CFR

2604.304—Appeal of denials.

(a) Right of appeal. If a request has been denied in whole or in part, the requester may appeal the denial to the General Counsel of the Office of Government Ethics, 1201 New York Avenue, NW., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005-3917.

(b) Letter of appeal. The appeal must be in writing and must be sent within 30 days of receipt of the denial letter. An appeal should include a copy of the initial request, a copy of the letter denying the request in whole or in part, and a statement of the circumstances, reasons or arguments advanced in support of disclosure of the request for the record. Both the envelope and the letter of appeal must be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.”

(c) Action on appeal. The disposition of an appeal will be in writing and will constitute the final action of the Office on a request. A decision affirming in whole or in part the denial of a request will include a brief statement of the reason or reasons for affirmance, including each FOIA exemption relied on. If the denial of a request is reversed in whole or in part on appeal, the request will be processed promptly in accordance with the decision on appeal.

(d) Judicial review. If the denial of the request for records is upheld in whole or in part, the Office will notify the person making the request of his right to seek judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4).

Code of Federal Regulations

[60 FR 10007, Feb. 23, 1995, as amended at 66 FR 3439, Jan. 16, 2001]

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