Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/176960224/Freedom-of-Information-Act-Request-for-EPA-on-Official-Time-Oct-17
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P. 1Freedom of Information Act Request for EPA on Official Time - Oct 17Freedom of Information Act Request for EPA on Official Time - Oct 17Ratings: (0)|Views: 76|Likes: 0Published by Competitive Enterprise InstituteThis is a request under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking the documents described below related to the amount of union official time authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the partial government shutdown in October 2013.This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking the documents described below related to the amount of union official time authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the partial government shutdown in October 2013.More info:Categories:Types, Government & PoliticsPublished by: Competitive Enterprise Institute on Oct 17, 2013Copyright:Attribution Non-commercialAvailability:Read on Scribd mobile: iPhone, iPad and Android.download as PDF, TXT or read online from ScribdFlag for inappropriate content|Add to collectionSee moreSee lesshttps://www.scribd.com/doc/176960224/Freedom-of-Information-Act-Request-for-EPA-on-Official-Time-Oct-1709/11/2014pdftextoriginal 1899 L Street NW, 12
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October 17, 2013Larry Gottesman National FOIA Officer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20460Fax: (202)566-2147Email: hq.foia@epa.gov Re: Freedom of Information Act Request
Dear Mr. Gottesman (or whoever else may be in charge of handling FOIA requests):This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking the documents described belowrelated to the amount of union official time authorized by the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) during the partial government shutdown in October 2013. I request that documentscontaining the following information be provided to me:1.
Names of EPA employees that conducted union activities on official time from October 1, 2013, to October 16, 2013;2.
Number of hours spent, per employee, conducting union activities on official time fromOctober 1, 2013, to October 16, 2013;3.
Cost of each employee (salary and benefits) that spent time on official time fromOctober 1, 2013, to October 16, 2013;4.
What activities were performed by EPA employees on union official time from October 1, 2013, to October 16, 2013; and5.
The number of full-time official time EPA employees that were not furloughed duringthe partial government shutdown from October 1, 2013, to October 16, 2013.If possible, I request that responsive records be provided in electronic form, either in PDF or onunencrypted CDs or DVDs.We request that your office waive charges pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(iii) & 7 C.F.R. Part1, Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 1, §§ 5(b)&(c) & 6(a), since, as is explained below,disclosure is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to publicunderstanding of the operations or activities of the Government and is not primarily in thecommercial interest of the requestor.
Even if you do not waive the charges pursuant to those provisions, we request in the alternativethat your office waive charges for the first 100 pages and first two hours of search time.
We request this on the basis that CEI is a nonprofit, tax-exempt, public-interest organization,with formal research, educational, and publication functions as part of its mission, and because
release of these records will serve the public interest by contributing significantly to the public’s
understanding of government operations, the shaping of public policy, and how taxpayer moneyis spent.
This FOIA request is not for commercial use.
If our fee waiver is denied, we are willing to pay up to $100.00, and in the event of any appeal asappropriate and regardless of that outcome or your response to this fee waiver request, werequest the search and document production proceed in the interim. (If there are any suchcharges, please provide an invoice for the time incurred and cost for each document for whichmore than $15.00 is sought.)
CEI’s interest in the documents springs from
its efforts to educate the public, scholars, and stateand federal regulators on matters of government operations,
including union official time.
7 C.F.R. Part 1, Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 1, § 5(d).
7 C.F.R. Part 1, Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 1, § 5(b) (providing for fee waivers for Educational and non-commercial scientific institution requesters).
CEI is widely quoted in the press and other publications.
Obama’s Speech Police
Washington Post, May 26, 2013, at A17 (quoting CEI’s Hans Bader about federal education mandates)
(available in Westlaw at 2013 WLNR 12921146;
Yet Another Governmental Overreach
Newsday, May 28, 2013 (quoting CEI’s Hans Bader); Ramesh Ponnuru,
Colleges: New Sexual Harassment Rules Defy Reason
, St. Paul Pioneer-Press, July 24, 2013, at A14 (quoting CEI
’s Hans Bader) (2013 WLNR 18241796);
, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 26, 2013, at F5 (quoting
CEI’s Hans Bader);
, US Supreme Court Hears Massive Wal Mart Discrimination Case,
Voice of America, March 29, 2011
(quoting CEI’s Hans Bader);
Why Bail Out Bosses Who Messed It Up
, USA Today, Nov. 21, 2008, at 23A (quoting CEI) (available at 2008 WLNR 22235170);
BillShea,
Agency Looks Beyond Criticism of Ads of GM Boasting About Repaid Loan
, Cr ain’s Detroit Business,
May 17, 2010, at 3 (available in Westlaw) (citing CEI); William P. Hoar,
Bailing Out Scam Artists
American, October 13, 2008, at pg. 42 (quoting CEI’s Bader); Mark Tapscott,
GM Named in Deceptive Advertising Complaint Filed With FTC ,
Washington Examiner, May 4, 2010 (same); Carrie Lynn Flores,
Translation Services Not Required: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Does Not Require Special Accommodations for Limited English Proficiency Individuals
, 15 Harvard Latino Law Review 193, 198 fn. 24 (2011) (same);Carter T. Coker,
Hope-Fulfilling or Effectively Chilling? Reconciling the Hate Crimes Prevention Act With the First Amendment,
64 Vanderbilt Law Review 271, 283 fn. 73, 289 fn.103 & 106, 209 fn. 106 (2011) (same).
For example, the author of this letter routinely writes about federal official time.
See, e.g., Time for an official end to federal employee union subsidies,
Washington Examiner, June 5, 2013,(http://washingtonexaminer.com/op-ed-time-for-an-official-end-to-federal-employee-union-
The general and policy-oriented public will benefit from the dissemination of the informationrequested, si
nce CEI’s professionals are widely
-published about these subjects.CEI publishes about these and other issues in print and electronic media, as well as newsletters tolegislators, education professionals, and other interested parties,
and thus qualifies as a pressentity for purposes of FOIA.
Those activities are in fulfillment of CEI’s mission. The
information received will be disseminated through one or more of the following: a) newsletters,(b) opinion pieces in newspapers or mag
azines, (c) CEI’s web sites and blogs which receive
approximately 80,000 monthly visitors (approximately 40,000 unique) and are published on mostdays,
(d) in-house publications for public dissemination, (e) other electronic journals includingdaily blogs and newspaper blogs to which our professionals contribute,
(f) local and syndicatedradio programs dedicated to discussing public policy, (g) to the extent that Congress or statesengaged in relevant oversight or related legislative or judicial actives find that which is receivednoteworthy, it will become part of the public record on deliberations of the legislative branchesof the Federal and State Governments on the relevant issues. CEI is regularly cited innewspapers,
and legal and scholarly publications.
subsidies/article/2531217);
Government Office, Government Pay...Union Duties?,
U.S. News & World Report,February 28, 2013,(http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/02/28/government-employees-conducting-union-business-on-taxpayers-dime);
Cut spending: Permanently furlough ‘official time’ workers
TheWashington Times, February 28, 2013,(http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/feb/28/patterson-and-kovacs-cut-spending-permanently-furl/);
Official Time: Taxpayers paying for union work is officially a scam,
Capital Research Center, February 4, 2013,(http://capitalresearch.org/2013/02/official-time-taxpayers-paying-for-union-work-is-officially-a-scam/).
See EPIC v. DOD
, 241 F.Supp.2d 5 (D.D.C. 2003) (publisher of bi-weekly electronic newsletter qualified asthe media, entitling it to fee waiver under FOIA)
; Forest Guardians v. U.S. Dept. of Interior , 416 F.3d 1173,1181-
82 (10th Cir. 2005) (fee waiver granted for group that “aims to place the information on the Internet”;“Congress intended the courts to liberally construe the fee waiver requests of noncommercial entities”).
See the attachment to this letter, an EPA letter granting CEI a waiver of fees under FOIA.
7C.F.R. Part 1, Appendix A to Subpart A of Part 1, § 5(c) (also providing for fee waivers for media requesters).
(one of several blogs operated by CEI providing daily coverage of legal andregulatory issues);
(another CEI blog).
See, e.g., http://www.examiner.com/scotus-in-washington-dc/hans-bader (listing of about 1000 commentaries post
ed several times a week by CEI’s Hans Bader at Examiner.com).
Greg Victor,
Subsidizing Madness
, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 27, 2011, at E4 (citing HansBader of CEI about reach of federal law); Mona Charen, Creators Syndicate,
You Might Suppose That President Obama Has His Hands . . .
, Bismarck Tribune, June 10, 2009, at A8 (syndicated columnist quoted
CEI’s OpenMarket blog); Hal Davis,
Earth’s Temperature Is Rising and So Is Debate About It , Dayton Daily News, April 22, 2006, at A6 (citi
ng CEI’s GlobalWarming.Org); Washington Examiner, August 14, 2008, pg.
Think-Tanking (reprinting relevant commentary from CEI’s OpenMarket); Mark Landsbaum,
Blogwatch: Biofuel Follies
, Orange County Register, Nov. 13, 2007 (citing OpenMarket) (available in Westlaw news