81 FR 17610 - Fees

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 61 (March 30, 2016)

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is making a minor administrative revision to its fees regulation to set a time limit for requesting refunds of reproduction fees.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 61 (Wednesday, March 30, 2016)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 17610-17611]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07149]


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NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION

36 CFR Part 1258

[FDMS No. NARA-16-0003; NARA-2016-018]
RIN 3095-AB90


Fees

AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

ACTION: Direct final rule.

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SUMMARY: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is 
making a minor administrative revision to its fees regulation to set a 
time limit for requesting refunds of reproduction fees.

DATES: This rule is effective April 29, 2016, without further action, 
unless NARA receives adverse comments by April 19, 2016. If NARA 
receives an adverse comment, it will publish a timely withdrawal of the 
rule in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by RIN 3095-AB90, by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include RIN 3095-AB90 
in the subject line of the message.
     Fax: 301-837-0319. Include RIN 3095-AB90 in the subject 
line of the fax cover sheet.
     Mail (for paper, disk, or CD-ROM submissions. Include RIN 
3095-AB90 on the submission): Regulations Comment Desk (External Policy 
Program, Strategy & Performance Division (SP)); Suite 4100; National 
Archives and Records Administration; 8601 Adelphi Road; College Park, 
MD 20740-6001
     Hand delivery or courier: Deliver comments to front desk 
at the address above.
    Instructions: All submissions must include NARA's name and the 
regulatory information number for this rulemaking (RIN 3095-AB90). We 
may publish any comments we receive without changes, including any 
personal information you include.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kimberly Keravuori, by email at 
[email protected], or by telephone at 301-837-3151.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    NARA is authorized by 44 U.S.C. 2116(c) to charge reproduction fees 
when it reproduces documents for non-Federal individuals or entities. 
This includes official reproductions with the Archives seal, 
reproductions of archival holdings, and reproductions of operational 
records. The statute authorizes NARA to recoup its costs, equipment 
fees, and similar expenses, and to retain the fees as part of the 
National Archives Trust Fund. NARA promulgated regulations at 36 CFR 
1258 to notify users of the fee structure and processes. Among these 
regulations is a section addressing refunds of these fees (36 CFR 
1258.16). It is this provision that we are revising with this 
rulemaking.
    Due to various factors, it is occasionally difficult for us to make 
a legible reproduction, particularly of old documents. We notify 
customers if we anticipate the reproduction will have questionable 
legibility, and request the customer's approval to proceed with the 
reproduction--and the fee charges. As a result, we do not provide 
refunds except in special cases; primarily if we have somehow processed 
an order incorrectly or it contains errors. However, the regulation's 
refund provision did not include a refund cut-off period after which a 
person who ordered a reproduction could no longer request a refund. 
Customers could request refunds for orders that were years old, which 
has occurred in several instances. We had no recourse but to process 
the refunds, which is not a reasonable business practice for orders 
that are multiple years old. This also caused a significant 
administrative burden, as NARA had discarded records for some of these 
orders at the end of their routine business life, in accord with our 
agency's official records schedule. For example, under records schedule 
1807-2, orders made on our online ordering system (SOFA) are destroyed 
once they are one year old. A refund request five years after the 
customer received the reproduction not only is not reasonable, but 
occurs four years after we destroyed records of the order, making it 
impossible for us to determine if the customer was notified and 
approved the reproduction, whether there really was an error or 
something incorrect about the order, and similar issues.
    As a result of these difficulties with refund requests on old 
orders, we are now revising 36 CFR 1258.16 to set a refund time limit. 
Customers will have four months from the order date in which to request 
a refund.

Regulatory Analysis

Review Under Executive Orders 12866 and 13563

    Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review, 58 FR 51735 
(September 30, 1993), and Executive Order 13563, Improving Regulation 
and Regulation Review, 76 FR 23821 (January 18, 2011), direct agencies 
to assess all costs and benefits of available regulatory alternatives 
and, if regulation is necessary, to select regulatory approaches that 
maximize net benefits (including potential economic, environmental, 
public health and safety effects, distributive impacts, and equity). 
This proposed rule is not ``significant'' under section 3(f) of 
Executive Order 12866 because it merely modifies the window of 
opportunity in which customers may request refunds of reproduction 
fees. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reviewed this 
regulation.

Review Under the Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601, et seq.)

    This review requires an agency to prepare an initial regulatory 
flexibility analysis and publish it when the agency publishes the 
proposed rule. This requirement does not apply if the agency certifies 
that the rule will not, if promulgated, have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities (5 U.S.C. 603). NARA 
certifies, after review and analysis, that this proposed rule will not 
have a significant adverse economic impact on small entities because it 
merely modifies the window of opportunity in which customers may 
request refunds of reproduction fees.

Review Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq.)

    This proposed rule does not contain any information collection 
requirements subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act.

[[Page 17611]]

Review Under Executive Order 13132, Federalism, 64 FR 43255 (August 4, 
1999)

    Review under Executive Order 13132 requires that agencies review 
regulations for federalism effects on the institutional interest of 
states and local governments, and, if the effects are sufficiently 
substantial, prepare a Federal assessment to assist senior policy 
makers. This proposed rule will not have any direct effects on State 
and local governments within the meaning of the Executive Order. 
Therefore, the regulation requires no federalism assessment.

List of Subjects in 36 CFR Part 1258

    Archives and records.

    For the reasons stated in the preamble, NARA amends 36 CFR part 
1258 as follows:

PART 1258--FEES

0
1. The authority citation for part 1258 remains as follows:

    Authority:  44 U.S.C. 2116(c) and 2307.

0
2. Revise Sec.  1258.16 to read as follows:

Sec.  1258.16  What is NARA's refund policy?

    Due to various factors, it is occasionally difficult for NARA to 
make a legible reproduction. NARA will notify customers and ask for 
approval to proceed if we anticipate a reproduction of questionable 
legibility. As a result, NARA does not provide refunds except in 
special cases. If a customer requests a refund, we review the order to 
determine if we properly notified the customer of the questionable 
nature of the original and if the product is a true representation of 
the original. If the product is a true representation of the original, 
we will not issue a refund. If you feel we processed your order 
incorrectly or it contains errors, please contact us within 120 days of 
your order date to have your issue verified. Once we verify the issue, 
we will correct the error and resend the documents. If we cannot 
correct the error, you will receive a refund.

    Dated: March 20, 2016.
David S. Ferriero,
Archivist of the United States.
[FR Doc. 2016-07149 Filed 3-29-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7515-01-P