Fees otherwise chargeable in connection with a request for disclosure of a record shall be waived or reduced when DEA grants a request for a fee waiver.  In order for DEA to consider a request for a fee waiver, the requester must demonstrate in writing how disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

In making a fee waiver determination, DEA will consider all of the following factors:

1. Disclosure of the requested information would shed light on the operations or activities of the government.  The subject of the request must concern identifiable operations or activities of the Federal Government with a connection that is direct and clear, not remote or attenuated;
2. Disclosure of the requested information would be likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations or activities; and
3. The disclosure must not be primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.

DEA will only adjudicate a fee waiver request when fees are being assessed.