Records made available to or prepared for or by an advisory committee are available for public inspection and copying. See 1912.34 which states that documents "made available to or prepared for or by each advisory committee" shall be available in the Office of Standards, subject to other governing rules.
You can inspect advisory committee documents at OSHA’s Office of Standards. The rule 1912.34 specifies that such documents "shall be available for public inspection and copying in the Office of Standards, Occupational Safety and Health Administration."
Yes — you can obtain copies as well as inspect the documents. 1912.34 expressly says documents "shall be available for public inspection and copying" in the Office of Standards.
Yes — release is subject to the Freedom of Information Act and related procedures, so some material may be withheld under those rules. The section notes availability is "subject to the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. 552) and Part 70 of this title and Part 1913 of this chapter," so applicable FOIA exemptions and administrative procedures apply (1912.34).
Yes — drafts and background papers that were made available to, prepared for, or prepared by an advisory committee fall within the documents covered. The text of 1912.34 broadly includes documents "made available to or prepared for or by each advisory committee."
You may inspect or copy documents directly at the Office of Standards, but access is still governed by FOIA and implementing parts. 1912.34 states documents "shall be available for public inspection and copying" in the Office of Standards and also makes access "subject to the Freedom of Information Act... and Part 70... and Part 1913," which means some records or methods of release may follow FOIA procedures.
Decisions about withholding documents are governed by the Freedom of Information Act and OSHA’s implementing procedures, not by 1912.34 alone. The section makes records available "subject to the Freedom of Information Act... and Part 70... and Part 1913," so FOIA standards and the procedures in those parts determine exemptions (1912.34).
No specific online publication requirement appears in 1912.34; it requires availability for inspection and copying at the Office of Standards and makes release subject to FOIA and related parts. See 1912.34 for the statutory limitation that records be made available in the Office of Standards and be subject to FOIA procedures.
Communications that were made available to, prepared for, or prepared by an advisory committee are covered and therefore are subject to inspection and copying. 1912.34 uses that broad wording to include such documents, while noting availability is subject to FOIA and related procedures.
1912.34 requires documents to be available for inspection and copying in the Office of Standards but does not prescribe formats; requests for electronic copies would follow normal FOIA and OSHA procedures. The section’s text states availability "in the Office of Standards..." and that access is "subject to the Freedom of Information Act... and Part 70... and Part 1913" (1912.34).
Yes — meeting minutes and recommendations that were made available to, prepared for, or prepared by an advisory committee are covered and should be available for inspection and copying. This follows the inclusive language of 1912.34, subject to FOIA and applicable parts.
Requests and any appeals are governed by the Freedom of Information Act and OSHA’s implementing procedures in Part 70 and Part 1913. 1912.34 explicitly makes document availability "subject to the Freedom of Information Act... and Part 70 of this title and Part 1913 of this chapter," which set out FOIA request and appeal procedures.