70.4—Public reading rooms.

(a) To the extent required by 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(2), each component within the Department will make the materials listed in this section available for public inspection and copying (unless they are published and copies are offered for sale):

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

(2) Those statements of policy and interpretation which have been adopted by the agency and are not published in the Federal Register ;

(3) Administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public except to the extent that such records or portions thereof are exempt from disclosure under section 552(b) of the FOIA; and

(4) Copies of all records, regardless of form or format, which have been released to any person under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3) and which, because of the nature of their subject matter, the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records.

(5) A general index of the records referred to in paragraph (a) (4) of this section.

(b) Each component of the Department will maintain and make available, including through the Department's Internet/World Wide Web site [http://www.dol.gov ], current indexes providing identifying information regarding any matter issued, adopted or promulgated after July 4, 1967, and required by paragraph (a) of this section to be made available or published. Each component will publish and make available for distribution copies of such indexes and their supplements at least quarterly, unless it determines by Notice published in the Federal Register that publication would be unnecessary and impracticable. After issuance of such Notice, the component will provide copies of any index upon request at a cost not to exceed the direct cost of duplication.

(c) A component may exclude information from records made available to the public pursuant to paragraphs (a)(1), (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section where release of such information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy and may also exclude identifying details from records made available to the public pursuant to paragraph (a)(4) of this section when disclosure would be harmful to an interest protected by an exemption. When making a deletion for such purposes, the component will explain the reason for the deletion. Also, a component will describe the extent of the deletion and must, if technically feasible, identify the exact location where the deletion was made.

(d) Records described in this section are available for examination or copying without the submission of a formal FOIA request. All records covered by this section are available through public reading rooms, and, to the extent indicated in this paragraph, through the Department's Internet/World Wide Web site [http://www.dol.gov ].

(1) Some components have public reading rooms only in Washington, DC, while other components provide reading rooms in area, district or regional offices throughout the United States. A disclosure officer in the appropriate component listed in Appendix A to this part should be contacted to find out where the public reading room is located. If the appropriate component is unknown, inquiries can be directed to the Office of the Solicitor, Division of Management and Administrative Legal Services, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW., Room N-2428, Washington, DC 20210. Fees for reproduction of records in public reading rooms are charged consistent with § 70.40.

(2) To the extent feasible, components are required to place copies of any records covered by this section and which were created on or after November 1, 1996 on the Internet/World Wide Web. In particular, when records are required to be made available to the public pursuant to the requirements of paragraph (a)(4) of this section, the component will also place on the Internet/World Wide Web, if technically feasible, any records that are released in the response to a FOIA decision. The Department's Internet home page may be searched to obtain these documents. The Department will make available to the public by electronic or other appropriate media any documents covered by this section that cannot be feasibly placed on the Internet/World Wide Web.

CFR

70.4—Public reading rooms.