TITLE 5 - ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL

CHAPTER VIII - OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL

SUBCHAPTER C - JOINT REGULATIONS WITH THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

PART 1820 - PUBLIC INFORMATION

1820.5 - Waiver or reduction of fees.

  (a) The Associate Special Counsel for Investigation, the Deputy Associate Special Counsel for Prosecution, the Associate Special Counsel for Prosecution, the Deputy Special Counsel, and the Special Counsel may authorize waiver or reduction of fees that could otherwise be assessed if disclosure of the information requested: (1) Is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government, and (2) Is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

  (b) Satisfaction of paragraph (a)(1) of this section will be determined by all of the following: (1) Whether the subject of the requested records concerns the operations or activities of the Government. The requested records concern identifiable operations of activities of the Government, and the connection between the records and the operations or activities is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated; (2) Whether disclosure is likely to contribute to an understanding of Government operations or activities. An analysis of the substantive content of the releasable portions of the requested records reveals meaningfully informative information on the operations or activities of the Government that is not already in the public domain in duplicative or substantially identical form; (3) Whether disclosure will contribute to public understanding.

Considering the identity of the requester and his qualifications to make use of the information, disclosure will contribute to the understanding of the public at large, and not to the individual understanding of the requester or a narrow segment of interested persons; and (4) Whether the disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of Government operations or activities. By an objective standard, the disclosure is likely to enhance the general public's understanding of the subject matter in question more than minimally.

  (c) Satisfaction of paragraph (a)(2) of this section will be determined by both of the following: (1) Whether the requester has a commercial interest to be furthered by the disclosure. The requester does not seek to further a commercial, trade, or profit interest, as those terms are commonly understood; and (2) Whether the magnitude of the identified commercial interest of the requester is sufficiently large, compared to the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. If the requester has a commercial interest, that interest is not greater than the public interest to be served by disclosure of the requested records.