§ 2604.304 - Appeal of denials.

§ 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 by mail or email to the Program Counsel of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. Requests sent by mail should be addressed to 1201 New York Avenue NW., Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005-3917. The envelope containing the request and the letter itself should both clearly indicate that the subject is a Freedom of Information Act appeal. Email requests should be sent to [e-mail] and should indicate in the subject line that the message contains a Freedom of Information Act appeal.

(b) Letter of appeal. The appeal must be in writing and must be sent within 90 calendar 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 record.

(c) Action on appeal. The disposition of an appeal will be in writing and will constitute the final action of OGE 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, OGE will notify the person making the request of the right to seek judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4).

(e) Dispute Resolution Services. If the denial of the request for records is upheld in whole or in part, OGE will notify the requester about the dispute resolution services offered by the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) and provide contact information for that office.

[80 FR 57073, Sept. 22, 2015, as amended at 81 FR 94216, Dec. 23, 2016]