15 C.F.R. § 4.10 Appeals from initial determinations or untimely delays.
Title 15 - Commerce and Foreign Trade
(a) If a request for records is initially denied in whole or in part, or has not been timely determined, or if a requester receives an adverse initial determination regarding any other matter under this subpart (as described in §4.7(b)), the requester may file a written appeal or an electronic appeal, which must be received by the Office of General Counsel during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday) within thirty calendar days of the date of the written denial or, if there has been no determination, may be submitted anytime after the due date, including the last extension under §4.6(c), of the determination. Written or electronic appeals arriving after normal business hours will be deemed received on the next normal business day. (b) Appeals shall be decided by the Assistant General Counsel for Administration (AGC-Admin), except that appeals for records which were initially denied by the AGC-Admin shall be decided by the General Counsel. Written appeals should be addressed to the AGC-Admin, or the General Counsel if the records were initially denied by the AGC-Admin. The address of both is: U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of General Counsel, Room 5875, 14th and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230. An appeal may also be sent via facsimile at 202–482–2552. For a written appeal, both the letter and the appeal envelope should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Appeal”. The address for electronic appeals is [email protected]. The appeal (written or electronic) must include a copy of the original request and the initial denial, if any, and a statement of the reasons why the records requested should be made available and why the initial denial, if any, was in error. No opportunity for personal appearance, oral argument or hearing on appeal is provided. (c) Upon receipt of an appeal involving records initially denied on the basis of FOIA exemption (b)(1), the records shall be forwarded to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security (DAS) for a declassification review. The DAS may overrule previous classification determinations in whole or in part if continued protection in the interest of national security is no longer required, or no longer required at the same level. The DAS shall advise the AGC-Admin, or the General Counsel, as appropriate, of his or her decision. (d) If an appeal is granted, the person who filed the appeal shall be immediately notified and copies of the releasable documents shall be made available promptly thereafter upon receipt of appropriate fees determined in accordance with §4.11. (e) If no determination on an appeal has been sent to the requester within the twenty working day period specified in §4.6(b) or the last extension thereof, the requester is deemed to have exhausted all administrative remedies with respect to the request, giving rise to a right of judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(C). If the requester initiates a court action against the Department based on the provision in this paragraph, the administrative appeal process may continue. (f) The determination on an appeal shall be in writing and, when it denies records in whole or in part, the letter to the requester shall include: (1) A brief explanation of the basis for the denial, including a list of the applicable FOIA exemptions and a description of how they apply; (2) A statement that the decision is final for the Department; (3) Notification that judicial review of the denial is available in the district court of the United States in the district in which the requester resides, or has his or her principal place of business, or in which the agency records are located, or in the District of Columbia; and (4) The name and title or position of the official responsible for denying the appeal. [66 FR 65632, Dec. 20, 2001, as amended at 69 FR 49784, Aug. 12, 2004]
Title 15: Commerce and Foreign Trade
PART 4—DISCLOSURE OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
Subpart A—Freedom of Information Act
§ 4.10 Appeals from initial determinations or untimely delays.
