49 U.S.C. § 40114: Reports and records

Except as provided in this part, the Secretary of Transportation (or the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration with respect to aviation safety duties and powers designated to be carried out by the Administrator) shall make a written report of each proceeding and investigation under this part in which a formal hearing was held and shall provide a copy to each party to the proceeding or investigation. The report shall include the decision, conclusions, order, and requirements of the Secretary or Administrator as appropriate. The Secretary (or the Administrator with respect to aviation safety duties and powers designated to be carried out by the Administrator) shall have all reports, orders, decisions, and regulations the Secretary or Administrator, as appropriate, issues or prescribes published in the form and way best adapted for public use. A publication of the Secretary or Administrator is competent evidence of its contents. Except as provided in subpart II of this part, copies of tariffs and arrangements filed with the Secretary under subpart II, and the statistics, tables, and figures contained in reports made to the Secretary under subpart II, are public records. The Secretary is the custodian of those records. A public record, or a copy or extract of it, certified by the Secretary under the seal of the Department of Transportation is competent evidence in an investigation by the Secretary and in a judicial proceeding. a list of obsolete, redundant, or otherwise unnecessary reports the Administration is required by law to submit to Congress or publish that the Administrator recommends eliminating or consolidating with other reports; and an estimate of the cost savings that would result from the elimination or consolidation of those reports. may not publish any report required or authorized by law in a printed format; and shall publish any such report by posting it on the Administration’s Internet Web site in an easily accessible and downloadable electronic format. its publication in a printed format is essential to the mission of the Administration; or described in section 552(b) of title 5 , United States Code; or the disclosure of which would have an adverse impact on aviation safety or security, as determined by the Administrator.”