David Bernhardt - Reclamation

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request records of communications with David Bernhardt of Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck LLP from January 1, 2012 to November 18, 2016. Please include letters and meeting summaries as well as emails involving dbernhardt@bhfs.com. You may limit this request to the Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs and anyone else in the D.C. office who may have interacted regularly with lobbyists.

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 our nation's natural resources.

The subject matter of the requested records is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government by demonstrating the likely views and conflicts of interest of an individual who has been nominated to be the second-in-command at the department. For portions of the time period covered by this request, Mr. Bernhardt was lobbying on behalf of Westlands Water District, the largest agricultural water district in the country.

The Sierra Club and its supporters have demonstrated interest and expertise in the subject area, specifically the development of policies designed to protect endangered species and responsible manage water resources. Our supporters have filed millions 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