§ 903.1 Scope and purpose.

This part establishes the rules whereby the materials specified in 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (2), and the identifiable records of the following organizations of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requested under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (3) are to be made publicly available:

(a) The Office of the Administrator and the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research.

(b) The general and special staff offices of the Administration.

(c) The National Weather Service. (d) The National Ocean Survey. (e) The Environmental Data Service. National (f) The Environmental Satellite Service.

(g) The Environmental Research Laboratories.

(h) The National Marine Fisheries Service.

(a) To the extent that terms used in this part are defined in 5 U.S.C. 551, they shall have the same definition herein.

(b) The organizational units defined in the terms "Office of the Administrator," "Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research," "general staff offices," and "special staff offices," are identified in Department Organization Order 25-5B, as amended (formerly Department Order 2b) (31 FR 10700).

§ 903.4 Publication in the Federal Register.

(a) Those materials which are required to be published in the Federal RegisteR pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) have been and will continue to be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER in the form of or included in:

(1) Department Organization Orders of the Department of Commerce, including any supplements and appendices thereto, Secretary of Commerce Circulars, and Department Administrative Orders.

(2) NOAA rules and regulations set forth in this part.

(3) Notices or otherwise in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(4) Other publications, when incorporated by reference in the FEDERAL REGISTER With the approval of the Director of the Federal Register.

(b) Those materials which are published in the FEDERAL REGISTER pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (1) will, to the extent practicable and to further assist the public, be made available for inspection and copying at the facility identified in § 903.5 (c).

§ 903.5

Availability of materials for inspection and copying.

(a) The Administrative Documenta-tion Officer, as provided in 5 U.S.C. 552 (a) (2) and subject to other provisions of law, will establish and maintain a NOAA Public Reference Facility for the public inspection and copying of:

(1) Final opinions, including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made in the adjudication of cases;

(2) Statements of policy and interpretations adopted by NOAA and not published in the FEDERAL REGISTER;

(3) Administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public;

(4) A current index providing identifying information for the public as toany matter issued, adopted, or promulgated after July 4, 1967, and required to be made available or published by 5 U.S.C. 552 (a) (2);

(5) Such additional materials as the NOAA Public Reference Facility may consider desirable and practicable to make available for the convenience of the public.

(b) NOAA may, to prevent unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, delete identifying details when it makes. available or publishes an opinion, statement of policy, interpretation, staff

manual or instruction, and will, in each such case, explain in writing the justification for the deletion.

(c) The above materials may be inspected in the NOAA Public Reference Facility, Room 523, Building 5, 6010 Executive Boulevard, Rockville, Md. Mail to this facility should be addressed as follows: Administrative Documentation Officer (AD161), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rockville, Md. 20852. The telephone number for this facility is Area Code 301, 496-8192. This facility is open to the public Monday through Friday of each week, except on official Federal holidays, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. There are no fees or formal requirements for such inspections. Photo copies of these materials can be provided on demand at the prices established in 903.8. In addition, printed copies of various administrative publications may be purchased from the facility, at the price established in 903.8. '§ 903.6 Requests for identifiable records.

(a) The procedures of this section are applicable only to the records of the organizations listed in § 903.1 and only to those records not customarily available to the public as part of the regular information activities of NOAA. A person desiring to inspect or copy a record or obtain other information about or from one of the organizations listed in 903.1 should contact the appropriate office responsible for providing such information to the public. Such information offices are listed in one or more of the following: (1) The "public information appendices" to the relevant Department orders, which are published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, (2) various guides and handbooks issued by the Department and its operating units, (3) the U.S. Government Organization Manual, and (4) the Department of Commerce Telephone Directory. The latter two publications are for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402.

(b) If the appropriate information office is not known, the public should direct its inquiries to the NOAA Public Reference Facility identified in § 903.5

(c). This facility will route the request, if it appears to be for information regularly available, to the appropriate information office; if the request is for other types of information, the facility will advise the inquirer as to how to proceed.

(c) A person who wishes to inspect a record not part of the regular information activities of NOAA should complete Form CD-244, "Application To Inspect Records", and submit this form, in person or by mail, to the NOAA Public Reference Facility. Copies of Form CD244 are available from this facility and from many of the information offices of NOAA.

(d) An application form shall be submitted for each record or group of records related to the same general subject matter. Each application form shall be accompanied by the nonrefundable application fee of $2.

(e) Detailed instructions for the completion of Form CD-244 are stated on the back of the form. Employees of the facility will assist the public to a reasonable extent in completing the form; however, the responsibility rests with the applicant for identifying each record sought in sufficient detail so that it can be located by personnel familiar with the filing of agency records. Each application shall clearly itemize, when there are more than one, each record requested so that it may be identified and its availability separately determined.

(f) The staff of the facility will review the application for completeness, and will record receipt of the fee. If the application appears in order, it will be processed by the facility as described in § 903.7, to determine if it is an identifiable and disclosable record. If the application is incomplete in some substantial and material respect, it will be promptly returned to the applicant to complete. § 903.7

Determination of availability of

records.

(a) Upon finding that the application is otherwise in order, the NOAA Public Reference Facility will determine:

(1) Whether the requested record can be identified on the basis of the information supplied by the applicant. If the facility cannot identify the record, it will

return the application, specifying why the record is not identifiable and what additional clarification, if any, the applicant may make to assist the organization in its identification.

(2) Whether the record, if identifiable, is still in existence and in the possession of NOAA. If the record no longer exists, the applicant will be so notified. If the record is not in NOAA's possession and its existence is not otherwise reasonably ascertainable, the applicant will be so notified. If the requested record is in another organization of the Department, or is the exclusive or primary concern of another executive department or agency, the application for such record will be promptly referred to that other organization or agency for further action under its rules, and the applicant will be promptly informed of this referral.

(b) If the requested record is identifiable and subject to NOAA's determination as to availability, the application I will be reviewed by the Administrative Documentation Officer, who is authorized, pursuant to Department Administrative Order 205-12, to initially determine availability.

(c) If the Administrative Documentation Officer determines that the record is not to be made available, he shall so notify the applicant in writing stating the reason(s) why the record is not being made available.

(d) If the Administrative Documentation Officer determines that the record is to be made available, he shall so notify the applicant specifying the estimated costs to be recovered in accordance with 903.8. Upon payment of such estimated costs, subject to adjustment as provided in § 903.8, the record will be made available to the applicant at the NOAA Public Reference Facility or transmitted to him by it.

§ 903.8 Fees and charges.

(a) Fees and charges are hereby established to recover costs for application handling, record searching, reproduction, certification and authentication, and for related expenses incurred by NOAA.

(1) Application fee-$2. This fee is nonrefundable, and covers costs of accepting and reviewing the application, and making a determination as to the availability of the requested record, or group of related records.

(2) Records search fee-per manhour-$5. This fee covers the costs of

locating the desired record, transporting it by Government messenger service to the point of inspection, supervising the inspection, and returning the record to its regular file. It also includes the costs of any copies of records made at NOAA's option. The minimum fee charged for records search will be $2.50.

(3) Copies of records, if requested by applicant:

(i) Xerographic or similar process-Up to 9 x 14 inches (each page) -$0.25.

(ii) Photocopy or similar process-Up to 12 x 18 inches (each page)-$1. Over 12 x 18 inches, but less than 18 x 25 inches (each)—$2.

(4) Single printed copy of administrative publications-12 pages or less, 10 cents; 13 to 36 pages, 25 cents; 37 to 60 pages, 50 cents; 61 to 80 pages, 75 cents; 81 to 100 pages, $1; and over 100 pages, 1 cent a page rounded upward to the next quarter dollar. Each blank page and each introductory (Roman numeral) page is to be considered as one page, and separate paper covers are to be considered as four pages.

(5) Certification fee, if requested, per certification-$1.

(6) Postage, registration, or other forwarding or packing fees-Actual cost (Applicable only if copies of records are requested to be shipped to a point other than the NOAA Public Reference Facility).

(b) All fees and charges will be collected in advance. The applicant will be given an estimate of the cost of records search for each application where disclosure availability is authorized. If actual cost exceeds the estimate, the applicant will have the option of either paying any additional costs, or inspecting that requested record to the extent covered by his payment. If the advance estimated payment is $1 or more in excess of both the actual cost and the minimum charge, a refund will be made of the excess above the higher of these two amounts.

(c) The above fees are established solely for services provided pursuant to section 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (3), and do not affect fees charged for other services to the public, as may be performed under other authorities.

§ 903.9 Arrangements for public inspection and copying of available records. (a) During his inspection of the record at the NOAA Public Reference Facility, the applicant may extract or have copied any portion of the record, and may ob