Colorado Oil/Gas -- Ray Scott

David Sirota filed this request with the Office of Sen. Ray Scott of Colorado.
Est. Completion None
Status
Withdrawn

Communications

From: David Sirota

To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Colorado Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
- Specific emails to or from specific legislators to or from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. This includes emails to or from email addresses at the domain name "@coga.org." The specific emails being requested are those from the dates 12/1/16 to the present.
- Specific emails to or from specific legislators to or from employees or lobbyists from Anadarko Petroleum. This includes emails to or from email addresses at the domain name "@anadarko.com." The specific emails being requested are those from the dates 12/1/16 to the present.
- Specific emails to or from specific legislators that include any of the following keywords: "setback," "set back," "fracking," "HB 1256," "1256," "HB17-1256," "forced pooling," "HB 1336," "1336," or "HB17-1336." The specific emails being requested are those from the dates 12/1/16 to the present.
The specific legislators that this request covers are: Ray Scott.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. I am requesting a waiver of all fees under 5 U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). The information I seek is in the public interest because it will contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest. This request is not a commercial request -- it is being made by an award-winning media organization and is seeking documents of clear public interest and concern.
I believe I meet the criteria for a fee waiver recognized by the U.S. Justice Department - and by the federal courts, See Project on Military Procurement v. Department of the Navy, 710 F. Supp. 362 363, 365 (D.C.D. 1989).
My request concerns the operations or activities of government because the records relate to the enforcement of antitrust law at a time when there is significant public debate about consolidation, market power, and regulations. The records that are responsive to this request will spotlight the way the government shapes policy and will also show the ways that policy is shaped by corporate representatives seeking to influence public policy.
Also, the information sought has informative value, or potential for contribution to public understanding. Please note the decision in Elizabeth Eudey v. Central Intelligence Agency, 478 F. Supp. 1175 1176 (D.C.D. 1979) (even a single document has the potential for contributing to public understanding). As the senior editor for investigations at Newsweek/IBT, I plan to disseminate this information to the public at large through publication in Newsweek and at International Business Times. Those award-winning publications get millions of visitors per month.
In addition, the release of this information will have a significant impact on public understanding because it will illustrate how antitrust enforcement decisions are influenced and made by public officials. The policy matters this request covers millions of people in their daily lives, and these documents will show how those matters are perceived by public officials and influenced by outside interests.
In your deliberations, please take note of the following cases: Campbell v. U.S. Department of Justice, 334 U.S. App. D.C. (1998)(administrative and seemingly repetitious information is not exempt from fee-waiver consideration); Project on Military Procurement (agencies cannot reject a fee waiver based on the assumption that the information sought is covered by a FOIA exemption; and Landmark Legal Foundation v. Internal Revenue Service, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21722 (D.C.D. 1998)(the fact that the information will soon be turned over to a public body does not exempt the material from fee-waiver consideration).
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 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
David Sirota
IBT/Newsweek
(646) 867-7100

From: Matthew Dawkins

----- Forwarded by Matthew Dawkins/CLICS on 05/15/2017 11:35 AM -----

From: Matthew Dawkins

----- Forwarded by Matthew Dawkins/CLICS on 05/15/2017 11:35 AM -----

From: Matthew Dawkins

Mr. Sirota,

Per your earlier direction that you wished to proceed with revised
request #2, but that it "only apply to Senators Cooke, Grantham, Holbert
and Marble, not Senators Scott and Sonnenberg", I don't understand the
purpose of the May 30 follow-up message below regarding the status of the
request to Senator Scott. If additional information is needed or expected,
please provide direction accordingly.

Matt Dawkins
Office Manager
Office of Legislative Legal Services
Colorado General Assembly
(303) 866-2045

From: David Sirota

I apologize -- this was in error.

D

From: Matthew Dawkins

Mr. Sirota,

I was notified today that both Senator Vicki Marble and Senator
Scott are still receiving what appear to be automatically-generated emails
from MuckRock regarding the status of the Open Records request you made to
each of them. Senator Marble provide her responsive records to you on
June 16 and that should conclude the request. Similarly, you withdrew the
request to Senator Scott, yet the MuckRock emails to him also continue. If
there is any aspect of these requests that feel is not complete, please
notify me. Otherwise, please direct MuckRock to stop sending the
messages.

Thank you for your assistance.
Regards,

Matt Dawkins
Office Manager
Office of Legislative Legal Services
Colorado General Assembly
(303) 866-4351

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