(a) Appeals of adverse determinations. A requester may appeal a determination denying a FOIA request in any respect to the Office of General Counsel, U.S. Office of Special Counsel, 1730 M Street NW., Suite 218, Washington, DC 20036-4505. The appeal must be in writing, and must be submitted either by:

(1) Regular mail sent to the address listed in this subsection, above; or

(2) By fax sent to the FOIA Officer at, (202) 254-3711, or the number provided on the FOIA page of OSC's Web site https://osc.gov/Pages/FOIAResources.aspx; or

(3) By email to foiaappeal@osc.gov, or other electronic means as described on the FOIA page of OSC's Web site, https://osc.gov/Pages/FOIAResources.aspx.

(b) Submission and content. The Office of General Counsel must receive the appeal within 90 days of the date of the letter denying the request. For the quickest possible handling, the appeal letter and envelope or any fax cover sheet or email subject line should be clearly marked “FOIA Appeal.” The appeal letter must clearly identify the OSC determination (including the assigned FOIA request number, if known) being appealed. OSC will not ordinarily act on a FOIA appeal if the request becomes a matter of FOIA litigation.

(c) Responses to appeals. Ordinarily, OSC shall have 20 business days from receipt of the appeal to issue an appeal decision. 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(6)(A)(ii). OSC's decision on an appeal will be in writing. A decision affirming a denial in whole or in part shall inform the requester of the provisions for judicial review of that decision. If the denial is reversed or modified on appeal, in whole or in part, OSC will notify the requester in a written decision and OSC will reprocess the request in accordance with that appeal decision. OSC will notify the requester of the availability of dispute resolution services provided by the FOIA Public Liaison and the dispute resolution services provided by the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Office of Government Information Services (OGIS).

(d) Maintenance of files. OSC must preserve federal record correspondence and copies of requested records until disposition is authorized pursuant to Title 44 of the United States Code and the relevant approved records retention schedule.

[82 FR 15610, Mar. 30, 2017]