records requested under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (3), are to be made publicly available by the following organizations in the Department of Commerce and organizations associated with the Department of Commerce:

(1) Organizations in the Department of Commerce:

(i) All components of the Office of the Secretary of Commerce,

(ii) The Office of Business Economics, (iii) The U.S. Travel Service,

(iv) The Office of State Technical Services,

(v) The National Bureau of Standards,

(vi) The Business and Defense Services Administration,

(vii) The Bureau of International Commerce,

(viii) The Office of Field Services, (ix) The Office of Foreign Commercial Services,

(x) The Office of Administration (DIB),

(xi) The Office of Publications and Information (DIB).

(2) Organizations associated with the Department of Commerce:

(i) The President's Cabinet Textile Advisory Committee,

(ii) The Foreign-Trade Zones Board. (b) These rules also apply to extant materials and records of former or transferred organizations of the Department, which are in the custody of, or whose availability is subject to the determination of one of the above organizations.

(c) Other operating units of the Department have established their own facilities and published their own rules in accord with the law in their respective chapters of the Code of Federal Regulations or as they otherwise may have provided in the FEDERAL REGISTER. [32 F.R. 9643, July 4, 1967, as amended at 32 F.R. 14017, Oct. 10, 1967] § 4.2

Policies.

(a) Materials required to be published pursuant to the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) have been and shall continue to be so published, in one of the following ways:

By publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER of the Department Orders of the Department of Commerce, including any supplements and appendices thereto, and of appropriate Secretary of Commerce Circulars and Department Administrative Orders;

(2) By publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER of agency rules and regulations, and by their subsequent inclusion in the Code of Federal Regulations;

(3) By publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER of appropriate general notices; and

(4) By other forms of publication, when incorporated by reference in the FEDERAL REGISTER with the approval of the Director of the Office of the Federal Register.

(b) Those materials which are published in the FEDERAL REGISTER pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (1) shall, to the extent practicable and to further assist the public, be made available for inspection and copying at the facility identified in § 4.5 (d).

§ 4.5 Availability of materials for inspection and copying.

(a) The Assistant Secretary for Administration shall, as provided in 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (2) and subject to other provisions of law, establish and maintain a 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) Those statements of policy and interpretations which have been adopted by the participating organizations and are not published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

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

(4) Current indices providing identifying information for the public as to any matter which is (i) issued, adopted, or promulgated after July 4, 1967, and

(ii) required to be made available or published by section 552 (a) (2);

(5) Records of the final votes of each member in every proceeding of an agency comprised of more than one member; and

(6) Such additional materials as each participating organization utilizing the reference facility may consider desirable and practicable to make available for the convenience of the public.

(b) Each participating organization may, to prevent unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, delete identifying details when it makes available or publishes an opinion, statement of policy, interpretation, or staff manual or instruction, and shall, in each such case, explain in writing the justification for the deletion.

(c) The materials described in paragraph (a) of this section shall be provided for each participating organization listed in § 4.1.

(d) The materials described in paragraph (a) of this section may be inspected in the Central Reference and Records Inspection Facility, Room 2122, Commerce Building, 14th Street between Constitution Avenue and E Street NW., Washington, D.C. 20230. 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. Coinoperated equipment for making copies of these materials is available for use by the public. In addition, copies of various Commerce materials regularly available for sale by the Department may be purchased from the facility.

(e) Correspondence concerning the materials available in the facility should be sent to the above address. The telephone number of the facility is Worth 7-4676; Area Code 202.

§ 4.6 Requests for identifiable records.

(a) The procedures of this section are applicable only to the records of the organizations listed in § 4.1, and only to those records not customarily available to the public as part of the regular informational activities of the Department. Before availing himself of the application procedures specified herein, a person desiring to inspect or copy a record or obtain other information about or from one of the organizations listed in § 4.1 should contact the appropriate office responsible for providing such information

to the public. Such 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 public information office is not known, the public should direct its inquiries to the Central Reference and Records Inspection Facility, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230. 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 of one of the organizations listed in § 4.1, and which is not a record customarily available to the public as part of the regular informational activities of the Department, should complete Form CD-244, "Application to Inspect Records," and submit this form, in person or by mail, to the central facility identified in § 4.5 (d). Copies of Form CD-244 are available from the Central Reference and Records Inspection Facility, and from many public information offices and field offices of the Department.

(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 shall be forwarded to the participating organization which would appear to have official custody of the requested record to determine whether it is an identifiable and disclosable record. If the application is incomplete in some substantial and material respect, it shall be promptly returned to the applicant to complete.

§ 4.7 Agency determinations of availability of records.

(a) The participating organization to which the application is sent shall initially determine:

(1) Whether the requested record can be identified on the basis of the information supplied by the applicant. If it cannot identify the record, the application shall be transmitted to the central facility for return to the applicant, specifying why it 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 or has been destroyed as provided by law, or is not in the possession of the organization. If the record no longer exists, the applicant shall be so notified, with the reason stated, via the central facility. If the record is not in the organization's possession and its existence is not otherwise reasonably ascertainable, the applicant shall be so notified via the central facility. 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 shall be promptly referred to that other organization or agency for further action under its rules, and the applicant shall be promptly informed of this referral via the central facility.

(b) If the requested record is identifiable and subject to the organization's determination as to its availability, the application shall be reviewed by an official authorized, pursuant to Department Order 64, to initially determine its availability. If he determines, as provided by law, that the record is not to be made available to the requesting person, said party shall receive in writing, via the central facility, the specific reason(s) why the record is not being disclosed, signed by the official making the determination.

(c) If the record is to be made available, and there are no further charges or fees, it shall be furnished to the requesting person via the central facility. If, in accord with § 4.8, there are additional costs to be recovered from the applicant, they shall be estimated and the applicant notified via the central facility that upon his payment of such estimated costs to the central facility, subject to adjustment as provided in § 4.8, the record shall be made available to him in the central facility or transmitted to him by it.

§ 4.8 Fees and charges.

(a) In accord with Congressional policies that services performed hereunder are to be self-sustaining, and as provided by law (e.g., 15 U.S.C. 189a, 192 and other applicable statutes), appropriate fees and charges are hereby established to cover costs for application handling, record searching, reproduction, certification, and authentication, and for related expenses incurred by the Department with respect to records made available upon request under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (3).

(b) The following fees are hereby established and payable to the Department:

(1) Application fee-per application: $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 hour per person: $5. This fee covers the costs of locating the desired record, transporting it by government messenger service to a 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 the Department's option. The minimum fee charged for records search will be onehalf hour ($2.50).

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

(i) Xerographic or similar process

Up to 9 by 14 inches (each page) -- $0.25 (ii) Photocopy or similar process-Up

(5) Certification fee, if requested (applicable to each 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 Central Reference and Records Inspection Facility.

(c) 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 the 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.

(d) The fees set forth in paragraph (b) of this section are based upon an initial estimate of the costs to be incurred in providing the indicated services and may be revised as necessary to insure the recovery of full costs by the Department.

(e) The fees established in paragraph (b) of this section are solely for services provided pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (3), and do not affect fees charged for other Commerce services to the public, as may be performed under other authorities. § 4.9 Arrangements for public inspection and copying of disclosable agency records.

(a) Upon receipt of the records search fee, and any fees for additional services requested by the applicant, the requested record which has been determined to be available shall, unless the applicant has otherwise indicated, be transferred to the Central Reference and Records Inspection Facility, where it will be held for inspection by the applicant for 5 working days. The address and hours of operation of this facility are stated in § 4.5 (d).

(b) During his inspection of the record at the facility, the applicant may copy by hand any portion of the record, may use the coin-operated copying equipment at the facility to make a copy thereof, and may obtain certification of a machine-copied record.

(c) No changes or alterations of any type may be made to the record being inspected, nor may any matter be added to or subtracted therefrom. Papers

bound or otherwise assembled in a record file may not be disassembled during inspection. Staff of the facility shall provide assistance if disassembly of a record is necessary for copying purposes, and are authorized to supervise public inspection as necessary to protect the records of the Department. The public is reminded of Title 18, United States Code, section 2701(a), which makes it a crime to conceal, remove, mutilate, obliterate, or destroy any record filed in any public office, or to attempt to do any of the foregoing.

(d) If an applicant does not want to inspect a record by personal visit to the central facility, he may request that a copy thereof be mailed to him, upon payment of the copying and postage fees set forth in this § 4.8. Original copies of records of the organizations listed in § 4.1 shall not be sent to any location other than the central facility for public inspection pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a). (3).

(e) Copies of transcripts of hearings in the possession of a participating organization may be made available for inspection when not in use. When copies of such transcripts are requested, if the organization's contract with a nongovernmental contractor requires that copies be sold only by the contractor, the applicant shall be referred to the contractor.

(f) A participating organization in its discretion, when appropriate in the interests of its program, may make exceptions to established charges.

§ 4.10 Requests for reconsideration of nonavailability.

(a) Any person whose application to inspect a record has been rejected because the record was not to be made available for stated reason(s), may request a reconsideration of the initial denial, as set forth herein.

(b) The request for reconsideration should be made by completing the applicable section of the Form CD-244, and returning it to the central facility within 30 days of the date of the original denial. (This date is shown on the Form CD244.) No additional fee is required to obtain reconsideration. In submitting a request for reconsideration, the applicant should include any written arguments he desires to support his belief that the record requested should be

made available. No personal appearance, oral argument, or hearing shall be permitted.

(c) The decision upon such review shall be made by the appropriate official designated in paragraph 4.01 of Department Order 64, and shall be based upon the original application, the denial, and any written argument submitted by the applicant.

(d) The decision upon review shall be promptly made in writing and communicated to the applicant. If the decision is wholly or partly in favor of the applicant, the requested record to such extent shall be made available for inspection, as described in §§ 4.8 and 4.9. To the extent that the decision is adverse to the request, the reasons for the denial shall be stated.

(e) A decision upon review completed as provided by § 4.10 shall constitute the final decision and action of the Department as to the availability of a requested record, except as may be required by court proceedings initiated pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a) (3).

(f) Reconsiderations resulting in final decisions as prescribed herein shall be indexed and kept available for public reference in the central facility.

§ 4.11 Subpoena or other compulsory

Act (49 Stat. 1559, as amended by the act of August 3, 1954, 68 Stat. 663; 20 U.S.C. 107) for the operation of vending stands (which term as used in this order includes vending machines).

§ 5.2 Policy.

(a) The Department adopts the Federal policy announced in the RandolphSheppard Vending Stand Act, as amended, to provide blind persons with remunerative employment to enlarge the economic opportunities of the blind and to stimulate the blind to greater efforts in striving to make themselves selfsupporting.

(b) It shall be the policy of the Department to authorize blind persons licensed under the provisions of the Randolph-Sheppard Vending Stand Act, as amended to operate vending stands without any charge for space or necessary utilities on properties owned and occupied by the Department or on which the Department controls maintenance, operation, and protection.

(c) The Department will cooperate with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and State licensing agencies in making surveys to determine whether and where vending stands may be properly and profitably operated by licensed blind persons.

(d) The application of a State licensing agency for a permit may be denied or revoked if it is determined that the interests of the United States would be adversely affected or the Department would be unduly inconvenienced by the issuance of a permit or its continuance. (e) Disagreements concerning the denial, revocation, or modification of a permit may be appealed by the State licensing agency as set forth in § 5.6. § 5.3 Assignment of functions and authorities.

(a) The Director, Office of Administrative Services, shall carry out the Department's responsibility to provide, in accordance with applicable law and regulation, the maximum opportunity for qualified blind persons to operate vending stands.

(b) Subject to instructions issued by the Director, Office of Administrative Services, the head of each primary organization unit shall be responsible for implementing this program within his

area.