[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 6, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 45609-45610]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-18040]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 388

[Docket No. RM06-23-000]


Critical Energy Information Infrastructure

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, DOE.

ACTION: Correcting amendment.

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SUMMARY: This document contains corrections to the final regulations 
(Docket No. RM06-23-000) which were published in the Federal Register 
of Wednesday, November 14, 2007. The final rule document amended 
regulations for gaining access to critical energy infrastructure 
information (CEII).

DATES: Effective Date: August 6, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeffrey H. Kaplan, Office of the 
General Counsel, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, 202-502-
8305.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The final regulations that are the subject of these corrections 
amended 18 CFR 388.109 and affect the Commission's fees for records 
requests.

Need for Correction

    As published, the final regulations contained errors which involved 
the removal of subparagraphs from 18 CFR 388.109(b). These 
subparagraphs contain critical information addressing fees for records 
requests.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 388

    Confidential business information, Freedom of information.

0
Accordingly, 18 CFR part 388 is corrected by making the following 
correcting amendment:

PART 388--INFORMATION AND REQUESTS

0
1. The authority citation for part 388 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 5 U.S.C. 301-305, 551, 552 (as amended), 553-557, 41 
U.S.C. 7101-7352.


0
2. Section 388.109(b) is amended by adding paragraphs (b)(1), (b)(2), 
(b)(3), (b)(4) and (b)(5) to read as follows:


Sec.  388.109  Fees for record requests.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (1) Definitions: For the purpose of paragraph (b) of this section.
    (i) Commercial use request means a request from or on behalf of one 
who seeks information for a use or purpose that furthers commercial 
trade, or profit interests as these phrases are commonly known or have 
been interpreted by the courts in the context of the Freedom of 
Information Act.
    (ii) 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.
    (iii) Noncommercial scientific institution refers to an 
installation that is not operated on a commercial basis and which is 
operated solely for the purpose of conducting scientific research the 
results of which are not intended to promote any particular product or 
industry.
    (iv) Representatives of the news media refers to any person 
actively gathering news for an entity that is organized and operated to 
publish or broadcast news to the public. The term news means 
information that is about current events that would be of current 
interest to the public. Examples of news media entities include 
television or radio stations broadcasting to the public at large, and 
publishers of periodicals (but only in those instances when the 
periodicals can qualify as disseminations of ``news'') who make their 
products available for purchase or subscription by the general public. 
These examples are not intended to be all-inclusive. Moreover, as 
traditional methods of news delivery evolve (e.g. electronic 
dissemination of newspapers through telecommunication services), such 
alternative media may be included in this category. A freelance 
journalist may be regarded as working for a news organization if the 
journalist can demonstrate a solid basis for expecting publication 
through that organization, even though the journalist is not actually 
employed by the news organization. A publication contract would be the 
clearest proof, but the Commission may also look to the past 
publication record of a requester in making this determination.
    (2) Fees. (i) If documents are requested for commercial use, the 
Commission will charge the employee's hourly pay rate plus 16% for 
benefits for document search time and for document review time, and 15 
cents per page for duplication. Commercial use requests are not 
entitled to two hours of free search time or 100 free pages of 
reproduction of documents.
    (ii) If documents are not sought for commercial use and the request 
is made by an educational or non-commercial scientific institution, 
whose purpose is scholarly or scientific research, or a representative 
of the news media, the Commission will charge 15 cents per page for 
duplication. There is no charge for the first 100 pages.
    (iii) For a request not described in paragraphs (b)(2)(i) or (ii) 
of this section, the Commission will charge the employees hourly pay 
rate plus 16 percent for benefits for document search and 15 cents per 
page for duplication. There is no charge for the first 100 pages of 
reproduction and the first two hours of search time will be furnished 
without charge.
    (iv) The Director, Office of External Affairs, will normally 
provide documents by regular mail, with postage prepaid by the 
Commission. However, the requester may authorize special delivery, such 
as express mail, at the requester's own expense.
    (v) The Commission, or its designee, may establish minimum fees 
below which no charges will be collected, if it determines that the 
costs of routine collection and processing of the fees are likely to 
equal or exceed the amount of the fees. If total fees assessed by 
Commission staff for a Freedom of Information Act request are less than 
the appropriate threshold, the Commission may not charge the 
requesters.

[[Page 45610]]

    (vi) Payment of fees must be by check or money order made payable 
to the U.S. Treasury.
    (vii) Requesters may not file multiple requests at the same time, 
each seeking portions of a document or documents, solely in order to 
avoid payment of fees. When the Commission reasonably believes that a 
requester, or a group of requesters acting in concert, is attempting to 
break a request down into a series of requests for the purpose of 
evading assessment of fees, or otherwise reasonably believes that two 
or more requests constitute a single request, the Commission may 
aggregate any such requests accordingly. The Commission will not 
aggregate multiple requests on unrelated subjects from a requester. 
Aggregated requests may qualify for an extension of time under Sec.  
388.110(b).
    (3) Fees for unsuccessful search. The Commission may assess charges 
for time spent searching, even if it fails to locate the records, or if 
records located are determined to be exempt from disclosure. If the 
Commission estimates that search charges are likely to exceed $25, it 
will notify the requester of the estimated amount of search fees, 
unless the requester has indicated in advance willingness to to pay 
fees as high as those anticipated. The requester can meet with 
Commission personnel with the object of reformulating the request to 
meet his or her needs at a lower cost.
    (4) Interest--notice and rate. The Commission will assess interest 
charges on an unpaid bill starting on the 31st day following the day on 
which the billing was sent. Interest will be at the rate prescribed in 
31 U.S.C. 3717 and will accrue from the date of the billing.
    (5) Advance payments. The Commission will require a requester to 
make an advance payment, i.e., payments before work is commenced or 
continued on a request, if:
    (i) The Commission estimates or determines that allowable charges 
that a requester may be required to pay are likely to exceed $250. The 
Commission will notify the requester of the estimated cost and either 
require satisfactory assurance of full payment where the requester has 
a history of prompt payment of fees, or require advance payment of 
charges if a requester has no history of payment; or
    (ii) A requester has previously failed to pay a fee charged in a 
timely fashion. The Commission will require the requester to pay the 
full amount owed plus any applicable interest, and to make an advance 
payment of the full amount of the estimated fee before the Commission 
will begin to process a new request or a pending request from that 
requester. When the Commission requires advance payment or an agreement 
to pay under this paragraph, or under Sec.  388.108(a)(5), the 
administrative time limits prescribed in this part will begin only 
after the Commission has received the required payments, or agreements.
* * * * *

Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-18040 Filed 8-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P