List of all Department of Interior owned unmanned aircraft systems

This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOI-OS-2023-001109&type=Request)

* Tracking Number: DOI-OS-2023-001109
* Requester Name:
Ben Welsh
* Date Submitted: 11/30/2022
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:

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

A list of all unmanned aircraft systems, sometimes known as drones, owned by the department. I ask that the make, model, year and unique identifier of each craft be includes, as well as any other data tracked by your agency.

I have reason to believe the department's Office of Aviation Services manages its fleet of unmanned aircraft systems. That is spelled out by the document "DOI OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES MEMORANDUM (OPM) - 11", You can see the document here: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/opm-11.pdf You may wish to forward this request to their office.

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,

Ben Welsh

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Dear Mr. Welsh:
The Office of the Secretary (OS) FOIA Office received two FOIA requests, dated November 30, 2022, on November 30, 2022 and assigned them control numbers DOI-OS-2023-001109 and 2023-001110, respectively. We aggregated DOI-OS-2023-001110 into DOI-OS-2023-001109. Therefore, we will be closing DOI-OS-2023-001110. Please cite DOI-OS-2023-001109 in any future communications with our office regarding your request.

You requested the following records:
“A list of all unmanned aircraft systems, sometimes known as drones, owned by the department. I ask that the make, model, year and unique identifier of each craft be includes (sic), as well as any other data tracked by your agency.
The full list of flights recorded in the department's ‘OAS-2U UAS Flight Use Reporting Form.’
I request that a database dump with all available columns be released."
Please refer to the attached acknowledgement letter.
Yours,
Tracy Jolivette

Good morning Mr. Welsh,

I am writing to you regarding the scope of your request. I have completed my review of DOI-OS-2023-001109. The responsive records consist of excel documents, some of which contain columns of PII (personally identifiable information). Because the PII columns contain some names and email addresses belonging to law enforcement officials, they must be redacted and sent to the Solicitor's office for further review, which could significantly increase the wait time for these records.

However, if you are amenable to excluding the columns with PII from the responsive records, we could then release them to you immediately. The make, model, year, and identifiers of each drone would still be available in the responsive records. Would you be willing to exclude the columns of PII? Please let me know at your convenience so that I can move to either release the records (should you agree to remove columns with PII) or send the records for further review (if you wish to keep the columns with PII).

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Respectfully,

[cid:image001.png@01D92BE6.FABDDE80]
Tim Turner
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary

Dear Mr. Welsh,

Please find attached the response letter and records in this case.

Thank you,

Sabrina Conway
Government Information Specialist
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of the Secretary
Office: (202) 660-0582