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Appendix D

APPEAL PROCEDURES

D-1 APPEAL FROM INITIAL DENIAL OF ACCESS TO RECORDS. The Privacy

Appeals Officer will review any initial denial for access to

records only if a written request for review is filed within 30

calendar days from the date of the notification of denial of access

to the record.

A. The appeal package must contain:

1\. A copy of the request for access.

2\. A copy of the written denial of the request for access.

3\. A statement of the reasons why the initial denial is

believed to be in error.

4\. The individual\'s signature.

B. If the appeal package fails to provide the required

information the Privacy Appeals Officer will give the

requester reasonable opportunity to amend the request and will

advise that the time of receipt for processing purposes will

be the time when the additional necessary information is

received by the Privacy Appeals Officer.

C. If the request for appeal is misdirected, the Department

official receiving it will promptly refer the request to the

Privacy Appeals Officer, who is the General Counsel; the time

of receipt of the request for processing purposes is the time

the Privacy Appeals Officer receives it.

D. When all the necessary information is provided, the Privacy

Appeals Officer will act on the appeal and issue a final

determination in writing within 30 working days from the date

on which the appeal is received. If the Privacy Appeals

Officer determines that a fair and equitable review cannot be

made within that period, then the period may be extended to 60

working days from receipt of the request for appeal. The

individual must be advised in writing of the decision to

extend the review period, the reason for the extension and the

estimated date by which a final determination will be reached

(within the 60 working day limitation)

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1\. If unusual circumstances exist (such as, records are in

inactive storage, field facilities or other

establishments; voluminous data are involved information

on other individuals must be separated or deleted;

consultations with other agencies having a substantial

interest in the determination are necessary), the 60-day

review period may be further extended; however, only if

the individual is notified of this decision and the

reason(s) for it in writing.

2\. The Privacy Appeals Officer will not conduct hearings in

connection with administrative review of an initial

denial of access to a record.

E. The Privacy Appeals officer will render a decision in writing,

which will constitute final action on the part of the

Department on a request for access to a record. If the denial

of the request is upheld, in whole or in part, the Privacy

Appeals Officer will notify the requester of the right to

judicial review under the provisions of the Privacy Act and

the Departmental Regulations.

D-2 APPEAL FROM INITIAL DENIAL TO CORRECT OR AMEND A RECORD. The

Privacy Appeals Officer will review any initial denial to correct

or amend a record only if a written request for review is filed

within 30 calendar days from the date of the notification of denial

to correct or amend the record.

A. The appeal package must contain:

1\. A copy of the original request for correction or

amendment.

2\. A copy of the initial denial.

3\. A statement of the reasons why the initial denial is

believed to be in error.

4\. The individual\'s signature.

B. If the appeal package fails to provide the required

information, the Privacy Appeals Officer will give the

requester reasonable opportunity to amend the request and will

advise him that the time of receipt of the appeal for

processing purposes will be the time when the additional

necessary information is received by the Privacy Appeals

Officer.

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C. If the request for appeal is misdirected, the Department

official receiving it will promptly refer the request to the

Privacy Appeals Officer; the time of receipt of the request

for processing purposes is the time the Privacy Appeals

Officer receives it.

D. The appeal package, received from the individual, and the

record in question, to be supplied by the Privacy Act Officer

who issued the initial denial, will normally comprise the

entire record on appeal. However, the Privacy Appeals Officer

may seek additional information to assure that the final

determination is fair and equitable. In such instances the

Privacy Appeals Officer will disclose this additional

information to the greatest extent possible to the individual

and provide him with the opportunity to comment on the

information disclosed.

E. When all the necessary information is provided, the Privacy

Appeals Officer will act on the appeal and issue a final

determination in writing within 30 working days from the date

when all necessary information is received. If the Privacy

Appeals Officer determines that he cannot make a fair and

equitable review within that period, then the period may be

extended to no more than 60 working days from receipt of the

request for appeal. The individual must be advised in writing

of the decision to extend the review period, the reason for

the extension, and the estimated date by which a final

determination will be reached (within the 60 working day

limitation).

1\. If unusual circumstances exist (such as, records are in

inactive storage, field facilities or other

establishments; voluminous data are involved; information

on other individuals must be separated or deleted;

consultations with other agencies having a substantial

interest in the determination are necessary), the review

period may be extended to 60 days; however, only if the

individual is notified of this decision in writing.

2\. The Privacy Appeals Officer will not conduct hearings in

connection with administrative appeal of an initial

denial to correct or amend a record.

3\. The Privacy Appeals Officer will consider the following

criteria in making a final determination on an appeal

from a denial to correct or amend a record:

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a\. The sufficiency of the evidence submitted by the

individual.

b\. The factual accuracy of the information.

c\. The relevance and necessity of the information in

terms of the purpose for which it was collected.

d\. The timeliness and currency of the information in

terms of the purpose for which it was collected.

e\. The completeness of the information in terms of the

purpose for which it was collected.

f\. The possibility that denial of the request could

unfairly result in determinations adverse to the

individual.

g\. The character of the record sought to be corrected

or amended.

h\. The propriety and feasibility of complying with the

specific means of correction or amendment requested

by the individual.

4\. The Privacy Appeals Officer may not uphold a denial of a

request to correct or amend a record except under the

following highly selective conditions:

a\. The evidenced presented has failed to establish the

propriety of the correction or amendment with

regard to the criteria for considering a request to

correct or amend a record.

b\. The record sought to be corrected or amended was

compiled in a terminated judicial, quasi-judicial,

or quasi-legislative proceeding to which the

individual was a party or participant.

c\. The information in the record sought to be

corrected or amended, or the record sought to be

corrected or amended, is the subject of a pending

judicial, quasi-judicial or quasi-legislative

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proceeding to which the individual is a party or

participant.

d\. The correction or amendment would violate a duly

enacted statute or promulgated regulation.

e\. The individual has unreasonably failed to comply

with the procedural requirements for requesting a

correction or amendment or for appealing a denial

of a request to correct or amend a record.

F. If the appeal is granted, the Privacy Appeals Officer will

inform both the individual and the Privacy Act Officer who

issued the initial denial of the decision in writing. The

notification will include the specific corrections or

amendments to be made.

1\. The Privacy Act Officer will make the requested

correction or amendment and notify the individual of the

action taken, providing when feasible, a copy of the

corrected or amended record.

a\. If the uncorrected record has been disclosed to a

person or agency and an accounting made of the

disclosure, the Privacy Act Officer will notify all

such persons and agencies of the correction or

amendment.

2\. A recipient agency maintaining the record must

acknowledge receipt of the notification, correct or amend

the record and notify any other person or agency to whom

it has disclosed the record, providing an accounting was

made of the disclosure, of the substance of the

correction or amendment.

G. If the appeal is denied, the Privacy Appeals Officer will

promptly notify the individual of the determination and state

the reasons for denying the appeal. The Privacy Appeals

Officer will also notify the individual of his rights as

follows:

1\. The individual may file a concise statement of reasons

for disagreeing with the final determination.

a\. The statement should contain the date of the final

determination and the individual\'s signature, and

be filed with the Privacy Appeals Officer, who will

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acknowledge receipt of the statement, including the

date on which it was received.

b\. The Privacy Appeals Officer and the Departmental

Privacy Act Officer will jointly determine whether

to accept or reject a statement of excessive

length, typically greater than one page.

c\. Any such disagreement statement will be noted in

the disputed record and a copy will be provided to

persons or agencies to which the record was

disclosed subsequent to the date of receipt of such

statement, providing an accounting was made of the

disclosure.

d\. The Department will append to any such disagreement

statement a copy or summary of the final

determination which will also be provided to

persons or agencies to which the disagreement

statement is disclosed.

e\. Although the copy or summary of the final

determination is a part of the individual\'s record

for purposes of disclosure, it will not be subject

to correction or amendment by the individual.

2\. The individual may obtain judicial review under the

provisions of the Privacy Act and the Departmental

Regulations.

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