Chief FOIA officer's recent email (Postal Regulatory Commission)
| Tracking # |
25-28 |
| Multi Request | Chief FOIA officer's recent email |
| Submitted | Oct. 20, 2024 |
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Communications
From: Sai
Dear Postal Regulatory Commission,
On behalf of myself and Fiat Fiendum, I hereby request the following records:
1. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email inbox or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
2. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's email spam folder or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
3. The one email in your chief FOIA officer's sent email folder or equivalent which was sent nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
4. The total full-time equivalent count of people who work for your FOIA office as of October 19, 2024.
This request is expressly limited to Postal Regulatory Commission's own FOIA office. Please do not refer it to any other agency or division. This request is expressly not a Privacy Act request, and no PA waiver will be provided.
Please provide the email records in EML, Maildir, MBOX, MIX, MSG, or PST format only — not PDF, Word, image, etc — including all metadata (e.g. full email headers as received/sent) and attachments, without alteration other than narrowly tailored electronic redaction of specifically claimed exemptions that do not affect any part of non exempt information (and, in particular, without rasterization).
Please provide the fourth record as a statement in your response letter, or at your option, as the most readily available record, in original electronic format as currently stored on your computer systems, which includes that information.
Please provide all records either as individual files, or as an unencrypted ZIP file, uploaded to MuckRock. Do not apply any encryption, DRM, or other restriction.
I request fee waiver, because
* Fiat Fiendum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit;
* this request is for public interest, non-commercial purposes;
* these records would give a snapshot of insight into the everyday processes of FOIA offices; and
* these records are being requested in order to conduct a government-wide audit of agencies' FOIA compliance.
In the event that you deny fee waiver, please process this request as-is, because I will not agree to any fees.
Please be sure to provide:
* 5 USC 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(II) FOIA Public Liaison information
* 5 USC 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(III)(aa) appeal information
* 5 USC 552(a)(6)(A)(i)(III)(bb) OGIS information
* 5 USC 552(a)(7)(A) tracking number
* 5 USC 552(a)(7)(B)(ii) completion ETA
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Sai
President, Fiat Fiendum, Inc.
P.S. Sai is my full legal name.
From: Postal Regulatory Commission
Sai, Fiat Fiendum, Inc.:
This email is in response to your request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), received on October 22, 2024, in which you requested:
1. The one email in the Commission’s chief FOIA officer's email inbox or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
2. The one email in the Commission’s chief FOIA officer's email spam folder or equivalent which was received nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
3. The one email in the Commission’s chief FOIA officer's sent email folder or equivalent which was sent nearest and before October 19, 2024, midnight Eastern time, regardless of subject matter.
4. The total full-time equivalent count of people who work for your FOIA office as of October 19, 2024.
The Commission has conducted a search, which revealed three responsive records. We are releasing two records in full and withholding one under FOIA exemption 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5) as it contains attorney-client privileged information, and the release of such information will cause foreseeable harm. We do not have any records that are responsive to number 4, and FOIA does not require an agency to create records. In addition, we are providing the records in PDF as we do not have the ability to securely release records in any other format. We are also sending these via email as uploading documents to a site not approved is a violation of government cybersecurity policy.
Your request for a fee waiver is moot since fees were not assessed for the processing of your request.
You may appeal this response by filing an appeal within ninety (90) days, in the following ways:
By filing an appeal at the following address:
David A. Trissell, Chief FOIA Officer
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001
E-mail: foia@prc.gov<mailto:foia@prc.gov>
Additionally, the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) was created by way of a 2007 amendment to the FOIA to provide mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Using the OGIS for mediation does not affect your right to pursue litigation. You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways:
Office of Government Information Services
National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001
Email: ogis@nara.gov<mailto:ogis@nara.gov>
Tel.: 202-741-5770
Fax: 202-741-5769
If you need further assistance or would like to discuss any aspect of your request, please do not hesitate to contact the Commission’s FOIA Public Liaison, Gail Adams, in any of the following ways:
Postal Regulatory Commission
FOIA Public Liaison
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001
Email: gail.adams@prc.gov<mailto:gail.adams@prc.gov>
Tel.: 202-789-6800
Your request has been assigned tracking number 25-28. Please refer to this number in any future correspondence pertaining to this request.
I hope that you find this information useful.
Sincerely,
/s/ David A. Trissell, Chief FOIA Officer
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001
From: Sai
Dear PRC,
Thank you for your extraordinarily prompt response and partial release. I appeal your denial of my form and format request.
You said for the first two items (i.e. the only released emails) that you are releasing the records in full. Given that you are not claiming any exemptions, therefore nothing to redact, and your ability to "securely" release records is irrelevant. Likewise, you haven't claimed any withholding for the email headers or structural metadata, which were destroyed by your export to PDF, so those must be released as requested.
The form and format request is mandatory under 5 USC 552(a)(3)(B & C), (f)(2)(A) (E-FOIA and FOIA Improvement Act) and 29 USC 794d (Rehab Act § 508). Any email client or server can easily save the emails in one of the formats requested. It is "readily reproducible in that form or format", which is the legal standard.
Sincerely,
Sai
From: Postal Regulatory Commission
Sai/Fiat Fiendum, Inc.,
Attached please find the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision regarding your administrative appeal of FOIA Request No. 25-28.
Thank you.
Postal Regulatory Commission
901 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20268-0001
