Critical Minerals (Murkowski Emails)
| Submitted | July 11, 2019 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Julia Rock
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Alaska Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
All communications between Alaska Department of Natural Resources employees and the office of Senator Lisa Murkowski that contain one or more of the following non-case sensitive keyword strings:
- "critical mineral" or "critical minerals"
- "mineral security"
- "foreign minerals"
Please limit to communications dated between January 1, 2017 and today.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Julia Rock
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Greetings,
We've received your request from Julia Rock. Thank you for the keywords. I wanted to clarify in which format your request includes for "communications;" is this electronic? You also requested that it entails "Alaska Department of Natural Resources employees." Can you specify an office and/or division or are you requesting all employees in the department?
Thank you,
Laura Ogan
Communications & Special Projects Assistant
Commissioner's Office
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
907-269-8434
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From: Julia Rock
Hello:
Thank you for the note. Yes, all communications electronic and non-electronic. And all employees within the DNR. Thanks!
- Julia
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Good Afternoon,
In order to research your request, our office needs further detail. Can you identify the names of those who include the "office of Senator Lisa Murkowski" as well as further details of "all communications."
Can you please also verify that you, or those receiving the records, are not involved in any litigation with the Department of Natural Resources?
Thank you,
Laura Ogan
90-269-8434
From: Julia Rock
Hello Laura:
I am not involved in any litigation with the DNR.
Those included in the Office of Senator Murkowski are all people on this page in addition to Senator Murkowski: https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact/staff-directory
Regarding "communications," emails and attachments included in emails will be sufficient.
- Julia
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Julia,
We appreciate your further clarification. I have your identified search terms as "critical mineral" or "critical minerals", "mineral security", "foreign minerals". You may get the best results by searching the domain the "@murkowski.senate.gov" which is all-encompassing for the senator and staff. Your search will include electronic communications and attachments as you request. If you approve the domain search let me know and we'll get the search started and a quote sent to you.
Thank you,
Laura Ogan
From: Julia Rock
Hello Laura:
That domain search is perfect. Thanks!
- Julia
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Thank you! I'll put in the request for a quote ASAP. We appreciate your patience.
Laura
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Hi Julia,
According to our IT department (who does the email/attachment search) the date range is 1/1/17 - 7/11/19. This is a two-year span and the requests are for "all DNR employees". IT support can perform the search against DNR employees now but they don't have a way to determine who may have been in the department during that time frame. If you would like any former employees included in this search you'll need to provide a list of names. If you're ok with the search for current employees they've completed the search. I've attached the quote for payment. Please let me know your decision and/or provide the names of those you would like searched.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 907-269-8434.
Thank you,
Laura
From: Julia Rock
Hello!
Thanks for sending this quote. I am writing to request a fee waiver, as the contents of this request are in the public interest.
Senator Murkowski was one of the co-sponsors on a critical mineral bill introduced in the US Senate. The bill is of high interest to Alaskans and to American citizens, as Murkowski's bill outlines plans to increase mining on US territory in order to secure the nation's mineral security. (See the bill press release here: https://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/5/murkowski-manchin-colleagues-introduce-bipartisan )
As such, Murkowski's email with the Alaska DNR related to critical minerals is of great interest to the general public, because provide crucial context for this important national legislation.
Best,
Julia Rock
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Greetings Julia,
Unfortunately, we won't be able to fulfill your request, based on our statues fee waivers shall be uniformly applied among persons who are similarly situated (AS 40.25.110). In this regard, we've had records with similar requests where fees were not waved and those requests were from other similar agencies and as well as from MuckRock.
I would like to follow-up with our previous correspondence regarding the IT search. According to our IT department (who does the email/attachment search) the date range is 1/1/17 - 7/11/19. This is a two-year span and the requests are for "all DNR employees". IT support can perform the search against current DNR employees but they don't have a way to determine who may have been in the department during that time frame. If you would like any former employees included in this search you'll need to provide a list of names. If you're ok with the search for current employees they've completed the search. Please let me know your decision and/or confirm if you would like records from current employees only.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 907-269-8434.
Thank you,
Laura
From: Julia Rock
Hi Laura:
Thank you for the note. I am satisfied with the search for current employees.
However, based on the statute that you cited, I should not be required to pay a fee for one hour of searching.
As the statute states:
" (c) If the production of records for one requester in a calendar month exceeds five person-hours, the public agency shall require the requester to pay the personnel costs required during the month to complete the search and copying tasks. The personnel costs may not exceed the actual salary and benefit costs for the personnel time required to perform the search and copying tasks. The requester shall pay the fee before the records are disclosed, and the public agency may require payment in advance of the search."
The production of records for myself (Julia Rock) in this calendar month only took one person-hour. As the statute states, I required to pay search fees only if it exceeds five person hours in one month. There should be no fee for the request.
Please call me at 952-237-0650 if you'd like to discuss further.
Best,
Julia Rock
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Greetings Julia,
We still will not be able to fulfill your request to waive the fee. This initial request is administered under AS 40.25.115 (electronic services and products), which are recovery costs for providing electronic services. This includes the emails and attachments you requested.
For your convenience I've attached the fee request. We can take credit card over the phone, you can call me at 907-269-8434; or you can send a check to our office:
DNR Commissioner's Office
c/o Laura Ogan
550 West 7th Ave, Suite 1400
Anchorage, AK 99501
Thanks for your patience with the back and forth.
Laura
From: Julia Rock
Would you mind just sending me the fee schedule you are referring to? This is all I can find, but it doesn't mention an hourly rate for electronic retrieval. Thanks! http://dnr.alaska.gov/ssd/recoff/ucc/fees
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Hello Julia,
The attached invoice breaks down the cost; the hourly rate is $88.78 and is the established fee by DNR (the agency). The fee's are based on recovery of the actual incremental coast of providing the electronic services and products. The fee's you're referencing aren't applicable to public records request that include electronic services and products (email search) under AS 40.25.115.
Let me know if you would like to do.
Thank you,
Laura
From: Alaska Department Of Natural Resources
Julia,
I apologize on the delay, I meant to reply the day of and it got stuck in my outbox.
The attached invoice breaks down the cost; the hourly rate is $88.78 and is the established fee by DNR (the agency). The fee's are based on recovery of the actual incremental coast of providing the electronic services and products. The fee's you're referencing aren't applicable to public records request that include electronic services and products (email search) under AS 40.25.115.
Let me know if you would like to do.
Thank you,
Laura
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