Department Heads travel expenses communications (Environmental Protection Agency)

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://foiaonline.regulations.gov:443/foia/action/public/view/request?objectId=090004d281860a4c)
* Tracking Number: EPA-HQ-2018-005535
* Requester Name: Elijah Kaplan
* Date Submitted: 03/16/2018
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description: To Whom It May Concern: Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records: All communications and documents in your possession, of any type whatsoever, regarding the travel expenditures of all agency political appointees confirmed by the Senate from January 20, 2017 to present The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. 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 20 business days, as the statute requires. Sincerely, Elijah Kaplan

RE: FOIA REQUEST EPA-HQ-2018-005535
Dear Elijah Kaplan,
Thank you very much for your interest in the Environmental Protection Agency. This correspondence references the above Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which seeks information about the EPA Administrator’s travel, schedule, or both. Many people or entities have requested information about these records. We appreciate your patience as we process these requests.
I. Interim Response
Today we are releasing 612 pages of records to you. The release contains materials responsive to your FOIA request. This release may include additional records that you have not requested; however, the records may be of interest to you. We are releasing these records proactively to you at no cost. Please find the records here: https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/view/request?objectId=090004d28134aaec.
This release includes documents that have been partially withheld. The reasons for the withholdings are printed over the redactions. Should you wish to appeal any withholding determination, you will have the opportunity to do so. We will provide you with appeal rights at the time of the final production.
Records Released on 03.23.2018:
1. EPA Admin Travel 02.21.2017-03.19.2017 (4-page PDF) 2. EPA Admin Travel 03.20.2017-06.01.2017 (29-page PDF)
3. EPA Admin and Staff Travel 06.02.2017-06.18.2018 (58-page PDF)
4. EPA Admin and Staff Travel 06.15.2017-08.29.2017 (33-page PDF)
5. EPA Admin Travel 08.30.2017-02.14.2018 (68-page PDF)
6. EPA Admin Calendar 02.12.2017-04.07.2017 (171-page PDF)
7. EPA Admin Calendar 02.12.2017-05.19.2017 (145-page PDF)
8. EPA Admin Calendar 05.19.2017-06.19.2017 (104-page PDF)

II. Unusual Circumstances and Extension of Time
To complete your request, EPA will need to search for and collect the requested records from multiple EPA offices that are separate from the Office of the Administrator (AO). As a result of these unusual circumstances, an extension of time to respond to your request is necessary under 40 C.F.R. § 2.104(d).
The AO has received an unprecedented amount of FOIA requests during fiscal year 2017. In fiscal year 2016, AO received only 203 FOIA requests, whereas in fiscal year 2017, AO received 1,043 FOIA requests. This is a 413% increase in FOIA requests from fiscal years 2016 to 2017. We are still processing these requests.
For your information, we use multiple tracks to process requests, but within those tracks we work in an agile manner. The time needed to complete our work on your request will necessarily depend on a variety of factors, including the complexity of our records search, the volume and complexity of any material located, and the order of receipt of your request.
In fiscal year 2017, the average processing time for complex FOIA requests processed by AO was 388 working days. Using this number as instructive to estimate the time to process your request, the new estimated completion date for this FOIA is 9/11/2019.
III. Opportunity to Discuss and Modify
EPA’s FOIA regulations state:
Whenever possible, your request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipient, and subject matter. If known, you should include any file designations or descriptions for the records that you want. The more specific you are about the records or type of records that you want, the more likely EPA will be able to identify and locate records responsive to your request.
40 C.F.R. § 2.102(c).
We would like to provide you the opportunity to discuss the request with us and clarify or narrow the request. As indicated in 40 C.F.R. § 2.102(c), if you would like to speak with us about your request, please include or be prepared to discuss any specific information about the records you seek, including time-period, authors, or a more detailed description of the records’ subject matter. IV. Publicly Available Information and Next Steps

The following are sources of publicly available information that you can access immediately:
• Our website: https://www.epa.gov/home/advanced-search • FOIAonline for records previously released through FOIA requests: https://foiaonline.regulations.gov/foia/action/public/search/
• Environmental Topics Information repositories: https://www.epa.gov/environmental-topics/z-index
• Technical/scientific/educational publications: https://www.epa.gov/nscep
• Staff Manuals and Guidance: https://www.epa.gov/foia/national-online-foia-library#admin
• Policy Statements: https://www.epa.gov/foia/national-online-foia-library#statement
• Superfund sites and data: https://www.epa.gov/foia/national-online-foia-library#superfund

If it is possible for us to do so, we will provide you with interim releases as they become available.
If you wish to clarify your request further so that EPA can process your request in a shorter amount of time, or if this release satisfies your request and you would like to close your request, the Office of the Administrator is happy to work with you.
Additionally, you may seek assistance from EPA’s FOIA Public Liaison at hq.foia@epa.gov or (202) 566-1667, or from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways: by mail, Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, MD 20740-6001; by email, ogis@nara.gov; by telephone, (202) 741-5770 or (877) 684-6448; or by fax: (202) 741-5769.
If you have any additional questions about your request, please contact Christopher Creech at creech.christopher@epa.gov or (202) 564-4286, or Fredrick No at no.fredrick@epa.gov or (202) 564-2793.
Please direct media related inquiries to press@epa.gov. Thank you,

EPA Office of the Administrator

A copy of documents responsive to the request.

EPA-HQ-2018-005535 has been processed with the following final disposition: Partial grant/partial denial.
Records were released to the public as a result of this request. You may retrieve these records immediately using the following link: View Records.Over the next 2 hours, these records are also being added to FOIAonline's search pages, further enabling you to retrieve these documents associated with your FOIA request at any time. (https://foiaonline.regulations.gov:443/foia/action/public/view/request?objectId=090004d281860a4c)