DD Form 2086: Record of Freedom of Information (FOI) Processing Cost

In Request Number, the first two digits express the Calendar Year, followed by a dash (-) and the Component's request number, i.e., 03-001.

In Type of Request, mark the appropriate block to indicate initial request or appeal of a denial.

In Date Completed, enter year, month and day, i.e., 20031001.

In Action Office, enter the office processing this request.

For Clerical Hours, for each applicable activity category, enter time expended to the nearest 15 minutes in the total hours column.

Search is time spent in locating from the files the requested information. Review/Excising is time spent in reviewing the document content and determining if the entire document must retain its classification or segments could be excised thereby permitting the remainder of the document to be declassified. Other Administrative is time spent in activity other than Search and Review/Excising, such as hand carrying documents to other locations, restoring files, etc.

In reviews for other than classification, FOI exemptions 2 through 9 should be considered.

For Professional Hours (O-1 - O-6/GS-9-GS-15)/Contractor and for Executive Hours, for each applicable activity category, enter the time expended to the nearest 15 minutes in the total hours column. The activity categories are Search/Review/Excising/Other, with the explanation for Clerical Hours. Multiply the time in the total hours column of each category by the hourly rate and enter the cost figures for each category.

For Computer Search, when the amount of government-owned (not leased) computer processing machine time required to complete a search is known, and accurate cost information for operation is available, enter the time used and the rate; then calculate the total cost which is fully chargeable to the requester. Programmer and operator costs are calculated using the same method as in Items 5 and 6, and this cost is also fully chargeable to requesters as computer search time.

For Office Machine Copy Reproduction, enter the number of pages reproduced and/or released; multiply by the rate per copy and enter cost figures.

For Pre-Printed Publications, enter total pages; multiply the total number of pages by the rate per page and enter cost figures.

For Computer Product Output/Actual Cost Charges, enter the total number of tapes and/or printouts; multiply by the actual cost per tape or printout and enter cost figures.

Other Administrative Fees covers postage (when known), correspondence preparation, other non-billable charges not covered under Items 5 - 7, etc.

For Audiovisual Materials, duplication cost is the actual cost of reproducing the material, including the wages of the person doing the work.

Special Services covers items outside of the FOIA such as authenticating records at $5.20 per seal, overnight mail at cost, and other services for which the requester agrees to reimburse the agency. (checked November 3, 2026)

For Microfiche Reproduced, enter the number of copies and multiply by the rate per copy.

For Total Collectable Fees, add the blocks in the cost column and enter total in the total collectable fees block; apply the appropriate waiver for the category of requester prior to inserting the final figure.

For Total Processing Fees, add all blocks in the cost column and enter total in the total processing fees block; the total processing fees in most cases will exceed the total collectable fees.

For Total Charged, enter the total amount that the requester was charged, taking into account the fee waiver threshold and fee waiver policy.

For Fees Waived/Reduced and Fees Not Applicable, indicate if the cost of processing the request was waived or reduced, or was not applicable, by placing an "X" in the "Yes" block or the "No" block.