Recycle City Flash Games
Tracking # |
EPA-HQ-2020-000557 EPA-HQ-2020-000557, EPA-R9-2020-000557 EPA-HQ-2020-000557 |
Submitted | Oct. 23, 2019 |
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Communications
From: Adrien Salzberg
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
All communications and documents between the EPA and any contractors hired to create Flash games for the EPA's "Recycle City" website. These records would include emails between staff and the contractors, agreements for the games to be produced, progress reports, and communications within the EPA regarding publishing the finished product. Additionally, I am also requesting EPA communications, including e-mails, regarding the use of music from the Nintendo DS game "Yoshi's Island DS" in the EPA Recycle City flash game. The use of this music was reported widely in early 2019 after a Twitter post by @ForestIllusion, stating "Fun fact: The United States government stole the underground theme in Yoshi's Island DS for the Enviornmental Protection Agency's flash game about recycling. The song can be heard right after pressing the start button." The music was since removed from the game and an EPA spokesperson responded "We are looking into whether the contractor received permission to use the music, to the extent permission was necessary in this instance."
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,
Adrien Salzberg
From: Environmental Protection Agency
This message is to confirm your request submission to the FOIAonline application: View Request. Request information is as follows: (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=EPA-HQ-2020-000557&type=request)
* Tracking Number: EPA-HQ-2020-000557
* Requester Name: Mr. Adrien Salzberg
* Date Submitted: 10/23/2019
* Request Status: Submitted
* Description:
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
All communications and documents between the EPA and any contractors hired to create Flash games for the EPA's "Recycle City" website. These records would include emails between staff and the contractors, agreements for the games to be produced, progress reports, and communications within the EPA regarding publishing the finished product. Additionally, I am also requesting EPA communications, including e-mails, regarding the use of music from the Nintendo DS game "Yoshi's Island DS" in the EPA Recycle City flash game. The use of this music was reported widely in early 2019 after a Twitter post by @ForestIllusion, stating "Fun fact: The United States government stole the underground theme in Yoshi's Island DS for the Enviornmental Protection Agency's flash game about recycling. The song can be heard right after pressing the start button." The music was since removed from the game and an EPA spokesperson responded "We are looking into whether the contractor received permission to use the music, to the extent permission was necessary in this instance."
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,
Adrien Salzberg
From: Environmental Protection Agency
The FOIA request EPA-HQ-2020-000557 has had its Tracking Number changed to EPA-R9-2020-000557. This is normally due to the request being transferred to another agency (for example, EPA to Dept. of Commerce) or to a sub-agency to process it. Additional details for this request are as follows:
* Old Tracking Number:
EPA-HQ-2020-000557
* New Tracking Number:
EPA-R9-2020-000557
* Requester Name:
Mr. Adrien Salzberg
* Date Submitted:
10/23/2019
* Long Description:
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
All communications and documents between the EPA and any contractors hired to create Flash games for the EPA's "Recycle City" website. These records would include emails between staff and the contractors, agreements for the games to be produced, progress reports, and communications within the EPA regarding publishing the finished product. Additionally, I am also requesting EPA communications, including e-mails, regarding the use of music from the Nintendo DS game "Yoshi's Island DS" in the EPA Recycle City flash game. The use of this music was reported widely in early 2019 after a Twitter post by @ForestIllusion, stating "Fun fact: The United States government stole the underground theme in Yoshi's Island DS for the Enviornmental Protection Agency's flash game about recycling. The song can be heard right after pressing the start button." The music was since removed from the game and an EPA spokesperson responded "We are looking into whether the contractor received permission to use the music, to the extent permission was necessary in this instance."
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,
Adrien Salzberg
From: Environmental Protection Agency
This letter concerns the above-referenced Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, received by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National FOIA Office (NFO) on October 23, 2019. You are seeking the following records: Your FOIA request is being assigned to EPA’s Region 9 Office for processing. You may contact Ivry Johnson on all communications and documents between the EPA and any contractors hired to create Flash games for the EPA's "Recycle City" website. These records would include emails between staff and the contractors, agreements for the games to be produced, progress reports, and communications within the EPA regarding publishing the finished product. Additionally, also requesting EPA communications, including e-mails, regarding the use of music from the Nintendo DS game "Yoshi's Island DS" in the EPA Recycle City flash game. 415-947-4251 or Johnson.Ivry@Epa.gov. If you have any questions about the processing of your request, please contact the above-mentioned office and reference your request tracking number. You may also contact the National FOIA Office at (202) 566-1667.
If you need any further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, you may seek assistance from EPA’s FOIA Public Liaison at hq.foia@epa.gov or call (202) 566-1667. You may also seek assistance from the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways: by mail, Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8610 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001; email: ogis@nara.gov; telephone: (202) 741-5770 or (877) 684-6448; or fax: (202) 741-5769. For all media inquiries, please contact press@epa.gov (mailto:press@epa.gov) . Kevin W. Hill, Acting Assistant General Counsel
From: Environmental Protection Agency
Dear Ms. Salzberg,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us yesterday; this email will memorialize that conversation. You will also receive a letter from us that was drafted before we spoke with you, that may reference issues that have been resolved. We apologize for addressing you in that letter as Mr. Salzberg, but that was the information we received with the request.
Regarding your FOIA request seeking documents regarding EPA's "Flash" games from the Recycle City website:
* We informed you of a previous FOIA request from MuckRock News that sought similar documents. That response is publicly available on EPA's FOIAonline system as EPA-R9-2019-003646, which is further explained in the letter you will receive.
* You clarified that your current request, EPA-R9-2019-000557, should focus on emails from the last two years.
* You agreed to limit your current request for emails or contracts discussing the use of the music from the Nintendo video game "Yoshi's Island" in the EPA Recycle City flash game.
We will contact you upon completion of a preliminary search of our records to discuss a reasonable extension of time to complete our review of those records. If this does not comport with your understanding of the terms we agreed upon, please contact us within ten (10) days of the date of this email to discuss those issues.
Sincerely,
Sharon H. Holwerda
Attorney-Advisor
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9
Office of Regional Counsel
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Ph: 415-972-3303
Fx: 415-947-3570
holwerda.sharon@epa.gov
From: Adrien Salzberg
Hi Sharon,
All that information sounds correct, and I’d like to thank you for your help with this request. I am, in fact, Mr. Salzberg, and I have a condition that results in the pitch of my voice being slightly higher than normal. Feel free to communicate this to anyone who may be replying to my request emails.
Best,
Adrien Salzberg
From: Environmental Protection Agency
EPA-R9-2020-000557 has been approved for an interim release.
Records were released to the public as a result of this request. You may retrieve these records immediately using the following link: Over the next 2 hours, these records are also being added to FOIAonline's search pages, further enabling you to retrieve these documents associated with your FOIA request at any time. View Records (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=EPA-R9-2020-000557&type=request)
From: Environmental Protection Agency
Please review attached Extension letter and respond by January 3, 2020.
From: Adrien Salzberg
Hello,
This is a written confirmation that I affirm the EPA's request for an extension on this FOIA.
Best,
Adrien
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Oct. 23, 2019. You previously indicated that it would be completed on Jan. 31, 2020. I wanted to let you know that I am still interested in the following documents, and to see if that date was still accurate. You had assigned it reference number #EPA-HQ-2020-000557.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Environmental Protection Agency
Hello,
Please review attached Extension request and respond by February 7, 2020.
Thank You
From: Environmental Protection Agency
EPA-R9-2020-000557 has been processed with the following final disposition: Partial Grant/Partial Denial. Please see the attached letter for detailed information about the final disposition issued March 13, 2020.
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