Sec. 0.457  Records not routinely available for public inspection.

    The records listed in this section are not routinely available for 
public inspection. The records are listed in this section by category, 
according to the statutory basis for withholding those

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records from inspection; and under each category, if appropriate, the 
underlying policy considerations affecting the withholding and 
disclosure of records in that category are briefly outlined. Except 
where the records are not the property of the Commission or where the 
disclosure of those records is prohibited by law, the Commission will 
entertain requests from members of the public under Sec. 0.461 for 
permission to inspect particular records withheld from inspection under 
the provisions of this section, and will weigh the policy considerations 
favoring non-disclosure against the reasons cited for permitting 
inspection in the light of the facts of the particular case. In making 
such requests, it is important to appreciate that there may be more than 
one basis for withholding particular records from inspection. The 
listing of records by category is not intended to imply the contrary but 
is solely for the information and assistance of persons making such 
requests. Requests to inspect or copy the transcripts, recordings or 
minutes of agency or advisory committee meetings will be considered 
under Sec. 0.603 rather than under the provisions of this section.
    (a) Materials that are specifically authorized under criteria 
established by Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of 
national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified 
pursuant to such Executive Order, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(1). (1) E.O. 10450, 
``Security Requirements for Government Employees,''  18 FR 2489 , April 
27, 1953, 3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., p. 936. Pursuant to the provisions of 
E.O. 10450, reports and other material and information developed in 
security investigations are the property of the investigative agency. If 
they are retained by the Commission, it is required that they be 
maintained in confidence and that no access be given to them without the 
consent of the investigative agency. Such materials and information will 
not be made available for public inspection. See also paragraphs (f) and 
(g) of this section.
    (2) E.O. 10501, ``Safeguarding Official Information in the Interests 
of the Defense of the United States,''  18 FR 7049 , November 10, 1953, as 
amended, 3 CFR, 1965 ed., p. 450. E.O. 10501, as amended, provides for 
the classification of official information which requires protection in 
the interests of national defense, and prohibits the disclosure of 
classified information except as provided therein. Classified materials 
and information will not be made available for public inspection. See 
also, E.O. 10033, February 8, 1949,  14 FR 561 , 3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., 
p. 226, and 47 U.S.C. 154(j).
    (b) Materials that are related solely to the internal personnel 
rules and practices of the Commission, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(2). (1) Materials 
related solely to internal management matters, including minutes of 
Commission actions on such matters. Such materials may be made available 
for inspection under Sec. 0.461, however, unless their disclosure would 
interfere with or prejudice the performance of the internal management 
functions to which they relate, or unless their disclosure would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (see 
paragraph (f) of this section).
    (2) Materials relating to the negotiation of contracts.
    (3) All materials used in conducting radio operator examinations, 
including test booklets, Morse Code tapes, and scoring masks.
    (c) Materials that are specifically exempted from disclosure by 
statute (other than the Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b): 
Provided, That such statute (1) requires that the materials be withheld 
from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, 
or (2) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to 
particular types of materials to be withheld. The Commission is 
authorized under the following statutory provisions to withhold 
materials from public inspection.
    (1) Section 4(j) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 154(j), 
provides, in part, that, ``The Commission is authorized to withhold 
publication of records or proceedings containing secret information 
affecting the national defense.'' Pursuant to that provision, it has 
been determined that the following materials should be withheld from 
public inspection (see also paragraph (a) of this section):

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    (i) Maps showing the exact location of submarine cables.
    (ii) Minutes of Commission actions on classified matters.
    (iii) Maps of nation-wide point-to-point microwave networks.
    (2) Under section 213(f) of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 
213(f), the Commission is authorized to order, with the reasons 
therefor, that records and data pertaining to the valuation of the 
property of common carriers and furnished to the Commission by the 
carriers pursuant to the provisions of that section, shall not be 
available for public inspection. If such an order has been issued, the 
data and records will be withheld from public inspection, except under 
the provisions of Sec. 0.461. Normally, however, such data and 
information is available for inspection. See Sec. 0.455(c) (8).
    (3) Under section 412 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 412, the 
Commission may withhold from public inspection certain contracts, 
agreements and arrangements between common carriers relating to foreign 
wire or radio communication. Reports of negotiations regarding such 
foreign communication matters, filed by carriers under Sec. 43.52 of 
this chapter, may also be withheld from public inspection under section 
412. Any person may file a petition requesting that such materials be 
withheld from public inspection. To support such action, the petition 
must show that the contract, agreement or arrangement relates to foreign 
wire or radio communications; that its publication would place American 
communication companies at a disadvantage in meeting the competition of 
foreign communication companies; and that the public interest would be 
served by keeping its terms confidential. If the Commission orders that 
such materials be kept confidential, they will be made available for 
inspection only under the provisions of Sec. 0.461.
    (4) Section 605 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. 605, provides, 
in part, that, ``no person not being authorized by the sender shall 
intercept any communication [by wire or radio] and divulge or publish 
the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such 
intercepted communications to any person.'' In executing its 
responsibilities, the Commission regularly monitors radio transmissions 
(see Sec. 0.116). Except as required for the enforcement of the 
communications laws, treaties and the provisions of this chapter, or as 
authorized in section 605, the Commission is prohibited from divulging 
information obtained in the course of these monitoring activities; and 
such information, and materials relating thereto, will not be made 
available for public inspection.
    (5) Section 1905 of the Criminal Code, 18 U.S.C. 1905, prohibits the 
unauthorized disclosure of certain confidential information. See 
paragraph (d) of this section.
    (d) Trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained 
from any person and privileged or confidential, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) and 
18 U.S.C. 1905. Section 552(b)(4) is specifically applicable to trade 
secrets and commercial or financial information but is not limited to 
such matters. Under this provision, the Commission is authorized to 
withhold from public inspection materials which would be privileged as a 
matter of law if retained by the person who submitted them, and 
materials which would not customarily be released to the public by that 
person, whether or not such materials are protected from disclosure by a 
privilege. See, Attorney General's Memorandum on the Public Information 
Section of the Administrative Procedure Act, June 1967, at pages 32-34.
    (1) The materials listed in this subparagraph have been accepted, or 
are being accepted, by the Commission on a confidential basis pursuant 
to 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). To the extent indicated in each case, the 
materials are not routinely available for public inspection. If the 
protection afforded is sufficient, it is unnecessary for persons 
submitting such materials to submit therewith a request for non-
disclosure pursuant to Sec. 0.459. A persuasive showing as to the 
reasons for inspection will be required in requests for inspection of 
such materials submitted under Sec. 0.461.
    (i) Financial reports submitted by licensees of broadcast stations 
pursuant to Sec. 1.611 of this chapter or by radio and television 
networks are not routinely available for public inspection. (Fees

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paid upon consummation of the assignment or transfer of a broadcast 
station license, pursuant to Sec. 1.1111 of this chapter, are computed 
from information contained in financial reports submitted pursuant to 
Sec. 1.611. Information and correspondence concerning such computations 
are not routinely available for public inspection.)
    (ii) Applications for equipment authorizations (type acceptance, 
type approval, certification, or advance approval of subscription 
television systems), and materials relating to such applications, are 
not routinely available for public inspection prior to the effective 
date of the authorization. The effective date of the authorization will, 
upon request, be deferred to a date no earlier than that specified by 
the applicant. Following the effective date of the authorization, the 
application and related materials (including technical specifications 
and test measurements) will be made available for inspection upon 
request (see Sec. 0.460).
    (iii) Schedules 2, 3, and 4 of financial reports submitted for cable 
television systems pursuant to Sec. 76.403 of this chapter.
    (iv) Annual fee computation forms submitted for cable television 
systems pursuant to Sec. 76.406 of this chapter.
    (2) Prior to July 4, 1967, the rules and regulations provided that 
certain materials submitted to the Commission would not be made 
available for public inspection or provided assurance, in varying 
degrees, that requests for nondisclosure of certain materials would be 
honored. See, e.g., 47 CFR (1966 ed.) 0.417, 2.557, 5.204, 5.255, 15.70, 
21.406, 80.33, 87.153, 89.215, 91.208, 91.605 and 93.208. Materials 
submitted under these provisions are not routinely available for public 
inspection. To the extent that such materials were accepted on a 
confidential basis under the then existing rules, they are not routinely 
available for public inspection. The rules cited in this subdivision 
were superseded by the provisions of this paragraph, effective July 4, 
1967. Equipment authorization information accepted on a confidential 
basis between July 4, 1967 and March 25, 1974, will not be routinely 
available for inspection and a persuasive showing as to the reasons for 
inspection of such information will be required in requests for 
inspection of such materials submitted under Sec. 0.461.
    (i) Unless the materials to be submitted are listed in paragraph 
(d)(1) of this section and the protection thereby afforded is adequate, 
it is important for any person who submits materials which he wishes 
withheld from public inspection under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4) to submit 
therewith a request for non-disclosure pursuant to Sec. 0.459. If it is 
shown in the request that the materials contain trade secrets or 
commercial, financial or technical data which would customarily be 
guarded from competitors, the materials will not be made routinely 
available for inspection; and a persuasive showing as to the reasons for 
inspection will be required in requests for inspection submitted under 
Sec. 0.461. In the absence of a request for non-disclosure, the 
Commission may, in the unusual instance, determine on its own motion 
that the materials should not be routinely available for public 
inspection. Ordinarily, however, in the absence of such a request, 
materials which are submitted will be made available for inspection upon 
request pursuant to Sec. 0.461, even though some question may be present 
as to whether they contain trade secrets or like matter.
    (e) Interagency and intra-agency memorandums or letters, 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(5). Interagency and intra-agency memorandums or letters and the 
work papers of members of the Commission or its staff will not be made 
available for public inspection, except in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in Sec. 0.461. Only if it is shown in a request 
under Sec. 0.461 that such a communication would be routinely available 
to a private party through the discovery process in litigation with the 
Commission will the communication be made available for public 
inspection. Normally such papers are privileged and not available to 
private parties through the discovery process, since their disclosure 
would tend to restrain the commitment of ideas to writing, would tend to 
inhibit communication among Government personnel, and would, in some 
cases, involve premature disclosure of their contents.

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    (f) Personnel, medical and other files whose disclosure would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, 5 U.S.C. 
552(b)(6). (1) Under Executive Order 10561,  19 FR 5963 , September 13, 
1954, 3 CFR, 1954-1958 Comp., page 205, the Commission maintains an 
Official Personnel Folder for each of its employees. Such folders are 
under the jurisdiction and control, and are a part of the records, of 
the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Except as provided in the rules 
of the Office of Personnel Management (5 CFR 294.701-294.703), such 
folders will not be made available for public inspection by the 
Commission. In addition, other records of the Commission containing 
private, personal or financial information concerning particular 
employees will be withheld from public inspection.
    (2) [Reserved]
    (3) Information submitted to the Commission by applicants for 
commercial radio operator licenses concerning the character and mental 
or physical health of the applicant is available for inspection only 
under procedures set forth in Sec. 0.461. Except in this respect, or 
where other aspects of a similar private nature warrant nondisclosure, 
commercial radio operator application files are available for 
inspection.
    (g) Investigatory records compiled for law enforcement purposes, to 
the extent that production of such records would:
    (1) Interfere with enforcement proceedings;
    (2) Deprive a person of a right to fair trial or an impartial 
adjudication;
    (3) Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
    (4) Disclose the identity of a confidential source;
    (5) Disclose investigative techniques or procedures; or
    (6) Endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement 
personnel, 5 U.S.C. (b)(7).
[32 552 FR 10573 , July 19, 1967, as amended at  32 FR 12180 , Aug. 24, 1967; 
 39 FR 5918 , Feb. 14, 1974;  39 FR 27802 , Aug. 1, 1974;  40 FR 7313 , Feb. 
19, 1975;  40 FR 17255 , Apr. 18, 1975;  40 FR 34116 , Aug. 14, 1975;  40 FR 39507 , Aug. 28, 1975;  42 FR 12867 , Mar. 7, 1977;  43 FR 51794 , Nov. 7, 
1978;  45 FR 39850 , June 12, 1980;  51 FR 31304 , Sept. 2, 1986]