§ 71.9 - Request for correction or amendment of records.

§ 71.9 Request for correction or amendment of records.

(a) How made. An individual may submit a request for correction or amendment of a record pertaining to him. The request must be in writing and must be addressed to the component that maintains the record. (Appendix A of this part lists the components of the Department and their addresses.) The request must identify the particular record in question, state the correction or amendment sought, and set forth the justification for the change. Both the envelope and the request itself must be clearly marked: “Privacy Act Amendment Request.”

(b) Initial determination. Within 30 working days of receiving a request for correction or amendment, a component shall notify the requester whether his request will be granted or denied, in whole or in part. If the component grants the request in whole or in part, it shall send the requester a copy of the amended record, in releasable form, as proof of the change. If the component denies the request in whole or in part, it shall notify the requester in writing of the denial. The notice of denial shall state the reason or reasons for the denial and advise the requester of his right to appeal.

(c) Appeals. When a request for correction or amendment is denied in whole or in part, the requester may appeal the denial to the Solicitor of Labor within 90 days of his receipt of the notice denying his request. An appeal to the Solicitor of Labor shall be made in writing, shall set forth the specific item of information sought to be corrected or amended, and shall include any documentation said to justify the change. An appeal shall be addressed to the Solicitor of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210-0002. Both the envelope and the letter of appeal itself must be clearly marked: “Privacy Act Amendment Appeal.”

(d) Determination on appeal. The Solicitor of Labor shall decide all appeals from denials of requests to correct or amend records. All such appeals shall be decided within 30 working days of receipt of the appeal, unless there is good cause shown to extend this period. The appellant shall be notified if the period for decision has been extended.

(1) If the denial of a request is affirmed on appeal, the requester shall be so notified in writing and advised of:

(i) The reason or reasons the denial has been affirmed,

(ii) The requester's right to file a Statement of Disagreement, as provided in paragraph (f) of this section, and

(iii) The requester's right to obtain judicial review of the denial in the U.S. District Court for the judicial district in which the requester resides or has its principal place of business, the judicial district in which the record is located, or the District of Columbia.

(2) If the denial is reversed on appeal, the requester shall be so notified and the request for correction or amendment shall be promptly remanded to the component that denied the request for processing in accordance with the decision on appeal.

(e) Delegation of Authority by the Solicitor of Labor. The Solicitor of Labor is authorized to delegate his or her authority to decide any and all appeals from denials of requests to correct or amend records to other senior attorneys within the Office of the Solicitor.

(f) Statements of disagreement. A requester whose request or appeal under this section has been denied shall have the right to file a Statement of Disagreement with the Solicitor of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20210-0002, within 30 days of receiving notice of denial. Statements of Disagreement may not exceed one typed page per fact disputed. Statements exceeding this limit shall be returned to the requester for condensation. Upon receipt of a Statement of Disagreement under this section, the agency shall promptly have the statement included in the record and shall have the disputed record marked so as to indicate that a Statement of Disagreement has been filed.

(g) Notices of correction or amendment or disagreement. Within 30 working days of the correction or amendment of a record, the component that maintains the record shall advise all components or agencies to which it previously disclosed the record that the record has been amended. Whenever an individual has filed a Statement of Disagreement, a component shall append a copy of the Statement to the disputed record whenever the record is disclosed. The component may also append to the disputed record a written statement giving the component's reasons for denying the request to correct or amend the record.