termination as to the availability of the requested record, or group of related records.

(2) Records search fee-per man-hour$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 ESSA's option. The minimum fee charged for records search will be $2.50.

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

(1) 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 ESSA 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 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.

(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 ESSA Public Reference Facility, the applicant may extract or have

copied any portion of the record, and may obtain certification of a machinecopied record, subject to the fees established in § 903.8.

(b) 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. 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.

(c) If an applicant does not want to inspect a record by personal visit to the ESSA Public Reference Facility, he may request that a copy thereof be mailed to him, upon payment of the copying and postage fees set forth in § 903.8.

(d) Copies of transcripts of hearings will be made available for inspection when not in use. If ESSA's contract with a reporting service stipulates that copies of such transcripts may be sold only by the latter, persons requesting copies shall be referred to the reporting service.

(e) When appropriate in the interests of its program, ESSA may make exceptions to established charges.

§ 903.10

Requests for reconsideration of nonavailability.

(a) Any person whose application to inspect a record has been denied under § 903.7 (c) may request a reconsideration of the initial denial, as set forth herein.

(b) The request for reconsideration should be made by completing the applicable portion of the Form CD-244, and returning it to the ESSA Public Reference Facility within 30 days following the date of the initial denial. (This date is shown on the Form CD-244.) 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 agreement or hearing shall be permitted.

(c) The decision upon such review shall be made by the Administrator, ESSA, 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 will be made available for inspection, as described in §§ 903.8 and 903.9. To the extent that the decision is adverse to the request, the reasons for the denial will be stated.

(e) A decision upon review under this section shall constitute the final action and decision of ESSA 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) Reconsideration resulting in final decisions as prescribed herein will be indexed and kept available for public reference in the ESSA Public Reference Facility.

§ 903.11 Subpoena or other compulsory

Assistance Program (MAP), and under bilateral agreements arranged by the Department of State in cooperation with the participating foreign governments.

(b) Requests are received from the sponsors to provide training in the scientific and technical functions of ESSA, through individual training and/ or through enrollment in recurring group courses. In individual or group training, the study program or course description is forwarded to the sponsor with the estimate cost or tuition fee and the amount of funds required for travel within the United States. Upon approval of the training program and the cost estimate, the sponsor informs the recipient of his acceptance and the date to begin training.

(c) Further information concerning eligibility of foreign nationals for training, course availability, course content, trainee qualifications, costs, funding, and other related information is available from the Director, International Affairs (IA), Environmental Science Services Administration, Rockville, Md. 20852. § 906.2 Foreign visitors.

(a) ESSA has been designated sponsor of an Exchange-Visitor Program in accordance with the administrative regulations issued under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961. The program is identified as Exchange-Visitor Program No. G-V-228, and has an official description as follows: "A program to provide training and research opportunities at the Administration's facilities in various parts of the. United States, for qualified foreign specialists, as a measure to increase international rapport among those interested in the development of the environmental sciences, and to promote the general interests of international exchange."

(b) In addition to the ExchangeVisitor Program described in paragraph (a) of this section, ESSA also accepts other visitors from various countries having a mutual interest with the United States in the environmental sciences. The duration of these visits extends from 1 to 10 days. Programs are arranged in accordance with the specific interests of the visitors and may include orientation, review, and consultation on: Organizational structure; operating methods;

equipment and instrumentation; scientific and technical procedures; research; or exchange of ideas.

(c) Further information concerning international visits is available from the Director, International Affairs (IA), Environmental Science Services Administration, Rockville, Md. 20852.

PART 907-ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION

§ 907.1

Environmental information.

(a) ESSA gathers, processes, and issues information on weather conditions, river water height, coastal tides and current, movement of ocean currents, structure and shape of ocean basins, seismic activity, the precise size and shape of the earth, and conditions of the upper atmosphere and space. It issues warnings against hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and seismic sea-waves to areas in danger.

(b) ESSA information falls into three broad categories, namely:

(1) Current information and warnings on the dynamic or continually changing aspects of the environment, such as the weather and other geophysical phenomena.

(2) Longer term information, such as navigation charts, compilations or summaries of historical environmental data, and earth and ocean surveys and measurements.

(3) Scientific and technical research publications dealing with the earth sciences.

(c) ESSA information is available in many forms and from many sources throughout ESSA.

(1) Current information is disseminated in the form of forecasts, advisories, and warnings, directly by the local offices of ESSA, of which there are approximately 350, or through relaying intermediaries, such as radio and TV stations and telephone recorders. The address of local ESSA offices can be obtained by consulting local phone directories, generally under the heading of Commerce Department-Environmental Science Services Administration. The prime medium for disseminating weather information for the United States is the Daily Weather Map, which is available on a subscription basis. There is also published a Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin,

which narrates on a weekly basis the weather conditions and crop progress during the reporting period, generally on a State-by-State basis. Both the Daily Weather Map and the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin may be ordered from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402.

(2) Longer term information is available in various forms, such as charts, maps, books, and pamphlets, tabulations, individual data sheets, reproductions of original graphic recordings, and aerial photographs. These are available at varying prices, from various offices within ESSA. Also navigation charts may be purchased from contract sales agents, generally airport and marina operators. Catalogs or price lists of items in this category are available on request. Navigation chart catalogs are available from the Chief, Distribution Division (C44), ESSA, Rockville, Md. 20852. Price lists of climatological data, geophysical data, and geodetic data are available from the Director, Office of Data Information (D4), ESSA, Silver Spring, Md. 20910. Requests or inquiries concerning other information in the longer term category, but excluding scientific and technical research publications, may be sent to the Chief, Administrative Controls Branch (AD14), ESSA, Rockville, Md. 20852, for referral to the responsible office.

(3) Scientific and technical research publications are disseminated in the form of printed journals, monographs, reports, and other paperbound publications. These range over the broad spectrum of the physical environment. Details concerning publications available and the prices may be obtained from the Chief, Scientific Information and Documentation Division (AD7), ESSA, Rockville, Md. 20852. Many of ESSA's scientific and technical research publications are sold by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information, Springfield, Va. 22151, and by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402. Additional details concerning ESSA's scientific and technical publications are given in Appendix B of the U.S. Government Organization Manual, published annually.

(Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1965, 5 U.S.C. App. 1332-15 note) [32 F.R. 16257, Nov. 29, 1967]

§ 945.1

Connections to weather communications systems.

The Weather Bureau uses a number of federally operated weather communications systems in support of its internal operations. Connections to these circuits, for receiving purposes only, are permitted to be made by qualified organizations or individuals. Application to connect to these circuits should be made to the Director, ESSA Weather Bureau, Silver Spring, Md. 20910.

§ 945.2 Time of release of weather information affecting crops.

(a) Bulletins or radio broadcasts giving agricultural weather information are released at 10 a.m. each workday during the growing season in the affected areas.

(b) Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletins containing a synopsis of weather conditions and their effect on crops and farming operations (which show snow and ice conditions during the season) are released simultaneously at Washington, D.C., and approximately 45 field stations at 12 noon e.s.t., on Tuesday, or on Wednesday if Monday or Tuesday is a holiday.

(c) Because of the influence that might be exerted upon the market value of the products of the soil by the information contained in the weather and crop bulletins, the law provides a fine of

$10,000 or imprisonment of 10 years, or both, for any responsible Government official who wilfully imparts any information of speculative value contained in the bulletins before the times of release to the public (18 U.S.C. 1902).

§ 945.3 False weather reports.

Whoever knowingly issues or publishes any counterfeit forecast or warning of weather conditions falsely representing such forecast or warning to have been issued or published by the Weather Bureau, * shall be fined not more than $500, or imprisoned not more than 90 days, or both (18 U.S.C. 2074). § 945.4 Certified data for use in court.

* *

(a) 28 U.S.C. 1733 provides that authenticated copies of any books, records, papers, or other documents in any of the executive departments shall be admitted in evidence in courts of law equally with the originals thereof.

(b) All field stations and the Washington office are prepared to furnish applicants with duly certified copies of original or published weather records that are necessary for legal purposes, upon payment of appropriate fees to recover the reproduction, certification, and other related costs.

§ 945.5

Appearance in court of weather bureau employees.

In all cases of private litigation where it is required that an employee produce records or testify, it is necessary that he be duly subpoenaed to appear in court as an official of the Bureau. As the Federal Government will be deprived of his services while so testifying, the employee will collect the authorized witness fees and allowances for expenses of travel and subsistence, all of which he is required to account for to the Bureau. Arrangements should be made with the court to set a time for the appearance of an employee that will not interfere with important duties that would result in injury to interests of the community by delay in issuing important weather forecasts and danger warnings (15 Comp. Gen. 196).

§ 945.6 Agreements for radio and television weather broadcasts.

(a) Radio stations often desire to make special arrangements for the broadcast of daily weather forecasts, special warnings, and other weather information under commercial sponsorship. In such cases the Weather Bureau obtains an agreement setting forth conditions under which the broadcasts are to be made. This agreement specifies the regular time schedules of the broadcast; that the information be given exactly as issued by the Bureau; that while it is permissible to announce immediately before and at the conclusion of the weather broadcast that it is furnished by the courtesy of a sponsor, care must be exercised to avoid the implication that the forecasts are made or paid for by the

advertiser; and that there shall be nothing in the announcement associated with weather broadcasts to indicate that the Weather Bureau or the Government endorses the sponsor or the product advertised.

(b) An agreement is also required between the Weather Bureau and any radio or television station that wishes to install equipment or make other arrangements for direct broadcasts from a Weather Bureau office.

(c) No charge is made to the radio or television stations or the sponsor for weather information intended for public distribution. However, if there are communication tolls or leased wire charges in connection with the delivery of such information to the radio or television stations, such charges are borne by the radio or television stations or the sponsor.