Daniel Simmons & Energy Transition

To Whom It May Concern:

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

1. Documents prepared by the Department of Energy's transition team, including presentations, memoranda, reports.
2. Communications with Daniel Simmons, a member of the transition team, since November 9, 2016, including emails, meeting agendas, letters, and memoranda.

You may provide these records on a rolling basis.

I respectfully request that you waive all fees in connection with this request as provided by 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii). The Sierra Club is a national environmental nonprofit with no commercial interest in obtaining the requested information. Instead, our organization intends to analyze and disseminate the requested information free of charge so that the public can be better informed and meaningfully participate in the debate over the proper energy sources.

The subject matter of the requested records is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government by shining a light on the transition team's vision for the department's direction as well as the views of an individual who has been nominated for a senior level position.

The Sierra Club and its supporters have demonstrated interest and expertise in the subject area, specifically the development of policies designed to encourage clean energy and energy efficiency. Our supporters have filed hundreds of thousands of public comments to agencies related to these issues.

The Sierra Club also has the ability and intention to disseminate the information it receives through this request. The information may be shared through emails to an audience of hundreds of thousands of people, Facebook and Twitter posts reaching thousands of individuals, articles on our website, and analysis provided to the media.

In the event that there are fees, please 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,

Alexander Rony
Sierra Club

Thanks for speaking with me today, Ms. Darr. Based on our conversation, I would like to clarify the scope of my request by making the following amendment:

1. Presentations, memoranda, and reports prepared by the Department of Energy's transition team between November 9, 2016 and March 17, 2017. Please note that I am only interested in documents where the transition team and its members were the authors, not materials that were sent to the team.

2. Emails, letters, memoranda, and meeting summaries with Daniel Simmons, a member of the transition team, since November 9, 2016. Please include contacts with Secretary Rick Perry, Chief of Staff Brian McCormack, former Secretary Ernest Moniz, former Deputy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, and the heads or acting heads of the following offices for the requested timeframe:

Under Secretary for Science & Energy; Science; Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Fossil Energy; Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability; Indian Energy Policy and Programs; Under Secretary for Management & Performance; Environment, Health, Safety & Security; Environmental Management; Economic Impact & Diversity; Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs; Public Affairs; Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy; and Energy Policy & Systems Analysis.

You may limit these materials to those where Mr. Simmons was the sole author (e.g., the email's sender) or the only individual to whom the communication was addressed (as opposed to the entire transition team).

Please let me know if this clarification suits your needs, as well as the status of my fee waiver request. Thank you.

Best regards,
Alexander Rony

Hi Melissa, I tried calling you today a few times but couldn't get through. What would you like to discuss? I can also email you my answer.

Alexander

Melissa,

Thank you for talking with me today. This is my recollection of our conversation. Please confirm if this is accurate.

First, I reiterated my May 8th communication that the search for and review of emails need not include emails sent to the entire transition team. Those records are non-responsive and may be excluded.

For records where an email was sent to or from Mr. Simmons individually and the preceding email chain was sent to the entire transition team, I agreed to have the preceding, non-responsive email chain be responsively redacted so that only Mr. Simmons direct emails are released in full. In these instances, I would appreciate if enough of the preceding chain's information (e.g., date, time, sender, recipients, and subject line if possible to do without adding to the review process) is released so that I can file a FOIA request in the future for those records.

Regards,
Alexander

Hi Melissa, I am away from the office at the moment, and it is very difficult for me to be able to call during business hours. I am able to answer emails later at night, though. Would you be able to reply with your question?

Regards,
Alexander

Hi Melissa, I was wondering if you could provide me with an update regarding my Freedom of Information Act request about Daniel Simmons. It was initially labelled as #HQ-20174-01023-F, but according to end-of-year procedures, you closed it out and reopened it under a new number. I don't believe I have that new number (or I misplaced it) -- what is it? And what is its status?

Thank you,
Alexander

Hi Melissa, what is the status of my Freedom of Information Act request about Daniel Simmons, originally given the number #HQ-20174-01023-F. It was given one of the following numbers according to your end-of-the-year procedures: HQ-2017-00825-F, HQ-2017-01023-F, HQ-2017-01193-F, HQ-2017-01654-F. It's been almost a year since we narrowed the scope of my request and you said that you'd be moving forward with the review phase.

Thank you,
Alexander Rony