BillHustonBlog: FOIL / Freedom of Information Act Request / Back and Forth

Request for information to FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) under Freedom of Information Law (FOIL).

My original request: 27 July 2017

TO: FOIL Officer, Leonard Tao, Office of External Affairs

I am seeking all correspondence between FERC and any of these corporate entities:

XNG, Xpress Natural Gas, Direct Energy, Direct Energy Business
between 2011 to the present, which relates to EITHER

a) any NGA section 3 or section 7 jurisdictional questions about the operation of terminals to transport LNG or CNG by trucks, OR,

b) any inquiries, correspondence or application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from FERC, or to being a Prefile process for such, for operation of terminals to transport LNG or CNG by trucks
I prefer electronic copies, originals as submitted to FERC
I am willing to pay any reasonable fees, HOWEVER as I am a public interest researcher, I would ask for a waiver of fees.
My interest is as a citizen researcher, for public service journalism. I have worked as a researcher, videographer, and blogger in the public interest since 2010.
As this relates to a critical and current public safety investigation, I am requesting expedited processing

Best Regards,

William Huston

My second request 3 Aug 2017

From: William Huston <williamahuston@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2017 1:07 AM
To: FOIA-CEII
Subject: FOIL / Freedom of Information Act Request #2 8/3/2017

TO: FOIL Officer, Leonard Tao, Office of External Affairs

I am seeking all correspondence between FERC and any of these corporate entities:

NG Advantage, Clean Energy, Clean Energy Fuels

between 2011 to the present, which relates to EITHER

a) any NGA section 3 or section 7 jurisdictional questions about the operation of terminals to transport LNG or CNG by trucks, OR,

b) any inquiries, correspondence or application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from FERC, or to being a Prefile process for such, for operation of terminals to transport LNG or CNG by trucks
I prefer electronic copies, originals as submitted to FERC
I am willing to pay any reasonable fees, HOWEVER as I am a public interest researcher, I would ask for a waiver of fees.
My interest is as a citizen researcher, for public service journalism. I have worked as a researcher, videographer, and blogger in the public interest since 2010.
As this relates to a critical and current public safety investigation, I am requesting expedited processing

Best Regards,

William Huston

WilliamAHuston@gmail.com

FERC's reply 3 Aug, 2017:

Mr. Huston
Please be advised that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is an independent agency that regulates the interstate transmission of electricity, natural gas, and oil. FERC also reviews proposals to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and interstate natural gas pipelines as well as licensing hydropower projects. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 gave FERC additional responsibilities as outlined and updated Strategic Plan. FERC does not regulate Compressed Natural Gas nor handle the operation of terminals to transport LNG or CNG by trucks. http://www.ferc.gov/
http://www.ferc.gov/about/ferc-does.asp

The type of information that you are seeking may be available at US Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration or the Department of Energy. For your convenience we are providing the links to these Federal Agencies:

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION /Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/

DOT/PHMSA FOIA

https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/about/foia

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

https://energy.gov/

Department of Energy /FOIA REQUEST

https://energy.gov/management/office-management/operational-management/freedom-information-act

If you have additional questions regarding matters handled by FERC, please do not hesitate to contact the FOIA/CEII Service Center at foia-ceii@ferc.gov / (202) 502-6088 or contact me directly at (202) 502-8389.

Sincerely,

Toyia Johnson

Toyia Johnson

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Office of External Affairs

FOIA Public Liaison

Phone: (202) 502-8389 / Toll Free: 1-866-208-3372

Email: foia-ceii@ferc.gov

Online FOIA & CEII request forms: http://www.ferc.gov/legal/ceii-foia.asp

NOTICE: This email message and any attachments are for the sole use of the intended recipients and may contain information that is classified as privileged, CEII or otherwise protected from disclosure. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and delete the original message and attachments from your computer and other electronic devices.

My response 3 Aug, 2017:

Hi Toyia,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, it is not legally responsive.

Please have a look at 5 U.S. Code § 552. "Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders, records, and proceedings" (Freedom of Information Law).

This law places certain duties upon you in terms of a) time limits for a response, b) assignment of a tracking number, and c) acceptable ways that you are obligated to reply.

For example, you can give me the records I request.
Or, you can deny my request, citing certain exemptions.
Or, you can ask for more time.

However, you have done none of these things.
In two different FOIL requests for records,

I asked for "correspondence between FERC" and several different

business entities. (See the original requests for the list of business nams)

Instead of granting me these records, or denying my request, or asking for more time, you instead answered a *jurisdictional question*.

There are several problems with this.