SOL Review Hunton White Paper (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
| Tracking # |
FWS-2020-00661 |
| Multi Request | SOL Review Hunton White Paper |
| Submitted | April 28, 2020 |
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Communications
From: Jimmy Tobias
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Any emails, email attachments, or other documents related to the Solicitor's review of the white paper referenced in the email chain attached below to this request. This request specifically seeks a copy of the Solicitor office's review of the white paper in question, which is entitled "The Proper Scope of Environmental Analysis of Roadway Impacts" and was written in February 2017 by lawyers for the East Collier Property Owners. This request seeks a copy of any communications between the Solicitor's office and/or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the East Collier Property Owners and their lawyers at the firm Hunton & Williams/Hunton AK concerning this white paper or SOL's review of said white paper
I am a reporter with The Guardian newspaper and other outlets and ask that this request be expedited.
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,
Jimmy Tobias
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From: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Jimmy Tobias:
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Headquarters FOIA Office received your request dated May 6, 2020. We have forwarded your request to our Headquarters Ecological Service office for processing. You will receive a formal acknowledgement shortly.
If you have any questions regarding your FOIA request, please contact Eileen Harke at eileen_harke@fws.gov.
Respectfully,
Barb
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Headquarters Freedom of Information Act Office
MS: IRTM
5275 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, VA 22041
From: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Jimmy Tobias:
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office received your request dated May 6, 2020 and assigned it tracking number FWS-2020-00661. Please cite this number in any future communications with our office regarding your request.
You requested the following:
“…Any emails, email attachments, or other documents related to the Solicitor's review of the white paper referenced in the email chain attached below to this request. This request specifically seeks a copy of the Solicitor office's review of the white paper in question, which is entitled "The Proper Scope of Environmental Analysis of Roadway Impacts" and was written in February 2017 by lawyers for the East Collier Property Owners. This request seeks a copy of any communications between the Solicitor's office and/or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the East Collier Property Owners and their lawyers at the firm Hunton & Williams/Hunton AK concerning this white paper or SOL's review of said white paper.”
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).
Our regulations require that your request must explicitly state that you will pay all fees associated with processing the request, that you will pay fees up to a specified amount, and/or that you are seeking a fee waiver. Your request does not fulfill this requirement because you have stated “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.” Therefore, we are unable to process your request at this time. If you wish to pursue your request, please provide fee clarification as it is unclear if you will pay fees.
According to our regulations, if we do not receive your written response clarifying these points within 20 workdays from the date of this communication, we will presume that you are no longer interested in pursuing your request. In such circumstances, we will not be able to comply with your request and will close our file on it. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.6(c)<http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=0fc3ab3499768eebc2e3691c8cf88dec&rgn=div5&view=text&node=43:1.1.1.1.2&idno=43#se43.1.2_16>and § 2.51(c)<http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=0fc3ab3499768eebc2e3691c8cf88dec&rgn=div5&view=text&node=43:1.1.1.1.2&idno=43#se43.1.2_151>.
In the future if you would like to address fees in your initial request, we could perfect your request upon receipt unless of course we need clarification regarding something else.
If you have any questions about our response to your request, you may contact Tiffany McClurkin by email at foiar4@fws.gov<mailto:foiar4@fws.gov> or by phone at (404) 679-4104.
Respectfully,
Tiffany McClurkin
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Headquarters Information Resources & Technology Management
Atlanta Regional Office
FOIA Coordinator
From: Jimmy Tobias
Dear Ms. McClurkin,
Thank you for the note. As a reporter who plans to use the public records I have requested to publish newsworthy articles of interest to the American public, I request a fee waiver for this FOIA request. Specifically, the records that I am requesting from your agency will significantly contribute to the American public's understanding of whether and how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is protecting the endangered Florida panther's habitat in southern Florida, including its approach to private landowners who are seeking an incident take permit in Collier County, Florida. It will also shed light on which business interests and lobbyists are influencing the agency's decision making, including the agency's administration of FOIA. The Florida panther's survival, and the general implementation of the ESA, is an issue of the utmost importance, as it pertains directly to the U.S. government's commitment to mitigating the extinction crisis that threatens wildlife around the country. As such, I request all fees in this matter be waived.
I have a long track record of publishing important stories of public interests on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and intend to continue doing this work with the help of the documents your agency provides. You can find an example of my work here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/trump-administration-us-endangered-species-discussions-secret
If the agency denies me a fee waiver, I am willing to pay up to $50 in fees.
If you have any further questions, please contact me at 248-763-0088.
Sincerely,
Jimmy Tobias
From: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Good Afternoon Mr. Tobias,
Thanks for your response.
You have asked us to waive the fees for processing your request. Our FOIA regulations state that bureaus will waive, or partially waive, fees if disclosure of all or part of the information is (1) In the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government operations or activities, and (2) Not primarily in your commercial interest. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.45(a). Our FOIA regulations also provide four specific criteria that are used to determine whether these two requirements are met. See 43 C.F.R. § 2.48(a). Your request meets the requirements and your fee waiver has been granted.
We use Multitrack Processing to process FOIA requests. The Simple track is for requests that would generally take one to five workdays to process. The Normal track is for requests that would generally take six to twenty workdays to process. The Complex track is for requests that would generally take twenty-one to sixty workdays to process. The Extraordinary track is for requests that would generally take more than sixty workdays to process. The Expedited track is for requests that have been granted expedited processing, which are processed as soon as practicable. Within each track, requests are usually processed on a first-in, first-out basis.
Your request falls into the Complex processing track.
If you have any questions about our response to your request, you may contact Tiffany McClurkin by email at foiar4@fws.gov<mailto:foiar4@fws.gov> or by phone at (404) 679-4104.
Respectfully,
Tiffany McClurkin
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Headquarters Information Resources & Technology Management
Atlanta Regional Office
FOIA Coordinator
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on April 28, 2020. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #FWS-2020-00661.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Mr. Tobias,
FWS-2020-00661 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: View Records 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. (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOI-FWS-2020-001156&type=request)
Respectfully,
Tiffany McClurkin
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Headquarters Information Resources & Technology Management
Government Information Specialist
tiffany_mcclurkin@fws.gov
From: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Jimmy Tobias:
Please find attached final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated 05/07/2020 and assigned tracking number FWS-2020-00661.
Records were released to the public as a result of this request. You may retrieve these records immediately using the following link: View Records 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. (https://www.foiaonline.gov/foiaonline/action/public/submissionDetails?trackingNumber=DOI-FWS-2020-001156&type=request)
If you have any questions about our response, you may contact Stacey Cummins by email at stacey_cummins@fws.gov or by phone at 303-236-4473.
Thank you.
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DOI-FWS-2020-001156_Records
From: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Dear Mr. Tobias:
Please find attached updated response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated May 7, 2020 and assigned tracking number FWS-2020-00661.
For additional information, please contact Erika Oblea, Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice by phone at (202) 252-2567 or by email at erika.oblea@usdoj.gov<mailto:erika.oblea@usdoj.gov>.
Thank you,
Stacey Cummins
FOIA Coordinator
US Fish and Wildlife Service
303-236-4473
Pronouns: she, her, hers
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