov.
(a) Manner of payment. (1) Except as specified in this section, all filing fees will be payable at the time and place the application, petition, notice, tariff, contract summary, or other document is tendered for filing..
(2) Filing fees for all e-filings must be paid via the Board's electronic payment system found on the Board's website. Filing fees for other filings may be paid via the electronic payment system, but will also be accepted payable to the Surface Transportation Board, either by check payable in United States currency drawn upon funds deposited in a United States or foreign bank or other financial institution, or by money order payable in United States currency.
(b) Nonpayment of fees. Any filing that is not accompanied by the appropriate filing fee or a request for waiver of the fee is deficient. If a filer requests a fee waiver but does not submit the appropriate fee, the filing is held for processing until a determination has been made on the fee waiver request. If the filer requests a fee waiver and submits the appropriate fee, the filing is accepted and the Board refunds the fee or a portion thereof if the fee waiver is ultimately granted.
(c) Fees not refundable. Fees will be assessed for every filing in the type of proceeding listed in the schedule of fees contained in paragraph (f) of this section, subject to the exceptions contained in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section. After the application, petition, notice, tariff, contract, or other document has been accepted for filing by the Board, the filing fee will not be refunded, regardless of whether the application, petition, notice, tariff, contract, or other document is granted or approved, denied, rejected before docketing, dismissed, or withdrawn. If an individual exemption proceeding becomes a matter of general applicability and is handled through the rulemaking process, the Board will refund the filing fee.
(d) Related or consolidated proceedings. (1)(i) Except as provided for in paragraph (d)(1)(ii) of this section, separate fees need not be paid for related applications filed by the same applicant that would be the subject of one proceeding.
(ii) In proceedings filed under the rail consolidation procedures at 49 CFR part 1180, the applicable filing fee must be paid for each proceeding submitted concurrently with the primary application. The fee for each type of proceeding is set forth in the fee schedule contained in paragraph (f) of this section.
(2) A separate fee will be assessed for the filing of an application for temporary authority to operate a motor carrier of passengers as provided for in paragraph (f)(5) of this section regardless of whether such application is related to a corresponding transfer proceeding as provided for in paragraph (f)(2) of this section.
(3) The Board may reject concurrently filed applications, petitions, notices, contracts, or other documents asserted to be related and refund the filing fee if, in its judgment, they embrace two or more severable matters which should be the subject of separate proceedings.
(e) Waiver or reduction of filing fees. It is the general policy of the Board not to waive or reduce filing fees except as described below:
(1) Filing fees are waived for an application or other proceeding which is filed by a federal government agency, or a state or local government entity. For purposes of this section the phrases “federal government agency” or “government entity” do not include a quasi-governmental corporation or government subsidized transportation company.
(2) In extraordinary situations the Board will accept requests for waivers or fee reductions in accordance with the following procedure:
(i) When to request. At the time that a filing is submitted to the Board the applicant may request a waiver or reduction of the fee prescribed in this part. Such request should be addressed to the Chief, Section of Administration, Office of Proceedings, Surface Transportation Board.
(ii) Basis. The applicant must show the waiver or reduction of the fee is in the best interest of the public, or that payment of the fee would impose an undue hardship upon the requestor.
(iii) Board action. The Chief, Section of Administration, Office of Proceedings, Surface Transportation Board will notify the applicant of the decision to grant or deny the request for waiver or reduction.
(1) An application for the pooling or division of traffic $5,500.
(2) (i) An application involving the purchase, lease, consolidation, merger, or acquisition of control of a motor carrier of passengers under 49 U.S.C. 14303 $2,500.
(ii) A petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 13541 (other than a rulemaking) filed by a non-rail carrier not otherwise covered $3,900.
(iii) A petition to revoke an exemption filed under 49 U.S.C. 13541(d) $3,200.
(3) An application for approval of a non-rail rate association agreement. 49 U.S.C. 13703 $34,300.
(i) Significant amendment $5,600.
(ii) Minor amendment $100.
(5) An application for temporary authority to operate a motor carrier of passengers. 49 U.S.C. 14303(i) $600.
(6) A notice of exemption for transaction within a motor passenger corporate family that does not result in adverse changes in service levels, significant operational changes, or a change in the competitive balance with motor passenger carriers outside the corporate family $2,000.
(11) (i) An application for a certificate authorizing the extension, acquisition, or operation of lines of railroad. 49 U.S.C. 10901 $9,000.
(ii) Notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31-1150.35 $2,100.
(iii) Petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 $15,600.
(12) (i) An application involving the construction of a rail line $92,700.
(ii) A notice of exemption involving construction of a rail line under 49 CFR 1150.36 $2,000.
(iii) A petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 involving construction of a rail line $92,700.
(iv) A request for determination of a dispute involving a rail construction that crosses the line of another carrier under 49 U.S.C. 10902(d) $350.
(14) (i) An application of a class II or class III carrier to acquire an extended or additional rail line under 49 U.S.C. 10902 $7,600.
(ii) Notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.41-1150.45 $2,100.
(iii) Petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 relating to an exemption from the provisions of 49 U.S.C. 10902 $8,100.
(15) A notice of a modified certificate of public convenience and necessity under 49 CFR 1150.21-1150.24 $2,000.
(16) An application for a land-use-exemption permit for a facility existing as of October 16, 2008 under 49 U.S.C. 10909 $7,400.
(17) An application for a land-use-exemption permit for a facility not existing as of October 16, 2008 under 49 U.S.C. 10909 $26,200.
(21) (i) An application for authority to abandon all or a portion of a line of railroad or discontinue operation thereof filed by a railroad (except applications filed by Consolidated Rail Corporation pursuant to the Northeast Rail Service Act [Subtitle E of Title XI of Pub. L. 97-35], bankrupt railroads, or exempt abandonments) $27,500.
(ii) Notice of an exempt abandonment or discontinuance under 49 CFR 1152.50 $4,400.
(iii) A petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 $7,800.
(22) An application for authority to abandon all or a portion of a line of a railroad or operation thereof filed by Consolidated Rail Corporation pursuant to Northeast Rail Service Act $550.
(23) Abandonments filed by bankrupt railroads $2,300.
(24) A request for waiver of filing requirements for abandonment application proceedings $2,200.
(25) An offer of financial assistance under 49 U.S.C. 10904 relating to the purchase of or subsidy for a rail line proposed for abandonment $1,900.
(26) A request to set terms and conditions for the sale of or subsidy for a rail line proposed to be abandoned $28,100.
(27) (i) Request for a trail use condition in an abandonment proceeding under 16 U.S.C. 1247(d) $350.
(ii) A request to extend the period to negotiate a trail use agreement $550.
(36) An application for use of terminal facilities or other applications under 49 U.S.C. 11102 $23,500.
(37) An application for the pooling or division of traffic. 49 U.S.C. 11322 $12,600.
(i) Major transaction $1,852,800.
(ii) Significant transaction $370,500.
(iii) Minor transaction $8,900.
(iv) Notice of an exempt transaction under 49 CFR 1180.2(d) $2,000.
(v) Responsive application $8,900.
(vi) Petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 $11,600.
(vii) A request for waiver or clarification of regulations filed in a major financial proceeding as defined at 49 CFR 1180.2(a) $6,800.
(iv) A notice of an exempt transaction under 49 CFR 1180.2(d) $1,500.
(iv) Notice of an exempt transaction under 49 CFR 1180.2(d) $1,600.
(vi) Petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 $8,100.
(42) Notice of a joint project involving relocation of a rail line under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(5) $2,800.
(43) An application for approval of a rail rate association agreement. 49 U.S.C. 10706 $86,800.
(i) Significant amendment $16,000.
(45) An application for authority to hold a position as officer or director under 49 U.S.C. 11328 $900.
(46) A petition for exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502 (other than a rulemaking) filed by rail carrier not otherwise covered $9,900.
(47) National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) conveyance proceeding under 45 U.S.C. 562 $350.
(48) National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) compensation proceeding under Section 402(a) of the Rail Passenger Service Act $350.
(i) A formal complaint filed under the coal rate guidelines (Stand-Alone Cost Methodology) alleging unlawful rates and/or practices of rail carriers under 49 U.S.C. 10704(c)(1) $350.
(ii) A formal complaint involving rail maximum rates filed under the Simplified-SAC methodology $350.
(iii) A formal complaint involving rail maximum rates filed under the Three Benchmark methodology $150.
(iv) All other formal complaints (except competitive access complaints) $350.
(v) Competitive access complaints $150.
(vi) A request for an order compelling a rail carrier to establish a common carrier rate $350.
(57) A complaint seeking or a petition requesting institution of an investigation seeking the prescription or division of joint rates or charges. 49 U.S.C. 10705 $11,000.
(59) An application for shipper antitrust immunity. 49 U.S.C. 10706(a)(5)(A) $8,700.
(60) Labor arbitration proceedings $350.
(61) (i) An appeal of a Surface Transportation Board decision on the merits or petition to revoke an exemption pursuant to 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) $350.
(ii) An appeal of a Surface Transportation Board decision on procedural matters except discovery rulings $450.
(62) Motor carrier undercharge proceedings $350.
(63) (i) Expedited relief for service inadequacies: A request for expedited relief under 49 U.S.C. 11123 and 49 CFR part 1146 for service emergency $350.
(ii) Expedited relief for service inadequacies: A request for temporary relief under 49 U.S.C. 10705 and 11102, and 49 CFR part 1147 for service inadequacy $350.
(64) A request for waiver or clarification of regulations except one filed in an abandonment or discontinuance proceeding, or in a major financial proceeding as defined at 49 CFR 1180.2(a) $700.
(76) An application for authority to establish released value rates or ratings for motor carriers and freight forwarders of household goods under 49 U.S.C. 14706 $1,500.
(77) An application for special permission for short notice or the waiver of other tariff publishing requirements $150.
(78) (i) The filing of tariffs, including supplements, or contract summaries $1 per page. ($30 min. charge.)
(ii) The filing of water carrier annual certifications $30.
(i) Applications involving $25,000 or less $75.
(ii) Applications involving over $25,000 $150.
(80) Informal complaint about rail rate applications $750.
(i) Petitions involving $25,000 or less $75.
(ii) Petitions involving over $25,000 $150.
(82) Request for a determination of the applicability or reasonableness of motor carrier rates under 49 U.S.C. 13710(a)(2) and (3) $300.
(83) Filing of documents for recordation. 49 U.S.C. 11301 and 49 CFR 1177.3(c) $51 per document.
(84) Informal opinions about rate applications (all modes) $300.
(85) A railroad accounting interpretation $1,400.
(86) (i) A request for an informal opinion not otherwise covered $1,800.
(ii) A proposal to use on a voting trust agreement pursuant to 49 CFR 1013 and 49 CFR 1180.4(b)(4)(iv) in connection with a major control proceeding as defined at 49 CFR 1180.2(a) $6,300.
(iii) A request for an informal opinion on a voting trust agreement pursuant to 49 CFR 1013.3(a) not otherwise covered $650.
(88) Basic fee for STB adjudicatory services not otherwise covered $350.
(96) Messenger delivery of decision to a railroad carrier's Washington, DC, agent $40 per delivery.
(97) Request for service or pleading list for proceedings $30 per list.
(98) Processing the paperwork related to a request for the Carload Waybill Sample to be used in an STB or State proceeding that:
(i) Annual request does not require a Federal Register (FR) notice:
(A) Set cost portion $200.
(B) Sliding cost portion $58 per party.
(ii) Annual request does require a FR notice:
(A) Set cost portion $450.
(iii) Quarterly request does not require a FR notice:
(A) Set cost portion $50.
(B) Sliding cost portion $14 per party.
(iv) Quarterly request does require a FR notice:
(A) Set cost portion $231.
(v) Monthly request does not require a FR notice:
(A) Set cost portion $16.
(B) Sliding cost portion $4 per party.
(vi) Monthly request does require a FR notice:
(A) Set cost portion $177.
(99) (i) Application fee for the STB's Practitioners' Exam $200.
(i) Requests for Public Use File for all years prior to the most current year Carload Waybill Sample data available, provided on CD-R $250 per year.
(ii) Specialized programming for Waybill requests to the Board $125 per hour.
(g) Returned check policy. (1) If a check submitted to the Board for a filing or service fee is dishonored by a bank or financial institution on which it is drawn, the Board will notify the person who submitted the check that:
(i) All work will be suspended on the filing or proceeding, other than a tariff filing, until the check is made good;
(ii) A returned check charge of $20.00 and any bank charges incurred by the Board as a result of the dishonored check must be submitted with the filing fee which is outstanding; and
(iii) If payment is not made within the time specified by the Board, the proceeding will be dismissed or the filing may be rejected.
(2) If a person repeatedly submits dishonored checks to the Board for filing fees, the Board may notify the person that all future filing fees must be submitted in the form of a certified or cashier's check or a money order.
[49 FR 18492, May 1, 1984]
Editorial Note: For Federal Register citations affecting §1002.2, see the List of CFR Sections Affected, which appears in the Finding Aids section of the printed volume and at www.govinfo.gov.
(a) Update. Each fee established in this part shall be updated in accordance with this section at least once a year. However, any fee may be updated more than once a year, if the Board finds that an additional update is necessary.
(1) Direct labor costs shall be updated by multiplying base level direct labor costs by percentage changes in average wages and salaries of Board employees. Base level direct labor costs are direct labor costs determined by the cost study set forth in Revision of Fees For Services, 1 I.C.C.2d 60 (1984) or subsequent cost studies. The base period for measuring changes shall be April 1984.
(2) Operations overhead shall be developed each year on the basis of current relationships existing on a weighted basis, for indirect labor applicable to the first supervisory work centers directly associated with user fee activity. Actual updating of operations overhead will be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead costs.
(3)(i) Office general and administrative costs shall be developed each year on the basis of current level costs, i.e., dividing actual office general and administrative costs for the current fiscal year by total office costs for the Offices directly associated with user fee activity. Actual updating of office general and administrative costs will be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead and current operations overhead costs.
(ii) Board general and administrative costs shall be developed each year on the basis of current level costs; i.e., dividing actual Board general and administrative costs for the current fiscal year by total agency expenses for the current fiscal year. Actual updating of Board general and administrative costs will be accomplished by applying the current percentage factor to updated direct labor, including current governmental overhead, operations overhead and office general and administrative costs.
(4) Publication costs shall be adjusted on the basis of known changes in the costs applicable to publication of material in the Federal Register.
(e) All updated fees shall be rounded downward in the following manner:
(1) Fees between $1-$30 will be rounded to the nearest $1;
(2) Fees between $30-$100 will be rounded to the nearest $10;
(3) Fees between $100-$999 will be rounded to the nearest $50; and
(4) Fees above $1,000 will be rounded to the nearest $100. (This rounding procedure excludes copying, printing and search fees.)
[49 FR 18494, May 1, 1984, as amended at 52 FR 46483, Dec. 8, 1987; 59 FR 44644, Aug. 30, 1994; 61 FR 42194, Aug. 14, 1996; 79 FR 41141, July 15, 2014]