PFAS American Chemistry Council Communications 2015-2023 (Department of the Interior)

January 30, 2024

IN REPLY REFER TO:
DOI-ASIA-2024-000086

Peter Castagno
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 147883
263 Huntington Ave
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Email Address: requests@muckrock.com

Dear Mr. Castagno:

The Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (AS-IA), Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office received your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, dated January 15, 2024, on January 30, 2024, and assigned it control number DOI-ASIA-2024-000086. Please cite this number in any future communications with our office regarding your request.

You requested the following: “I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 19, 2023. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. Thanks for your help and let me know if further clarification is needed.

On June 18, 2023: Subject: Freedom of Information Act Request: PFAS American Chemistry Council Communications 2015-2023 (Department of the Interior)
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records: Any written or electronic correspondence from January 1st, 2015, to the date this request is processed in 2023, including letters, emails, attachments, portions of records, and cc'd emails involving representatives, lobbyists, or members of the American Chemistry Council and PFAS regulation. I am seeking communications, contracts, and memoranda of understanding regarding the American Chemistry Council's involvement in federal efforts to understand and regulate PFAS.”

We have classified you as a representative of the news media. As such, we may charge you for some of our duplication costs, but we will not charge you for our search or review costs; you also are entitled to up to 100 pages of photocopies (or an equivalent volume) for free. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.39. If, after taking into consideration your fee category entitlements, our processing costs are less than $50.00, we will not bill you because the cost of collection would be greater than the fee collected. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.37(g).

We are writing to respond to your request. After a thorough search of our files, it has been determined that the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs has no records responsive to your request.

Heather Garcia, Government Information Specialist, Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (AS-IA) FOIA Office is responsible for this denial.

We do not bill requesters for FOIA processing fees when their fees are less than $50.00, because the cost of collection would be greater than the fee collected. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.37(g). Therefore, there is no billable fee for the processing of this request.

You may appeal this response to the Department’s FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer. If you choose to appeal, the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer must receive your FOIA appeal no later than 90 workdays from the date of this final response. Appeals arriving or delivered after 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, will be deemed received on the next workday.

Your appeal must be made in writing. You may submit your appeal and accompanying materials to the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer by mail, courier service, fax, or email. All communications concerning your appeal should be clearly marked with the words: "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL." You must include an explanation of why you believe this response is in error. You must also include with your appeal copies of all correspondence between you and the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (AS-IA) FOIA office concerning your FOIA request, including your original FOIA request and this response. Failure to include with your appeal all correspondence between you and the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs (AS-IA) FOIA office will result in the Department's rejection of your appeal, unless the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer determines (in the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer’s sole discretion) that good cause exists to accept the defective appeal.

Please include your name and daytime telephone number (or the name and telephone number of an appropriate contact), email address and fax number (if available) in case the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer needs additional information or clarification of your appeal.

DOI FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Office Contact Information

Department of the Interior
Office of the Solicitor
1849 C Street, N.W. MS-6556 MIB
Washington, DC 20240

Attn: FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Office

Telephone: (202) 208-5339
Fax: (202) 208-6677
Email: FOIA.Appeals@sol.doi.gov

The 2007 FOIA amendments created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Using OGIS services does not affect your right to pursue litigation. You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways:

Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration

8601 Adelphi Road - OGIS
College Park, MD 20740-6001
E-mail: ogis@nara.gov
Web: https://www.archives.gov/ogis
Telephone: 202-741-5770
Fax: 202-741-5769
Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448

Please note that using OGIS services does not affect the timing of filing an appeal with the Department’s FOIA & Privacy Act Appeals Officer. Contact information for the Department’s FOIA Public Liaison, who you may also seek dispute resolution services from, is available at https://www.doi.gov/foia/foiacenters.

If you have any questions about our response to your request, you may contact Heather Garcia by phone at 202-208-3135, by email at as-ia_foia@bia.gov or by mail at 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4660 MIB, Washington, DC 20240.

Sincerely,

/S/ Justin Davis
FOIA Officer
Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs

Heather Garcia
​​​​Government Information Specialist
Assistant Secretary- Indian Affairs - FOIA Office
1849 C Street NW 3216-MIB
Washington, DC 20240
Phone# (202)208-3135
heather.garcia@bia.gov<mailto:heather.garcia@bia.gov>
POSITIVE PEOPLE POWERFUL RESULTS

https://www.bia.gov/as-ia/foia/reading-room The ASIA FOIA Reading Room. Frequently requested records are posted here.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office in the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs are continuing to process FOIA requests to the best of their ability during the COVID-19 pandemic. To keep employees healthy and safe, the Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs is maximizing telework flexibility and employing social distancing protocols. As a result of these precautions, most employees are working remotely and unable to collect hard copy records located in government facilities at this time. If your request is for hard copy records, the response to your request will very likely be delayed.

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