82 FR 47407 - General Policies

SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 196 (October 12, 2017)

This document contains proposed rules that would codify in the regulations and strengthen the Susquehanna River Basin Commission's (Commission) Access to Records Policy providing rules and procedures for the public to request and receive the Commission's public records.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 196 (Thursday, October 12, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 47407-47408]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-21975]



[[Page 47407]]

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SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMMISSION

18 CFR Part 801


General Policies

AGENCY: Susquehanna River Basin Commission.

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking; notice of public hearing.

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SUMMARY: This document contains proposed rules that would codify in the 
regulations and strengthen the Susquehanna River Basin Commission's 
(Commission) Access to Records Policy providing rules and procedures 
for the public to request and receive the Commission's public records.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rulemaking may be submitted to the 
Commission on or before November 13, 2017. The Commission has scheduled 
a public hearing on the proposed rulemaking on November 2, 2017, 2:30 
p.m. to 5 p.m. or at the conclusion of public testimony, whichever is 
sooner.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be mailed to: Jason E. Oyler, Esq., General 
Counsel, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 4423 N. Front Street, 
Harrisburg, PA 17110-1788, or by email to [email protected]. The 
public hearing is located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, State Capitol 
(East Wing, Room 8E-B), Commonwealth Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17120.
    Those wishing to testify are asked to notify the Commission in 
advance, if possible, at the regular or electronic addresses given 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jason E. Oyler, Esq., General Counsel, 
telephone: (717) 238-0423, ext. 1312; fax: (717) 238-2436; email: 
[email protected]. Also, for further information on the proposed 
rulemaking, visit the Commission's Web site at http://www.srbc.net.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Commission has long made its records 
available to the public but it has never formalized its open records 
policy in regulation. The Commission first promulgated its ``Freedom of 
Information Policy'' on January 11, 1979. As an interstate compact 
agency, no single member jurisdiction may subject the Commission to its 
open records law. See C.T. Hellmuth & Associates v. Washington 
Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 414 F. Supp. 408 (D. Md. 1976) 
(holding that Maryland could not unilaterally subject transit authority 
to the provision of the Maryland Public Information Act). In 
recognition of this limitation, the Commission developed its policy 
``in line with Freedom of Information legislation enacted by all four 
signatory jurisdictions.'' See Minutes of Commission Meeting (Jan. 11, 
1979). As noted in the January 11, 1979, meeting minutes of the 
Commission, the Policy ``merely formalized the current Commission 
practice of making its records available to the furthest extent 
possible.''
    The Commission updated its open records policy on September 10, 
2009, by adopting its ``Access to Records Policy,'' Policy No. 2009-02 
on September 10, 2009. This policy replaced the 1979 Freedom of 
Information Policy. The updated policy reflected the practice of the 
Commission's member jurisdictions, recognized records in electronic 
format as being subject to public access and added a formal procedure 
for the protection of confidential information submitted by project 
sponsors and a procedure for the public to challenge the designation of 
this information as confidential. This revised policy also provided 
that the Commission ``will endeavor to make as much information as 
possible available on its Web site . . . , in an effort to eliminate 
the need for many records requests.'' For example, the Commission 
provides all of its approved dockets on its Web site, as well as 
information summaries for each docket or project application pending 
before the Commission, policies, reports, publications and data from 
its water quality monitoring programs.
    The Commission believes the results of this policy have been 
successful. From 2012 through 2016, the Commission provided records to 
152 distinct records requests in writing for documents data or 
information, as well as innumerable informal requests. The Commission 
Web site has been a well-used public resource and repository for 
records. In the past 12 months, the Commission Web site has received 
121,213 visits from 26,522 unique visitors. The Commission Water 
Application and Approval Viewer, where the public can view Commission 
dockets and pending application information, was recently upgraded to 
increase its functionality and ease of use and received 16,593 unique 
page views over the past 12 months. Similarly, the Commission water 
quality network data landing page received 9,904 unique page views over 
this same time period.
    The Commission wishes to continue this long tradition of 
transparency by further formalizing the key elements of its Access to 
Records Policy in duly promulgated regulations. The Commission is not 
looking to replace the policy, but rather to memorialize the key tenets 
of the policy in regulation. Through this action, the Commission will 
be codifying its commitment to public access to records in a way that 
imbues them with the status of law that can be enforceable against the 
Commission.
    The Commission's 2009 Access to Records Policy can be found at: 
http://www.srbc.net/pubinfo/docs/2009-02_Access_to_Records_Policy_20140115.pdf. The Commission's current 
records processing fee schedule can be found at: http://www.srbc.net/pubinfo/docs/RecordsProcessingFeeScheduleUpdatedAddress.pdf.

List of Subjects in 18 CFR Part 801

    Administrative practice and procedure, Water resources.

    Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the preamble, the 
Susquehanna River Basin Commission proposes to amend 18 CFR part 801 as 
follows:

PART 801--GENERAL POLICIES

0
 1. The authority citation for part 801 is revised to read as follows:

    Authority:  Secs. 3.1, 3.4, 3.5(1), 15.1 and 15.2, Pub. L. 91-
575 (84 Stat. 1509 et seq.)

0
 2. Add Sec.  801.14 to read as follows:


Sec.  801.14   Public access to records.

    (a) Purpose. The Commission, as an independent compact agency, is 
not subject to any of its member jurisdictions' laws regarding public 
access to records. Nevertheless, the Commission wishes to assure, to 
the maximum extent practicable, the availability of Commission records 
consistent with the Susquehanna River Basin Compact. The Commission 
shall maintain an ``Access to Records Policy'' that outlines the 
details and procedures related to public access to the Commission's 
records. Any revisions to this policy shall be consistent with this 
section and undertaken in accordance with appropriate public notice and 
comment consistent with requirements of 18 CFR 808.1.
    (b) Scope. This section shall apply to all recorded information, 
regardless of whether the information exists in written or electronic 
format. There is a strong presumption that records shall be public, 
except where considerations of privacy, confidentiality, and security 
must be considered and require thoughtful balancing. The Commission 
shall identify types of records that are not subject to public access, 
including but not limited to:
    (1) Personnel or employment records;

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    (2) Trade secrets, copyrighted material, or any other confidential 
business information;
    (3) Records exempted from disclosure by statute, regulation, court 
order, or recognized privilege;
    (4) Records reflecting internal pre-decisional deliberations;
    (5) Records reflecting employee medical information, evaluations, 
tests or other identifiable health information;
    (6) Records reflecting employee personal information, such as 
social security number, driver's license number, personal financial 
information, home addresses, home or personal cellular numbers, 
confidential personal information, spouse names, marital status or 
dependent information;
    (7) Investigatory or enforcement records that would interfere with 
active enforcement proceedings or individual due process rights, 
disclose the identity of public complainants or confidential sources or 
investigative techniques or endanger the life or safety of Commission 
personnel; or
    (8) Records related to emergency procedures, facilities or critical 
infrastructure.
    (c) Procedures. The Access to Records Policy will detail the 
necessary procedures for requesting records and processing records 
requests:
    (1) Requests shall be in writing and shall be reasonably specific;
    (2) The Commission shall identify an Access to Records Officer to 
handle requests;
    (3) The Commission shall respond to a records request within a 
reasonable time and in consideration of available resources and the 
nature of the request;
    (4) The Commission shall not be required to create a record that 
does not already exist, or to compile, maintain, format or organize a 
public record in a manner in which the Commission does not currently do 
so;
    (5) A procedure shall be identified for electronic transfer, 
copying or otherwise providing records in a manner that maintains the 
integrity of the Commission's files; and
    (6) A procedure shall be identified for handling review of requests 
that seek access to information that has been identified as 
confidential and for notifying the person(s) who submitted the 
confidential information that it is subject to a records request.
    (d) Fees. The Commission shall adopt and maintain a ``Records 
Processing Fee Schedule.'' The fees shall be calculated to reflect the 
actual costs to the Commission for processing records requests and may 
include the costs of reproducing records and the cost to search, 
prepare and/or redact records for extraordinary requests.
    (e) Appeals. Any person aggrieved by a Commission action on a 
records request shall have 30 days to appeal a decision in accordance 
with 18 CFR 808.2.

    Dated: October 5, 2017.
Stephanie L. Richardson,
Secretary to the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2017-21975 Filed 10-11-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7040-01-P