[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 1, Parts 1 to 999]
[Revised as of October 1, 1997]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR2]

[Page 7-8]
Subpart B
Subpart C
Subpart D
Subpart E
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
           Subtitle A--Office of the Secretary of the Interior
 
PART 2--RECORDS AND TESTIMONY; FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT--Table of Contents
 
Subpart A--Opinions in Adjudication of Cases, Administrative Manuals
Sec. 2.1  Purpose and scope.

    This subpart contains the regulations of the Department of the 
Interior concerning the availability to the public of opinions issued in 
the adjudication of cases and of administrative manuals. Persons 
interested in obtaining access to other records are directed to the 
procedures for submission of Freedom of Information requests set out in 
subpart B of this part.

Sec. 2.2  Opinions in adjudication of cases.

    (a)(1) Copies of final decisions and orders issued on and after July 
1, 1970, in the following categories of cases are available for 
inspection and copying in the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Ballston 
Building No. 3, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22203:
    (i) Contract appeals;
    (ii) Appeals from decisions rendered by departmental officials 
relating to the use and disposition of public lands and their resources 
and the use and disposition of mineral resources in certain acquired 
lands of the United States and in the submerged lands of the Outer 
Continental Shelf;
    (iii) Appeals from orders and decisions issued by departmental 
officials and administrative law judges in proceedings relating to mine 
health and safety; and
    (iv) Appeals from orders and decisions of administrative law judges 
in Indian probate matters other than those involving estates of Indians 
of the Five Civilized Tribes and Osage Indians.
    (2) Copies of final opinions and orders issued in the following 
categories of cases are available for inspection and copying in the 
Docket and Records Section, Office of the Solicitor, Interior Building, 
Washington, DC 20240:

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    (i) Tort claims decided in the headquarters office of the Office of 
the Solicitor, and appeals from decisions of Regional Solicitors or 
Field Solicitors on tort claims;
    (ii) Irrigation claims under Public Works Appropriation Acts (e.g., 
79 Stat., 1103) or 25 U.S.C. 388 decided in the headquarters office of 
the Office of the Solicitor, and appeals from decisions of Regional 
Solicitors on irrigation claims;
    (iii) Appeals under Sec. 2.18 respecting availability of records;
    (iv) Appeals from decisions of officials of the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, and Indian enrollment appeals; and
    (v) Appeals from decisions of officers of the Bureau of Land 
Management and of the Geological Survey in proceedings relating to lands 
or interests in land, contract appeals, and appeals in Indian probate 
proceedings, issued prior to July 1, 1970.
    (3) An Index-Digest is issued by the Department. All decisions, 
opinions and orders issued in the categories of cases described in 
paragraphs (a)(1), (i), (ii), and (iii) of this section (that is, 
contract appeals, land appeals, and mine health and safety appeals), are 
covered in the Index-Digest; in addition, the Index-Digest covers the 
more important decisions, opinions and orders in the remaining 
categories of cases described in paragraphs (a)(1)(iv) and (a)(2) (i) 
through (iv) of this section, and the more important opinions of law 
issued by the Office of the Solicitor. The Index-Digest is available for 
use by the public in the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Ballston 
Building No. 3, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22203, in the 
Docket and Records Section, Office of the Solicitor, Interior Building, 
Washington, DC 20240, and in the offices of the Regional Solicitors and 
Field Solicitors. Selected decisions, opinions, and orders are published 
in a series entitled ``Decisions of the United States Department of the 
Interior'' (cited as I.D.), and copies may be obtained by subscription 
from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, 
Washington, DC 20402.
    (4) Copies of final opinions and orders issued by Regional 
Solicitors on tort claims and irrigation claims, and copies of final 
opinions and orders on appeals in Indian probate proceedings issued by 
Regional Solicitors prior to July 1, 1970, are available for inspection 
and copying in their respective offices. Copies of final opinions and 
orders issued by Field Solicitors on tort claims are available for 
inspection and copying in their respective offices.
    (b)(1) Copies of final decisions and orders issued prior to July 1, 
1970, on appeals to the Director, Bureau of Land Management, and by 
hearing examiners of the Bureau of Land Management, in proceedings 
relating to lands and interests in land are available for inspection and 
copying in the Office of Hearings and Appeals, Ballston Building No. 3, 
4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22203, and in the offices of the 
Departmental administrative law judges.
    (2) Copies of final decisions, opinions and orders issued on and 
after July 1, 1970, by departmental administrative law judges in all 
proceedings before them are available for inspection and copying in 
their respective offices and in the Office of Hearings and Appeals, 
Ballston Building No. 3, 4015 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22203.
    (3) Copies of final decisions, opinions and orders issued by 
administrative law judges in Indian probate proceedings are available 
for inspection and copying in their respective offices.

Sec. 2.3  Administrative manuals.

    The Departmental Manual is available for inspection in the 
Departmental Library, Interior Building, Washington, DC, and at each of 
the regional offices of bureaus of the Department. The administrative 
manuals of those bureaus which have issued such documents are available 
for inspection at the headquarters officers and at the regional offices 
of the bureaus.