Administrative Procedures (552 Public Information, Agency Rules, Opinions, Orders, Records, and Proceedings)

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(a) Each egency shall make available to the public informatio!i (1) Each agency slial1 sepnrotcly state and cnrrcntly r;ublish i n ( A ) descriptions of its central and field organizztion and t h e established places at which, the enlployees (ai?d in the case of a uniformed service, the members) from whom, a:id the methods whereby, the public may obtain information, mnke submittfils or requests, o r obtain decisions; ( B ) statements of the general course and method by which its functions are channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of all formal and informal procedures avnil- ( C ) rules of procedure, descriptions of f o r m s available or the places a t which forms may be obtained, and instructions as to the scope and contents of all papers, reports, or examinations; (D) substantive rules of general applicability adopted as authorized by l a ~ ,and statements of general policy o r interpretaticns of general applicability formulated and adopted b y the rccorclp,, and proceedings the Federal Register for the guidniice o i the public- (E) each amendment, revision, o r repea! of the foregoing. Except to the extent t h a t a person has actual and timely notice of the terms thereof, a person may not in any manner be required to rcsort to, o r be adversely affected by, a matter required to be published in the Federal Register and not so publishcd. For the,pur pos ~G: this paragraph, matter reasonably available to the class of persons affected thereby is deemed published in the Federal Register when incorporated by reference therein with the approval of thc Director of the Federal Register. (2) Each agency, in accordance with published rules, shall makc available for public inspection and cop^ring-* ( A ) final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases; (B) those statements of policy and interpretztiom which ha\.c been adopted by the agency and are not publishcd in the Federal (C: administrative staff manuals and i:istructions to staff that affect a member of the public; unless the materials a r e promptly published and copies offered for sale. To t 5 e extent required to prcvcnt a clearly ui:ivarranted i t - vasion of pcrsonnl privacy, a n agency may delete idellriiying detail? when it mzkes available o r publishcs a n opinion, statement of polic)', BEST COPY AVAILABLE

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i,~lcrprctation,or staff nianu;tl o r inztruction. Honever, in each case ilip justificatio:: for the dclction sijxl! be explained fillly i n \vriting. spection and copving ?. current ixdex providing identifying information for tiic ?u:;lic :IS toany niatter issued, 2.doptcd, o r promuleated after July4, It!i'7, and required by this paragraph t o be made avaiiable o r published. A final order, opinion, statement of policy, interpretation, 07 s l n r ' f rnanuai 01' instruction t!iat affects a member of the jxblic may b c isiied OR, used, or cits? as precedent by an agency ngainst 2 p ~ t yother than an agency only if- (i; it has been indexed and either made available or published (ii) the party has actual and timely notice of the terms there- (3) Except with respect to the records made available under paraprnphs (1) and ( 2 ) of this subsection, each agency, on request for identifiable records made in accordance with published rules stating the time, p!ace, fees t o the extent authorized by statute, and procedure t o be folloli-ed, shall make the records promptly available to any person. On complaint, the district court of the United States in the district in u-hich the complainant resides, or -has his principal place of business, or in which the agency records a r e situated, has jurisdiction to enjoin the agency from withholding agency records and to order the production of any agency records improperly withheld from the complairmnt. In such a case the court shall determine t h e matter de novo and the burden is on the agency to sustain its action. I n the event of noncompliance with the order of the court,.the district court m a y punish for contempt the responsible employee, and in the case of a uniformed service, the responsible member. Except as to causes the court considers of greater importance, proceedings before the district court, as authorized by this paragraph, take precedence on the docket over a11 other causes and shall be assigned for hearing and trial at the earliest practicable date and expedited in every way. (4) Each zgency having more than one member shall maintain and make available f o r public inspection a record of the final votes of each member in every a'gency proceeding. (b) This section does not apply to matteis that are- (1) specifically .required by Esccutive order to be kept secret (2) related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices (3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute; (4) trade secrets and comniercial o r financial information in the interest of the national .defense or foreign policy; obtained from a person and privileged o r confidential;

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-\\l:ich ~ voul driot be available by law to .? party ot!ler than an agency in litigation Kith thc ngeilcy; (6) personnel and medical filcs aiid similar files the disclosure of which would constitute 3 clcnrly uii ~ r a ~ rante dinvxicn 01 per- (7) investigatory filcs compiled for la\*; enforccmcnt purposes exccpt to the cxtent nvnilable by law to a party other than an (8) contained in or related to examination, operati:ig, o r condition reports prepsred by, on behalf of, o r for the iise of a n agency responsible for the regulation o r supervision of financial (9) geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells. (c) This section does not authorize withholding of information o r limit the availability of records to the public, except i s specifically stated in this section. This section is not authority to withhold information from Congress. Pub.L. 89-554, Sept. 6, *1%6, 80 Stat. HirtoricaI and Revision Notes Derimtlon: Qnlted Shatca Code In subsection (b) (31, t h e words "formulntcd and" a r e omitted as surplusage. In t h e last sentence of subsectlon (b). the words "in anr mannci" a x omitted as surplusage since t h e prohibition is all Standard cliangcs are made t o conform with t h e dcfinltions npplicnhle nnd the stple of this title as outlined in the preface to the report 90-23 substituted the ict rod uc torr state?- nicnt requiring every agency to In ate nrailablc to the public ccrtnln information i n g from disclosurc (1) nny function of t o Internal manngenieot of a n agency, now covered in subscc. (b) (1) a n d (2) of this section. rated provisions of: former subscc. (b) (1) in (A), loserling requirement of publication of namcs of officers as sources of information and prorieion for public t o obtain decisions. a n d delcting publication reqiiircnicnt f o r delegations by the ngcnc y of final authority: former subsec (b) C?), intro duct ou part, in (B); former rules of procedcre znd Oercriptlons of fornis nrailahle or the plsccs a t which liilitp of substantive rules and interpretations, a d d 4 clause (E!, substituted exemption of nny person from failore to resort toany matter o r from bclnf z3to bo publishcd i d tlir FcEeral Xcgistcr but not SO p blis bcd for iori:ier siilmc. publication riilcs aird rce.4 to acd herred may not be rcquired to resort t o mK xi z ation or proccdure not so pol)- ninttcr. which is rciconnbiy cvailable. as such ninttcr Is incorpor:t:cd by reference

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without actual and timely notice o t the tifinble agency rccordz to be made nrallnblc to any person upon re,Iuest and complhnce with rules as to tirnc. place, and procedore f o r inspection, and papmeat of fees and prorislons for federal district court proceedings d e noTo for nnca wniLh cocr:’s orders with t h e burden on the agency a n d docket precedence for such proceedinfs f o r former provislons Intier pr or is im now sli?c;scded b y su:IICC. (b) o f titis section. c.xptinz frcrn disclosure any functicn o f t 9 intcrnzi ntarto:crn:‘nt of a n apcncy. final opinions o r orrlcrs rcqyire-. for good czuse to be hcld confic‘cntial and hino d in subscc. (c!, and inforn:ntlon rontained in formcr subs cc !d) of this Scctlon 4 of PuS.L. 90-23 provided t h a t : b e effectire July 4, 1%‘. or on the date of enactment [ June 5. 13071. whichever Legbhtlrs nlrtory. F o r lcqlslatire Iiistory nnd purpose of Pub.L. 90-23. sce Cross Ref crc n ces Pcderal Register dct, sec section 301 e t scq. of Title 44, Public Printing a n d DocSectton appllcablo t o functions exercised under Jnternational Khat Agr?enient Act of lN9, see section 1c12(I) of Title i, d gri cui ture Arnllsbility or offlcbl ngcncy records Confidential Iniormatlon IS newriptlon of or zn nl atl on, particular Vsttcri cot requiring publication S 7 wwticular prts of publication 10 acts or pub lIo t ions Ol hi or u and order8 In sdJudirntlon 12 Particular acts of pnbllcatloa 8-11 Courses, methods. procedures, nnd Description of orznnlzatlon B SubstantIra rulca and lnterprctations SubstantIra rolca and Intcrprctntlons. particular ncta of Itiililicntion 11

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Wlicn Congrcz.: 1i:is bwii at pains t o limit exccptions t o rcqiiircnicnt tli.it aub - naval matters. courts ought not to Iironden thesc crccptioiis on hunch that it would hare bccn wiser to providc morc suitable mcans of publication for ordcrs of local. momcntary, o r cmergcncy nature. Publication of specified interpretation i n fedcral rczistcr was unnecessary to application of such interprctation as prcccdent by Fcdcral Power Commissiou for classificntion of cmpcnditures for advcrtisements t o spccificd account, v lier c ordcr for such classification related so!clyto proper accourting crpcnditurcs for eight ~ pcc ili c ndvcrtiscments and vas dircctcd solcly t o certain pri rat c elccCongressional directire regnrdlng proccdnre t o he followvcd i n lssuance of plied with since Issunwe of regulations is In effect a n cicrciac of delegated Itric utilities. Southn-cstcrn Elec. Powr This subchaptcr and chnptcr 7 of this title and t h e t'cdcral Register Act. scction 301 et seq. of Title 44, are more tion is solely t o give constructive notice t o persons who do not hare nctual notice of certain agency rulcs because such sections set u p proccdurc wliicli must be foliowed i n order lor ngcncy rulinzs to This section ivas intcndcd to provide a "slileld" for a pctitioncr Iicforc an agency. to protcct him froni bcing pcnnlitcd for failing t o rcsort to unpubllehrd methods of proccdurc. rather tlrnn n s a "sword" by which such petitloner couid that ngency had not authorized itsclC to issuc that type of ordcr by publishing TIic purpose of prorision of this seslion that no Iicrson shall be required t o rcsort to organization o r proccdurc T.O: publishcd is not th wr ted by npplication cations Conimission which tcnilir,rnrily suspcnds opportunity to Gle a n ai~:,iication f o r broadcasticz license. p:?rti..:rIarly where person iiiiable t o filr: iiv.c!c.r tlic rule had actual linowlcdge of hisIn - Publication of Coast Guard order rcstricting acccss t o portlon of Iinrbor during launching of submarine was reqiiimd by tliis section a s well as Fcdcmi undcr this section as under sectioc S G of Tltle 44, failure to publish dic! nor Sniiniinize dcfcndants. mho litid nclurl knowledge of order. from prosecution for This section and the Federal Rc.ristor Act. section 301 et keq. of Titlc 44. require publication. lrrcspectire of actiinl noticc as a prcrcquisite to lssunore ofs regulation making ccrtaia acts cr1in:naI. L Mntters not rcquirinz publicztion Provisions of. tliis section rcga:di:iq pulilicntlon of rulcs do not npp!r to court cnforcctiicnt of obligations in:iw+cd a t conimon law. CYCII though cocr: o ? lic ~ 123. certiorari dcriicd 2.5 S.Ct. FA. L'Y! That Canadian corporations scckins. LO Scsurities and Es chang c Conrnissivn'J tice of adrninlstrativc licarlng procccluzc for eraniinotlon of cliallcngcs to I:.dji:;; tlicir fdilurc to take advantngc of :,oc!l proccdurc a failurr: to crliaust aduliniri:8-

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the Agricultural Id just in cnt Act. scc;iou 127: of Title 7, 3r.d which rcqnircd rhcat ed in t ! i e 1:cCcr::I Ec;istcr 0: otiicnvisc I,ron:ht t o at:cxtlan of vihcat produccrs. instruction v a s not binding on them. E. Federal Cornmuniations Commission in publishing statemcnc of organization a p - prising petitioners that staff members mission's decision viith respect to f u - ture rates complied with rcqulrciiients of this section that agency publish dcscriplion a n d statements of general course rudcr this scction rc qu h ing fed ~ a l ngencics to pulilisli in the Federal x c g - ister descriptions of tlicir ccntrnl a n d field organizations including delegation8 establishcd plnccs a t which and 111c:hods whereby public zin? secure Infornution thereou nnd f cri her proriding that no pcrsou shall in a n y ninnner be required t o resort to or pui z ation or proccdure not so published. when n postniastc: issued n fraud orCcr after au administrzdcpnrtnicnt had not complicd with such 10. - Coursrs. mctliods. proccdurcs. Federal Trade Commission rule. ns published i n Federal Cegistcr. set1i:ig time limit for filing initial r wort s of compliance wit!i commission orders a n d quire filing of fcrtlicr compliance rcporta thereafter. satisticd rcquircnico ts of this \\.:IS ob lig d to st:itc and currciltlr functions wcrc cliclnnclcd and dctcrmiucd pulilic inspection nll final opinions o r order s in rlic ndjiidicntion. First S at scl for Post Office I)cpartment t o file complaints i n proccedings in r ol ring use of mail to dcfraud w w published in tion whatever of a n y regulations of Post Office Department corering "organization", procccding b y Post Office Department against n person for use of mall t o dcfrnud was invalid when person ras required to rr sort to organization of Department not published in Federal Order of Coast Guard restricting access to >ortion of lizrbor during launching of submarine did not come within exception from rcciiircment of publicaUon in Federal Register for rules addressed t o a n d served.upon named persons in accordThem Is no rcquirement that regulati0n.q be issued construing ererp geucral tire a,-cnc.r, but onlp that if any are issued thcy be pulilishcd. Cras r. Bccclric d e r of Intcrstnte Corn:ncrce Commission proriding new form of 10:s for dr kers of motor carricrs, nceompanied by sbt e - tions as t o its use by drivers were filcd nith or hr and niadc p:rrt tlicrco:. when considered with serx'ice on cnrrier of copy of order. iilclu~ling spccirncn form of log, XIS suffic.ient compliance with publicnlion rcquirrmcntr and …