FOIA March Madness 2019 - Exhibition bracket - FOIA funding, staffing, and activities (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Dear Beryl Lipton,

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Headquarters FOIA Office
received your request dated March 15, 2019 We have assigned your request
FOIA number FWS-2019-00540; please refer to this number when inquiring
about your request. The response to your request will be coordinated by
our HQ's FOIA office

If you have any questions or concerns; please contact Pamela Mozina at
703-358-2698 or pamela_mozina@fws.gov <shaunta_nichols@fws.gov>.

Respectfully,

United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Headquarters Freedom of Information Act Office
MS: IRTM
5275 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 15, 2019 at 3:43 PM
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Freedom of Information Act Request: FOIA March Madness
2019 - Exhibition bracket - FOIA funding, staffing, and activities (U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service)
To: <fwhq_foia@fws.gov>

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
FOIA Office
MS:IRTM
5275 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041

March 15, 2019

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following
records:

The following materials related to the funding, staffing, and activities of
this FOIA office:

***Budget materials***
- - - > > > for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019, all budget materials or
plans applicable to offices responsible for processing and response to FOIA
requests and appeals submitted to this Bureau and its offices.

***Staffing orders/reports/contacts***
- - - > > > for the years 2017 and 2018, staffing reports and plans,
including the count of employee numbers and for offices responsible for
processing and responses to FOIA requests and appeals submitted to this
Bureau and its offices.
- If this report is available in a form that includes the total number of
hours worked for FOIA personnel, that version would be preferred.
- If reports are available for each month, that version is preferred.
- According to this agency’s “About Us” website (
https://www.doi.gov/foia/About-Us):
“The Department has decentralized its FOIA operations among 13 bureaus and
offices, each of which has a Bureau/Office FOIA Officer leading its
separately managed and resourced FOIA Program. Secretarial Order 3244
(November 12, 2002) anchored Bureau/Office FOIA Offices within their
respective CIOs' Offices. That order was superseded by Secretarial Order
3309 (December 14, 2010), which replaced Bureau/Office CIOs with Assistant
Directors for Information Resources and initiated a series of significant
ongoing organizational changes as part of the Department's IT
Transformation.
Bureau/office FOIA Officers are responsible for tracking, managing and
responding to FOIA requests for records in their organization's possession
and control, and administering their organization's FOIA programs. In
addition to Bureau/Office FOIA Officers, some bureaus/offices also have
Regional FOIA Coordinators and Field Offices that process requests. Some
bureaus/offices have their program offices (i.e., the offices whose records
are the subject of the requests) prepare the responses to FOIA requests.
These responses are reviewed by the FOIA Officer or Regional FOIA
Coordinator and the appropriate FOIA attorney (when the decision is to
withhold information, make a discretionary release, or deny a fee waiver).”

- - - > > > all staffing reports and plans for the year 2019
- If reports are available for each month, such a version is preferred.

- - - > > > contact information, including email addresses and phone
numbers (if available), for each FOIA officer currently tasked with an open
public records request

***FOIA requester categories***
- - - > > > for the years 2017 and 2018, the designated category of each
requester of a FOIA request to this office, including those assigned to the
following categories:
* commercial;
* educational and noncommercial scientific institutions;
* representative of news media requester;
* all other requesters
- If this information is kept in an aggregate form including the number of
requesters by fee category by year, a copy of this report will suffice to
fulfill this element of the request.

***FOIA fee waivers***
- - - > > > for the years 2017 and 2018, the number of fee waivers granted
by this office and, if available, the tracking numbers for the FOIA
requests to which waivers were granted

***FOIA fee collection***
- - - > > > for the years 2017 and 2018, any report capturing the following
information:
* total estimated processing and copy fees quoted to FOIA requesters
* total processing and copy fees collected by this Bureau from each fee
category
- If this information is kept in an aggregate form, such as a FOIA log,
that material would be sufficient to satisfy the bullet points “FOIA
requester categories” and “FOIA fee collection” if it captures the
following information:
* FOIA tracking number
* requester fee category
* amount processing and copy fees associated with the request
* the status of the requester’s payment for the request

***FOIA Policy Staff audit reports or summaries***
- - - > > > for the years 2017 and 2018, any and all reports of
self-assessments conducted by FOIA Policy Staff
- According to the U.S. Department of the Interior 2018 Chief FOIA Officer
Report, “Department FOIA Policy Staff regularly conduct self- assessments
of the Department’s FOIA program, by reviewing Annual Report data,
conducting audits of each bureau at least bi-annually, and reviewing and
updating processing procedures, including its FOIA regulations.”

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,

Beryl Lipton

Filed via MuckRock.com
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For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 70598
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request was filed by a MuckRock staff reporter. Also note
that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than
"MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as
undeliverable.
--
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Headquarters Freedom of Information Act Office
MS: IRTM
5275 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041

Good Afternoon,

Please see the attached Acknowledgement letter. Thank You
*******************************************************

* ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*>Pam
Mozina*

*Government Information Specialist (FOIA) *
*U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service*
*Division of Information Resources & Technology Management*
*5275 Leesburg Pike*
*MS: IRTM*
*Falls Church, VA 22041*

*Phone: (703) 358-2698*

* ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*>*

********************************************************

Hello,

I will be out of the office from June 14 - June 25, 2019.  If you need immediate assistance with FOIA related issues, please contact Andreas Moshogianis at email address: andreas_moshogianis@fws.gov. (mailto:andreas_moshogianis@fws.gov)

Thank You.

--
***************************************************** ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*>
Pam Mozina
Government Information Specialist (FOIA) U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Division of Information Resources & Technology Management 5275 Leesburg Pike MS: IRTM Falls Church, VA 22041
Phone: (703) 358-2698

... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*>
******************************************************

Good Afternoon, please see the attached response letter.

Thank You[?]
*******************************************************

* ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*>Pam
Mozina*
*Government Information Specialist (FOIA) *
*U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service*
*Division of Information Resources & Technology Management*
*5275 Leesburg Pike*
*MS: IRTM*
*Falls Church, VA 22041*

*Phone: (703) 358-2698*

* ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*> ... ><((((*>*

********************************************************