NRDC request for atrazine monitoring data April, 2009 

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April 15, 2009 

USEPA, HQ FOI Operations Staff (2822T) 

Re: NRDC Freedom of Information Act Request— Atrazine monitoring 

program data 

Dear FOIA Officer: 

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. Section 552, 

as amended and EPA’s regulations at 40 CFR Part 2. 

 

We ask that you provide the following information as it becomes available: 

• Data from the EPA pesticide program’s monitoring in community water 

systems, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 

• Data from the atrazine ecological watershed monitoring program, 2007, 2008 

More information on these datasets can be found here: 

http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/atrazine/atrazine_update.htm 

Claims of Exemption from Disclosure. 

 

If you regard any documents as exempt from required disclosure under the Act, please 

exercise your discretion to disclose them nevertheless. In the alternative, after a careful 

review for the purpose of determining whether all of the record is exempt from 

disclosure, please provide all reasonably segregable portions of the record, as required 

by FOIA. 

We ask that you disclose these materials as they become available to you without 

waiting until all the documents have been assembled. 

Should you elect to invoke an exemption to the FOIA, please provide the required full 

or partial denial letter and sufficient information to appeal the denial. In accordance 
NRDC request for atrazine monitoring data April, 2009 

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with the minimum requirements of your regulations and for administrative due process, 

this information should include: 

• Basic factual material including the originator, date, length, and addressees of the 

withheld items. 

• Explanations and justifications for denial, including the identification of the 

exemption applicable to the withheld document or portions of the document found 

to be subject to exemption, and how each exemption fits the withheld material. 

Request for Fee Waiver. 

As has been determined in previous cases in which we have requested similar 

information from you under FOIA, this request clearly meets the requirements for a fee 

waiver under FOIA and EPA’s regulations. Therefore, we request that you waive all 

fees in connection with this request. 

 

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national non-profit, tax-exempt public 

policy research and environmental organization. NRDC makes information available to 

thousands of citizens by means of its numerous and varied publications, educational 

programs, seminars, and public-interest litigation. The information disclosed pursuant 

to this request will be made directly available to the public and others engaged in policy 

analysis and research, including academicians, historians, area specialists, and 

journalists. 

The FOIA provides that you will waive fees if it "is in the public interest because 

furnishing the information can be considered as primarily benefiting the public" 5 

U.S.C. Section 552(a)(4)(A). Furthermore, fee waivers are most likely to be warranted 

when, as here, the records requested are for a representative of a bona fide public 

interest group and there is current public interest in the subject matter to which the 

document pertains, and that furnishing of the information can be considered of benefit 

primarily to the public as opposed to the requester. 

The requested disclosure will significantly inform the public's understanding of 

governmental operations. First, the materials pertain to an important and identifiable 

government function -- EPA's evaluation of pesticides to determine how they may be 

regulated -- and the requested data will help reveal to the public how vigorously EPA is 

implementing certain statutory directives. The requested materials may be critical to 

determining an estimate of the amount of each pesticide that may be released into the 

environment or a potential human exposure. Additionally, the materials will 

significantly promote the understanding of the public at large regarding the human 

health risks associated with pesticides. 

NRDC routinely employs numerous methods of publicly distributing or acting upon 

material gathered through FOIA and otherwise, from posting educational material on 

our website to discussing important issues in our quarterly magazine On Earth, to 
NRDC request for atrazine monitoring data April, 2009 

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issuing press releases, to participating in press conferences, to spearheading public 

interest litigation (e.g., Les v. Reilly, 968 F.2d 985 (9th Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 

950 (1993)). NRDC is well equipped to make information quickly and broadly 

available; our expert staff includes, among others, people devoted to communications 

work. Therefore, it is clear that under any reading of FOIA, all fees should be waived. 

However, in the event that fees are not waived, please inform us of the specific basis for 

such a decision as required by your regulations. We further request that you notify us if 

you expect fees to exceed $30.00. 

We appreciate your help in obtaining this information. Should you need further 

information concerning NRDC or this request, please contacting either of us by phone 

at (202) 289-6868 in order to speed consideration of this matter. 

We look forward to hearing from you within ten working days, as the law stipulates. 

 

Sincerely, 

Jennifer Sass, Ph.D. 

Senior Scientist, NRDC Public Health Program 

Washington, DC 

Tel: 202-289-2362, email: jsass@nrdc.org