1033 Program MOU, Requests, and Received Items (NPS - Southeast Region)

Hi Marianne,

Since Mr. Triplett is only looking for SER office records, I'm routing this
to you for processing.

Thanks very much,

C.
____________________
Ms. Charis Wilson, MLS, CRM
NPS FOIA Officer
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
PO Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225-0287
303-969-2959
Fax: 303-969-2557
1-855-NPS-FOIA

"What we find changes who we become." - Peter Morville

"The historian works with records...there is no substitute for records: no
records, no history." - Paraphrasing Langlois & Seignobos (1903)

"Let us be guardians, not gardeners" - Unknown, From 1963 Living Wilderness
editorial - Attributed to Adolph Murie

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <
​​
requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 12, 2014 at 5:06 PM
Subject: Freedom of Information Request: 1033 Program MOU, Requests, and
Received Items (NPS - Southeast Region)
To: Charis_Wilson@nps.gov

September 12, 2014
National Park Service
Charis Wilson
12795 W. Alameda Parkway
P.O. Box 25287
Denver, CO 80225

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request
the following records:

In regards to National Parks in the Southeast Region:
-The current memorandum of agreement (MOA) or memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the Defense Logistics Agency, Disposition Services regarding the
1033 equipment surplus program administered by the DLA Law Enforcement
Support Office
-A roster/inventory of all requests to the Pentagon's Program 1033. If a
roster is not available, please provide copies of all applications.
-A roster/inventory of all items received from the 1033 program.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this
request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made
available to the general public free of charge as part of the public
information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the
news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for
commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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 20 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Donald Triplett III

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 13020
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests might
be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.

This acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request, received in this office on September 15, 2014. Your request has
been assigned Tracking Number NPS-2014-00876. Please refer to this tracking
number on all correspondence regarding your request, particularly since you
have multiple requests underway. You have requested the following records:

*-The current memorandum of agreement (MOA) or memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the Defense Logistics Agency, Disposition Services regarding the
1033 equipment surplus program administered by the DLA Law Enforcement
Support Office-A roster/inventory of all requests to the Pentagon's Program
1033. If a roster is not available, please provide copies of all
applications.-A roster/inventory of all items received from the 1033
program.*

Your request for a fee waiver is currently under consideration.

There are no records pertaining to your request centrally maintained here
in the Southeast Regional Office so I am working directly with parks that
may have participated in the program.

It is the policy of the National Park Service (NPS) to: (1) make records of
the NPS available to the public to the greatest extent possible in keeping
with the spirit of FOIA; (2) make available documents requested under the
FOIA at the earliest possible date while, at the same time, protecting the
rights of the individuals involved and the administrative processes
surrounding such rights; (3) withhold documents falling within one of the
FOIA exemptions only if disclosure is prohibited by statute or Executive
Order, or in those cases where the agency reasonably foresees that
disclosure would be harmful to an interest protected by exemption or other
sound grounds exist for invoking an exemption.

Your request is being processed under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act (5 United States Code 552 as amended by Public Law 104-231,
11 Stat. 3048); United States Department of the interior implementing
regulations found at 43 Code of Federal Regulations, PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
beginning part 2, Subparts A through E (see Federal Register of October 21,
2002, Volume 6-7, NO. 203, page 64527), and the Privacy Act of 1974 (Public
Law 93-579). Additional FOIA and Privacy Act guidance may also be found
through the Department of the Interior’s website, http://www.doi/gov or the
U.S <http://www.doi/gov%20or%20the%20U.S>. Department of Justice site,
http:/www/usdoj.gov

Marianne M. Mills
Public Affairs Specialist
Southeast Region, NPS
100 Alabama Street SW
1924 Building
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 507-5613
(404) 562-3263 FAX
marianne_mills@nps.gov
<https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&to=marianne_mills@nps.gov>

This acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request
for the following records:

In regards to National Parks in the Southeast Region:

- The current memorandum of agreement (MOA) or memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with the Defense Logististics Agency, Disposition
Services regarding the 1033 equipment surplus program administered by the
DLA Law Enforcement Support Office
- A roster/inventory of all requests to the Pentagon's Program 1033. If
a roster is not available, please provide copies of all applications.
- A roster/inventory of all items received from the 1033 program

Before we proceed, I can tell you that we have no responsive records for
the first point of your request. There is no MOA or MOU between the
Southeast Region of the NPS and any branch of the military. This type of
agreement, if used in this program, would be managed at a much higher level.

You have requested a fee waiver; however, you have not provided sufficient
information from which I can determine your eligibility. Each FOIA request
is considered for fee waivers on its own so, although you have provided a
justification for fee waiver with other request, I must ask you to provide
with additional information. As with your other requests, please address
the following criteria within 20 days of this email:

(1) How do the records concern the operations or activities of the
Government?

(2) If the records concern the operations or activities of the Government,
how will disclosure likely contribute to public understanding of these
operations and activities?

(3) If there is likely to be a contribution to public understanding, will
release of the requested records contribute significantly to public
understanding?

(4) Would disclosure be primarily in your commercial interest?

Any fee estimate will be based only on the second and third points of your
request. We have already provided our response to point one.

It is the policy of the National Park Service (NPS) to: (1) make records of
the NPS available to the public to the greatest extent possible in keeping
with the spirit of FOIA; (2) make available documents requested under the
FOIA at the earliest possible date while, at the same time, protecting the
rights of the individuals involved and the administrative processes
surrounding such rights; (3) withhold documents falling within one of the
FOIA exemptions only if disclosure is prohibited by statute or Executive
Order, or in those cases where the agency reasonably foresees that
disclosure would be harmful to an interest protected by exemption or other
sound grounds exist for invoking an exemption.

Your request is being processed under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act (5 United States Code 552 as amended by Public Law 104-231,
11 Stat. 3048); United States Department of the interior implementing
regulations found at 43 Code of Federal Regulations, PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
beginning part 2, Subparts A through E (see Federal Register of October 21,
2002, Volume 6-7, NO. 203, page 64527), and the Privacy Act of 1974 (Public
Law 93-579). Additional FOIA and Privacy Act guidance may also be found
through the Department of the Interior’s website, http://www.doi/gov or the
U.S <http://www.doi/gov%20or%20the%20U.S>. Department of Justice site,
http:/www/usdoj.gov.

Marianne M. Mills
Public Affairs Specialist
Southeast Region, NPS
100 Alabama Street SW
1924 Building
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 507-5613
(404) 562-3263 FAX
marianne_mills@nps.gov

This establishes our fee estimate to process your Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) request, which we have assigned Tracking Number NPS-2014-00876.
You have requested the following records:

*The current memorandum of agreement (MOA) or memorandum of understanding
(MOU) with the Defense Logistics Agency, Disposition Services regarding the
1033 equipment surplus program administered by the DLA Law Enforcement
Support Office*

· *A roster/inventory of all requests to the Pentagon’s Program
1033. If a roster is not available, please provide copies of all
applications.*

· *A roster/inventory of all items received from the 1033 program*

I previously responded in your acknowledgement email, sent October 3, 2014,
that there are no records responsive to the first point of your request.

Since I have not received sufficient information from you to justify a
waiver of FOIA fees, I am denying your fee waiver.

Our initial estimate of the cost to process your FOIA request is $942.00,
calculated as follows:

The estimated cost of your request is:

Managerial staff 4 hrs x
$60.00/hr = $ 240.00

Professional staff 16 hrs x
$42.00/hr = $ 672.00

Duplication of 200 pages x
.15/page = $ 30.00

As a requester in the “other” category for fee purposes, you are entitled
to up to two hours of search time and up to 100 pages of responsive records
at no cost. I have granted you two hours of search time (Professional
staff@$42/hour)
and 100 pages, which reduces your fee estimate to *$843.00*.

Because this amount exceeds $250, in accordance with 43 CFR 2.18(c), you
must make an advance payment of the full amount of the estimated fee for
this request. If you are still interested in obtaining these records,
please send a check or money order for $843.00 made payable to the National
Park Service to:

National Park Service

Southeast Regional Office

ATTN: FOIA Fee Processing

100 Alabama Street SW

1924 Building

Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Please note that it is possible that the cost to process your request could
exceed the total estimated above. If this occurs, we will stop processing
your request. We will then notify you of the higher amount and ask that you
provide written assurance of payment of the higher amount before we resume
processing your request.

It is also possible that the cost could be less than our estimate. In that
event, we will provide you a refund after completing our response.

If you want to reduce the scope of your request to determine if that might
reduce your fee estimate, please submit your revised scope within 10 days
of the date of this email.

In accordance with the Department’s FOIA regulations (43 CFR 2.189(c),
2.18(d), and 2.12(b)), we will not begin processing your request until
payment is received. If we do not hear from you within 20 workdays of the
date of this email, we will assume you are no interested in paying the full
fees and will proceed with two hours of search time.

The following attorney was consulted in the denial of your fee waiver:

Brigette Beaton, Attorney-Advisor

Office of the Regional Solicitor

U.S. Department of the Interior

75 Spring Street, S.W., Suite 304

Atlanta, Georgia 30303

Pursuant to 43 C.F.R. §§2.28, 2.29 and 2.30, you may appeal this denial to:

Freedom of Information Act Appeals Officer

Office of the Solicitor, Office of General Law

U.S. Department of the Interior

1849 C Street, NW

MS-6556, MIB,

Washington, D.C. 20240.

Your appeal must be in writing and received by the FOIA Appeals Officer no
later than thirty (30) workdays after the date of the final response. Your
appeal must contain copies of all correspondence between you and the
National Park Service regarding this request. You also should include in
as much detail as possible any reasons why you believe this denial to be in
error as well as your name and contact information in the event the Appeals
Officer needs additional information or clarification of your appeal. All
communications concerning your appeal should be clearly marked with the
words: “FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT APPEAL.” Any appeals request that is
received at the FOIA Appeals Office after 5 p.m. will be marked as being
received the following day.

Additionally, because the National Park Service creates and maintains law
enforcement records, we are required by the Department of Justice to
provide the following information, even though it may or may not apply to
your specific request. Congress excluded three discrete categories of law
enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the
FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. 552(c) (2006 & Supp. IV 2010). This response is limited
to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is
a standard notification that we are required to give all our requesters and
should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not,
exist.

Also as part of the 2007 OPEN Government Act FOIA amendments, the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS) was created to offer mediation
services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies
as a nonexclusive alternative to litigation. Using OGIS services does not
affect your right to pursue litigation.

You may contact OGIS via regular mail at:

Office of Government Information Services (OGIS)

National Archives and Records Administration

Room 2510

8601 Adelphi Road

College Park, MD 20740-6001

You may also contact OGIS in the following ways:

E-mail: ogis@nara.gov

Phone: 301-837-1996

Fax: 301-837-0348

Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448

If you have any questions, please contact me at Marianne_mills@nps.gov.
Thank you for contacting the National Park Service.

Marianne M. Mills
Interpretive Specialist
Volunteers, NextGen Engagement
Regional FOIA and Privacy Act Officer
Southeast Region, NPS
100 Alabama Street SW
1924 Building
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 507-5613
(404) 562-3263 FAX
marianne_mills@nps.gov
******************************************************
*I found my park in 1984. (It's Isle Royale) Have you found yours yet*?

There isn't a single database where the information exists nor was it
readily available to find out which parks in our region might have
participated in the program because it was not a coordinated regional
effort. I have responsive documents that I will release to you this week.

Marianne M. Mills
Interpretive Specialist
Volunteers, NextGen Engagement
Regional FOIA and Privacy Act Officer
Southeast Region, NPS
100 Alabama Street SW
1924 Building
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 507-5613
(404) 562-3263 FAX
marianne_mills@nps.gov
******************************************************
*I found my park in 1984. (It's Isle Royale) Have you found yours yet*?

​This completes our response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request, assigned Tracking Number NPS-2014-00876. In your request, you
asked for:

​*The current memorandum of agreement (MOA) or memorandum of
understanding(MOU) with the Defense Logistics Agency, Disposition Services
regarding the 1033 equipment surplus program administered by the DLA Law
Enforcement Support Office*

· *A roster/inventory of all requests to the Pentagon’s Program
​
1033. If a roster is not available, please provide copies of all
​
applications.*

· *A roster/inventory of all items received from the 1033 program*

I previously responded in your acknowledgement email, sent October 3, 2014,
​
that there are no records responsive to the first point of your request.
​ Point 2 of your request is outside of the purview or responsibility of
the Southeast Region of the National Park Service. We understand that the
1033 program is a decentralized program and no such records are maintained
by us.​

​You have received two hours of search time at no cost as is permitted
under the FOIA as a requester classified as "other." Our initial fee
estimate is based on an estimate provided by the five parks we understand
may have participated in the 1033 program. Each park maintains their own
records. There is no central database from which this information could be
pulled. Each park provided me with an estimate based on their knowledge of
the their parks records, locations of records (because they may be
dispersed across a park rather than centrally located), and individual
knowledge of participation in the program. As employees transfer or retire,
activities or file locations may be more challenging to locate or figure
out. Because this was not a centralized program within the Department of
the Interior or within the National Park Service, I used the attached list
that was actually prepared by National Public Radio and they indicated that
preparing the list took quite a bit of time because the program was so
decentralized. It is the attached Excel spreadsheet. From it I was able to
discern that potentially five parks from within the Southeast Region of the
NPS (the scope of your request) may have participated: Mammoth Cave
National Park, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, and Natchez Trace Parkway.

Your request for a fee waiver was denied on October 24, 2o14 because you
failed to provide sufficient information to merit granting a request.

When I contacted each park to provide me with a search estimate, at that
time Natchez Trace Parkway indicated that, although they had one expressed
interest in participating in the program, they never actually received any
items. Of the remaining parks, Mammoth Cave was able to complete their
search for responsive records in 2 hours. I am providing you with their
responsive records at this time.

​This completes our response to your request. Should you feel there has
been a procedural error in our processing of this FULL GRANT response you
have the right to appeal. You may file an appeal by writing to:

Freedom of Information Act Appeals Officer
Office of the Solicitor
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
MS-6556-MIB,
Washington, D.C. 20240
foia.appeals@sol.doi.gov

Your appeal must be received no later than 30 workdays after the date of
this final response. The appeal should be marked, both on the envelope and
the face of the appeal letter, with the legend "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
APPEAL." Your appeal should be accompanied by a copy of your original
request and copies of all correspondence between yourself and the National
Park Service related to this request, along with any information you have
which leads you to believe our response to be in error. Note, any appeal
received after 5 p.m. EST will be considered to have been received on the
next business day.

Additionally, because the National Park Service creates and maintains law
enforcement records, we are required by the Department of Justice to
provide the following information, even though it may or may not apply to
your specific request. Congress excluded three discrete categories of law
enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the
FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. 552(c) (2006 & Supp. IV 2010). This response is limited
to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is
a standard notification that we are required to give all our requesters and
should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not,
exist.

Marianne M. Mills
Interpretive Specialist
Volunteers, NextGen Engagement
Regional FOIA and Privacy Act Officer
Southeast Region, NPS
100 Alabama Street SW
1924 Building
Atlanta, GA 30303
(404) 507-5613
(404) 562-3263 FAX
marianne_mills@nps.gov
******************************************************
*I found my park in 1984. (It's Isle Royale) Have you found yours yet*?