Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 112 Part 3.djvu/191

 PUBLIC LAW 105-261—OCT. 17, 1998 112 STAT. 2021 "(1) Classified information. "(2) Information the release of which is otherwise prohibited by law or regulation. "(3) Any record previously provided to the applicant or known to be possessed by the applicant. "(4) Any correspondence that is purely administrative in nature. "(5) Any military record that is (or may be) provided to the applicant by the Secretary of the military department or other source.". (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding after the item relating to 1555, as added by section 542(a)(2), the following new item: "1556. Ex parte communications prohibited.". (b) EFFECTIVE DATE. — Section 1556 of title 10, United States lo use 1556 Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to cor- note, respondence and communications made 60 days or more after the date of the enactment of this Act. SEC. 544. TIMELINESS STANDARDS. (a) IN GENERAL. — Chapter 79 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding after section 1556, as added by section 543(a)(1), the following new section: '*§ 1557. Timeliness standards for disposition of applications before Corrections Boards "(a) TEN-MONTH CLEARANCE PERCENTAGE.—Of the applications received by a Corrections Board during a period specified in the following table, the percentage on which final action by the Corrections Board must be completed within 10 months of receipt (other than for those applications considered suitable for administrative correction) is as follows: The percentage on which final "For applications Correction Board action received during— must be completed within 10 months of receipt is— the period of fiscal years 2001 and 2002 50 the period of fiscal years 2003 and 2004 60 the period of fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007 70 the period offiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010 80 the period of any fiscal year after fiscal year 2010 90. "(b) CLEARANCE DEADLINE FOR ALL APPLICATIONS.— Effective October 1, 2002, final action by a Corrections Board on all applications received by the Corrections Board (other than those applications considered suitable for administrative correction) shall be completed within 18 months of receipt. "(c) WAIVER AUTHORITY. — The Secretary of the military department concerned may exclude an individual application from the timeliness standards prescribed in subsections (a) and (b) if the Secretary determines that the application warrants a longer period of consideration. The authority of the Secretary of a military department under this subsection may not be delegated. "(d) FAILURE TO MEET TIMELINESS STANDARDS NOT TO AFFECT ANY INDIVIDUAL APPLICATION.— Failure of a Corrections Board to meet the applicable timeliness standard for any period of time under subsection (a) or (b) does not confer any presumption or advantage with respect to consideration by the board of any application.

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