[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 43, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR2.19]

[Page 14-15]
 
                    TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
 
PART 2--RECORDS AND TESTIMONY; FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart B--Requests for Records
 
Sec. 2.19  Action on appeals.

    (a) Authority. Appeals shall be decided by the Assistant Secretary--
Policy, Budget and Administration, or the Assistant Secretary's 
designee, after consultation with the Solicitor, the Director of Public 
Affairs and the appropriate program Assistant Secretary.

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    (b) Time limit. A final determination shall be made within 20 
working days after receipt of an appeal meeting the requirements of 
Sec. 2.18(c).
    (c) Extensions of time. (1) If the time limit for responding to the 
initial request for a record was not extended under the provisions of 
Sec. 2.17(c) or was extended for fewer than 10 working days, the time 
for processing of the appeal may be extended to the extent reasonably 
necessary to the proper processing of the appeal, but in no event may 
the extension, when taken together with any extension made during 
processing of the initial request, result in an aggregate extension with 
respect to any one request of more than 10 working days. The time for 
processing of an appeal may be extended only if one or more of the 
unusual circumstances listed in Sec. 2.17(c) requires an extension.
    (2) The appellant shall be advised in writing of the reasons for the 
extension and the date on which a final determination on the appeal is 
expected to be dispatched.
    (3) If no determination on the appeal has been reached at the end of 
the 20 working day period, or the extension thereof, the requester is 
deemed to have exhausted his administrative remedies, giving rise to a 
right of review in a district court of the United States, as specified 
in 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4). When no determination can be reached within the 
applicable time limit, the appeal will nevertheless continue to be 
processed. On expiration of the time limit, the requester shall be 
informed of the reason for the delay, of the date on which a 
determination may be reached to be dispatched and of the right to seek 
judicial review.
    (d) Form of decision. (1) The final determination on an appeal shall 
be in writing and shall state the basis for the determination. If the 
determination is to release the requested records or portions thereof, 
the Assistant Secretary--Policy, Budget and Administration shall 
immediately make the records available or instruct the appropriate 
bureau to make them immediately available. If the determination upholds 
in whole or part the initial denial of a request for records, the 
determination shall advise the requester of the right to obtain judicial 
review in the U.S. District Court for the district in which the withheld 
records are located, or in which the requester resides or has his or her 
principal place of business or in the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Columbia, and shall set forth the names and titles or 
positions of each person responsible for the denial.
    (2) If a requested record (or portion thereof) is being made 
available over the objections of a submitter made in accordance with 
Sec. 2.15(d), the submitter shall be provided notice as described in 
Sec. 2.16(b)(2).