NoDAPL Footage (Federal Emergency Management Agency) • MuckRock

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Communications

From: Michael Best

02/15/2017

Subject: Freedom of Information Request: NoDAPL Footage (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Copies of all photographs, pictures, audio, video or other recordings of protests and protestors taken or maintained by your agency and relating to the North Dakota Pipeline or to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

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,

Michael Best

From: Hawkins, Christopher

02/21/2017

Subject: FEMA FOIA 2017-FEFO-01253 Acknowledgement Letter 2/21/2017

Dear Mr. Best,

This acknowledges receipt of your February 15, 2017 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Your request was received in this office on February 15, 2017. You are seeking copies of all photographs, pictures, audio, video or other recordings of protests and protestors taken or maintained by your agency and relating to the North Dakota Pipeline or to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Due to the increasing number of FOIA requests received by this office, we may encounter some delay in processing your request. Per Section 5.5(a) of the DHS FOIA regulations, 6 C.F.R. Part 5, the Department processes FOIA requests according to their order of receipt. Although FEMA's goal is to respond within 20 business days of receipt of your request, the FOIA does permit a 10-day extension of this time period. As your request seeks numerous documents that will necessitate a thorough and wide-ranging search, DHS/FEMA will invoke a 10-day extension for your request, as allowed by Title 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B). If you care to narrow the scope of your request, please contact our office. We will make every effort to comply with your request in a timely manner; however, there are currently 1276 open requests ahead of yours.
Provisions of the Act allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. We shall charge you for records in accordance with the DHS Interim FOIA regulations as they apply to media requestors. As a media requestor you will be charged 10-cents a page for duplication, although the first 100 pages are free. We will construe the submission of your request as an agreement to pay up to $25.00. You will be contacted before any further fees are accrued.

We have queried the appropriate program offices of FEMA for responsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will be reviewed for determination of releasability. Please be assured that one of the FOIA Specialist in our office will respond to your request expeditiously as possible. We appreciate your patience as we proceed with your request.

To check the status of your FOIA requests you may use the online check status capability at http://www.dhs.gov/foia-status. Simply enter your request number and click the "Check Status" button. More information concerning the FOIA and implementing DHS regulations is available on-line at: www.dhs.gov/xfoia/editorial_0318.shtm<http://www.dhs.gov/xfoia/editorial_0318.shtm>.

Your request has been assigned reference number FEMA 2017-FEFO-01253. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence. If you need to contact our office concerning this request, please call (202) 646-3323 or electronically at FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov<mailto:FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov>.

Federal Emergency Management Agency
Disclosure Branch
Records Management Division
Mission Support Bureau

From: MuckRock.com

04/05/2017

Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Request: NoDAPL Footage (Federal Emergency Management Agency)

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 15, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

From: Hawkins, Christopher

04/05/2017

Subject: FEMA FOIA 2017-FEFO-01253 Status Update to Requester 4/5/2017

Good Morning Mr. Best,

This responds to your emailed inquiry on the status of your Freedom of Information Act request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2017-FEFO-01253.

I am pleased to inform you that responsive documents have been located for your request. Your case is now in our Pending Queue. This means that it is soon to undergo a legally mandated review and redaction process which may not be bypassed, and will require additional time.

Each case is processed in the chronological order in which it is received. As there are cases pending before your own, these will be processed first. This makes your case no less important, and it will be processed as soon as circumstances permit.

Upon completion of the review and approval of our Office of Chief Counsel (OCC), you will be sent the responsive documents and a final response letter detailing the circumstances of your case. Your continued patience is greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Christopher Hawkins
Management Analyst
FEMA FOIA Disclosure Branch
HQ/OCAO/MS/RMD/DB
US Department of Homeland Security
Christopher.Hawkins@fema.dhs.gov
Office: (202) 646-3250
Mobile: (202) 716-8977

From: Hawkins, Christopher

04/05/2017

Subject: FEMA FOIA 2017-FEFO-01284 Need of Clarification from Requester 4/5/2017

Good Afternoon Mr. Best,

This concerns your Freedom of Information Act request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2017-FEFO-01284.

Please be advised that we have received your request, and have assigned it to an agency component to begin a search for responsive documents. That component has contacted the Disclosure Branch seeking

clarification of the request. Additional information must be received in order for the component to proceed.

The language of the component is as follows:

"Please clarify your request and provide specific parameters, such as, but not limited to, date range, specific topics, locations, individuals, events, or key words.."

Please respond to this email in writing providing answers to the inquiries mentioned above.

Please respond by May 5, 2017, one month from today. Failure to respond will be considered as disinterest in your request. Your case will then be administratively closed. We look forward to your response.

Respectfully,

Christopher Hawkins
Management Analyst
FEMA FOIA Disclosure Branch
HQ/OCAO/MS/RMD/DB
US Department of Homeland Security
Christopher.Hawkins@fema.dhs.gov
Office: (202) 646-3250
Mobile: (202) 716-8977

From: Michael Best

04/10/2017