Title 46

SECTION 503.86

503.86 Public access to records.

§ 503.86 Public access to records.

(a) All transcripts, electronic recordings or minutes required to be maintained by the agency under the provisions of §§ 503.85(a)(3) and 503.85(b) shall be promptly made available to the public by the Secretary of the agency, except for any item of discussion or testimony of any witnesses which the agency determines to contain information which may be withheld from public disclosure because its disclosure is likely to disclose matters which are:

(1)(i) specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and (ii) in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order;

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

(3) Specifically exempted from disclosure by any statute other than 5 U.S.C. 552 (FOIA), provided that such statute

(i) Requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or

(ii) Establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;

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

(5) Involved with accusing any person of a crime, or formally censuring any person;

(6) Of a personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(7) Investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes, or information which, if written, would be contained in such records, but only to the extent that the production of such records or information would

(i) Interfere with enforcement proceedings,

(ii) Deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication,

(iii) Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,

(iv) Disclose the identity of a confidential source and, in the case of a record compiled by a criminal law enforcement authority in the course of a criminal investigation, or by an agency conducting a lawful national security intelligence investigation, confidential information furnished only by the confidential source,

(v) Disclose investigative techniques and procedures or

(vi) Endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel;

(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;

(9) Information, the premature disclosure of which would be likely to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency action, unless the agency has already disclosed to the public the content or nature of its proposed action, or where the agency is required by law to make such disclosure on its own initiative prior to taking final agency action on such proposal; or

(10) Specifically concerned with the agency's issuance of a subpena, or the agency's participation in a civil action or proceeding, an action in a foreign court or international tribunal, or an arbitration, or the initiation, conduct, or disposition by the agency of a particular case of formal agency adjudication pursuant to the procedures in 5 U.S.C. 554 or otherwise involving a determination on the record after opportunity for a hearing.

(b) Requests for access to the records described in this section shall be made in accordance with procedures described in subparts C and D of this part.

(c) Records disclosed to the public under this section shall be furnished at the expense of the party requesting such access at the actual cost of duplication or transcription.

[49 FR 44401, Nov. 6, 1984, as amended at 64 FR 23549, May 3, 1999]

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