(a) Except as otherwise provided by law or regulation any individual upon request may gain access to his or her record or to any information pertaining to him or her which is contained in any system of records maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The individual will be permitted, and upon his or her request, a person of his or her own choosing permitted to accompany him or her, to review the record and have a copy made of all or any portion thereof in a form comprehensible to him or her. The Department of Veterans Affairs will require, however, a written statement from the individual authorizing discussion of that individual's record in the accompanying person's presence.
(b) Any individual will be notified, upon request, if any Department of Veterans Affairs system of records named contains a record pertaining to him or her. Such request must be in writing, over the signature of the requester. The request must contain a reasonable description of the Department of Veterans Affairs system or systems of records involved, as described at least annually by notice published in the Federal Register describing the existence and character of the Department of Veterans Affairs system or systems of records pursuant to Sec. 1.578(d). The request should be made to the office concerned (having jurisdiction over the system or systems of records involved) or, if not known, to the Director or Department of Veterans Affairs Officer in the nearest Department of Veterans Affairs regional office, or to the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420. Personal contact should normally be made during the regular duty hours of the office concerned, which are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday for Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office and most field facilities. Identification of the individual requesting the information will be required and will consist of the requester's name, signature, address, and claim, insurance or other identifying file number, if any, as a minimum. Additional identifying data or documents may be required in specified categories as determined by operating requirements and established and publicized by the promulgation of Department of Veterans Affairs regulations. (5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(1))
(c) The department or staff office having jurisdiction over the records involved will establish appropriate disclosure procedures and will notify the individual requesting disclosure of his or her record or information pertaining to him or her of the time, place and conditions under which the Department of Veterans Affairs will comply to the extent permitted by law and Department of Veterans Affairs regulation. (5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(2))
(d) Nothing in 5 U.S.C. 552a, however, allows an individual access to any information compiled in reasonable anticipation of civil action or proceeding. (5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5))
(e) Fees to be charged, if any, to any individual for making copies of his or her record shall not include the cost of any search for and review of the record, and will be as follows: ------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Duplication of documents by any $0.15 per page after first 100 one-
type of reproduction process to sided pages.
produce plain one-sided paper
copies of a standard size (8\1/
2\x11; 8\1/
2\x14; 11x14).(2) Duplication of non-paper Actual direct cost to the Agency as
records, such as microforms, defined in Sec. 1.555(a)(2) of
audiovisual materials (motion this part to the extent that it
pictures, slides, laser optical pertains to the cost of
disks, video tapes, audio tapes, duplication.
etc.), computer tapes and disks,
diskettes for personal computers,
and any other automated media
output.
(3) Duplication of document by any Actual direct cost to the Agency as
type of reproduction process not defined in Sec. 1.555(a)(2) of
covered by paragraphs (e)(1) or this part to the extent that it
(2) of this section to produce a pertains to the cost of
copy in a form reasonably usable duplication.
by the requester.------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note. Fees for any activities other than duplication by any type of reproducing process will be assessed under the provisions of Sec. 1.526(i) or (j) of this part of any other applicable law.)
(f) When VA benefit records, which are retrievable by name or individual identifier of a VA beneficiary or applicant for VA benefits, are requested by the individual to whom the record pertains, the duplication fee for one complete set of such records will be waived. (Authority: 5 U.S.C. 552a(f)(5)) (38 U.S.C. 501) [40 FR 33944, Aug. 12, 1975, as amended at 47 FR 16323, Apr. 16, 1982; 53 FR 10380, Mar. 31, 1988; 55 FR 21546, May 25, 1990; 78 FR 45457, July 29, 2013] Sec. 1.578 [Reserved]