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Electronic Reading Room
Subsection (a)(2) of the Freedom of Information Act, commonly known as the FOIA, requires federal agencies to make four types of records affirmatively available for "public inspection and copying."
Agencies may satisfy this requirement by either providing the designated documents solely in an electronic Reading Room on an agency website, or in a combination of electronic and conventional Reading Rooms.
The Federal Communications Commission satisfies this requirement (Certification) through a combination of electronic and conventional Reading Rooms.
Conventional Reading Room - FCC Reference Information Center
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The Reference Information Center is the official Commission custodian for many of the Commission records that meet the FOIA Reading Room requirements. The Center provides a convenient, central location for members of the general public wishing to research and obtain record information on applications, formal and informal proceedings, and FCC programs and activities.
The Reference Information Center is located in Room CY-A257 at the Commission’s Headquarters. It is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM and from 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM on Friday.
Listed below are links that will take you directly to the four types of information required in an Electronic Reading Room. BUT, these links are just a small taste of what is available on the Commission's web site.
Because the Commission makes so much information available on its web site, you are encouraged to thoroughly review the Commission's web site before filing a FOIA request. It's highly likely that you'll find what you are looking for on the Internet. If you need help with what is available on the Commission's web site you can either use the search function found at the top of each web page or go to the index of the web site.
"Final opinions [and] ... orders" made in the adjudication of cases;
The Daily Digest provides a brief synopsis of Commission orders, news releases, speeches, public notices and all other FCC documents that are released each business day.
EDOCS lets you search a database of Daily Digest entries for FCC documents that have been posted to the FCC web site.
The FCC Items on Circulation web page provides a compilation of Commission level items that have been circulated and are pending action by the full Commission. This list is updated on a weekly basis.
The Enforcement Bureau web pages give links to citations, notices of apparent liability, and other compliance related activities of the Commission.
The Office of Administrative Law Judges web pages provide links to administrative law decisions reached by that office.
Specific agency policy statements;
Administrative staff manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public; and
Records disclosed in response to a FOIA request that "the agency determines have become or are likely to become the subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records."
Records Excluded from the Reading Room
Records which are published and offered for sale by the Commission are excluded from the definition of Reading Room records. These records are described at 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.411, 0.413, 0.415, 0.416, 0.420, and 0.431. Similarly, records published under the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(1) – the Federal Register requirement for publishing basic information about the organization of the agency – are excluded from the definition of Reading Room records. These records are described at 47 C.F.R. Part 0, Subpart A (Organization -- §§ 0.1 – 0.191); Subpart B (Delegations of Authority -- §§ 0.201 – 0.392); and §§ 0.401 and 0.402 (location of Commission offices and office hours).
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