(a) Upon consideration and denial of a request under §1.577 or §1.579 of this part, the responsible VA official or designated employee will inform the requester in writing of the denial. The adverse determination notice must be signed by the component head or the component's Privacy Officer, and shall include the following:

(1) The name and title or position of the person responsible for the adverse determination;

(2) A brief statement of the reason(s) for the denial and the policy upon which the denial is based; and

(3) Notice that the requester may appeal the adverse determination under paragraph (b) of this section to the Office of General Counsel (providing the address as follows: Office of General Counsel (024), 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420), and instructions on what information is required for an appeal, which includes why the individual disagrees with the initial denial with specific attention to one or more of the four standards (e.g., accuracy, relevance, timeliness, and completeness), and a copy of the denial letter and any supporting documentation that demonstrates why the individual believes the information does not meet these requirements.

(b) The final agency decision in appeals of adverse determinations described in paragraph (a) of this section will be made by the designated official within the Office of General Counsel (024).

(c) A written denial must have occurred to appeal to OGC. The absence of a response to an access or amendment request filed with a VA component is not a denial. If an individual has not received a response to a request for access to or amendment of records, the individual must pursue the request with the Privacy Officer of the administration office (e.g., the VHA, VBA, or National Cemetery Administration Privacy Officer) or staff office (e.g., the Office of Information Technology or Office of Inspector General Privacy Staff Officer) that has custody over the records.

[84 FR 12130, Apr. 1, 2019]