DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) Project Research Information

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DON-NAVY-2020-004773&type=request)

* Tracking Number: DON-NAVY-2020-004773
* Requester Name: Jim Rendlebrook
* Date Submitted: 02/13/2020
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests.
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records: All records for the DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program, co-operative agreement: N66001-14-2-4032.
1) The Statement of Work/Scope on each sub-program or full contract with each contract-awardee or winning offeror company or institution, and the full Statement of Work included with each contract;
2) Complete Documentation of Informed Consent from all human subjects utilized by or involved with this program in any way, including:
2. a) The FWA (Federal Wide Assurance) signed off by the Office of Human Research Protections, Department of Health and Human Services.
2. b) Detailed Informed Consent documents including lists of consenting human subjects, specific information provided to human subjects, and signed documents from human subjects attesting to Informed Consent.
2. c) Any additional internal CIA document assuring compliance with the Common Rule signed off by the Institutional Review Board involved.
2. d) All affirmations of Compliance Oversight from the Office of Human Subject Research Protections.
2. e) All Waivers of Consent from the Secretary of Defense or any other federal agency, as applicable, including the full reasons for these waivers.
3) Complete Documentation with precise details on Location and Field of Operation where scientific instruments and/or weapons are being utilized or tested, "wittingly" or "unwittingly," overtly or covertly, on human beings--namely US immigrants, citizens or any individuals present in the USA whether temporarily or permanently, currently or formerly.
4) Any additional records pertaining to the program. In particular, any documents that reference the University of Pennsylvania or the following researchers:
Dr. Brian Litt; Dr. Danielle Bassett; Dr. Timotothy Lucas

This is an acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
of 13 February 2020 in which you are seeking records relating to Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Restoring Active Memory (RAM)
Project Research Information, specifically:

"All records for the DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program,
co-operative agreement: N66001-14-2-4032.

1) The Statement of Work/Scope on each sub-program or full contract with
each contract-awardee or winning offeror company or institution, and the
full Statement of Work included with each contract;

2) Complete Documentation of Informed Consent from all human subjects
utilized by or involved with this program in any way, including:

2. a) The FWA (Federal Wide Assurance) signed off by the Office of Human
Research Protections, Department of Health and Human Services.

2. b) Detailed Informed Consent documents including lists of consenting
human subjects, specific information provided to human subjects, and signed
documents from human subjects attesting to Informed Consent.

2. c) Any additional internal CIA document assuring compliance with the
Common Rule signed off by the Institutional Review Board involved.

2. d) All affirmations of Compliance Oversight from the Office of Human
Subject Research Protections.

2. e) All Waivers of Consent from the Secretary of Defense or any other
federal agency, as applicable, including the full reasons for these waivers.

3) Complete Documentation with precise details on Location and Field of
Operation where scientific instruments and/or weapons are being utilized or
tested, "wittingly" or "unwittingly," overtly or covertly, on human
beings--namely US immigrants, citizens or any individuals present in the USA
whether temporarily or permanently, currently or formerly.

4) Any additional records pertaining to the program. In particular, any
documents that reference the University of Pennsylvania or the following
researchers:

Dr. Brian Litt

Dr. Danielle Bassett

Dr. Timothy Lucas"

Your request is assigned FOIA Tracking Number DON-NAVY-2020-004773 and is
being processed by our office.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

V/r, Robin

ROBIN M. JOUBERT

Paralegal Specialist

Office of Counsel (Code 35200)

Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific

Phone: 619.553.3870

Fax: 619.553.6656

NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail may be proprietary,
sensitive, confidential and/or legally privileged. It has been sent for the
sole use of the intended recipient or recipients. Delivery of this message
to any person other than the intended recipient is not intended to waive any
right or privilege. If the reader of this message is not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication,
or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please reply to the sender and destroy all physical
and electronic copies, including all copies of any attachments transmitted
in the e-mail. Thank you.

Mr. Rendlebrook, as stated in our acknowledgement, of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, on 19 February 2020, our office has begun processing the subject FOIA request. However, we will not be able to respond within the FOIA's 20 business day timeframe due to unusual circumstances. Under the FOIA "unusual circumstances" occur in three situations: 1) when there is a need to search for and collect records from field offices, or other establishments; 2) when there is a need to search for, collect, and examine a voluminous amount of records; or 3) when there is a need for consultations with another agency or with more than two components within the same agency.

It has been determined that at least one of these circumstances applies to your request. As such, your request has been assigned to the "complex" processing track. When "unusual circumstances" exist the processing agency is required togive the FOIA submitter an opportunity to limit the scope of their request so that there might be a reduction in the timeframe needed in processing the request.

If you have any questions or wish to discuss reformulation or an alternative time frame for the processing of your request, please contact me directly at (619) 553-3870 or Ms. VanHorn at (619) 553-4720 and reference FOIA Tracking Number DON-NAVY-2020-004773. You may also contact the NAVWARSYSCOM Service Center Representative, Susan James, at susan.james@navy.mil, (619) 524-7052 or the Department of Navy FOIA Public Liaison, Christopher Julka, at christopher.a.julka@navy.mil, (703) 697-0037.

Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001; e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.

V/r, Robin

ROBIN M. JOUBERT
Paralegal Specialist
Office of Counsel (Code 35200)
Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific
Phone: 619.553.3870
Fax: 619.553.6656

NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail may be proprietary, sensitive, confidential and/or legally privileged. It has been sent for the sole use of the intended recipient or recipients. Delivery of this message to any person other than the intended recipient is not intended to waive any right or privilege. If the reader of this message is not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use, disclosure, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication, or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please reply to the sender and destroy all physical and electronic copies, including all copies of any attachments transmitted in the e-mail. Thank you.

Mr. Rendlebrook,

Attached is the interim response to your FOIA request 20-F-0914.

V/R

Charles Marye
Freedom of Information Division
OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center
(571) 372-0407

NIPR: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.mil
SIPR: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.smil.mil
Comments: https://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=card&sp=125562

Mr. Rendlebrook,

This further responds to your Freedom of Information Act Request Act (FOIA)
request of 13 February 2020 in which you are seeking records relating to
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Restoring Active Memory
(RAM) Project Research Information, specifically:

“All records for the DARPA Restoring Active Memory (RAM) program,
co-operative agreement: N66001-14-2-4032.

1) The Statement of Work/Scope on each sub-program or full contract with
each contract-awardee or winning offeror company or institution, and the
full Statement of Work included with each contract;

2) Complete Documentation of Informed Consent from all human subjects
utilized by or involved with this program in any way, including:

2. a) The FWA (Federal Wide Assurance) signed off by the Office of Human
Research Protections, Department of Health and Human Services.

2. b) Detailed Informed Consent documents including lists of consenting
human subjects, specific information provided to human subjects, and signed
documents from human subjects attesting to Informed Consent.

2. c) Any additional internal CIA document assuring compliance with the
Common Rule signed off by the Institutional Review Board involved.

2. d) All affirmations of Compliance Oversight from the Office of Human
Subject Research Protections.

2. e) All Waivers of Consent from the Secretary of Defense or any other
federal agency, as applicable, including the full reasons for these waivers.

3) Complete Documentation with precise details on Location and Field of
Operation where scientific instruments and/or weapons are being utilized or
tested, "wittingly" or "unwittingly," overtly or covertly, on human
beings--namely US immigrants, citizens or any individuals present in the USA
whether temporarily or permanently, currently or formerly.

4) Any additional records pertaining to the program. In particular, any
documents that reference the University of Pennsylvania or the following
researchers:

Dr. Brian Litt

Dr. Danielle Bassett

Dr. Timothy Lucas”

We are unable to perfect your request because you need to resolve issues
such as payment of fees and clarifying your request.

The FOIA authorizes agencies to estimate and collect fees associated with
the search for, review, and duplication of, federal records. We have
determined that your request falls under the “Other” category that
authorizes us to charge for search and duplication (excluding the cost of
the first 2 hours of search and 100 pages). We estimate that the cost to
search for and review potentially responsive records to be $620. Please
keep in mind that the fee amount is an estimate. Ordinarily, if estimated
fees exceed $250.00, we will not commence retrieval of the documents until
we have received payment. Please state your willingness to pay all fees (or
those up to a specified amount).

For item 4, currently the description “Any additional records pertaining to
the program” is too broad. Our Agency records are not centrally maintained,
but are maintained by each specific Department. As such, your request does
not provide sufficient detail to allow for the ready identification and
retrieval of the desired “documents” and “correspondence”. Please provide
additional information that will allow us to search those areas that may be
most likely to produce responsive records. For example, are you only
searching for any documents that reference the researchers listed (Dr. Brian
Litt, Dr. Danielle Bassett, Dr. Timothy Lucas)?

During the first two hours of search our office located responsive records
under item 1 of your FOIA request, (cooperative agreement,
N66001-14-2-4032). The sections of the documents that are exempt from
release pursuant to Exemptions 4 and 6 of the FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b) which
pertain to proprietary and personal privacy information were redacted. Due
to the amount of records, we will need to send the records via Department of
Defense (DoD) SAFE (Secure Access File Exchange). As such, we are unable to
use the MUCKROCK email address and will need a personal email address.
Please provide an email address so that the documents can be uploaded.

At this time, we will not be able to continue with the processing of your
request until you state your willingness to pay fees and provide more
detailed information regarding the records you are requesting. If we do not
hear back from you within 10 days we will assume you are no longer
interested in proceeding with your FOIA request and administratively close
out your request. Should you wish to request this information in the
future, we remain available to assist you at robin.joubert@navy.mil, (619)
553-3870 or liz.vanhorn@navy.mil, (619) 553-4720.

You have the right to an appeal. It must be received within 90 calendar days
from the date of this letter. Please attach a copy of your initial request
and amended request, a copy of this letter, and mark the appeal letter and
envelope "Freedom of Information Act Appeal." You are encouraged (though
not required) to provide an explanation why you believe the redactions were
inappropriate or our search was inadequate. Please provide a copy of your
appeal letter to us at Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, Freedom of
Information Act Office (Code 3.5), 53560 Hull Street, San Diego CA 92152,
email SPAWAR.FOIA@navy.mil.

To ensure that your request is received by the deadline, I recommend that
you make your appeal by using FOIAonline. To do so, go to FOIAonline (to
find this website, simply search the internet for the term “FOIAonline”)
retrieve your original request, and click on the "Create Appeal" tab in the
left-hand column. The basic information from your request will be
duplicated for you, and you can type in the basis of your appeal.

Alternatively, you may mail your appeal to:

Department of the Navy,

Office of the General Counsel,

1000 Navy Pentagon, Room 5A532, Washington, DC

20350-1000].

If you have any questions, please contact me directly or Ms. VanHorn at
(619) 553-4720 and reference FOIA Tracking Number DON-NAVY-2020-004773. You
may also contact the NAVWARSYSCOM Service Center Representative, Susan
James, at susan.james@navy.mil, (619) 524-7052 or DON FOIA Public Liaison,
Christopher Julka, at christopher.a.julka@navy.mil, (703)697-0031.

V/r, Robin

ROBIN M. JOUBERT

Paralegal Specialist

Office of Counsel (Code 35200)

Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific

Phone: 619.553.3870

Fax: 619.553.6656

NOTICE: The information contained in this e-mail may be proprietary,
sensitive, confidential and/or legally privileged. It has been sent for the
sole use of the intended recipient or recipients. Delivery of this message
to any person other than the intended recipient is not intended to waive any
right or privilege. If the reader of this message is not an intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized review, use,
disclosure, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication,
or any of its contents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please reply to the sender and destroy all physical
and electronic copies, including all copies of any attachments transmitted
in the e-mail. Thank you.

Mr. Rendlebrook,

Attached is the final response to your FOIA request 20-F-0914.

V/R

Charles Marye

Freedom of Information Division

OSD/JS FOIA Requester Service Center

(571) 372-0407

NIPR: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.mil

SIPR: charles.c.marye.civ@mail.smil.mil <mailto:charles.c.marye.civ@mail.smil.mil>

Comments: https://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=card <https://ice.disa.mil/index.cfm?fa=card&sp=125562> &sp=125562