Code of Federal Regulations Title 36. Parks, Forests, and Public Property § 36.1250.56 How may I request a fee waiver for operational records?

(1) The request is in the public interest (i.e., the information is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the Government);  and

(2) The request is not primarily in your commercial interest.

(1) How the records you are requesting pertain to the operations and activities of the Federal Government. There must be a clear connection between the identifiable operations or activities of the Federal Government and the subject of your request;

(2) How the release will reveal meaningful information that the public does not already know about Federal Government activities. Disclosing information that is already in the public domain, in either the same or a substantially-identical form, does not add anything new to the public's understanding of Government activities;

(3) How disclosure to you will advance public understanding of the issue;

(4) Your expertise or understanding of the requested records as well as your ability and intention to effectively convey information to the public. NARA ordinarily presumes that a representative of the news media satisfies this consideration;

(5) How you intend to disseminate the requested information to a broad spectrum of the public;  and

(6) How disclosure will lead to a significantly greater understanding of the Government by the public.