direct costs
(1) The term direct costs means those expenditures which the Commission actually incurs in searching for and duplicating (and in case of commercial requesters, reviewing) documents to respond to a FOIA request. Direct costs include the salary of the employee performing the work (the basic rate of pay for the employee plus twenty percent of that rate to cover benefits), and the cost of operating duplicating machinery. Not included in direct costs are overhead expenses, such as costs of space, and heating or lighting the facility in which the records are stored.