Unauthorized Disneyland UAVs (Federal Aviation Administration)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States of America.
Multi Request Unauthorized Disneyland UAVs
Due Feb. 7, 2019
Est. Completion None
Status
Awaiting Response

Communications

From: Emma North-Best


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Records relating to or mentioning the alleged unauthorized UAVs over and around Disneyland, as described in the FBI email on the 8th page of the attached document released through FOIA.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the Internet Archive and MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross- section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media.

Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category.

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,

Emma Best

  • E97117542576fd10f1c89a99870c6af52c8eb48d8_Q39565_R338659_D2106657.pdf

From: Federal Aviation Administration

Dear Ms. Best,

Based on our review of your request, we are unable to take any action at this time. Please be advised the sole purpose of the FOIA is to provide responsive records in the possession of the Federal Government. The request should describe the subject matter of the record, and if known, indicate where it was created, when it was created, and the person or office that created the record.

We have no way of knowing what incident the FBI is referring to in their emails, when the incident occurred or what documents you are requesting relating to the incident. The key to determining whether a request is reasonable is the ability of agency staff to reasonably ascertain exactly which records are being requested and to locate them. The FOIA was not intended for government agencies to be full-time investigators on behalf of requesters or to allow requesters to browse agency files (the courts have described it as conducting fishing expeditions).

Additionally, all information related to drone sightings are publicly available at the following link: https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/uas_sightings_report/

Please reformulate your request to identify an exact record you are seeking.

Respectfully,

FAA FOIA Office

From: Muckrock Staff

Hello,

Can you please confirm that your office received the attached pdf and process the request based on the complete submission?

Thank you.
____________

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Records relating to or mentioning the alleged unauthorized UAVs over and around Disneyland, as described in the FBI email on the 8th page of the attached document released through FOIA.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the Internet Archive and MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

Additionally, case law states that “proof of the ability to disseminate the released information to a broad cross- section of the public is not required.” Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Dep’t of Justice, 365 F.3d 1108, 1126 (D.C. Cir. 2004); see Carney v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 19 F.3d 807, 814-15 (2d Cir. 1994). Further, courts have held that "qualified because it also had “firm” plans to “publish a number of . . . ‘document sets’” concerning United States foreign and national security policy." Under this criteria, as well, I qualify as a member of the news media.

Additionally, courts have held that the news media status "focuses on the nature of the requester, not its request. The provision requires that the request be “made by” a representative of the news media. Id. § 552(a)(4)(A)(ii)(II). A newspaper reporter, for example, is a representative of the news media regardless of how much interest there is in the story for which he or she is requesting information." As such, the details of the request itself are moot for the purposes of determining the appropriate fee category.

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,

Emma Best

  • E97117542576fd10f1c89a99870c6af52c8eb48d8_Q39565_R338659_D2106657.pdf

From: Federal Aviation Administration

Dear Ms. Best,

Based on our review of your request, we are unable to take any action at this time. Please be advised the sole purpose of the FOIA is to provide responsive records in the possession of the Federal Government. The request should describe the subject matter of the record, and if known, indicate where it was created, when it was created, and the person or office that created the record.

We have no way of knowing what incident the FBI is referring to in their emails, when the incident occurred or what documents you are requesting relating to the incident. The key to determining whether a request is reasonable is the ability of agency staff to reasonably ascertain exactly which records are being requested and to locate them. The FOIA was not intended for government agencies to be full-time investigators on behalf of requesters or to allow requesters to browse agency files (the courts have described it as conducting fishing expeditions).

Additionally, all information related to drone sightings are publicly available at the following link: https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/uas_sightings_report/

Please reformulate your request to identify an exact record you are seeking.

Respectfully,

FAA FOIA Office

From: Emma North-Best

I provided the document which clearly indicated the incident in question, as well as the approximate creation date of any relevant records. The document was even resent a second time, as is clearly and publicly documented at https://www.muckrock.com/foi/united-states-of-america-10/unauthorized-disneyland-uavs-federal-aviation-administration-60309/.

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  • 09/06/2018

    E97117542576fd10f1c89a99870c6af52c8eb48d8_Q39565_R338659_D2106657.pdf

  • 10/15/2018

    E97117542576fd10f1c89a99870c6af52c8eb48d8_Q39565_R338659_D2106657.pdf