U.S. Forest Service Drone Documents
| Submitted | Aug. 16, 2012 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Drone Watch
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
1. any requests for proposals, proposals submitted by vendors, contracts, budgets or cost allocations for the purchase and/or use of aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs (hereinafter “drones”);
2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on department use of drones, including on the legal process required (such as a warrant or court order), if any, before operating a drone;
3. any departmental records concerning this department’s use of drones now or plans to use drones in the future including:
a. the types of investigations or instances in which this department is using or plans to use drones, or how it plans to support, manage or oversee the usage of drones by another department or office;
b. policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on storage requirements or procedures for video or static images obtained through use of drones, including retention times;
c. the altitude at which drones can or do fly;
d. drones’ ability to carry weapons.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,
Shawn Musgrave
From: Admin, Admin
Dear Mr. Musgrave: This email acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, dated August 16, 2012, which was received in the Washington Office (WO) FOIA Service Center on August 20, 2012. You are requesting:
1. any requests for proposals, proposals submitted by vendors, contracts, budgets or cost allocations for the purchase and/or use of aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs (hereinafter “drones”);
2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on department use of drones, including on the legal process required (such as a warrant or court order), if any, before operating a drone;
3. any departmental records concerning this department’s use of drones now or plans to use drones in the future including:
a. the types of investigations or instances in which this department is using or plans to use drones, or how it plans to support, manage or oversee the usage of drones by another department or office;
b. policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on storage requirements or procedures for video or static images obtained through use of drones, including retention times;
c. the altitude at which drones can or do fly;
d. drones’ ability to carry weapons.
To check on the status of your request, you may contact Sarah Sullivan at 202-205-1369, or via e-mail to slsullivan@fs.fed.us. Please reference your assigned case number, 12-2227-R. (mailto:slsullivan@fs.fed.us)
From: Sullivan, Sara L -FS
Mr. Musgrave;
I have been assigned your FOIA request for processing and noted that your request did not provide a timeframe in which you would like the Forest Service to conduct the search for. To assist you in this area, I would like to inform you that the Forest Service has only been involved in a Research & Development capacity pertaining to “drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs” since 2006; is not operational at this time. The costs in Research & Development has been conducted at a low cost to the Forest Service.
Could you please provide a timeframe of which you would like us to search for these records so that we can process your request in a timely manner. You may email me this information to slsullivan@fs.fed.us<mailto:slsullivan@fs.fed.us>.
From: U.S. Forest Service
From: Shawn Musgrave
To Whom It May Concern:
This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:
1. any requests for proposals, proposals submitted by vendors, contracts, budgets or cost allocations for the purchase and/or use of aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs (hereinafter “drones”);
2. any policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on department use of drones, including on the legal process required (such as a warrant or court order), if any, before operating a drone;
3. any departmental records concerning this department’s use of drones now or plans to use drones in the future including:
a. the types of investigations or instances in which this department is using or plans to use drones, or how it plans to support, manage or oversee the usage of drones by another department or office;
b. policies, guidelines, manuals and/or instructions on storage requirements or procedures for video or static images obtained through use of drones, including retention times;
c. the altitude at which drones can or do fly;
d. drones’ ability to carry weapons.
Please process this request with respect to documents from January 1, 2008 until the date this request is processed.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,
Shawn Musgrave
From: Sullivan, Sara L -FS
The Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986 mandates reduced or waived fees if disclosure of records “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 the commercial interest of the requester.” 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(A)(iii).
In order to address your request for a fee waiver for the FOIA request below; we will need you to address the "Fee Waiver Criteria" individually. The 6 criteria are listed below:
The Department of Agriculture has published FOIA guidelines for the Forest Service to follow in making fee waiver determinations. The guidelines, found at 7 C.F.R. Subtitle A, Part 1, Subpart A, Appendix A. Sections 6, list six factors to be taken into consideration when reviewing fee waiver requests:
(1) The subject of the request, i.e., whether the subject of the requested records concerns “the operations or activities of the government”;
(2) The informative value of the information to be disclosed, i.e., whether the disclosure is “likely to contribute” to an understanding of government operations or activities. The requester bears the burden of identifying “with reasonable specificity” the public interest served.
(3) The contribution to an understanding of the subject by the general public likely to result from disclosure, i.e., whether disclosure of the requested information will contribute to “public understanding”. Factor 3 concerns whether disclosure of the information will contribute to an understanding by “a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject,” and requires the requester to have the subject area expertise necessary to effectively disseminate the information to the general public and not merely to passively make it available. Requesters have the burden of demonstrating with particularity that the information will be communicated to the public.
(4) The significance of the contribution to public understanding, i.e., whether the disclosure is likely to contribute “significantly” to public understanding of government operations or activities. The public benefit should be “identified with reasonable specificity.”
(5) The existence and magnitude of a commercial interest, i.e., whether the requester has a commercial interest that would be furthered by the requested disclosure; and if so,
(6) The primary interest in disclosure, i.e., whether the magnitude of the identified commercial interest of the requester is sufficiently large, in comparison with the public interest in disclosure, that disclosure is “primarily in the commercial interest of the requester.” Factor 6 requires an agency to balance the requester's commercial interest against the identified public interest in disclosure and determine which interest is “primary.”
From: Sullivan, Sara L -FS
This email is an acknowledgement of receipt of your FOIA request. Your request dated November 13, 2012, was received in the Washington Office (WO) FOIA Service Center on November 15, 2012. Your FOIA Case number is: 2013-FS-HQ-00502-R.
In addition, I sent you an email earlier today regarding your request for a fee waiver earlier which will need to be addressed prior to our decision to approve/disapprove your request for a fee waiver.
From: Sullivan, Sara L -FS
Good Morning Shawn Musgrave:
I have not received your justification for the fee waiver request. Please address the criteria so we can process your FOIA request.
From: Sullivan, Sara L -FS
Good Afternoon Shawn Musgrave:
Please address the email below. I do not want to close this case again for nonresponse. I would like to get it processed.
From: Shawn Musgrave
Ms. Sullivan:
I apologize for our delay in responding to your previous emails. We appreciate your diligence and assistance, and apologize for any inconvenience. Please find our responses below.
Regarding time frame, please process our request for documents from 2005 to the date this request is processed.
Regarding fee waiver justification, I have responded to each in turn below:
(1) The subject of this request concerns the operations/activities of the US Forest Service, a government agency.
(2) The public interest served is a better understanding of how the US Forest Service plans to acquire and/or use UAV/drones. This is in the context of MuckRock's Drone Census project, which is mapping the nationwide use of drones by government entities.
(3) MuckRock's Drone Census project has been featured by local, national and international media. We have been working on this project since March 2012, and have more than adequate expertise to effectively disseminate the information through our own media channels as well as a number of partner outlets. All documents will also be posted in their entirety online, where the public may access them for free.
(4) This disclosure will be put in the context of how other government agencies around the country are using drones. Given its nationwide reach and size of the agency, the US Forest Service is a critical part of the national UAV picture.
(5) MuckRock has no commercial interest in this disclosure.
(6) See (5).
Please let me know if any of these require clarification. Thank you again for your assistance.
Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock
From: Fuller-Bennett, Harald -FS
Mr. Musgrave:
Please see the attached response letter and records.
Sincerely,
Harald Fuller-Bennett
On detail with
US Forest Service, ORMS
Freedom Of Information Act/Privacy Act
1400 Independence Avenue SW
Mail Stop 1143
Washington, DC 20250
VOICE: (703) 605-4451
FAX: (703) 605-5221
From: Fuller-Bennett, Harald -FS
Mr. Musgrave:
Please see the attached response letter and records.
Sincerely,
Harald Fuller-Bennett
On detail with
US Forest Service, ORMS
Freedom Of Information Act/Privacy Act
From: Fuller-Bennett, Harald -FS
Mr. Musgrave:
Please see the attached correspondence. If you would like a hard copy of the attached correspondence, please let me know and I will put one in the mail for you.
Sincerely,
Harald Fuller-Bennett
On detail with
US Forest Service, ORMS
Freedom Of Information Act/Privacy Act
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