(a) Authority. Appeals from initial denials of requests for records shall be decided for the Commission by the Executive Director after consultation with the Commission's legal counsel.

(b) Time limit. A final determination on any appeal shall be made within twenty (20) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and public legal holidays) after receipt of the appeal.

(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 §700.245 or was extended for fewer than ten (10) working days, the time for processing of the appeal may be extended by the Executive Director 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 ten (10) working days. The time for processing of an appeal may be extended only if one or more of the unusual circumstances listed in §700.245(c) requires an extension.

(2) The Executive Director shall, in writing, advise the appellant of the reasons for the extension and the date on which a final determination of the appeal is expected to be dispatched.

(3) If no determination on the appeal has been reached at the end of the twenty (20) working-day period for deciding an appeal, or the last 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 expected to be dispatched, and of his right to seek judicial review. The requester may be asked to consider delaying resort to his right to judicial review until the date on which the determination on his appeal is expected to be dispatched.

(d) Form of decision. 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 Freedom of Information Act Officer shall immediately make the records available or instruct the appropriate bureau official 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 his 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 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.

(e) Distribution of copies. Copies of final determinations issued by the Commission shall be provided to the Commission's legal counsel.