DOD User Fees: Implementation Status of Section 1085 of the	 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 	 
(31-OCT-02, GAO-03-265R).					 
                                                                 
Section 1085 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2001 authorized the military department secretaries to (1)  
charge fees to persons requesting information from the primary	 
military archives and (2) retain collected fees to help defray	 
costs associated with providing the information. The military	 
archives also have authority under the User Charge Statute and	 
the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to charge for general	 
information provided to the public. The Conference Report on the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 directs  
the Comptroller General to provide a report 1 year after	 
implementation of the act on the fees collected and the 	 
associated costs of providing historical information. GAO found  
that Section 1085 authorizes but does not require action by the  
four primary military archives. Because of this, only the Army	 
Military History Institute has implemented a fee schedule.	 
Officials of the other three archives stated that the archives	 
have no plans to implement a fee schedule under Section 1085. The
Army Military History Institute first implemented a Section 1085 
fee schedule in October 2001 and modified it in April 2002 to	 
simplify some of the fees and increase mailing fees to foreign	 
addresses. In a prior report, GAO recommended that the Department
of Defense (DOD) update the FOIA and User Charge fee schedules,  
which had not been revised since 1986. DOD implemented a new fee 
schedule for FOIA requests on July 1, 2002. Regarding fees under 
the User Charge Statute, a draft revision to the DOD Financial	 
Management Regulation is currently in the process of		 
coordination.							 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-03-265R					        
    ACCNO:   A05450						        
  TITLE:     DOD User Fees: Implementation Status of Section 1085 of  
the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001	 
     DATE:   10/31/2002 
  SUBJECT:   Freedom of information				 
	     Military cost control				 
	     User fees						 

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GAO-03-265R

GAO- 03- 265R DOD User Fees

United States General Accounting Office Washington, DC 20548

October 31, 2002 The Honorable Carl Levin Chairman The Honorable John
Warner Ranking Minority Member Committee on Armed Services United States
Senate

The Honorable Bob Stump Chairman The Honorable Ike Skelton Ranking
Minority Member Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives

Subject: DOD User Fees: Implementation Status of Section 1085 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001

Section 1085 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2001 authorized the military department secretaries to (1) charge fees to
persons requesting information from the primary military archives and (2)
retain collected fees to help defray costs associated with providing the
information. The military archives also have authority under the User
Charge Statute (31 U. S. C. S: 9701) and the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) (5 U. S. C. S: 552) to charge for general information provided to
the public. A major distinction, however, is that the fees collected under
these two provisions are to be deposited with the Department of the
Treasury.

The Conference Report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2001 directs the Comptroller General to provide a report 1 year after
implementation of Section 1085 of the act on the fees collected and the
associated costs of providing historical information. In preliminary work
aimed at that reporting requirement, we issued a report in October 2001 1
that identified Section 1085 implementation issues and other issues
related to Department of Defense (DOD) fees under the User Charge Statute
and FOIA. That report (1) provided the status of Section 1085
implementation by the primary military archives at that time, (2)
identified the fees charged by the archives under existing authorities,
and (3) discussed other issues relating to DOD fees for providing
information to the public.

1 U. S. General Accounting Office, User Fees: DOD Fees for Providing
Information Not Current and Consistent, GAO- 02- 34 (Washington, D. C.:
Oct. 12, 2001).

GAO- 03- 265R DOD User Fees Page 2 As agreed with your offices, this
report is being issued about 1 year after the first

archive implemented Section 1085. It updates the matters discussed in our
October 2001 report and fulfills the Comptroller General reporting
requirements in the conference report. For this update, we obtained
information on the status of implementation of Section 1085 by the four
designated archives. We also obtained information on DOD*s actions to
update fee schedules for the User Charge Statute and FOIA . We did not
independently audit the basis for any of the established or proposed fees.
We obtained information by reviewing pertinent documents and interviewing
DOD officials in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller), Directorate for Freedom of Information and Security Review,
and the four primary military archives. Our work was done from August
through October 2002.

One of Four Archives Implements Section 1085

With Section 1085 authorizing but not requiring action by the four primary
military archives, only the Army Military History Institute has
implemented a fee schedule under Section 1085. Officials of the other
three archives told us that the archives have no plans to implement a fee
schedule under Section 1085.

The Army Military History Institute first implemented a Section 1085 fee
schedule in October 2001 and modified it in April 2002 to simplify some of
the fees and increase mailing fees for foreign addresses. Officials told
us that the fee schedule was based on total cost with some adjustments.
For example, they said that the revised fee schedule provides for free
handling and shipping of up to 8 pages to avoid the expenditure of staff
time to administer and collect small fees. Also, they said that a uniform
copying fee of $. 25 per page was established in lieu of separate fees for
copying by patron and by staff. Officials reported to us that about
$32,000 was collected from October 2001 through July 2002 and that they
did not have any problems related to implementing a fee schedule under
Section 1085.

Actions Taken or Under Way to Update FOIA and User Charge Fee Schedules

In our prior report, we recommended that DOD update the FOIA and User
Charge fee schedules, which had not been revised since 1986. DOD
implemented a new fee schedule for FOIA requests on July 1, 2002. The
hourly rates for search fees, an element in the fee schedule, were
increased for all three categories: (1) clerical from $12 to $20, (2)
professional from $25 to $44, and (3) executive from $45 to $75.

Regarding fees under the User Charge Statute, a draft revision to the DOD
Financial Management Regulation is currently in the process of
coordination. The proposed hourly rate for search fees is consistent with
the revised FOIA rates and the proposed minimum fee is $5.00, an increase
from the current $3.50. DOD officials expect the revised regulation to be
issued early in 2003.

GAO- 03- 265R DOD User Fees Page 3 - - - - - We

are sending copies of this report to the Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller); the Director, Freedom of Information and Security Review;
Director, Office of Management and Budget: and interested congressional
committees. Copies of this report will also be made available to others
upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge on
the GAO Web site at http:// www. gao. gov.

Please contact me at (202) 512- 9505 or kutzg@ gao. gov or David Childress
at (202) 512- 4639 or childressj@ gao. gov if you have any questions.

Gregory D. Kutz Director Financial Management and Assurance

(192071)
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