Kristi Boswell's external emails
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
2020-OSEC-06533-F |
| Submitted | Sept. 25, 2020 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Alexander Rony
To Whom It May Concern:
I. Description of Records Sought
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act for Kristi Boswell's emails that were sent to or from email addresses with the domains .com or .org and contained any of the following terms:
- climate
- environment
- herbicide
- insecticide
- pesticide
- sustainable
Please include any attachments. Please search from May 9, 2017 to April 25, 2019. Ms. Boswell worked as Senior Advisor to the Secretary and is currently on detail to the White House.
II. Request for a Fee Waiver
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 protecting the nation's natural resources and public health.
The subject matter of the requested records is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations and activities of the government by disclosing with whom a high-level government official was communicating, and about which government laws and regulations. Ms. Boswell's role had a broad scope, including hot-button issues for the public like climate change and immigration. Ms. Boswell had previously lobbied for the Farm Bureau on immigration, labor rules, and food safety.
The Sierra Club and its supporters have demonstrated interest and expertise in the issues Ms. Boswell has been reported to have worked on, specifically "food and agricultural research matters including sustainability, climate, and plant protection products" (see https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP01/20190327/109151/HHRG-116-AP01-Bio-BoswellK-20190327.pdf). In addition to our staff's formal recommendations, our supporters have filed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of public comments to the Department of Agriculture related to these topics.
III. Media Requester Status
In addition to the public interest fee waiver, I ask to be properly categorized as a representative of the news media. The bulk of my professional duties at the Sierra Club entails planning and writing content about public policy, including composing mass communications to our followers, analyzing FOIA responses, and coordinating press outreach. Here are some examples that resulted from my work:
1. https://sierraclub.org/planet/2017/04/hiring-freeze-prevented-epa-filling-hundreds-jobs
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/05/19/nearly-700-vacancies-at-cdc-because-of-trump-administration-hiring-freeze/
3. https://www.propublica.org/article/these-emails-show-a-trump-official-helping-her-former-chemical-industry-colleagues
The Sierra Club has the ability and intention to disseminate the information it receives through this request. The information may be shared through emails to an audience reaching into the millions, Facebook and Twitter posts reaching tens of thousands of followers, articles on our often-visited website, and analysis provided to the media.
IV. Exempt Records
Should you decide to invoke a FOIA exemption with regard to any of the requested records, please include in your response letter sufficient information for an appeal, including:
1. Basic factual material about each withheld item, including the originator, date, length, general subject matter, and location of each item.
2. Explanations and justifications for denial, including the identification of the category within the governing statutory provision under which the document (or portion thereof) was withheld and a full explanation of how each exemption fits the withheld material.
If you determine that portions of a requested record are exempt from disclosure, please redact the exempt portions and provide the remainder of the record.
V. Record Delivery
I would prefer the request be filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not. In the event that there are fees, please inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request.
Please produce the records on a rolling basis; at no point should the search for – or deliberation concerning – certain records delay the production of others that the agency has already retrieved and elected to produce.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your timely response.
Sincerely,
Alexander Rony
Sierra Club
From: U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary
Dear Mr. Rony:
This email acknowledges receipt of your attached Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Departmental FOIA Office (DFO). Your request was received by an analyst for processing on September 25, 2020.
The DFO is under the purview of the Office of the General Counsel (OGC) and serves as the focal point for USDA's FOIA program. It provides coordination and ensures agency-wide compliance with the FOIA. Additionally, the DFO processes requests and appeals on behalf of the Office of the Secretary (OSEC), the Under Secretaries, USDA's staff offices, and the Research, Education and Economics and Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs mission areas.
The FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A)(i), requires USDA to make a determination in response to a FOIA request within 20 business days from its date of receipt. In unusual circumstances, the Federal agency time limit may be extended by 10 business days as stated in 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B). If your request seeks numerous records that will necessitate a wide-ranging search, including searches with components and possible consultations with components that have a substantial interest in the determination of this request, USDA will invoke a 10 business day extension for determination of your request. You have the option to narrow the scope of your request to limit the number of potentially responsive records.
Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Pursuant to USDA FOIA Regulations, Title 7 CFR §1.6(a), the USDA processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt.
Provisions of the FOIA allow USDA to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. For purposes of fee assessment, you have been categorized as a "news media" requester, pursuant to 7 CFR Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 1 Section 2(b)(4)(i). For your review and information, a copy of the USDA FOIA Fee Schedule is attached. In accordance with 7 CFR Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 1, Section 3(b), your fees shall be waived where the amount of the fee is $25.00 or less.
You have requested a fee waiver. However, your classification as a media requester renders your fee waiver request moot because the only fees that would apply to you are duplication costs beyond the first 100 pages. Because your response will be delivered electronically, duplication costs are not anticipated.
A search will be conducted for records responsive to your request. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that a FOIA analyst will respond to your request as expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.
Your request has been assigned FOIA Case No. 2020-OSEC-06533-F. Please refer to this case number in any future correspondence. If you have any questions regarding the processing of this request, please contact Ms. Melanie Enciso at (202) 694-5982 or electronically at melanie.enciso@usda.gov<mailto:melanie.enciso@usda.gov> or USDAFOIA@usda.gov<mailto:USDAFOIA@usda.gov>. For additional information regarding USDA FOIA regulations and process, please refer to the information available on-line at www.dm.usda.gov/foia<http://www.dm.usda.gov/foia>.
We appreciate the opportunity to assist you.
Sincerely,
USDA Departmental FOIA Office
[cid:image001.png@01D585BE.4A6C9C50]
Departmental FOIA Office
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4105
Washington, DC 20250
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.
-
image001
From: U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary
Good afternoon Mr. Rony,
The Sierra Club (SC) is requesting a search of email communications between agency officials and non-governmental individuals and entities outside of the agency, in the above-referenced FOIA request (attached). However, SC has not provided email addresses associated with any organizations or entities of interest.
The Departmental FOIA Office’s (DFO) email searches are conducted by the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Client Experience Center (CEC), which is not able to conduct searches for emails to/from agency staff and individuals and entities outside of the agency without a full domain name. An example of a full domain name would be @usda.gov. For this reason, the DFO is asking that you provide all email domain addresses associated with the non-governmental entities/organizations that you are interested in.
Please provide the requested email domain addresses at your earliest convenience so the DFO can proceed with processing. Meanwhile, this request has been put on hold for clarification.
Thank you very much for your assistance. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards,
[cid:image001.png@01D585BE.4A6C9C50]
Melanie Enciso
FOIA Analyst - Contractor
Departmental FOIA Office
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4105
Washington, DC 20250
☎ (202) 694-5982 (Telework)
✉ Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov<mailto:Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov>
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.
-
image001
From: U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary
Good afternoon Mr. Rony,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with Ms. Kegler and I in regard to the above-referenced FOIA requests. The purpose of this email is to memorialize the content of our conversation and to ensure that we accurately understood the modifications to your requests. Please see a summary of our conversation below:
On October 29, 2020, the Departmental FOIA Office (DFO) contacted you, via phone.
As a result of this conversation, you have agreed to:
* Exclude mass media/news emails;
* Provide more search terms for the electronic search;
* Narrow the timeframe of each request; and
* Waive attachments.
In the event that you have a future interest in any of the attachments in the record sets provided, you may submit a follow-up request to either Ms. Kegler or me for that information directly.
Please let me know if you do not think this is an accurate description of what we discussed so we can follow up. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact either Ms. Kegler or myself.
Best regards,
[cid:image001.png@01D585BE.4A6C9C50]
Melanie Enciso
FOIA Analyst - Contractor
Departmental FOIA Office
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4105
Washington, DC 20250
☎ (202) 694-5982 (Telework)
✉ Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov<mailto:Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov>
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.
-
image001
From: U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary
Good afternoon Mr. Rony,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with Ms. Kegler and I in regard to the above-referenced FOIA requests. The purpose of this email is to memorialize the content of our conversation and to ensure that we accurately understood the modifications to your requests. Please see a summary of our conversation below:
On October 29, 2020, the Departmental FOIA Office (DFO) contacted you, via phone.
As a result of this conversation, you have agreed to:
* Exclude mass media/news emails;
* Provide more search terms for the electronic search;
* Narrow the timeframe of each request; and
* Waive attachments.
In the event that you have a future interest in any of the attachments in the record sets provided, you may submit a follow-up request to either Ms. Kegler or me for that information directly.
Please let me know if you do not think this is an accurate description of what we discussed so we can follow up. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact either Ms. Kegler or myself.
Best regards,
[cid:image001.png@01D585BE.4A6C9C50]
Melanie Enciso
FOIA Analyst - Contractor
Departmental FOIA Office
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4105
Washington, DC 20250
☎ (202) 694-5982 (Telework)
✉ Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov<mailto:Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov>
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.
-
image001
From: Alexander Rony
Ms. Enciso and Ms. Kegler,
Yes, I am happy to exclude mass media/news emails from this request, taking this to mean items like e-newsletter subscriptions and news clips that are widely distributed. I am also fine with waiving attachments for now, with your note that I can request those later with the file names provided in your response.
In order to cut down on the amount of responsive records, I would like to amend my request to emails that were sent by Ms. Boswell to email addresses ending in .com or .org that include any of the following search terms: climate, emission, herbicide, insecticide, or pesticide. Not that this removes "sustainable" and adds "emission," and that it will exclude emails that were sent to Ms. Boswell unless she responded. Furthermore, I would like to like to limit the timeframe to April 25, 2018 to April 25, 2019.
Please let me know if this will still be an overburdensome search.
Regards,
Alexander
From: U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary
Dear Mr. Rony,
Thank you for the amendment to your request below. This request is now off hold and the DFO will initiate a search for responsive documents. Thank you.
Best regards,
[cid:image001.png@01D585BE.4A6C9C50]
Melanie Enciso
FOIA Analyst - Contractor
Departmental FOIA Office
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4105
Washington, DC 20250
☎ (202) 694-5982 (Telework)
✉ Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov<mailto:Melanie.Enciso@USDA.gov>
-
image001
From: U.S. Department Of Agriculture, Office of the Secretary
Good morning Mr. Rony,
Please find attached the Final Response associated with the above-referenced Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request you submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Departmental FOIA Office. Copies of your incoming request and the modification are also attached for easy reference.
Sincerely,
Departmental FOIA Office
[cid:image001.png@01D585BE.4A6C9C50]
Departmental FOIA Office
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave., SW, Room 4105
Washington, DC 20250
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.
-
image001
Files
pages