As used in this part the term:

(a) "Department" includes any bureau, office, or other unit of the Department of the Interior, whether in Washington, D.C., or in the field, and any officer or employee thereof;

(b) "Solicitor" means the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior or his authorized representative;

(c) "Practice" includes any action taken to support or oppose the assertion of a right before the Department or to support or oppose a request that the Department grant a privilege; and the term "practice" includes any such action whether it relates to the substance of, or to the procedural aspects of handling, a particular matter. The term "practice" does not include the preparation or filing of an application, the filing without comment of documents prepared by one other than the individual making the filing, obtaining from the Department information that is available to the public generally, or the making of inquiries respecting the status of a matter pending before the Department. Also, the term "practice" does not include the representation of an employee who is the subject of disciplinary, loyalty, or other personnel administrative proceedings.

§ 1.3 Who may practice.

(a) Only those individuals who are eligible under the provisions of this section may practice before the Department, but this provision shall not be deemed to restrict the dealings of Indian tribes or

members of Indian tribes with the Department.

(b) Unless disqualified under the provisions of § 1.4 or by disciplinary action taken pursuant to § 1.6:

(1) Any individual who has been formally admitted to practice before the Department under any prior regulations and who is in good standing on December 31, 1963, shall be permitted to practice before the Department.

(2) Attorneys at law who are admitted to practice before the courts of any State, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, or the District Court of the Virgin Islands will be permitted to practice without filing an application for such privilege.

(3) An individual who is not otherwise entitled to practice before the Department may practice in connection with a particular matter on his own behalf or on behalf of (i) a member of his family; (ii) a partnership of which he is a member; (iii) a corporation, business trust, or an association, if such individual is an officer or full-time employee; (iv) a receivership, decedent's estate, or a trust or estate of which he is the receiver, administrator, or other similar fiduciary; (v) the lessee of a mineral lease that is subject to an operating agreement or sublease which has been approved by the Department and which grants to such individual a power of attorney; (vi) a Federal, State, county, district, territorial, or local government or agency thereof, or a government corporation, or a district or advisory board established pursuant to statute; or (vii) an association or class of individuals who have no specific interest that will be directly affected by the disposition of the particular matter.

(b) That, if he is the partner of a present or former officer or employee, including a special Government employee, the matter in respect of which he intends to practice is not a matter in which such officer or employee of the Government or special Government employee praticipates or has participated personally and substantially as a Government employee through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation or otherwise and that the matter is not the subject of such partner's official Government responsibility;

(c) That, if he is a former officer or employee, including a special Government employee, the matter in respect of which he intends to practice is not a matter in which he participated personally and substantially as a Government employee through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise, while so employed and, if a period of one year has not passed since the termination of his employment with the Government, that the matter was not under his official responsibility as an officer or employee of the Government; and

(d) That he has read the paper; that to the best of his knowledge, information, and belief there is good ground to support its contents; that it contains no scandalous or indecent matter; and that it is not interposed for delay.

§ 1.6 Disciplinary proceedings.

(a) Disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against anyone who is practicing or has practiced before the Department on grounds that he is incompetent, unethical, or unprofessional, or that he is practicing without authority under the provisions of this part, or that he has violated any provisions of the laws and regulations governing practice before the Department, or that he has been disbarred or suspended by any court or administrative agency. Individuals practicing before the Department should observe the Canons of Professional Ethics of the American Bar Association and those of the Federal Bar Association, by which the Department will be guided in disciplinary matters.

(b) Whenever in the discretion of the Solicitor the circumstances warrant consideration of the question whether disciplinary action should be taken against an individual who is practicing or has

practiced before the Department, the Solicitor shall appoint a hearing officer to consider and dispose of the case. The hearing officer shall give the individual adequate notice of, and an opportunity for a hearing on, the specific charges against him. The hearing shall afford the individual an opportunity to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The hearing officer shall render a decision either (1) dismissing the charges, or (2) reprimanding the individual or suspending or excluding him from practice before the Department.

(c) Within 30 days after receipt of the decision of the hearing officer reprimanding, suspending, or excluding an individual from practice before the Department, an appeal may be filed with the Solicitor, whose decision shall be final.

Records of the Department of the Interior which are available to the public may be inspected or copied by any person during the normal business hours at the office in which the records are located. Requests to inspect or to obtain copies of records shall be handled as promptly as possible with due regard for the dispatch of other public business. While there is no general requirement that requests to inspect must be in writing, applicants may be required to file written requests in instances in which such action will assist in the search for the records sought or in the orderly filling of such requests. A request to inspect or to obtain copies of a record must contain a reasonably specific description of the records sought.

(a) Section 552 of Title 5, U.S. Code, as amended by Public Law 90-23 (the act codifying the "Public Information Act") requires that identifiable agency records be made available for inspection. Subsection (b) of section 552 exempts several categories of records from the general requirement but does not require the withholding from inspection of all records which may fall within the categories exempted. Accordingly, no request made of a field office to inspect a record shall be denied unless the head of the office or such higher field authority as the head of the bureau may designate shall determine (1) that the record falls within one or more of the categories exempted and (2) either that disclosure is prohibited by statute or Executive order or that sound grounds exist which require the invocation of the exemption. A request to inspect a record located in the headquarters office of a bureau shall not be denied except on the basis of a similar determination made by the head of the bureau or his designee, and a request made to inspect a record located in a major organizational unit of the Office of the Secretary shall not be denied ex

1 Subsection (b) of section 552 provides that:

(b) This section does not apply to matters that are

(1) Specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of the national defense or foreign policy;

(2) Related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of an agency;

(3) Specifically exempted from disclosure by statute;

(4) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential;

(5) Interagency or intra-agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a party other than an agency in litigation with the agency;

(6) Personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(7) Investigatory files compiled for law enforcement purposes except to the extent available by law to a party other than an agency;

(8) Contained in or related to examination, operating, or condition reports prepared by, on behalf of, or for the use of an agency responsible for the regulation or supervision of financial institutions; or

(9) Geological and geophysical information and data, including maps, concerning wells.

cept on the basis of a similar determination by the head of that unit. Officers and employees of the Department shall be guided by the "Attorney General's Memorandum on the Public Information Section of the Administrative Procedure Act" of June 1967.

(b) An applicant may appeal from a determination that a record is not available for inspection to the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, who may exercise all of the authority of the Secretary of the Interior in this regard. The Deputy Solicitor may decide such appeals and may exercise all of the authority of the Secretary in this regard. Charges.

§ 2.3

(a) No charge shall be made for the inspection of any record available pursuant to the provisions of section 2.4. No charge shall be made in connection with requests to inspect identifiable records in those instances involving no search or only a nominal search for the records. In those instances in which a request to inspect a record requires more than a nominal search, a charge shall be made (in accordance with the policy of Bureau of the Budget Circular A-25, "User Charges") which covers the cost of the service.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a charge shall be made for a copy of a record. Such charge shall be at a rate that recovers the full cost of rendering the service in accordance with the policy of Bureau of the Budget Circular A-25, "User Charges."

(c) A charge of 25 cents may be made for each certificate or verification attached to authenticated copies of records furnished to the public.

(d) No charge shall be made for furnishing unauthenticated copies of any opinions, regulations, or instructions reproduced for gratuitous distribution.

(e) No charge shall be made for the making or verifying of copies of records which are required for official use by the officers of any branch of the Government.

(f) No charge shall be made for furnishing one copy of a personal document (e.g., a birth certificate) to a person who has been required to furnish it for retention by the Department.

(g) A copy of the transcript of a hearing before a hearing board in an adverse action or grievance proceeding shall be furnished without charge to the em