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Complete Home and Office Legal Guide (Chestnut) (1993).ISO
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1993-08-24
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Section 552. Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders,
records, and proceedings
(a) Each agency shall make available to the public information as
follows:
/* Here we find the initial rule of FOIA- the government agencies
subject to the act must provide detailed information regarding
their organization and where their records are kept. */
(1) Each agency shall separately state and currently publish
in the Federal Register for the guidance of the public -
(A) descriptions of its central and field organization
and the established places at which, the employees (and
in the case of a uniformed service, the members) from
whom, and the methods whereby, the public may obtain
information, make submittals or requests, or 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 available;
(C) rules of procedure, descriptions of forms available
or the places at 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 law, and statements of general policy
or interpretations or general applicability formulated
and adopted by the agency; and
(E) each amendment, revision, or repeal of the
foregoing.
Except to the extent that a person has actual and timely
notice of the terms thereof, a person may not in any manner
be required to resort to, or be adversely affected by, a
matter required to be published in the Federal Register and
not so published. For the purpose of 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 the
Director of the Federal Register.
/* The next section of the act describes those documents which
must be published and kept for public inspection without request.*/
(2) Each agency, in accordance with published rules, shall
make available for public inspection and copying -
(A) final opinions, including concurring and dissenting
opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication
of cases;
(B) those statements of policy and interpretations
which have been adopted by the agency and are not
published in the Federal Register; and
(C) administrative staff manuals and instructions to
staff that affect a member of the public;
unless the materials are promptly published and copies
offered for sale. To the extent required to prevent a
clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, an
agency may delete identifying details when it makes
available or publishes an opinion, statement of policy,
interpretation, or staff manual or instruction.
However, in each case the justification for the
deletion shall be explained fully in writing. Each
agency shall also maintain and make available for
public inspection and copying current indexes providing
identifying information for the public as to any matter
issued, adopted, or promulgated after July 4, 1967, and
required by this paragraph to be made available or
published. Each agency shall promptly publish,
quarterly or more frequently, and distribute (by sale
or otherwise) copies of each index or supplements
thereto unless it determines by order published in the
Federal Register that the publication would be
unnecessary and impracticable, in which case the agency
shall nonetheless provide copies of such index on
request at a cost not to exceed the direct cost of
duplication. A final order, opinion, statement of
policy, interpretation, or staff manual or instruction
that affects a member of the public may be relied on,
used, or cited as precedent by an agency against a
party other than an agency only if -
(i) it has been indexed and either made available
or published as provided by this paragraph; or
(ii) the party has actual and timely notice of the
terms thereof.
(3) Except with respect to the records made available under
paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, each agency, upon
any request for records which (A) reasonably describes such
records and (B) is made in accordance with published rules
stating the time, place, fees (if any), and procedure to be
followed, shall make the records promptly available to any
person.
(4)(A)(i) In order to carry out the provisions of this
section, each agency shall promulgate regulations,
pursuant to notice and receipt of public comment,
specifying the schedule of fees applicable to the
processing of requests under this section and
establishing procedures and guidelines for deter-
mining when such fees should be waived or reduced.
Such schedule shall conform to the guidelines
which shall be promulgated, pursuant to notice and
receipt of public comment, by the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget and which shall
provide for a uniform schedule of fees for all
agencies.
(ii) Such agency regulations shall provide that -
(I) fees shall be limited to reasonable
standard charges for document search,
duplication, and review, when records are
requested for commercial use;
/* A reduction in fees is required for non-commercial use and
that of the news media. */
(II) fees shall be limited to reasonable
standard charges for document duplication
when records are not sought for commercial
use and the request is made by an educational
or noncommercial scientific institution,
whose purpose is scholarly or scientific
research; or a representative of the news
media; and
(III) for any request not described in (I) or
(II), fees shall be limited to reasonable
standard charges for document search and
duplication.
/* The FOIA statue requires that agencies provide copies of
materials free of charge or for free if you can demonstrate that
the public interest will be served. It can't hurt to ask! */
(iii) Documents shall be furnished without any
charge or at a charge reduced below the fees
established under clause (ii) if disclosure of the
information is in the public interest because it
is likely to contribute significantly to public
understanding of the operations or activities of
the government and is not primarily in the
commercial interest of the requester.
(iv) Fee schedules shall provide for the recovery
of only the direct costs of search, duplication,
or review. Review costs shall include only the
direct costs incurred during the initial
examination of a document for the purposes of