Union Pacific Federal Railroad Administration Inspections and Reports 2023
| Tracking # |
FFRA-23-00387 |
| Submitted | Sept. 11, 2023 |
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Communications
From: Brandon Galbraith
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
* A list of inspections the FRA has performed on Union Pacific mechanical operations and rolling stock in 2023
* Documents, reports, or other output from said inspections
* A copy of the letter (in PDF format) sent from Amit Bose, FRA's Administrator to Union Pacific on September 8th, 2023
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,
Brandon Galbraith
From: Federal Railroad Administration
September 12, 2023
Dear Brandon Galbraith: Please find the attached acknowledgement regarding the FOIArequest that you submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).
Kind regards,
Office of Chief Counsel
Federal Railroad Administration
From: Federal Railroad Administration
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Attn. Mr. Brandon Galbraith:
This email responds to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), dated September 11, 2023, attached. The FOIA and agency regulations require requesters to reasonably describe the record or records sought. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3)(A); 49 CFR § 7.24(d). Your request, as described, seeks a significant amount of information and is too broad and complex in nature. Union Pacific is a very large Class 1 Railroad. Under the FOIA and agency regulations, the agency is not required to process requests that require an unreasonably burdensome search.
FRA asks that you reformulate or narrow the scope of your request to limit the burden on the agency. For example, focus on particular states, regions, cities, counties or inspector activities. When a request is properly contoured to provide such specificity, it enables the agency to locate records and process your request within a fair amount of time. As you consider your options to reformulate or narrow your request, please note that some records are publicly available. You may visit FRA's website to search for and locate documents that may assist you in better defining the scope of your request at https://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/(e.g. railroad accident data or reports, including railroad supplied accident reports for specific accidents).
Please respond within 14 calendar days of the date of this email. If we do not receive a response from you, we will administratively close the request without further processing. If after we have closed your request, you decide that you are interested in the records, please submit another FOIA request to this office.
You may contact the FOIA Office at FRAFOIA@dot.gov<mailto:FRAFOIA@dot.gov> if you have any questions or need assistance to reformulate or narrow your request.
Sincerely,
THE FOIA Team
Office of the Chief Counsel
Thanks,
Yolanda Brown
DOT/FRA FOIA Analyst
Office of the Chief Counsel
Cell: (202) 961-1631
yolanda.brown@dot.gov<mailto:yolanda.brown@dot.gov>
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Freedom of Information Act Request_ Union Pacific Federal Railroad Administration Inspections and Reports 2023
From: Brandon Galbraith
Ms. Brown,
Thank you for your response. So that I may better scope my request to reduce complexity and burden imposed on the FRA in satisfying said request, would you be able to provide the technical or other limitation in creating an export listing all inspections the FRA has performed in 2023 for a specific railroad? Also, would my request's burden and complexity be reduced if I instead requested a digital copy of the database(s) or database tables in question containing detailed inspection report data for calendar year 2023?
Thank you for your time.
Brandon
From: Federal Railroad Administration
Good morning Mr. Galbraith,
I’ve reached out to one of our subject matter experts in the Office of Research, Data & Innovation (RDI). I will circle back to you once I hear back from him.
Thanks,
Yolanda Brown
DOT/FRA FOIA Analyst
Office of the Chief Counsel
Cell: (202) 961-1631
yolanda.brown@dot.gov<mailto:yolanda.brown@dot.gov>
From: Federal Railroad Administration
Mr. Galbraith:
Below is the date/times that we are proposing to you to meet with our subject matter expert to get a better understanding of the records you seek. Please let us know what time is best for you.
Monday, 9/18
10:00am -11:00am
1:30pm - 2:30pm
2:30pm - 3:30pm
Regards,
Yolanda Brown
DOT/FRA FOIA Analyst
Office of the Chief Counsel
Cell: (202) 961-1631
yolanda.brown@dot.gov<mailto:yolanda.brown@dot.gov>
From: Brandon Galbraith
Ms Brown,
My apologies, I missed your previous message. What Eastern time time slots would your subject matter expert have available Wednesday, September 20th?
Thank you,
Brandon
From: Federal Railroad Administration
Good morning Mr. Galbraith:
We have these time slots available. Let me know…
Wednesday, Sept 20 (30 mins, this may not be enough time)
3:30pm-4:00pm Eastern time
Thursday, Sept 21
11:30am -12:30pm
2:00pm – 3:00pm
3:00pm- 4:00pm
Thanks,
Yolanda Brown
DOT/FRA FOIA Analyst
Office of the Chief Counsel
Cell: (202) 961-1631
yolanda.brown@dot.gov<mailto:yolanda.brown@dot.gov>
From: Brandon Galbraith
Ms Brown,
Tomorrow, Thursday, Sept 21, between 11:30am -12:30pm ET would work best if that time slot is still available. I will send my contact info in a separate email for your subject matter expert to reach out.
Thanks,
Brandon
From: Federal Railroad Administration
Dear Mr. Galbraith: Please find the attached correspondence regarding the FOIA requestthat you submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Kind regards,
Office of the Chief Counsel
Federal Railroad Administration
From: Brandon Galbraith
I received the response letter and responsive documents sent today with regards to my request. Thank you. Should I still expect to received a call from a subject matter expert in the agency's Office of Research, Data & Innovation (RDI) department on the matter of a digital copy of the database(s) or database tables containing FRA railroad inspection records?
Thanks,
Brandon
From: Federal Railroad Administration
Hello Mr. Galbraith.
No. This is our final response to you. Your case is not closed.
Thanks,
Yolanda Brown
DOT/FRA FOIA Analyst
Office of the Chief Counsel
Cell: (202) 961-1631
yolanda.brown@dot.gov<mailto:yolanda.brown@dot.gov>
From: Federal Railroad Administration
Correction: Is now closed.
Thanks,
Yolanda Brown
DOT/FRA FOIA Analyst
Office of the Chief Counsel
Cell: (202) 961-1631
yolanda.brown@dot.gov<mailto:yolanda.brown@dot.gov>
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