(a) The Reviewing Authority for the Office of Appeals shall designate at least one official to assess each written appeal within one business day of receipt to determine if it contains information concerning an imminent risk to personal safety, to institutional security, or of sexual abuse, including acts of sexual misconduct as defined by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act and the California Sexual Abuse in Detention Elimination Act. In addition, the official shall assess if the grievance alleges that the claimant's Earliest Possible Release Date (EPRD) is erroneous and the claimant is scheduled to be released within 90 calendar days of the date the appeal was received by the Office of Appeals. In all instances described above, the official shall refer the matter to the Institutional or Regional Office of Grievances where the majority of the facts and circumstances that gave rise to the claim occurred to be handled pursuant to subsection 3483(a).

(b) If the Office of Appeals determines that a claim involved staff misconduct and that claim was not referred to the appropriate authority to gather relevant facts according to subsection 3482(b), then the Office of Appeals shall grant that claim and order the Centralized Screening Team to refer the allegation to the appropriate authority to gather relevant facts.

(c) The appeal Coordinator shall acknowledge receipt of each appeal to the claimant in writing within four business days of its receipt indicating the date the appeal was submitted, the date the appeal was received, the calculated date for the department's response, and whether the appeal was disallowed pursuant to subsection 3484(d)(3).

(d) The appeal Coordinator shall ensure that all routine claims appealed by the claimant to the Office of Appeals are reviewed and answered in accordance with this section.

(e) The full record of each claim shall be made available to the Office of Appeals for purposes of conducting its reviews. The record shall include the claimant's grievance, the claimant's appeal, both acknowledgment letters, all related interviews conducted for the Institutional or Regional Office of Grievances, any relevant documentation prepared for the Office of Grievances, any records contained in the department's information technology system, and all department rules and memoranda. The record shall not include any new information provided by the claimant to the Office of Appeals that was not made available to the Office of Grievances for their review.

(f) The Reviewing Authority shall exclude any individual whose personal interaction with the claimant forms part of the claim from participating in the appeal process as to that claim. If the individual in question is the Associate Director of the Office of Appeals, then the Director from the Division of Correctional Policy Research and Internal Oversight shall serve as the Reviewing Authority for that claim.

(g) The appeal Coordinator shall ensure that a written appeal decision is completed no later than 60 calendar days after receipt of the appeal, unless other statutory or regulatory authority requires a response in less than 60 calendar days, and contains one of the following decisions as to each claim in the appeal:

(h) If a claim is rejected as untimely under subsection (g)(6)(A), the appeal decision shall also include the following dates as determined by the appeal Coordinator: the date the claim was discovered, the date the claim was submitted, the date the claim was received, and the time constraint for submission of the claim pursuant to subsection 3484(b). A claim that is rejected as untimely by the Office of Grievances may not be appealed by the claimant.

(i) The written appeal decision shall be sent to the claimant within two business days of completing the written appeal decision letter. If the Reviewing Authority or appeal Coordinator grants a claim, then a copy of the decision shall be simultaneously sent to the appropriate Institutional or Regional Grievance Coordinator.

(j) Implementation of remedy.

(k) Additional local processes and procedures may be promulgated by the Office of Appeals so long as they are consistent with this Article, pursuant to PC section 5058(c)(1).