the consideration of an application for an exemption, the Committee may issue subpenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of relevant papers, books, and documents;

(2) The Chairman shall receive review board subpena requests and may issue the subpenas on behalf of the Committee to aid the review board.

(e) Rules and orders. The Committee may issue such rules and orders as are necessary to carry out its duties.

(f) Delegate authority. The Committee may delegate its authority under paragraphs (a) through (d) of this section to any member.

§ 501.1 Purpose and scope.

(a) Purpose. The purpose of these rules is to fulfill the responsibilities of the Marine Mammal Commission (the "Commission") under section 3 of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(f) (the “Act”) by establishing procedures whereby an individual will be notified if any system of records maintained by the Commission contains a record pertaining to him or her; by defining the times and places at which records will be made available and the identification requirements which must be met by any individual requesting access to them; by establishing procedures for disclosure to an individual, on request, of any record pertaining to him or her; and by establishing procedures for processing, reviewing, and making a final determination on requests of individuals to correct or amend a record pertaining to him or her, including a provision for administrative appeal of initial adverse determinations on such requests. These rules are promulgated with particular attention to the purposes and goals of the Act, and in accordance therewith provide for relative ease of access to records pertaining to an individual, and for maintenance by the Commission of only those records which are current, accurate, necessary, relevant and complete

with respect to the purposes for which they were collected.

(b) Scope. These rules apply only to "record" contained in "systems of records," defined by the Act as follows:

The term "record" means any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, his education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contains his name, or the identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a finger or voice print or a photograph;

The term "system of records" means of group of any record under the control of any agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual.

Notices with respect to the systems maintained by the Commission have been published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, as required by the Act. These rules pertain only to the systems of records disclosed in such notices, and to any systems that may become the subject of a notice at any time in the future.

(a) As used in this part:

(1) The term "Act" means the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a.

(2) The term "Commission" means the Marine Mammal Commission.

(3) The term "Director" means the Executive Director of the Marine Mammal Commission.

(4) The term "Privacy Officer" means an individual designated by the Director to receive all requests regarding the existence of records, requests for access and requests for correction or amendment; to review and make initial determinations regarding all such requests; and to provide assistance to any individual wishing to exercise his or her rights under the Act.

(b) Other terms shall be used in this part in accordance with the definitions contained in section 3 of the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a(a).

§ 501.3 Procedure for responding to requests regarding the existence of records pertaining to an individual. Any individual may submit a request to be notified whether a system of records, with respect to which the Commission has published a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER, contains a record pertaining to him or her. Requests may be made in writing to the Privacy Officer or by appearing in person at the Commission offices located at 1625 I Street, NW., Room 307, Washington, D.C. 20006 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on any working day. Systems of records that are the subject of a request should be identified by reference to the system name designated in the Notice of Systems of Records published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. In the event a system name is not known to the individual, a general request will suffice if it indicates reasons for the belief that a record pertaining to the named individual is maintained by the Commission. Receipt of inquiries submitted by mail will be acknowledged within 10 days of receipt (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays) unless a response can also be prepared and forwarded to the individual within that time.

§ 501.4 Requests for access-times, places and requirements for identification of individuals.

Requests for access to a system of records pertaining to any individual may be made by that individual by mail addressed to the Privacy Officer, or by submitting a written request in person at the Commission offices located at 1625 I Street, NW., Room 307, Washington, D.C. 20006, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on any working day. Assistance in gaining access under this section, securing an amendment or correction under § 501.6, or preparing an appeal under §§ 501.5 (d) and 501.8 shall be provided by the Privacy Officer on request directed to the Commission office. An individual appearing in person at the Commission offices will be granted immediate access to any records to which that individual is entitled under the Act upon satisfactory proof of identity by means of a document bearing the individual's photograph or signature.

ss (Name of individual) who affixed (his) (her) signature below in my presence, came before me, a (Title), in the aforesaid County and State, this day of 19-, and established (his)(her) identity to my satisfaction.

My Commission expires

The certificate shall not be required, however, for written requests pertaining to non-sensitive information or to information which would be required to be made available under the Freedom of Information Act. The Privacy Officer shall determine the adequacy of any proof of identity offered by an individual.

[41 FR 5, Jan. 2, 1976]

§ 501.5 Disclosure of requested information.

(a) Upon request and satisfactory proof of identity, an individual appearing at the Commission offices shall be given immediate access to and permission to review any record, contained in a system of records, pertaining to him or her, shall be allowed to have a person of his/her choosing accompany him/her, and shall be given a copy of all or any portion of the record. The individual to which access is granted shall be required to sign a written statement authorizing the presence of the person who accompanies him or her, and authorizing discussion of his or her record in the presence of the accompanying person.

(b) Requests made by mail to the Privacy Officer at the Commission offices will be acknowledged within 10 days from date of receipt (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays). This acknowledgement shall advise the individual whether access to the record will be granted and, if access is granted, copies of such records shall be enclosed.

(c) If the Privacy Officer initially determines to deny access to all or any portion of a record, notice of denial

shall be given to the individual in writing, within 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) after acknowledgement is given, and shall include the following:

(1) The precise record to which access is being denied;

(2) The reason for denial, including a citation to the appropriate provisions of the Act and of these Rules;

(3) A statement that the denial may be appealed to the Director;

(4) A statement of what steps must be taken to perfect an appeal to the Director; and,

(5) A statement that the individual has a right to judicial review under 5 U.S.C. 552a(g)(1) of any final denial issued by the Director.

(d) Administrative appeal of an initial denial, in whole or in part, of any request for access to a record, shall be available. An individual may appeal by submitting to the Director a written request for reconsideration stating therein specific reasons for reversal which address directly the reasons for denial stated in the initial notice of denial. If access is denied on appeal, a final notice of denial shall be sent to the individual within 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays), and shall state with particularity the grounds for rejecting all reasons for reversal submitted by the individual. The denial shall then be deemed final for purposes of obtaining judicial review.

[40 FR 49276, Oct. 21, 1975, as amended at 41 FR 5, Jan. 2, 1976]

§ 501.6 Requests for correction or amendment of a record.

(a) Any individual may request the correction or amendment of a record pertaining to him or her in writing addressed to the Privacy Officer at the Commission offices. Verification of identity required for such requests shall be the same as that specified in § 501.4 of this part with respect to requests for access. Records sought to be amended must be identified with as much specificity as is practicable under the circumstances of the request, and at a minimum, should refer to the system name designated in the Notice of System Records published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, the type of

record in which the information thought to be improperly maintained or incorrect is contained, and the precise information that is the subject of the request (for example, system name, description of record, paragraph, sentence, line, words). Assistance in identifying a record, and in otherwise preparing a request, may be obtained by contacting the Privacy Officer at the Commission offices.

(b) A request should, in addition to the identifying the individual and record sought to be amended or corrected, include:

(1) The specific wording or other information to be deleted, if any;

(2) The specific wording or other information to be inserted, if any, and the exact place in the record at which it is to be inserted, and,

(3) A statement of the basis for the requested amendment or correction (e.g. that the record is inaccurate, unnecessary, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete), together with supporting documents, if any, which substantiate the statement.

§ 501.7 Agency review of requests for amendment or correction of a record.

(a) Where possible, each request for amendment or correction shall be reviewed, and a determination on the request made, by the Privacy Officer within 10 days of receipt (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays). Requests shall be acknowledged within that period where insufficient information has been provided to enable action to be taken. An acknowledgement shall inform the individual making the request of the estimated time within which a disposition of the request is expected to be made, and shall prescribe such further information as may be necessary to process the request. The request shall be granted, or an initial decision to deny shall be made, within ten days of receipt of all information specified in the acknowledgement (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays).

(b) Within 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) after arriving at a decision on a request, the Privacy Officer shall either: