Title 32
SECTION 2402.8
2402.8 Appeal of denials.
§ 2402.8 Appeal of denials.(a) Right to administrative appeal. A requester has the right to appeal to the FOIA Appeals Officer any adverse determination.
(b) Notice of appeal. (1) Time for appeal. To be considered timely, an appeal must be postmarked, or in the case of electronic submissions, transmitted no later than ninety (90) calendar days after the date of the initial adverse determination or after the time limit for response by OSTP has expired. Prior to submitting an appeal, the requester must pay in full any outstanding fees associated with the request.
(2) Form of appeal. An appeal shall be initiated by filing a written notice of appeal. The notice shall specify the tracking number assigned to the FOIA request by OSTP and be accompanied by copies of the original request and adverse determination. To expedite the appellate process and give the requester an opportunity to present his or her arguments, the notice should contain a brief statement of the reason(s) why the requester believes the adverse determination to be in error. Requesters may submit appeals by mail or electronically. If sent by regular mail, appeals shall be sent to: Chief FOIA Officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 1650 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20504. Appeals sent via electronic mail shall be submitted to [email protected]. Updates to this contact information will be made on the OSTP website. To facilitate handling, the requester should mark both the appeal letter and envelope, if submitted by mail, or subject line of the transmission, if submitted electronically, with “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.”
(c) Decisions on appeals. The FOIA Appeals Officer shall make a determination in writing on the appeal under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(A)(ii) within twenty (20) working days after the receipt of the appeal. If the denial is wholly or partially upheld, the Chief FOIA Officer shall:
(1) Notify the requester that judicial review is available pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(B)-(G); and
(2) Notify the requester that the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) offers mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Contact information for OGIS is: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, MD 20740, Email: [email protected], Telephone: 202-741-5770, Facsimile: 202-741-5769, Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448.
(d) Dispute resolution services. Dispute resolution is a voluntary process. If OSTP agrees to participate in the dispute resolution services provided by the Office of Government Information Services, it will actively engage as a partner to the process in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
(e) When appeal is required. Before seeking judicial review of OSTP's adverse determination in Federal district court, a requester generally must first submit a timely administrative appeal.