(a) The Commission may review any decision of the Chief FOIA Officer or his/her designee on its own initiative.

(b) A requester who seeks to appeal any adverse determination must file an appeal with the Commission within 1 year of the date of the Commission's response.

(c)

(1) The Commission will grant or deny the appeal in writing within 20 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) of the date the appeal is received. If on appeal the adverse determination is upheld, the Commission will notify the requester of the availability of dispute resolution services from the Office of Government Information Services as a voluntary, non-exclusive alternative to litigation and the provisions for judicial review of that determination pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552(c).

(2) The Commission will expeditiously consider an appeal of a denial of expedited processing.

[74 FR 57256, Nov. 5, 2009, as amended at 82 FR 12508, Mar. 6, 2017; 84 FR 53057, Oct. 4, 2019]