APHIS African Swine Fever

Good morning,

I am the analyst assigned to process your request. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss the records you are seeking; as currently stated, we are unable to conduct a search for responsive records, due to the breadth and lack of specificity in your request. Among the additional information we would need in order to search for records, we need a date range for the search, and some specifics regarding the APHIS employees and program area that you wish to be searched for responsive records.

I will be out of the office tomorrow, Friday, 10/22/21, however will be available any day next week to discuss further. Please email me at this address to let me know a good time for you to speak, and I can give you a call then.

Thank you for your time and assistance, and I look forward to speaking with you.
Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Good morning,

Thank you again for your request. I am emailing to follow up on my correspondence from last Thursday, seeking an opportunity to clarify your request such as to enable us to conduct a search for records responsive to your request. Please contact me at your earliest convenience so that we can best assist you. If you'd prefer a phone call, just let me know a time that works for you and I'll give you a call then.

Thank you again for your assistance, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Good afternoon Mr. Tobias,

Thank you for your email. Monday afternoon or any time Wednesday or Thursday. Just let me know what you prefer and a good contact number, and I'll give you a call then.
Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Good morning Mr. Tobias,

Thank you for your email. Thursday, 11/4 at 2:30 PM works, I'll give you a call then at the number you listed below. I see though that you have a Michigan area code - Can you confirm that you mean 2:30 PM Eastern?

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Hi Mr. Tobias,

Terrific, thanks. I'll give you a call in just a few minutes at the number you listed below.

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Good afternoon Mr. Tobias,

Thank you for taking the time to speak earlier regarding your request. Per our conversation, below is the drafted language for your revised request. Please take a look at it and let me know if this language is acceptable, or if you have any additional revisions that would better capture your request:

"Request seeking records concerning APHIS's response to the emergence of African Swine Fever in the United States: Specifically, any current or proposed action plans for addressing ASF in the United States, and any documents outlining or detailing APHIS's ASF strategy. Additionally, a list of APHIS personnel involved in the development of such an action plan or strategy outline. The date range for this request is 1/1/20 to 11/4/21".

I took the liberty of applying a date range for your request of 1/1/20 to todays' date; my thinking was that roughly two years should capture any current action plans or strategy outlines, but please let me know if that needs to be revised.

If this language works for you, I'll send your revised request to our intake team today, and they will send you a formal receipt acknowledgment and FOIA request tracking number from them shortly, either tomorrow or first thing next week. We'll then refer your request to the appropriate personnel to conduct a search of their records for documents responsive to your request, and I will be in touch as soon as they have completed their search, with an estimate on how long it should take me to complete my review.

Thank you again very much for your assistance, and again please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all.
Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Hi Mr. Tobias,

Thank you for your email. I apologize for the confusion, but I've been waiting for you to confirm that you approve of the proposed revised request language that we discussed last week (see the attached email I sent you on 11/4). As soon as you give us the go-ahead, we'll begin conducting a search for records, and you'll receive the official confirmation and request receipt date, as we discussed.

I hope that helps, and again my apologies for the confusion. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you approve of the proposed revised request language in the attached email, or if you want to revise it further.

Thanks again, and again please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Hi Mr. Tobias,

Terrific, thank you! We'll get started on it right away, with today 11/10 as the official receipt date, and the following as the revised request language:

"Request seeking records concerning APHIS's response to the emergence of African Swine Fever in the United States: Specifically, any current or proposed action plans for addressing ASF in the United States, and any documents outlining or detailing APHIS's ASF strategy. Additionally, a list of APHIS personnel involved in the development of such an action plan or strategy outline. The date range for this request is 1/1/20 to 11/4/21".

I'll let you know as soon as I've received the search results, and how long I expect it to take me to complete my review.

Thanks again, and again please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime.
Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

Jimmy Tobias,

Attached please find our First Partial response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request number 2022-APHIS-00316-F. My apologies in the delay in providing this partial response to you. Our second partial response and any remaining records will be provided to you upon the completion of my review.

Thank you for your patience as we work to complete your request, and if you have any questions in the meantime, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.

Jimmy Tobias,

Attached please find our Second and Final Partial response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request number 2022-APHIS-00316-F. My sincere apologies for the delay in completing your request. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Best,

Hamilton Kuralt
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Freedom of Information Act & Privacy Act
Unit 50, Section 2B-03.3
4700 River Road, Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 851-4010

This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete the email immediately.