(1) The department's index of significant decisions, prepared under RCW 42.17.260, contains orders that are issued in adjudicative proceedings as defined in RCW 34.05.010(1) and include an analysis or decision of substantial importance to the department in carrying out its duties. Together with the indices maintained under WAC 246-08-450, "significant decisions" shall serve as the index required by RCW 42.17.260 (4)(b) and (c).

(2) The department selects the orders to be included in "significant decisions" based on recommendations from staff and the public. Generally, a decision or order is considered "significant" only if it provides a legal analysis or interpretation not found in existing case law, or applies settled law to unusual facts. The significant decision index shall include orders meeting the criteria in subsection (1) of this section, issued by the department and the disciplining authorities identified in RCW 18.130.040.

(3) The index shall, at a minimum, contain the case or document number; type of document; name of parties, if applicable, unless such names are exempt from public disclosure; brief description of subject, program; pertinent legal citation; and location of the document.

(4) Any person may nominate a final adjudicative order, other adjudicative order or declaratory order to be evaluated for indexing by completing an Order Index Nomination Request Form. The form can be obtained from and returned to the Adjudicative Service Unit, P.O. Box 47879, Olympia, WA 98504-7879, along with a copy of the nominated order. The department shall make a final decision as to whether to index the nominated order, and that decision is not appealable.

(5) The department shall periodically update and review the index to verify that the indexed documents continue to meet the criteria in subsection (1) of this section. The department may, at any time, delete a document from an index. Under RCW 42.17.260(6), a public record may not be cited in a proceeding if it has not been indexed.

(6) The index is a public record and is available for public inspection and copying in accordance with WAC 246-08-420 and 246-08-440. The index of significant adjudicative orders is located in the Adjudicative Service Unit, 310 Israel Road, Tumwater, WA 98501.