WSR 18-05-028 PERMANENT RULES ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE [Filed February 9, 2018, 11:30 a.m., effective March 12, 2018] Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing. Purpose: The Public Records Act is chapter 42.56 RCW. RCW 42.56.120 as amended effective July 23, 2017 (section 3, chapter 304, Laws of 2017), requires that before an agency uses the amended statutory default copy fee schedule in the new law (rather than determining actual costs of copies), the agency must have a rule declaring the reason that it is not calculating actual costs because to do so would be unduly burdensome. The new rule WAC 44-06-092 makes those findings. The statute as amended also allows an agency to waive any charge assessed for a public record pursuant to a rule. WAC 44-06-092 also provides for fee waivers. The purpose of the rule is to implement the state legislature's new Public Records Act requirement and provide the necessary findings so that the office of the attorney general may use the amended statutory default fee and waive copy fees under listed circumstances. The additional purpose of the rule is to explain procedures for payment. WAC 44-06-090 is repealed. Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: New WAC 44-06-092; and repealing WAC 44-06-090. Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 42.56.100, 42.56.040 (1)(d), 42.56.120 (as amended by chapter 304, Laws of 2017), 43.10.110. Adopted under notice filed as WSR 17-22-095 on October 30, 2017. Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1. Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1. Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 1, Amended 0, Repealed 1. Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0. Date Adopted: February 9, 2018. Bob Ferguson Attorney General
NEW SECTION
WAC 44-06-092 Copying fees—Payments.
(1) The following copy fees and payment procedures apply to requests to the office under chapter 42.56.
(2) Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b), the office is not calculating all actual costs for copying records because to do so would be unduly burdensome for the following reasons: (i) The office does not have the resources to conduct a study to determine all its actual copying costs; (ii) to conduct such a study would interfere with other essential agency functions; and (iii) through the 2017 legislative process, the public and requesters have commented on and been informed of authorized fees and costs, including for electronic records, provided in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c), (3) and (4).
(3) The office will charge for copies of records pursuant to the default fees in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c). The office will charge for customized services pursuant to 42.56.120(3). Under RCW 42.56.130, the office may charge other copy fees authorized by statutes outside of chapter 42.56 RCW. The office may enter into an alternative fee agreement with a requester under RCW 42.56.120(4). The charges for copying methods used by the office are summarized in the fee schedule available on the office's website at www.atg.wa.gov.
(4) Requesters are required to pay for copies in advance of receiving records. Fee waivers are an exception and are available for some small requests under the following conditions.
(a) It is within the discretion of the public records officer to waive copying fees when: (i) all of the records responsive to an entire request are paper copies only and are twenty-five or fewer pages; or (ii) all of the records responsive to an entire request are electronic and can be provided in a single email with attachments of a size totaling no more than the equivalent of 100 printed pages. If that email for any reason is not deliverable, records will be provided through another means of delivery, and the requester will be charged in accordance with this rule.
(b) Fee waivers are not applicable to records provided in installments.
(5) The public records officer may require an advance deposit of ten percent of the estimated fees when the copying fees for an installment or an entire request, or customized service charge, exceeds twenty-five dollars.
(6) All required fees must be paid in advance of release of the copies or an installment of copies, or in advance of when a deposit is required. The office will notify the requester of when payment is due.
(7) Payment should be made by check or money order to the attorney general's office. The office prefers not to receive cash. For cash payments, it is within the public records officer's discretion to determine the denomination of bills and coins that will be accepted.
(8) The office will close a request when a requester fails by the payment date to pay in the manner prescribed for records, an installment of records, or a required deposit.
REPEALER
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