University of Colorado School of Engineering Sciences Drone Documents
| Submitted | Aug. 23, 2012 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Drone Watch
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Colorado Open Records 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 3 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Brandon Wieber
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 23, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: CORA CU Boulder
Hello Mr. Wieber,
The message in the attached email was responsive to both of your submitted
CORA requests (submitted on 8/16/12 and 8/23/12, respectively). I apologize
if this was unclear in my original message. Please direct any future
CORA-related questions to my attention (coracuboulder@colorado.edu), and I
will do my best to expedite their processing as custodian of records for
CU-Boulder.
Thank you, and, again, apologies for any confusion!
Scott
--------------------
Scott Bocim
Custodian of Records / Assistant to the Chancellor University of Colorado at
Boulder
17 UCB
303-492-8908
Scott.Bocim@Colorado.edu
coracuboulder@colorado.edu
Dear Mr. Wieber,
Your Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests (copied below) were forwarded
to me as the custodian of records for the Boulder campus of the University
of Colorado. In your request, you seek seven categories of records related
to “aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs.”
In light of the breadth of your request and in accordance with our open
records policy <http://chancellor.colorado.edu/colorado-open-records-act@@ ,
I am seeking some clarification about what you are requesting. As noted in
the open records policy
@@http://chancellor.colorado.edu/colorado-open-records-act> , the more
specific the request, the more likely we will be able to locate records that
respond to the request. For any request that is vague or broadly stated the
Custodian may require the requestor to provide a more specific request.
Please let me know your contact number so we can discuss specifically what
you are seeking.
To the extent you are seeking records related to the University of Colorado
Boulder Police Department (UCPD), please note that UCPD does not use UAs,
UAVs, or UASs, has no plans to use them, and maintains no public records
responsive to your request.
To the extent you are seeking records related to the University’s academic
research departments, and to the extent such departments maintain
potentially responsive public records, it is my understanding that these
records would already be publicly available through the Federal Aviation
Administration. Furthermore, to the extent you are seeking research
records, please note that CORA contains an exception (C.R.S.
§24-72-204(2)(a)(III)) to the right of inspection for the specific details
of bona fide research projects being conducted by a state institution.
Best wishes,
Scott
--------------------
Scott Bocim
Custodian of Records / Assistant to the Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder
17 UCB
303-492-8908
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 23, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: CORA CU Boulder
Hello Mr. Wieber,
Below I've quoted from the attachment to my previous message, sent to you on 9/10/12 in response to your follow-up request sent on 9/7/12. We need additional clarifying information from you before we can proceed any further on your requests. Apologies again if I was not clear in earlier correspondence. To quote:
----------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Wieber,
Your Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests (copied below) were forwarded to me as the custodian of records for the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado. In your request, you seek seven categories of records related to “aerial drones, UAs, UAVs, and UASs.”
In light of the breadth of your request and in accordance with our open records policy, I am seeking some clarification about what you are requesting. As noted in the open records policy, the more specific the request, the more likely we will be able to locate records that respond to the request. For any request that is vague or broadly stated the Custodian may require the requestor to provide a more specific request. Please let me know your contact number so we can discuss specifically what you are seeking.
To the extent you are seeking records related to the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department (UCPD), please note that UCPD does not use UAs, UAVs, or UASs, has no plans to use them, and maintains no public records responsive to your request.
To the extent you are seeking records related to the University’s academic research departments, and to the extent such departments maintain potentially responsive public records, it is my understanding that these records would already be publicly available through the Federal Aviation Administration. Furthermore, to the extent you are seeking research records, please note that CORA contains an exception (C.R.S. §24-72-204(2)(a)(III)) to the right of inspection for the specific details of bona fide research projects being conducted by a state institution.
Best wishes,
Scott
--------------------
Scott Bocim
Custodian of Records / Assistant to the Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder
17 UCB
303-492-8908
Scott.Bocim@Colorado.edu
coracuboulder@colorado.edu
---------------------------------------
From: Shawn Musgrave
Mr. Bocim:
Thank you for your response and assistance with this request.
We are requesting records related to the University of Colorado Boulder's application to the FAA for authorization to operate drones. Please process our request, copied below, with respect to the FAA application process, as well as any contracts/cost allocation documents for drone/UAV/UAS/RCP equipment, training or research.
Please let me know if I may provide any further clarification of our request.
Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock News
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 23, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: CORA CU Boulder
Hello,
This message corresponds to both of the CORA requests submitted by MuckRock News for "any contracts/cost allocation documents for drone/UAV/UAS/RCP equipment, training or research." I write to ask for additional clarification regarding what you are seeking. As described in the Boulder Campus’s open records policy, the more specific the request, the more likely the Custodian will be able to locate records that respond to the request, and the more likely fees will be reduced. For any request that is vague or broadly stated the Custodian may require the requestor to provide a more specific request.
It is not clear whether the University maintains records responsive to your request for "any contracts/cost allocation documents for drone/UAV/UAS/RCP equipment, training or research." If you can describe a specific record you are seeking, or an example of a type of record you are seeking, the University can determine whether we maintain records responsive to your request.
Thank you in advance for any additional information you can provide, and please let me know if you have any additional questions for me.
From: Drone Watch
Hello:
We are seeking contracts and invoices for UAV/drone equipment, as well as contracts awarded to the University for UAV research, services or equipment development.
Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock
From: CORA CU Boulder
Hello Mr. Musgrave,
Thank you for your message. Unfortunately, the language included in your response does not make any clearer for us what specific records you are seeking. Again, as noted in our reply below dated 11/28/12, if you can provide a specific description or an example of a type of record you are seeking, we will be better able to determine if the University maintains any such responsive documents. Please note, also, that the University is not a merchant manufacturer of UAVs, so the University does not have any records related to contracts or invoices for the sale of UAVs.
From: Drone Watch
Hello,
We are seeking contracts and invoices -- that is the type of document we request.
Specifically, we request all contracts entered into by the University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences for UAV/UAS/drone services, research and/or equipment development, or invoices for the same.
One example of this might be any contracts or invoices related to Dr. Ryan P. Starkey's supersonic UAV, as reported by Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2012/07/02/supersonic-mini-drone-being-built-for-military-and-civilian-use/) last July. For this project and any like it being undertaken by UC Boulder Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, I seek any applicable contracts and invoices that might exist.
Please let me know if I can clarify this request any further.
Best,
Shawn Musgrave
MuckRock
From: CORA CU Boulder
Hello Mr. Musgrave,
This message replies to your Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, which are attached. You requested "...records related to the University of Colorado Boulder's application to the FAA for authorization to operate drones" as well as "...all contracts entered into by the University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences for UAV/UAS/drone services, research and/or equipment development, or invoices for the same...." As described in previous correspondence and in accordance with the Boulder Campus's open records policy, the University has undergone an estimation of the actual costs for this request, and anticipates that gathering public records responsive to your request will require more than one hour of retrieval and review time. As currently written, the cost estimate is $960.00 based upon 48 administrative hours at a rate of $20 per hour (a rate that is conservative considering the actual hourly rates of the administrators who would be completing this work are in reality much higher).
If you wish to proceed with your request as attached, we will require written confirmation that you wish to proceed in light of the estimated retrieval time and actual costs for gathering the records, and you will be required to pay the amount as a deposit prior to the University producing the records. The University will track the amount of time actually spent retrieving records and refund any portion of the deposit that exceeds the actual amount of time spent. Conversely, you will be charged at the quoted rate if actual retrieval time exceeds the estimate. Note that this estimate does not include reproduction charges, which are provided at the reduced cost of $0.15/page as outlined in the University's open records policy. This amount is not included in the deposit, but this additional cost will be factored into the final invoice when all materials are provided.
Lastly, if you wish to proceed with your request and upon receipt of your deposit, the University, pursuant to C.R.S. §24-72-203(3)(b), will require an extension of up to seven working days to respond to your request. This extension is necessary because University employees cannot reasonably gather or prepare the large volume of records within the three-day period without substantially interfering with their other public service responsibilities.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 23, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: CORA CU Boulder
Hello,
A response regarding this and your other existing CORA request was sent on Wednesday, 2/13/13. I've attached a copy of that email for reference, and pasted the text below as well.
Please let me know if the message is unclear in any way or if you have any additional questions.
Best wishes,
Scott
--------------------
Scott Bocim
Custodian of Records / Assistant to the Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder
17 UCB
303-492-8908
Scott.Bocim@Colorado.edu
coracuboulder@colorado.edu
---------------------------------------------
Hello Mr. Musgrave,
This message replies to your Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) requests, which are attached. You requested "...records related to the University of Colorado Boulder's application to the FAA for authorization to operate drones" as well as "...all contracts entered into by the University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences for UAV/UAS/drone services, research and/or equipment development, or invoices for the same...." As described in previous correspondence and in accordance with the Boulder Campus's open records policy, the University has undergone an estimation of the actual costs for this request, and anticipates that gathering public records responsive to your request will require more than one hour of retrieval and review time. As currently written, the cost estimate is $960.00 based upon 48 administrative hours at a rate of $20 per hour (a rate that is conservative considering the actual hourly rates of the administrators who would be completing this work are in reality much higher).
If you wish to proceed with your request as attached, we will require written confirmation that you wish to proceed in light of the estimated retrieval time and actual costs for gathering the records, and you will be required to pay the amount as a deposit prior to the University producing the records. The University will track the amount of time actually spent retrieving records and refund any portion of the deposit that exceeds the actual amount of time spent. Conversely, you will be charged at the quoted rate if actual retrieval time exceeds the estimate. Note that this estimate does not include reproduction charges, which are provided at the reduced cost of $0.15/page as outlined in the University's open records policy. This amount is not included in the deposit, but this additional cost will be factored into the final invoice when all materials are provided.
Lastly, if you wish to proceed with your request and upon receipt of your deposit, the University, pursuant to C.R.S. §24-72-203(3)(b), will require an extension of up to seven working days to respond to your request. This extension is necessary because University employees cannot reasonably gather or prepare the large volume of records within the three-day period without substantially interfering with their other public service responsibilities.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.