U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors

Dear Syed,

Thank you for the submission herein. Unfortunately, this request cannot be processed in its current form, because it's overly broad; lacks specificity; and fails to reasonably describe the records sought.

Under longstanding FOIA precedents, "broad sweeping requests lacking specificity are not permissible." Marks v. United States Dep't of Justice, 578 F.2d 261, 263 (9 Cir. 1978), see also, ("Request is too broad which seeks 'all unpublished manuscripts decisions of the Patent Office, together with such indices as are available." Irons v. Schuyler, 151 U.S App. D.C 23(1972)).

Additionally, the FOIA requires OSTP to make records available only upon a request which "reasonably describes" the records sought. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3). "A description would be sufficient if it enabled a professional employee of the agency who was familiar with the subject area of the request to locate the record with a reasonable amount of effort." Marks, 578 F.2d at 263.

The request, as written, would not permit an employee of the agency to locate potentially responsive records with a "reasonable amount of effort." Marks, 578 F2d at 263. Such a request would lead to endless searches of the database to determine what could be considered responsive. Thus, the request is not permissible. Id.

Here, the request's breadth and scope are so encompassing that any document containing the words or terms in the document could potentially be responsive. For instance, documents with the words: NVIDIA, AMD, CHIPS etc., would be pulled into the search results, even though they might be from news articles without any nexus to the bill mentioned in the request.

Additionally, it is unclear whether requester is seeking records from OSTP or the White House Office (henceforth "WHO"). The request fails to identify the person or personnel who might have sent or received the responsive records. If requester is seeking records from the WHO, then it is important to disclose that OSTP cannot process FOIA requests for the WHO. We can only produce records created and/ or under our control at the time of the request. Furthermore, we cannot create new records so the instant request could be processed.

If requester is interested in obtaining records created by or under OSTP's control, then the request needs to identify the party or parties at OSTP who might have sent or received such information. For instance, requester could seek:

* "All communications sent or received by Eric Lander, OSTP Director, regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act."

Alternatively, requester could identify communications between OSTP and certain domain names. For example, requester could seek:

* "All communications between OSTP and domain names ending in @google.com; @apple.com etc. regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The pertinent date range is January 20, 2021 through June 21, 2021."

These are just two ways the request could be amended to address the current issues with it.

OSTP is a small agency with limited resources and over 100 pending FOIA requests. Coupled with limitations due to the current outbreak of COVID19. Therefore, those limited resources need to be efficiently managed to process only permissible FOIA requests.

At this juncture, it is important to disclose that this request is not considered recorded because of the issues enumerated herein. Under the FOIA, a request is recorded, thus considered perfected, only if it reasonably describes the records sought. 5 U.S.C § 552(a)(3)(A.). If a request fails to meet these criteria, a search for agency records is not conducted. For instance, in Allen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., the court held that "[the requestor] failed to perfect his FOIA requests by not complying with the applicable regulations; as such, the agencies were not required to search for the documents in question." Allen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153459, United States District Court for the District of Arizona, (February 2010).

Please note that failure to receive an amended request within a reasonable time frame would be construed as requester's lack of interest in pursuing the request. Thus, the matter will be administratively closed.

We strongly advise requester to amend the request so it could be processed.

Regards,
OSTP FOIA

Dear Syed,

Thank you for the correspondence below. The initial submission was not considered “received,” because of its overly broad nature—see the highlighted portion of our June 21, 2021 correspondence below regarding FOIA request recordation. The statutory 20 business days (weekends and holidays are excluded) within which to respond started on June 22, 2021, after the amended request was received and duly recorded. The formal acknowledgment letter is not due till July 20, 2021. The formal response will be provided on or before the preceding deadline.

Regards,

OSTP FOIA.

From: requests@muckrock.com <requests@muckrock.com>
Sent: Friday, July 9, 2021 5:01 AM
To: MBX OSTP FOIA <OSTPFOIA@ostp.eop.gov>
Cc: MBX OSTP FOIA <OSTPFOIA@ostp.eop.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors

Office Of Science And Technology Policy, The White House
FOIA Office
1650 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20504

July 9, 2021

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following DC Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 16, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
>https://www.muckrock.com/

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 114229
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

---

On June 22, 2021:
Subject: RE: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors
Please see the amended request:

All communications between OSTP and domain names ending in @amd.com; @nvidia.com; @intel.com; @ibm.com. regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act or CHIPs (please note the email may not explicitly mention the act/CHIPS for America but could just be discussing subsidies or the application of the aforementioned companies under the ambit of these bills/act. However, if this makes the request to time-consuming/too broad, feel free to ignore it and stick to comms that explicitly mention US ICA or CHIPs).

The pertinent date range is January 20, 2021 through June 21, 2021.
---

On June 21, 2021:
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors
Dear Syed,

Thank you for the submission herein. Unfortunately, this request cannot be processed in its current form, because it's overly broad; lacks specificity; and fails to reasonably describe the records sought.

Under longstanding FOIA precedents, "broad sweeping requests lacking specificity are not permissible." Marks v. United States Dep't of Justice, 578 F.2d 261, 263 (9 Cir. 1978), see also, ("Request is too broad which seeks 'all unpublished manuscripts decisions of the Patent Office, together with such indices as are available." Irons v. Schuyler, 151 U.S App. D.C 23(1972)).

Additionally, the FOIA requires OSTP to make records available only upon a request which "reasonably describes" the records sought. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3). "A description would be sufficient if it enabled a professional employee of the agency who was familiar with the subject area of the request to locate the record with a reasonable amount of effort." Marks, 578 F.2d at 263.

The request, as written, would not permit an employee of the agency to locate potentially responsive records with a "reasonable amount of effort." Marks, 578 F2d at 263. Such a request would lead to endless searches of the database to determine what could be considered responsive. Thus, the request is not permissible. Id.

Here, the request's breadth and scope are so encompassing that any document containing the words or terms in the document could potentially be responsive. For instance, documents with the words: NVIDIA, AMD, CHIPS etc., would be pulled into the search results, even though they might be from news articles without any nexus to the bill mentioned in the request.

Additionally, it is unclear whether requester is seeking records from OSTP or the White House Office (henceforth "WHO"). The request fails to identify the person or personnel who might have sent or received the responsive records. If requester is seeking records from the WHO, then it is important to disclose that OSTP cannot process FOIA requests for the WHO. We can only produce records created and/ or under our control at the time of the request. Furthermore, we cannot create new records so the instant request could be processed.

If requester is interested in obtaining records created by or under OSTP's control, then the request needs to identify the party or parties at OSTP who might have sent or received such information. For instance, requester could seek:

* "All communications sent or received by Eric Lander, OSTP Director, regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act."

Alternatively, requester could identify communications between OSTP and certain domain names. For example, requester could seek:

* "All communications between OSTP and domain names ending in @google.com; @apple.com etc. regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The pertinent date range is January 20, 2021 through June 21, 2021."

These are just two ways the request could be amended to address the current issues with it.

OSTP is a small agency with limited resources and over 100 pending FOIA requests. Coupled with limitations due to the current outbreak of COVID19. Therefore, those limited resources need to be efficiently managed to process only permissible FOIA requests.

At this juncture, it is important to disclose that this request is not considered recorded because of the issues enumerated herein. Under the FOIA, a request is recorded, thus considered perfected, only if it reasonably describes the records sought. 5 U.S.C § 552(a)(3)(A.). If a request fails to meet these criteria, a search for agency records is not conducted. For instance, in Allen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., the court held that "[the requestor] failed to perfect his FOIA requests by not complying with the applicable regulations; as such, the agencies were not required to search for the documents in question." Allen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153459, United States District Court for the District of Arizona, (February 2010).

Please note that failure to receive an amended request within a reasonable time frame would be construed as requester's lack of interest in pursuing the request. Thus, the matter will be administratively closed.

We strongly advise requester to amend the request so it could be processed.

Regards,
OSTP FOIA
---

On June 16, 2021:
Subject: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors
To Whom It May Concern:

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

Reference to the bill by the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/08/statement-of-president-joe-biden-on-senate-passage-of-the-u-s-innovation-and-competition-act/

1) Can I please have records/emails/transcripts OR correspondence with these companies OR applications submitted by these companies related to the bill above (or talking about potential subsidies) that discuss the following companies: Intel Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), GloFo (Global Foundries), NVIDIA (NVIDIA Corp.)?
2) Any record/email/transcript/application from any of the mentioned companies applying for subsidies under the CHIPS for America program (US Innovation and Competition Act hereto mentioned as US ICA).
3) Any record/email/transcripts of the Office of Science and Technology Policy discussing which of these companies to give subsidies to.
4) Any records/emails materially discussing subsidies under the US ICA OR CHIPS for America program.
5) Any records/email/transcripts of a short list of companies that will get subsidies under US ICA OR CHIPS for America program.

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 15 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Syed Muhammad Usman Pirzada

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
>https://www.muckrock.com/

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 114229
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
[Image removed by sender.]

Dear Syed,

The response to the request below is attached.

Regards,

OSTP FOIA

From: MBX OSTP FOIA
Sent: Friday, July 9, 2021 8:31 AM
To: requests@muckrock.com; MBX OSTP FOIA <OSTPFOIA@ostp.eop.gov>
Cc: MBX OSTP FOIA <OSTPFOIA@ostp.eop.gov>
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] RE: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors

Dear Syed,

Thank you for the correspondence below. The initial submission was not considered “received,” because of its overly broad nature—see the highlighted portion of our June 21, 2021 correspondence below regarding FOIA request recordation. The statutory 20 business days (weekends and holidays are excluded) within which to respond started on June 22, 2021, after the amended request was received and duly recorded. The formal acknowledgment letter is not due till July 20, 2021. The formal response will be provided on or before the preceding deadline.

Regards,

OSTP FOIA.

From: requests@muckrock.com <requests@muckrock.com>
Sent: Friday, July 9, 2021 5:01 AM
To: MBX OSTP FOIA <OSTPFOIA@ostp.eop.gov>
Cc: MBX OSTP FOIA <OSTPFOIA@ostp.eop.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] RE: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors

Office Of Science And Technology Policy, The White House
FOIA Office
1650 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20504

July 9, 2021

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following DC Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 16, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
>https://www.muckrock.com/

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 114229
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.

---

On June 22, 2021:
Subject: RE: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors
Please see the amended request:

All communications between OSTP and domain names ending in @amd.com; @nvidia.com; @intel.com; @ibm.com. regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act or CHIPs (please note the email may not explicitly mention the act/CHIPS for America but could just be discussing subsidies or the application of the aforementioned companies under the ambit of these bills/act. However, if this makes the request to time-consuming/too broad, feel free to ignore it and stick to comms that explicitly mention US ICA or CHIPs).

The pertinent date range is January 20, 2021 through June 21, 2021.
---

On June 21, 2021:
Subject: RE: [EXTERNAL] DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors
Dear Syed,

Thank you for the submission herein. Unfortunately, this request cannot be processed in its current form, because it's overly broad; lacks specificity; and fails to reasonably describe the records sought.

Under longstanding FOIA precedents, "broad sweeping requests lacking specificity are not permissible." Marks v. United States Dep't of Justice, 578 F.2d 261, 263 (9 Cir. 1978), see also, ("Request is too broad which seeks 'all unpublished manuscripts decisions of the Patent Office, together with such indices as are available." Irons v. Schuyler, 151 U.S App. D.C 23(1972)).

Additionally, the FOIA requires OSTP to make records available only upon a request which "reasonably describes" the records sought. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(3). "A description would be sufficient if it enabled a professional employee of the agency who was familiar with the subject area of the request to locate the record with a reasonable amount of effort." Marks, 578 F.2d at 263.

The request, as written, would not permit an employee of the agency to locate potentially responsive records with a "reasonable amount of effort." Marks, 578 F2d at 263. Such a request would lead to endless searches of the database to determine what could be considered responsive. Thus, the request is not permissible. Id.

Here, the request's breadth and scope are so encompassing that any document containing the words or terms in the document could potentially be responsive. For instance, documents with the words: NVIDIA, AMD, CHIPS etc., would be pulled into the search results, even though they might be from news articles without any nexus to the bill mentioned in the request.

Additionally, it is unclear whether requester is seeking records from OSTP or the White House Office (henceforth "WHO"). The request fails to identify the person or personnel who might have sent or received the responsive records. If requester is seeking records from the WHO, then it is important to disclose that OSTP cannot process FOIA requests for the WHO. We can only produce records created and/ or under our control at the time of the request. Furthermore, we cannot create new records so the instant request could be processed.

If requester is interested in obtaining records created by or under OSTP's control, then the request needs to identify the party or parties at OSTP who might have sent or received such information. For instance, requester could seek:

* "All communications sent or received by Eric Lander, OSTP Director, regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act."

Alternatively, requester could identify communications between OSTP and certain domain names. For example, requester could seek:

* "All communications between OSTP and domain names ending in @google.com; @apple.com etc. regarding the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. The pertinent date range is January 20, 2021 through June 21, 2021."

These are just two ways the request could be amended to address the current issues with it.

OSTP is a small agency with limited resources and over 100 pending FOIA requests. Coupled with limitations due to the current outbreak of COVID19. Therefore, those limited resources need to be efficiently managed to process only permissible FOIA requests.

At this juncture, it is important to disclose that this request is not considered recorded because of the issues enumerated herein. Under the FOIA, a request is recorded, thus considered perfected, only if it reasonably describes the records sought. 5 U.S.C § 552(a)(3)(A.). If a request fails to meet these criteria, a search for agency records is not conducted. For instance, in Allen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., the court held that "[the requestor] failed to perfect his FOIA requests by not complying with the applicable regulations; as such, the agencies were not required to search for the documents in question." Allen v. Dep't of Homeland Sec., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153459, United States District Court for the District of Arizona, (February 2010).

Please note that failure to receive an amended request within a reasonable time frame would be construed as requester's lack of interest in pursuing the request. Thus, the matter will be administratively closed.

We strongly advise requester to amend the request so it could be processed.

Regards,
OSTP FOIA
---

On June 16, 2021:
Subject: DC Freedom of Information Act Request: U.S. Innovation And Competition Act Passed In Senate Giving $52 Billion USD Subsidies To Semiconductors
To Whom It May Concern:

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

Reference to the bill by the White House: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/08/statement-of-president-joe-biden-on-senate-passage-of-the-u-s-innovation-and-competition-act/

1) Can I please have records/emails/transcripts OR correspondence with these companies OR applications submitted by these companies related to the bill above (or talking about potential subsidies) that discuss the following companies: Intel Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), GloFo (Global Foundries), NVIDIA (NVIDIA Corp.)?
2) Any record/email/transcript/application from any of the mentioned companies applying for subsidies under the CHIPS for America program (US Innovation and Competition Act hereto mentioned as US ICA).
3) Any record/email/transcripts of the Office of Science and Technology Policy discussing which of these companies to give subsidies to.
4) Any records/emails materially discussing subsidies under the US ICA OR CHIPS for America program.
5) Any records/email/transcripts of a short list of companies that will get subsidies under US ICA OR CHIPS for America program.

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 15 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Syed Muhammad Usman Pirzada

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
>https://www.muckrock.com/

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 114229
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
[Image removed by sender.]