TCF Regional Care Center - Emails (FEMA Region 5)
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
2021-FEFO-00862 |
| Submitted | Aug. 18, 2021 |
| Due | Sept. 17, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Erin Marie Miller
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1. All emails related to the planning, funding, construction, and closure of the TCF Regional Care Center in Detroit, MI sent between FEMA Region 5 administrator James K. Joseph and the following individuals between the dates of 3/1/2020 and 5/10/2020:
- Former MDHHS Director Robert Gordon (GordonR3@michigan.gov)
- Dr. Jenny Atas (jatasmd@icloud.com)
- Elizabeth Hertel (HertelE@michigan.gov)
Please also be sure to include any attachments to those emails.
For further clarification about the project, please refer to the following link:
- https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90640-525058--,00.html
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In order to help determine my status to assess fees, you should know that I am a freelance journalist whose work has been published frequently by print and digital news outlets and magazines. I have written about Michigan's prisons in the past. You can view my portfolio at www.erinmariemiller.com/journalism. Disclosure of the requested information to me is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in my commercial interest.
Because of my status as a news media requester, I request a waiver of all fees. If a fee waiver is not granted, I am willing to pay up to $25 for the requested information. If the fee for this request exceeds this amount, please notify me in writing prior to beginning work on the request.
I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Please send all documents related to this request to this email address.
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, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Erin Marie Miller
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Good afternoon Ms. Miller,
You mentioned “this is a follow-up to a previous request.” Please specify if this is a new FOIA request or an update to a previous one. We will need this information to determine how to process your request.
Regards,
Alex
From: Erin Marie Miller
Hi Alex,
This is a new request. I believe the email you're referring to, mentioning a follow-up, was related to a previous request.
Please treat this request as a new request.
- Erin
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
August27, 2021 SENT VIA E-MAIL TO: requests@muckrock.com Re: FOIA Request Number 2021-FEFO-00862 Acknowledgment Dear Ms. Erin Miller: This correspondence acknowledges receipt of yourFreedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of HomelandSecurity (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), dated and receivedin this office on August 26, 2021. You are seeking all emails related tothe planning, funding, construction, and closure of the TCF Regional CareCenter in Detroit, MI sent between FEMA Region 5 administrator James K. Josephand the individuals listed in your original request between the dates of3/1/2020 and 5/10/2020. Your request has been assigned the following trackingnumber 2021-FEFO-00862. Due to current working conditions in response to theCOVID-19 outbreak, please expect a delay in our response. Please beassured that we continue our commitment to provide timely FOIA responses andare processing your FOIA request as soon as possible. If you have any questions orwould like to discuss this matter, please contact me the assigned FOIAspecialist directly at .If you require additional support, you may also contact FEMA’s PublicLiaison at FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov. If you need to contact FEMA’s FOIAPublic Liaison, then please reference the FOIA request number andaddress your email to “Attn: FEMA’s Public Liaison” and summarize yourconcerns. alexander.yacoubian@associates.fema.dhs.gov In regards to your request for a fee waiver, the DHS FOIARegulations at 6 CFR §5.11(k)(2) set forth six factors DHS is required toevaluate in determining whether the applicable legal standard for a fee waiverhas been met: (1) Whether the subject of the requested records concerns“the operations or activities of the government;” (2) Whether the disclosure is“likely to contribute” to an understanding of government operations oractivities; (3) Whether disclosure of the requested information will contributeto the understanding of the public at large, as opposed to the individualunderstanding of the requestor or a narrow segment of interested persons;(4) Whether the contribution to public understanding of government operationsor activities will be “significant;” (5) Whether the requester has a commercialinterest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and (6) Whetherthe magnitude of any identified commercial interest to the requestor issufficiently large in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, thatdisclosure is primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor. Upon review of your request and an evaluation of the sixfactors identified above, DHS has determined that it will conditionally grantyour request for a fee waiver. The fee waiver determination will be basedupon a sampling of the responsive documents received from the various DHSprogram offices as a result of the searches conducted in response to your FOIArequest. DHS will, pursuant to DHS regulations applicable tonon-commercial requestors, provide two hours of search time and process thefirst 100 pages at no charge to you. If upon further determination that,DHS determines that the disclosure of the information contained in thosedocuments does not meet the factors permitting DHS to waive the fees then DHSwill at that time either deny your request for a fee waiver entirely or allowfor a percentage reduction in the amount of the fees corresponding to theamount of relevant material found that meets the factors allowing for a feewaiver. In either case, DHS will promptly notify you of its finaldecision regarding your request for a fee waiver. We have queried the appropriate offices within FEMA forresponsive records. If any responsive records are located, they will bereviewed for determination of releasability. We will contact you againonce our review is completed and/or the search is completed. Interimresponses will be provided as appropriate. We appreciate your patience aswe proceed with your request . Ifyou have any questions or would like to discuss this matter, please contact theassigned FOIA specialist directly at alexander.yacoubian@associates.fema.dhs.gov andreference the request number 2021-FEFO-00862 . Again, If you require additionalsupport, you may also contact FEMA’s Public Liaison at FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov. If you need to contact FEMA’s FOIA Public Liaison, then please referencethe FOIA request number and address your email to “Attn: FEMA’s PublicLiaison” and summarize your concerns. You may also contact FEMA at (202)646-3323, or you may contact FEMA’s Public Liaison in the same manner. Please reference FOIA request number 2021-FEFO-00862. For a faster response pleasecommunicate by email. Thank you for yourinterest in FEMA. Sincerely, Disclosure Branch Information Management Division Office of the Chief Administrative Officer Federal Emergency Management Agency U.S.Department of Homeland Security
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Good morning Erin,
In order to conduct an email search for the records you requested, we will need a few keywords. I suggest using “TCF Regional Care Center” and “TCF Center” (its previous name). Please let me know if these work, or if you have any other suggestions. If I do not hear back from you by September 10, 2021, I will assume these are the keywords you would like to use.
Thanks,
Alex
From: Erin Marie Miller
Hi Alex,
Thank you for your follow up. Both of the keywords you recommended (“TCF Regional Care Center” and “TCF Center”) work for me.
Thanks, again. I appreciate your help!
- Erin
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Thanks, Erin. We will proceed with the email search using these terms.
Regards,
Alex
-
~WRD0000
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Dear Erin Miller,
An existing profile with 'requests@muckrock.com' has been located. Therefore a temporary password has been issued and sent to the email address provided. Upon successful login it is recommended that you go to My Account located in the upper right corner to review/update your personal profile since registration information was not accepted because the existing profile was located. Please check your email for this temporary password and return to https://foiarequest.dhs.gov/ to login.
Username: requests@muckrock.com
Be sure to change the temporary password provided.
Regards,
Department of Homeland Security
From: Erin Marie Miller
Hello,
Unfortunately, the login information you sent me is not working. I do not have access to whatever email address you re-assigned my request to.
Please do NOT use the email address "requests@muckrock.com."
Please assign this request ONLY to THIS specific email address (requests@muckrock.com) -- NOT the one you assigned it to, as I have no access to that email address and am not able to log in using the information you provided.
There are likely many other email addresses associated with muckrock.com. I am unsure why you re-assigned my request to a different email address, but under the FOIA your agency is required to provide the requested information to the requester -- NOT to another random email address that the requester has no access to.
Re-assigning my requests to random email addresses seems to be a new trick that multiple agencies have been using with my requests in the last few months -- but it is a violation of the FOIA.
Please correct this error immediately so that I can access my request.
Finally, this is a public email address -- do NOT send passwords to it, as they can be viewed and accessed by the general public. Please deliver all documents ONLY by email or by CD-ROM, as requested in my initial request. A link was provided in my initial request for direct uploads.
Thank you,
Erin Miller
From: Erin Marie Miller
Hello,
This is now fixed on MuckRock's end -- I was able to access the request. Please disregard my previous email.
- Erin
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 Aug. 18, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #2021-FEFO-00862.
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 Aug. 18, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #2021-FEFO-00862.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Hello,
Please be advised this email inbox for technical support for the PAL tool. Please send your questions for items related to your requests to the FOIA Office associated with your request or use the PAL messaging system to send a message. The request self serve status check is located here: https://foiarequest.dhs.gov/app/CheckStatus.aspx
Contacts for the various DHS FOIA Offices can be found in the dropdown menu via foiarequest.gov or by clicking here: https://www.dhs.gov/foia-contact-information.
Regards,
DHS PAL TECHNICAL SUPPORT
-
~WRD0299
From: Erin Marie Miller
Hi Alex,
I just wanted to follow up on FOIA request 2021-FEFO-00862, which asked for emails regarding the TCF Regional Care Center and FEMA Region 5.
The last time I heard from you was on August 30, 2021, when you contacted me to confirm the keywords to use in your records search. I never heard back from you in the two months that have passed since then, and I also have not received any records related to this request.
Can you please update me about the status of this request, and provide me with the requested records?
Thank you.
- Erin Miller
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Good afternoon Ms. Miller,
We have located documents and are in the final stages of processing your request. We should have a final response to you shortly.
Regards,
Alex
-
~WRD0000
From: Erin Marie Miller
Hi Alex,
Great, thank you so much for the update and for your help.
- Erin
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 Aug. 26, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #2021-FEFO-00862.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Dear Ms. Erin Miller:
Attached is a response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request numbered 2021-FEFO-00862. If you need to contact our office concerning this request, please email me directly and reference your FOIA tracking number 2021-FEFO-00862. You may also send an e-mail to FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov, or call (202) 646-3323, and you maycontact our FOIA Public Liaison in the same manner. (mailto:FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov) For a faster response please contact me directly by email.
Regards,
Disclosure Branch
Information Management Division
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
Federal Emergency Management Agency
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Telephone: (202) 646-3323
FEMA-FOIA@fema.dhs.gov
From: Erin Marie Miller
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to follow up with you about FEMA FOIA Case Number 2021-FEFO-00862, which was transferred to USACE on Dec. 28, 2021 (please see the attached final response letter for reference).
I was told to contact your office about the status of my FOIA request. If your agency is in need of the language of my original request, please let me know as soon as possible. Please also let me know when I should expect to receive the responsive documents, as my original request was submitted on 8/26/2021.
I look forward to your prompt response.
Thank you,
Erin Miller
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 Aug. 26, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #2021-FEFO-00862.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
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