New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 17 - DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION › Chapter I - Rules Generally › Part 1 - Availability Of Department Records › Section 1.0 - Introduction

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
(a) The Department
				of Transportation policy. A free society is characterized by government which
				is responsive and responsible to the public, and a public that is aware of
				government actions. The more open a government is with its citizenry, the
				greater the understanding and participation of the public in government. The
				people's right to know the processes of government decisionmaking and the
				documents and statistics leading to determination is basic in our society. The
				government is the people's business; and the public, individually and
				collectively and represented by a free news media, should have unimpaired
				access to government records. It is, therefore, the policy of the Department of
				Transportation to make its records an open book in accordance with the
				provisions of article 6 of the Public Officers Law and of these
				regulations.
(b) Categories of
				records to which access may be denied. Under the terms of the Freedom of
				Information Law, all Department of Transportation records, i.e., any records
				held or produced with or for this department, are available for inspection and
				copying, with the reservation that the department may deny access to certain
				records or parts of records if, and only if:
(1) they are specifically exempted from
				disclosure by State and Federal statute;
(2) disclosure would constitute an
				unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision 2
				of section 89  of the Public Officers Law. This would
				include employment, medical or credit histories; personal references of
				applicants for employment; sale or release of list of names and addresses if
				the lists would be used for commercial or fund raising purposes; information of
				a personal nature which is not relevant to the department's ordinary work and
				would result in economic or personal hardship to the person. This would not
				include records in cases where identifying details are deleted; the person who
				is the subject of the record consents in writing to its disclosure; or the
				person who is the subject of the record desires a copy;
(3) disclosure would impair present or
				imminent contract awards, or collective bargaining negotiations;
(4) they are trade secrets or are maintained
				for the regulation of commercial enterprise which, if disclosed, would cause
				substantial injury to the competitive position of the subject
				enterprise;
(5) they are compiled
				for law enforcement purposes and which, if disclosed, would:
(i) interfere with law enforcement
				investigations or judicial proceedings;
(ii) deprive a person to a right of a fair
				trial or impartial adjudication;
(iii) identify a confidential source or
				disclose confidential information relating to a criminal investigation;
				and
(iv) reveal criminal
				investigative techniques or procedures, except routine techniques and
				procedures;
(6)
				disclosure would endanger the life or safety of any person;
(7) they are inter-agency or intra-agency
				materials which are not:
(i) statistical or
				factual tabulations or data;
(ii)
				instructions to staff that affect the public;
(iii) final agency policy or determinations;
				and
(iv) external audits, including
				but not limited to audits performed by the comptroller and the Federal
				government;
(8) they are
				examination questions or answers which are requested prior to the final
				administration of such questions; and
(9) they are computer access codes.