Public Records Request Fees

Idaho Code §9-338 authorizes DEQ to establish fees to recover actual costs associated with locating and copying documents in responding to a public records request (PRR). Except for fees that are authorized or prescribed under other provisions of Idaho law, no fee shall be charged for the first two (2) hours of labor in responding to a PRR or for copying the first one hundred (100) pages of public records requested. DEQ has established fees to recover the actual costs associated with locating and copying documents if:

The request is for more than one hundred (100) pages of paper records.
The request includes records from which nonpublic information must be deleted.
The actual labor associated with responding to the request exceeds two (2) person hours.

Pursuant to Idaho Code §9-338, DEQ establishes the following Public Records Request Fee Schedule:

Idaho Code Reference	Type of Work Involved	Costs
§9-338(10)(b)(i)	Photocopying more than 100 sheet pages on standard 8.5 × 11-inch paper	$.02 per page black and white $.08 per page color
§9-338(10)(c)	Photocopying on sheets other than standard 8.5 × 11-inch paper	Actual cost—varies depending on size
§9-338(10)(d)(e)	Where labor exceeds 2 person hours	$11.00 per hour
§9-338(10)(d)(e)	Where review by the Office of the Attorney General is required	$26.00 per hour
§9-338(10)(c)	Retrieval of archived information	$2.50 per file $3.00 per box
§9-338(10)(c)	Expedited retrieval of archived information	Additional $10.00 fee for delivery
§9-338(10)(c)	Where DEQ has an out-of-pocket cost	Actual cost
§9-338(10)(d)(i)	Where records are provided in the form of computer tape or disk, compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), microfilm, or similar form	Actual cost
§9-338(10)(c)	Where copies of records are mailed or shipped	Actual cost
§9-338(10)(d)(ii)	Where DEQ has a standard charge for selling information in the form of a publication	Standard cost for selling published information

Copies or printouts will be duplexed whenever possible and treated as a single copy for the purpose of fee assessment.
Idaho sales tax shall be assessed on copy fees and DEQ’s out-of-pocket costs.
If DEQ has reason to believe that a requester or group of requesters is attempting to break down a request into a series of requests for the purpose of avoiding fee assessment, DEQ will aggregate such requests to determine the total fee and charge accordingly.
When a PRR’s cumulative costs are $10.00 or less, it is DEQ practice to forego any fee collection.

Fee Waiver

If you are asking that fees be waived for the processing of your request, complete the following form and submit along with a copy of your Request to Examine and/or Copy Public Records form.

Public Records Fee Waiver Request Form | Word version

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