[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR16.7]

[Page 218-219]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
               CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
 
PART 16_IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIVACY ACT OF 1974--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 16.7  The appeal process.

    (a) An individual whose request for access to, or correction or 
amendment of a record is initially denied and who wishes to appeal that 
denial may do so by sending a letter to EPA's Privacy Act Officer within 
30 days of the receipt of the initial denial. The appeal must identify 
and restate the initial request. If an appeal concerns an adverse 
decision by the Office of Inspector General, the Privacy Act Officer 
will forward it to the Counsel to the Inspector General, or his or her 
designee, who will then act on the appeal. The Counsel to the Inspector 
General, or his or her designee, will carry out all responsibilities 
with respect to PA appeals that are otherwise assigned to

[[Page 219]]

EPA's General Counsel under this section; however, if the Counsel to the 
Inspector General has signed the initial adverse determination, the 
General Counsel, or his or her designee, will act on the appeal.
    (b) EPA's General Counsel, or his or her designee, will make final 
decisions on PA appeals within 30 working days from the date on which 
the appeal is properly received in the Office of General Counsel, 
unless, for good cause shown, the 30-day period is extended and the 
requester is notified of the extension in writing. Such extensions will 
be utilized only in exceptional circumstances.
    (c) In conducting PA appeals, the General Counsel, or his or her 
designee, will be guided by the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552a(e)(1) and 
(e)(5).
    (d) If an appeal is granted in whole or in part, the requester will 
be notified, in writing, and access to the record will be granted, or 
the correction or amendment of the record will be made. In all such 
cases, the Privacy Act Officer will ensure that Sec. 16.7(d) is 
complied with.
    (e) If the General Counsel or the Counsel to the Inspector General 
decides not to grant all or any portion of an appeal, the requester will 
be informed:
    (1) Of the decision and its basis;
    (2) Of the requester's right to file a concise statement of reasons 
for disagreeing with EPA's decision;
    (3) Of the procedures for filing such statement of disagreement;
    (4) That such statements of disagreements will be made available in 
subsequent disclosures of the record, together with an agency statement 
(if deemed appropriate) summarizing its refusal;
    (5) That prior recipients of the disputed record will be provided 
with statements as in paragraph (e)(4) of this section, to the extent 
that an accounting of disclosures is maintained under 5 U.S.C. 552a(c); 
and
    (6) Of the requester's right to seek judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 
552a(g).