Munitions in New Orleans

05/13/2024

SENT VIA E-MAIL TO: requests@muckrock.com

Sarah Jones
MuckRock News, DEPT MR163543
Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Re: 2024-HQFO-01446

Dear Requester:

This acknowledges receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dated 5/13/2024, and seeking an incident at Tulane University.

Your request was received in this office on 5/13/2024.

After careful review of your FOIA request, we determined that your request is too broad in scope or did not specifically identify the records which you are seeking. Please describe what incident occured. Records must be described in reasonably sufficient detail to enable government employees who are familiar with the subject area to locate records without placing an unreasonable burden upon the agency. For this reason, 6 C.F.R. Part 5 §5.3(b) of the DHS FOIA regulations require that you describe the records you are seeking with as much information as possible to ensure that our search can locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever possible, a request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipients, and subject matter of the records, if known, or the DHS component or office you believe created and/or controls the record. The FOIA does not require an agency to create new records, answer questions posed by requesters, or attempt to interpret a request that does not identify specific records.

A list of DHS Component and Offices is located online to aid in providing more information: https://www.dhs.gov/operational-and-support-components. Additionally, your identified DHS Components or Offices may have their own FOIA office for FOIA request submissions. A list of DHS FOIA Offices is located online: https://www.dhs.gov/foia-contact-information. If your identified DHS Component or Office has a FOIA office, please submit directly to that office. Otherwise, respond back with your additional information.

Please resubmit your request containing a reasonable description of the records you are seeking. This is not a denial of your request. Upon receipt of a perfected request, you will be advised as to the status of your request. If we do not hear from you within 30 days from the date of this letter, we will assume you are no longer interested in this FOIA request, and the case will be administratively closed.

You have a right to appeal the above determination. Should you wish to do so, you must send your appeal and a copy of this letter, within 90 days of the date of this letter, to: Privacy Office, Attn: FOIA Appeals, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2707 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE, Mail Stop 0655, Washington, D.C. 20528-0655, following the procedures outlined in the DHS FOIA regulations at 6 C.F.R. Part 5 § 5.5(e)(2). Your envelope and letter should be marked “FOIA Appeal.” Copies of the FOIA and DHS FOIA regulations are available at www.dhs.gov/foia.
You may contact the DHS FOIA Public Liaison at 202-343-1743 for any further assistance and to discuss any aspect of your request. You may also contact OGIS at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.

Your request has been assigned reference number 2024-HQFO-01446. Please refer to this identifier in any future correspondence. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss this matter, please feel free to contact this office at 1-866-431-0486 or at 202-343-1743.

Regards,

DHS FOIA, Privacy Office
Department of Homeland Security
2707 Martin Luther King Jr. AVE SE
Mail Stop 0655
Washington, DC 20528-0655
E-mail: foia@hq.dhs.gov
Visit our FOIA website https://www.dhs.gov/foia