[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 16, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 16CFR4.9]

[Page 96-100]
 
                     TITLE 16--COMMERCIAL PRACTICES
 
                   CHAPTER I--FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
 
PART 4_MISCELLANEOUS RULES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 4.9  The public record.

    (a) General. (1) Materials on the public record of the Commission 
are available for public inspection and copying either routinely or upon 
request.
    (2) Materials that are exempt from mandatory public disclosure, or 
are otherwise not available from the Commission's public record, may be 
made available for inspection and copying only upon request under the 
procedures

[[Page 97]]

set forth in Sec. 4.11 of this part, or as provided in Sec. Sec. 4.10 
(d) through (g), 4.13, and 4.15(b)(3) of this part, or by the 
Commission.
    (3) Location. All of the public records of the Commission are 
available for inspection at the principal office of the Commission on 
each business day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and copies of some of those 
records are available at the regional offices on each business day from 
8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Copies of records that the Commission is required to 
make available to the public electronically, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(2), may be obtained in that format from the Commission's Web site 
on the Internet, WWW.FTC.GOV.
    (4) Copying of public records--(i) Procedures. Reasonable facilities 
for copying public records are provided at each office of the 
Commission. Subject to appropriate limitations and the availability of 
facilities, any person may copy public records available for inspection 
at each of those offices. Further, the agency will provide copies to any 
person upon request. Written requests for copies of public records shall 
be addressed to the Supervisor, Consumer Response Center, and shall 
specify as clearly and accurately as reasonably possible the records 
desired. For records that cannot be specified with complete clarity and 
particularity, requesters shall provide descriptions sufficient to 
enable qualified Commission personnel to locate the records sought. In 
any instance, the Commission, the Supervisor of the Consumer Response 
Center, the General Counsel, the deciding official (as designated by the 
General Counsel), or the official in charge of each office may prohibit 
the use of Commission facilities to produce more than one copy of any 
public record, and may refuse to permit the use of such facilities for 
copying records that have been published or are publicly available at 
places other than the offices of the Commission.
    (ii) Costs; agreement to pay costs. Requesters will be charged 
search and duplication costs prescribed by Rule 4.8 for requests under 
this section. All requests shall include a statement of the information 
needed to determine fees, as provided by Sec. 4.8(c), and an agreement 
to pay fees (or a statement that the requester will not pay fees if a 
fee waiver is denied), as provided by Sec. 4.8(d). Requests may also 
include an application for a fee waiver, as provided by Sec. 4.8(e). 
Advance payment may be required, as provided by Sec. 4.8(h).
    (iii) Records for sale at another government agency. If requested 
materials are available for sale at a another government agency, the 
requester will not be provided with copies of the materials but will be 
advised to obtain them from the selling agency.
    (b) Categories. Except to the extent material is confidential, as 
provided in paragraph (c) of this section, the public record of the 
Commission includes, but is not necessarily limited to:
    (1) Commission Organization and Procedures (16 CFR part 0 and 
Sec. Sec. 4.14 through 4.15, 4.17). (i) A current index of opinions, 
orders, statements of policy and interpretations, administrative staff 
manuals, general instructions and other public records of the 
Commission;
    (ii) A current record of the final votes of each member of the 
Commission in all matters of public record, including matters of public 
record decided by notational voting;
    (iii) Descriptions of the Commission's organization, including 
descriptions of where, from whom, and how the public may secure 
information, submit documents or requests, and obtain copies of orders, 
decisions and other materials;
    (iv) Statements of the Commission's general procedures and policies 
and interpretations, its nonadjudicative procedures, its rules of 
practice for adjudicative proceedings, and its miscellaneous rules, 
including descriptions of the nature and requirements of all formal and 
informal procedures available, and
    (v) Reprints of the principal laws under which the Commission 
exercises enforcement or administrative responsibilities.
    (2) Industry Guidance (16 CFR 1.1-1.6). (i) Any advice, advisory 
opinion or response given and required to be made public under 
Sec. Sec. 1.4 and 2.41 (d) or (f) of this chapter (whether by the 
Commission or the staff), together with a statement of supporting 
reasons;

[[Page 98]]

    (ii) Industry guides, digests of advisory opinions and compliance 
advice believed to be of interest to the public generally and other 
administrative interpretations;
    (iii) Transcripts of hearings in all industry guide proceedings, as 
well as written statements filed with or forwarded to the Commission in 
connection with these proceedings; and
    (iv) Petitions filed with the Secretary of the Commission for the 
promulgation or issuance, amendment, or repeal of industry guides.
    (3) Rulemaking (16 CFR 1.7 through 1.26). (i) Petitions filed with 
the Secretary of the Commission for the promulgation or issuance, 
amendment, or repeal of rules or regulations within the scope of 
Sec. Sec. 1.7 and 1.21 of this chapter, and petitions for exemptions;
    (ii) Notices and advance notices of proposed rulemaking and rules 
and orders issued in rulemaking proceedings; and
    (iii) Transcripts of hearings of all rulemaking proceedings, as well 
as written statements filed with or forwarded to the Commission in 
connection with these proceedings.
    (4) Investigations (16 CFR 2.7). (i) Petitions to limit or quash 
compulsory process and the rulings thereon, requests for review by the 
full Commission of those rulings, and Commission rulings on such 
requests; and
    (ii) Closing letters in initial phase and full phase investigations.
    (5) Adjudicative proceedings, stay applications, requests to reopen, 
and litigated orders. (16 CFR 2.51, 3.1 through 3.24, 3.31 through 3.56, 
3.71 through 3.72, 4.7)--Except for transcripts of matters heard in 
camera pursuant to Sec. 3.45 and material filed in camera pursuant to 
Sec. Sec. 3.22, 3.24, 3.45, 3.46, 3.51 and 3.52,
    (i) The versions of pleadings and transcripts of prehearing 
conferences to the extent made available under Sec. 3.21(e), motions, 
certifications, orders, and the transcripts of hearings (including 
public conferences), testimony, oral arguments, and other material made 
a part thereof, and exhibits and material received in evidence or made a 
part of the public record in adjudicative proceedings;
    (ii) Initial decisions of administrative law judges;
    (iii) Orders and opinions in interlocutory matters;
    (iv) Final orders and opinions in adjudications, and rulings on stay 
applications, including separate statements of Commissioners;
    (v) Petitions for reconsideration, and answers thereto, filed 
pursuant to Sec. 3.55;
    (vi) Applications for stay, answers thereto, and replies, filed 
pursuant to Sec. 3.56;
    (vii) Petitions, applications, pleadings, briefs, and other records 
filed by the Commission with the courts in connection with adjudicative, 
injunctive, enforcement, compliance, and condemnation proceedings, and 
in connection with judicial review of Commission actions, and opinions 
and orders of the courts in disposition thereof;
    (viii) Records of ex parte communications in adjudicative 
proceedings and stay applications;
    (ix) Petitions to reopen proceedings and orders to determine whether 
orders should be altered, modified, or set aside in accordance with 
Sec. 2.51; and
    (x) Decisions reopening proceedings, and orders to show cause under 
Sec. 3.72.
    (6) Consent Agreements (16 CFR 2.31 through 2.34, 3.25). (i) 
Agreements containing orders, after acceptance by the Commission 
pursuant to Sec. Sec. 2.34 and 3.25(f) of this chapter;
    (ii) Comments and other materials filed or placed on the public 
record under Sec. Sec. 2.34 and 3.25(f) concerning proposed consent 
agreements and related orders; and
    (iii) Decisions and orders issued and served under Sec. Sec. 2.34 
and 3.25(f), including separate statements of Commissioners.
    (7) Compliance/Enforcement (16 CFR 2.33, 2.41). (i) Reports of 
compliance filed pursuant to the rules in this chapter or pursuant to a 
provision in a Commission order and supplemental materials filed in 
connection with these reports, except for reports of compliance, and 
supplemental materials filed in connection with Commission orders 
requiring divestitures or establishment of business enterprises of 
facilities, which are confidential until the last divestiture or 
establishment of a business enterprise or facility, as required by a 
particular order, has been

[[Page 99]]

finally approved by the Commission, and staff letters to respondents 
advising them that their compliance reports do not warrant any further 
action. At the time each such report is submitted the filing party may 
request confidential treatment in accordance with paragraph (c) of this 
section and the General Counsel or the General Counsel's designee will 
pass upon such request in accordance with that paragraph;
    (ii) Materials required to be made public under 16 CFR 2.41(f) in 
connection with applications for approval of proposed divestitures, 
acquisitions or similar transactions subject to Commission review under 
outstanding orders.
    (8) Access to Documents and Meetings (16 CFR 4.8, 4.11, 4.13, 4.15). 
(i) Letters requesting access to Commission records pursuant to Sec. 
4.11(a) of this chapter and the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 
552, and letters granting or denying such requests (not including access 
requests and answers thereto from the Congress or other government 
agencies);
    (ii) Announcements of Commission meetings as required under the 
Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b, including records of the votes to close 
such meetings;
    (iii) Summaries or other explanatory materials relating to matters 
to be considered at open meetings made available pursuant to Sec. 
4.15(b)(3)
    (iv) Commission minutes of open meetings, and, to the extent they 
are not exempt from mandatory public disclosure under the Sunshine Act 
or the Freedom of Information Act, portions of minutes or transcripts of 
closed meetings; and
    (v) A guide for requesting records or information from the 
Commission, including an index of all major information systems, a 
description of major information and record locator systems maintained 
by the Commission, and a handbook for obtaining various types and 
categories of public information.
    (9) Standards of Conduct (16 CFR 5.5 through 5.6, 5.10 through 5.26, 
5.31, 5.57 through 5.68). (i) Memoranda to staff elaborating or 
clarifying standards described in administative staff manuals and part 5 
of this subchapter.
    (10) Miscellaneous (Press Releases, Clearance Requests, Reports 
Filed by or with the Commission, Continuing Guaranties, Registered 
Identification Numbers). (i) Releases by the Commission's Office of 
Public Affairs supplying information concerning the activities of the 
Commission;
    (ii) Applications under Sec. 4.1(b)(2) of this chapter for 
clearance or authorization to appear or participate in a proceeding or 
investigation and of the Commission's responses thereto;
    (iii) Continuing guaranties filed under the Wool, Fur, and Textile 
Acts;
    (iv) Published reports by the staff or by the Commission on economic 
surveys and investigations of general interest;
    (v) Filings by the Commission or by the staff in connection with 
proceedings before other federal agencies or state or local government 
bodies;
    (vi) Registration statements and annual reports filed with the 
Commission by export trade associations, and bulletins, pamphlets, and 
reports with respect to such associations released by the Commission;
    (vii) The identities of holders of registered identification numbers 
issued by the Commission pursuant to Sec. 1.32 of this chapter;
    (viii) The Commission's annual report submitted after the end of 
each fiscal year, summarizing its work during the year (available for 
inspection at each of the offices of the Commission with copies 
obtainable from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government 
Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402) and any other annual reports made 
to Congress on activities of the Commission as required by law;
    (ix) Records, as determined by the General Counsel or his or her 
designee, that have been released in response to a request made under 
the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 552, and which, because of the 
nature of the subject matter, have become or are likely to become the 
subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records, 
except where some or all of those records would be exempt from 
disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552 if requested by another party;

[[Page 100]]

    (x) A general index of the records referred to under paragraph 
(b)(10)(ix) of this section;
    (xi) Grants of early termination of waiting periods published in 
accordance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification provisions 
of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. 18a(b)(2);
    (xii) Reports on appliance energy consumption or efficiency filed 
with the Commission pursuant to Sec. 305.8 of this chapter;
    (xiii) Annual filings by professional boxing sanctioning 
organizations as required by the Muhammed Ali Boxing Reform Act, 15 
U.S.C. 6301 note, 6307a-6307h;
    (xiv) Other documents that the Commission has determined to place on 
the public record; and
    (xv) Every amendment, revision, substitute, or repeal of any of the 
foregoing items listed in Sec. 4.9(b)(1) through (10) of this section.
    (c) Confidentiality and in camera material. (1) Persons submitting 
material to the Commission described in this section may designate that 
material or portions of it confidential and request that it be withheld 
from the public record. All requests for confidential treatment shall be 
supported by a showing of justification in light of applicable statutes, 
rules, orders of the Commission or its administrative law judges, orders 
of the courts, or other relevant authority. The General Counsel or the 
General Counsel's designee will act upon such request with due regard 
for legal constraints and the public interest. No such material or 
portions of material (including documents generated by the Commission or 
its staff containing or reflecting such material or portions of 
material) will be placed on the public record until the General Counsel 
or the General Counsel's designee has ruled on the request for 
confidential treatment and provided any prior notice to the submitter 
required by law.
    (2) Motions seeking in camera treatment of material submitted in 
connection with a proceeding under part 3 of these rules, except stay 
applications under Sec. 3.56, shall be filed with the Administrative 
Law Judge who is presiding over the proceeding. Requests for 
confidential treatment of material submitted in connection with a stay 
application shall be made in accordance with Sec. 4.9(c)(1).
    (3) To the extent that any material or portions of material 
otherwise falling within paragraph (b) of this section contain 
information that is not required to be made public under Sec. 4.10 of 
this part, the General Counsel or the General Counsel's designee may 
determine, with due regard for legal constraints and the public 
interest, to withhold such materials from the public record.

[50 FR 50779, Dec. 12, 1985, as amended at 57 FR 10805, Mar. 31, 1992; 
59 FR 34970, July 8, 1994; 60 FR 37749, July 21, 1995; 63 FR 18820, Apr. 
16, 1998; 63 FR 32977, June 17, 1998; 63 FR 45647, Aug. 26, 1998; 64 FR 
46269, Aug. 25, 1999; 66 FR 17633, Apr. 3, 2001; 66 FR 64144, Dec. 12, 
2001]