(a) Right of appeal. Where a request for records has been denied, in whole or part, the person submitting the request may appeal the denial to the Commission.

(b) Time for appeal. An appeal must be received no later than twenty (20) days (Saturdays, Sundays, and public legal holidays excepted) after the date of the initial denial, in the case of a denial of an entire request, or twenty (20) days (Saturdays, Sundays, and public legal holidays excepted) after records have been made available, in the case of a partial denial.

(c) Form of appeal. (1) An appeal shall be initiated by filing a written notice of appeal. The notice shall be accompanied by copies of the original request and the initial denial and should, in order to expedite the appellate process and give the requester an opportunity to present his arguments, contain a brief statement of the reasons why the requester believes the initial denial to have been in error.

(2) The appeal shall be addressed to Freedom of Information Act Officer, Navajo-Hopi Indian Relocation Commission, P.O. Box KK, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002.

(3)(i) Both the envelope containing the notice of appeal and the face of the notice shall bear the legend “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL”. The failure of an appeal to bear such a legend will not disqualify an appeal from processing under § 2.18 if the appeal otherwise meets the requirements of this section. An appeal not bearing the legend “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL” will not, however, be deemed to have been received for purposes of the running of the time limit set out in § 700.249 until it has been identified by Commission personnel as a Freedom of Information appeal and marked by them with this legend.

(ii) Commission personnel identifying a communication from the public not bearing the legend “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL” as an appeal otherwise meeting the requirements of this section shall immediately (A) mark the communication with the legend “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL,” (B) date the appeal to reflect the date on which it was identified, and (C) take steps to assure proper processing of the appeal under the procedures in this subpart.

(4) The Freedom of Information Act Officer shall be responsible for promptly furnishing copies of such notices to the Executive Director and the Commission's legal counsel.