United States Department of the Interior U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Denver Federal Center, Bldg. 53 Denver, CO 80225-0046 In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 801A September 25, 2019 Mr. Austin Evers American Oversight 1030 15th Street Northwest, Suite b255 Washington, District of Columbia 20005 foia@americanoversight.org Re: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Tracking # USGS2019-00208 – No Records Response Dear Mr. Evers: This letter is our response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, dated August 28, 2019, in which you requested the following records: • All email communications between November 1, 2019 – August 28, 2019 (including email messages, email attachments, calendar invitations, and attachments thereto) sent by Director James Reilly, Acting Deputy Director Cynthia Lodge, Chief of Staff Judy Nowakowski, or advisor Rob Gordon, to any employee or representative of the following: a. American Enterprise Institute (@aei.org) b. Americans for Prosperity (@americansforprosperity.org) c. American Petroleum Institute (@api.org) d. British Petroleum (@bp.com) e. Cato Institute (@cato.org) f. CO2 Coalition (@co2coalition.org) g. Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (@cfact.org) h. Competitive Enterprise Institute (@cei.org) i. Energy and Environmental Legal Institute (@eelegal.org) j. Exxon Mobil (@exxonmobil.com) k. The Heartland Institute (@heartland.org) l. Heritage Foundation (@heritage.org) m. Institute for Energy Research (@instituteforenergyresearch.org) n. Koch Industries (@kochind.com) o. Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (@manhattan-institute.org) p. National Mining Association (@nma.org) q. Pacific Research Institute (@pacificresearch.org) Mr. Austin Evers r. The Right Climate Stuff (@therightclimatestuff.com) s. Texas Public Policy Foundation (@texaspolicy.com) After thoroughly searching our files, the U.S. Geological Survey did not locate records responsive to your request. I am responsible for this denial. On August 29, 2019, classified you as “other-use” requester category. On August 29, 2019, we granted your request for a fee waiver. As such, you are not being charged for the processing of your request. You may appeal this response to the Department’s FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer. If you choose to appeal, the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer must receive your FOIA appeal no later than 90 workdays from the date of this letter. Appeals arriving or delivered after 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, will be deemed received on the next workday. Your appeal must be made in writing. You may submit your appeal and accompanying materials to the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer by mail, courier service, fax, or email. All communications concerning your appeal should be clearly marked with the words: "FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPEAL." You must include an explanation of why you believe the USGS’s response is in error. You must also include with your appeal copies of all correspondence between you and USGS concerning your FOIA request, including your original FOIA request and USGS's response. Failure to include with your appeal all correspondence between you and USGS will result in the Department's rejection of your appeal, unless the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer determines (in the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer’s sole discretion) that good cause exists to accept the defective appeal. Please include your name and daytime telephone number (or the name and telephone number of an appropriate contact), email address and fax number (if available) in case the FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Officer needs additional information or clarification of your appeal. DOI FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Office Contact Information Department of the Interior Office of the Solicitor 1849 C Street, N.W. MS-6556 MIB Washington, D.C. 20240 Attn: FOIA/Privacy Act Appeals Office Telephone: (202) 208-5339 Fax: (202) 208-6677 Email: FOIA.Appeals@sol.doi.gov The 2007 FOIA amendments created the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to offer mediation services to resolve disputes between FOIA requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. Using OGIS services does not affect your right to pursue litigation. You may contact OGIS in any of the following ways: 2 Mr. Austin Evers 3 Office of Government Information Services National Archives and Records Administration 8601 Adelphi Road – OGIS College Park, Maryland 20740-6001 Telephone: (202) 741-5770 Fax: (202) 741-5769 Toll-free: 1-877-684-6448 E-mail: ogis@nara.gov Web: https://ogis.archives.gov Please note that using OGIS services does not affect the timing of filing an appeal with the Department’s FOIA & Privacy Act Appeals Officer. You also may seek dispute resolution services from our FOIA Public Liaison, Mr. Brian May, at the following address: U.S. Geological Survey FOIA Public Liaison 5522 Research Park Drive Baltimore, Maryland 21228 Telephone: (443) 498-5521 Fax: (443) 498-5510 Email: foia@usgs.gov This completes our response under your request. If you have any questions about our response to your request, you may contact me by phone at (303) 236-2737, by email at foia@usgs.gov, or by mail at Denver Federal Center, Box 25046, Mail Stop 801A; Denver, Colorado 80225. Thank you for your interest in the U.S. Geological Survey. Sincerely, GEORGANDREAS POGANY Digitally signed by GEORGANDREAS POGANY Date: 2019.09.25 12:13:46 -06'00' Georg-Andreas Pogány U.S. Geological Survey Government Information Specialist