Rose Quarter Submissions
| Tracking # |
2020-0078 |
| Submitted | Dec. 17, 2019 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Alan Kessler
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Please provide all emails which were:
dated on or after January 1, 2019;
sent or received by one or both of FHWA employees Emily Cline and Mike Morrow;
and sent by and/or addressed to anyone at the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Please provide these documents in their native format including all metadata (e.g. .PST, .msg, mbox, etc.).
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,
Alan Kessler
From: Federal Highway Administration
Dear Mr. Kessler:
Attached is the Federal Highway Administration's acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information Act request. It has been assigned control number 2020-0078.
Thank you,
Kimberly V. Wilkins
Special Assistant/FHWA FOIA Officer
FHWA, Office of Administration (HAD)
(202) 366-8078
(202) 430-8006
From: Federal Highway Administration
Mr. Kessler:
You have submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, assigned number 2020-078, to the Federal Highway Administration. I will be coordinating the fulfilling of that request, and have some questions to clarify your request, in order to begin the process:
1) Can you please clarify what appears to be a disparity between the Subject line of your request message and the body of that message. The Subject line of the request is labeled "Freedom of Information Act Request: Rose Quarter Submissions". However, in the body of the message you state: "Please provide all emails which were: dated on or after January 1,2019; sent or received by one or both of FHWA employees Emily Cline and Mike Morrow; and sent by and/or addressed to anyone at the Oregon Department of Transportation." Please clarify whether your request is for all emails during the time period specified, or for all emails related to the specified Subject Line [the project referenced therein] of the request, during that time period.
2) Your request message Subject Line references "Rose Quarter Submissions". Please clarify, for the purposes of your request, what is meant by the term "submissions".
Once we get clarification response from you, we can begin the process to respond to your request.
Thank you,
Ruth McNamee
FOIA Officer
Federal Highway Administration, Oregon Division Office
From: Alan Kessler
Please disregard the subject line.
1) Please provide all emails during the time period specified.
2) Please disregard the subject line for purposes of responding to my request.
From: Federal Highway Administration
Thank you, Mr. Kessler.
Based on your clarification, we are now ready to move forward with the response process, pending your agreement to procedural activity. To that end, please find the attached letter containing our fee estimate for responding to your request, along with procedural requirements on your part before we can move on with fulfilling your request.
Thank you,
Ruth McNamee
Transportation Finance Specialist
Federal Highway Administration
530 Center St. NE, Suite 420
Salem, OR 97301
(503) 316-2541
From: Alan Kessler
Dear Ms. McNamee:
The search time seems quite long; I wonder whether my request has been interpreted to require a search of end-user devices as well as email servers.
Would you please provide a new estimate based on narrowing the scope of my request to those emails stored on the agency's production email server for each of the two specified accounts?
Sincerely yours,
Alan Kessler
From: Federal Highway Administration
Mr. Kessler:
In our office, each person's emails on the "end user device" and "Email server" are one and the same. Therefore, the fee estimate and extended time limit for unusual circumstances outlined in the letter to you on January 28, 2020 remains the same.
With regard to estimated search time, FOIA provides that agencies may extend its time limits when "unusual circumstances" are present in the processing of a request. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(B)(I) (2014). Your request meets the criteria for unusual circumstances. The agency will not be able to respond to your request within the statutory time limits established by the FOIA and will therefore need an extension in light of these unusual circumstances [See 49 C.F.R. §7.34]. Although the standard extension is ten (10) business days, your request, as currently scoped, will likely not be able to be fully responded to within that time frame. [49 CFR § 7.34(b)]. Your request requires the need for coordination, and gathering voluminous records to respond to your request, necessitating the extension.
By February 28, please provide either:
1) Agreement to the fees as estimated in our letter of January 28, 2020, as well as your intention to pay the estimated fees in advance; or
2) Refusal to pay the actual cost associated with your request, and therefore a discontinuation of fulfillment of this request; or
3) A narrowing of scope of your request; including specification of how you will narrow the scope, after which we will provide an updated estimate of fees.
Thank you,
Ruth McNamee
Transportation Finance Specialist/Division FOIA Officer
Federal Highway Administration
Salem, OR 97301
From: Federal Highway Administration
Good afternoon Mr. Kessler,
As we have not received a response from you within the requested timeframe (as extended per our last communication below), FOIA request #2020-0078 has been administratively closed.
If you would still like to request these records, you may file a new FOIA request.
Ruth McNamee
Transportation Finance Specialist/ Division FOIA Officer
Federal Highway Administration
Salem, OR
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