Emails for Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments rule
| Tracking # |
2021-F-06359 |
| Submitted | March 16, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Nicholas Kusnetz
Dear FOIA Officer:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
All emails of staff of the Employee Benefits Security Administration regarding the Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments rule and any of the following outside entities. I have listed the email domain names to make electronic searches easier:
-American Petroleum Institute [...@api.org]
-Independent Petroleum Association of America [...@ipaa.org]
-Western Energy Alliance [...@westernenergyalliance.org ]
-U.S. Chamber of Commerce [...@uschamber.com]
-ExxonMobil [...@exxonmobil.com]
-Chevron [...@chevron.com]
-ConocoPhillips [...@conocophillips.com]
I’d like to limit this request to emails sent or received between May 14 2020 and November 14 2020.
For your reference, here is a link to the rule in question: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/11/13/2020-24515/financial-factors-in-selecting-plan-investments
Please include any attachments that were a part of these emails, such as Word documents, or PDFs or other types of attachments. Please also include copies of emails in which any of the employees listed above were simply “cc-ed” or “bcc-ed.”
Because the above searches involve a limited number of outside entities and a defined period six months, this should hopefully constitute a simple request.
If you decide to withhold an exempt portion of any record, please release all other segregable parts. If you withhold any record or portion of a record, please specify which statutory exemptions are claimed for each withholding. Please describe each record withheld, including its date and size (e.g., number of pages).
I request that any documents be provided in electronic format, preferably in a searchable format such as PDFs, and that records be provided electronically.
As a representative of the news media I am only required to pay for the direct cost of duplication after the first 100 pages. Please waive any applicable fees. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit news media organization, and release of the requested information will inform the public and serve the public interest, specifically by illuminating the background for an important rule for the financial and energy industries. The information will be included in publicly-available news articles and will not be used for commercial interest. If there are any search, review, or duplication fees greater than $100, please inform me before you fill the request.
As I am making this request as a journalist and this information is of timely value, I would appreciate your communicating with me by telephone, rather than by email, if you have questions regarding this request. I can be reached at 917-719-0671
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 days.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Kusnetz
From: Employee Benefits Security Administration
March 23, 2021 Nicholas Kusnetz
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 109805
411A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144-2516 Nicholas: Thisacknowledges the receipt of your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of March 16, 2021,in which you requested our Employee Benefits Security Administration's (EBSA) staff emails from May 14, 2020 - November 14, 2020 regarding the Financial Factors in Selecting Plan Investments rule. As of today, it has been assigned to EBSA with tracking number 2021-F-06359. You may use this number to track the status of your request at . If you need to contact the agency about it for any reason, please submit your inquiry through (https://efoia.dol.gov/App/CheckStatus.aspx) https://efoia.dol.gov/App/CheckStatus.aspx hoover.kathy@dol.gov or phone 202-693-8649. In addition, it would be helpful to include the tracking number in the Subject line of any submission to them or to have it available at the time of a call. (mailto:osha.foia@dol.gov) Sincerely, | Darlene Miller Government Information Specialist, Office of Information Services Division of Management and Administrative Legal Services (MALS) | Office of the Solicitor U S Department of Labor | 200 Constitution Avenue NW N2420 | Washington DC 20210 Phone: 202-693-5442 | Fax: 202-693-5389 | Email: miller.darlene@dol.gov (mailto:miller.darlene@dol.gov) | e-FOIAs: foiarequests@dol.gov (mailto:foiarequests@dol.gov)
From: Employee Benefits Security Administration
Attachedis a response to your FOIA request # F2021 F 06359
From: Employee Benefits Security Administration
EXTENSION OF TIMETO RESPOND - INFORMAL April 27, 2021 Nicholas Kusnetz
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 109805
411A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144-2516 Re: Freedom of Information Act Request No. # 2021-F-06363 Dear Nicholas Kusnetz: The search for records is underway. We are conducting a comprehensive electronic search for records and require additional time. We anticipate a response from our IT department by next week. Thank you for your anticipated patience. If you would like to discuss anyaspect of your request please do not hesitate to contact the EBSA’s FOIACoordinator, Kathy Hoover at or the DOL FOIA Public Liaison, Thomas Hicks at hoover.kathy@dol.gov . Alternatively, you may contact the Office of Government InformationServices (OGIS) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)to inquire about the mediation services they offer. The contact information forOGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, NationalArchives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD20740-6001. You can also reach that office by e-mail at hicks.thomas@dol.gov ,by phone at 202-741-5770, by fax at 202-741-5769, or by calling toll-free at1-877-684-6448. (mailto:ogis@nara.gov) ogis@nara.gov You may file an appeal of thisdecision with the Solicitor of Labor within 90 days from the date of thisletter. The appeal must state, inwriting, the grounds for the appeal, including any supporting statement orarguments. In order to facilitateprocessing of the appeal, please include your mailing address and daytimetelephone number, as well as a copy of the initial request and this letter. The envelope and letter of the appeal shouldbe clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” Any amendment to the appeal must be made inwriting and received prior to a decision. The appeal should be addressed to the Solicitor of Labor, Division ofManagement and Administrative Legal Services, U.S. Department of Labor, 200Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-2420, Washington, D.C. 20210. Appeals may also be submitted by email to . Appeals submitted to any other email addresswill not be accepted. foiaappeal@dol.gov (mailto:foiaappeal@dol.gov) If we can be of further assistanceto you, please let us know. Thank you, Nora Hernandez Employee Benefits Security Administration(EBSA) Office of Outreach, Education and Assistance(OEA) United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW, Room N5623 Washington, DC 20210 PH: (202)693-8633 F: (202)219-8141 Hernandez.Nora@dol.gov (mailto:Hernandez.Nora@dol.gov) WARNING: The attached information may be confidential. It is intended only for theaddressee(s) identified above. If you are not the addressee(s), or agentof the addressee(s), please note that any dissemination, distribution orcopying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received thise-mail in error, please delete the message and any attachments and notify thesender of the error.
From: Employee Benefits Security Administration
EXTENSION OF TIMETO RESPOND - INFORMAL April 27, 2021 Nicholas Kusnetz
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 109805
411A Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02144-2516 Re: Freedom of Information Act Request No. # 2021-F-06359 Dear Nicholas Kusnetz: The search for records is underway. We are conducting a comprehensive electronic search for records and require additional time. We anticipate a response from our IT department by next week. Thank you for your anticipated patience. If you would like to discuss any aspect of your request please do not hesitate to contact the EBSA’s FOIA Coordinator, Kathy Hoover at or the DOL FOIA Public Liaison, Thomas Hicks at hoover.kathy@dol.gov . Alternatively, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) within the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to inquire about the 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, College Park, MD 20740-6001. You can also reach that office by e-mail at hicks.thomas@dol.gov , by phone at 202-741-5770, by fax at 202-741-5769, or by calling toll-free at 1-877-684-6448. (mailto:ogis@nara.gov) ogis@nara.gov You may file an appeal of this decision with the Solicitor of Labor within 90 days from the date of this letter. The appeal must state, in writing, the grounds for the appeal, including any supporting statement or arguments. In order to facilitate processing of the appeal, please include your mailing address and daytime telephone number, as well as a copy of the initial request and this letter. The envelope and letter of the appeal should be clearly marked “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.” Any amendment to the appeal must be made in writing and received prior to a decision. The appeal should be addressed to the Solicitor of Labor, Division of Management and Administrative Legal Services, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room N-2420, Washington, D.C. 20210. Appeals may also be submitted by email to . Appeals submitted to any other email address will not be accepted. foiaappeal@dol.gov (mailto:foiaappeal@dol.gov) If we can be of further assistance to you, please let us know. Thank you, Nora Hernandez Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Office of Outreach, Education and Assistance (OEA) United States Department of Labor 200 Constitution Ave NW, Room N5623 Washington, DC 20210 PH: (202)693-8633 F: (202)219-8141 Hernandez.Nora@dol.gov (mailto:Hernandez.Nora@dol.gov)
WARNING: The attached information may be confidential. It is intended only for the addressee(s) identified above. If you are not the addressee(s), or agent of the addressee(s), please note that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please delete the message and any attachments and notify the sender of the error.
From: Employee Benefits Security Administration
Attachedis a response to your FOIA request # F2021 F 06359
Files
pages