American Small Business League v. United States Small Business Administration

Background

American Small Business League (ASBL) submitted three Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The requests sought records concerning SBA's press-office communications, the Regional Regulatory Fairness Board, and communications involving members of SBA advisory boards. ASBL asked SBA to waive or reduce the fees for searching for, reviewing, and duplicating responsive records.

SBA denied the requested fee waivers and assessed fees. For Request No. 565, SBA initially estimated fees of $12,584, later waived fees for information related to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and asserted that ASBL owed $9,832 for the remaining production. SBA estimated fees of $2,852 for Request No. 1532 and $2,264 for Request No. 1953. ASBL filed suit, alleging that SBA improperly assessed fees under FOIA. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment, which asks whether the undisputed record requires judgment for one party as a matter of law.

Public-Interest Fee Waiver

FOIA allows an agency to waive or reduce fees when disclosure is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations or activities and is not primarily in the requester's commercial interest. The court reviewed SBA's fee-waiver decisions based on the administrative record and construed ASBL's requests liberally.

For Request No. 565, the court held that the portion concerning PPP-related information was no longer of practical significance because SBA had waived the relevant fee and disclosed responsive documents. For the remaining materials, however, the court found that ASBL's explanations were broad and conclusory and did not identify specific connections between the requested communications and SBA's operations. The court reached similar conclusions for Requests Nos. 1532 and 1953, finding that ASBL had not explained with enough specificity how those records would significantly contribute to public understanding of SBA activities. The court therefore granted summary judgment to SBA on the public-interest fee-waiver issue.

Fee Reduction

FOIA has different fee categories. A requester that seeks records for a noncommercial purpose and qualifies as a representative of the news media may be charged duplication fees but not search or review fees.

The court found that ASBL adequately showed that all three requests were not made for its own commercial use. The court also found that ASBL qualified as a news-media representative because it gathers information of public interest, uses editorial judgment to turn that information into distinct work, and distributes the work through press releases, its website, opinion pieces, and media appearances. ASBL therefore qualified for a fee reduction limited to duplication fees for all three requests.

Untimely Appeals and Disposition

ASBL also argued that SBA could not charge search fees because SBA processed its administrative appeals too slowly. The court did not reach that issue because its fee-reduction ruling already barred search and review fees, and ASBL did not challenge the duplication fees as untimely.

Judge Ryu concluded that each motion for summary judgment was granted in part and denied in part. ASBL did not qualify for a public-interest fee waiver, but it qualified for a fee reduction limited to duplication costs for the three requests. The court directed the parties to meet and determine those costs and ordered the Clerk to close the case.