(a) Promptly after determining that a petition is complete, the Director shall notify the general public of the receipt of the petition and request submissions of the relevant information by a newspaper advertisement placed once a week for two consecutive weeks in the newspaper providing broadest circulation in the region of the petitioned area, and in the Federal Register. The advertisement and Federal Register notice shall include a description of the boundaries of the petitioned area, the allegations of fact, and information regarding where the petition is available for public review.

(b)(1) Beginning immediately after a petition is filed, OSM shall compile and maintain a record consisting of all documents relating to the petition filed with or prepared by OSM with the exception of that information excluded under § 769.16(b)(2). OSM shall make the record available to the public for inspection free of charge and for copying at a reasonable cost during all normal business hours at its Washington, D.C. office. OSM shall also maintain information in or near the area in which the petitioned land is located; this information shall be available for public inspection, free of charge, and for copying at reasonable cost during all normal business hours. At a minimum, this information shall include a copy of the petition.

(2) OSM need not make available to any person or entity the specific location of property proposed to be nominated to be listed or listed in the National Register of Historic Places if it is determined that disclosure of that information would create a risk of destruction or harm to such properties. Withheld information must be disclosed when a designation of unsuitability would rest primarily on an allegation based on that information.