ML20196C321

FOIA Request for Documents Re Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Committee & Fema/Nrc Meetings Held Since 860901 & Aslab 871207 Decision in Shoreham Case (LBP-87-32)

ML20196C321
Person / Time
Site:	Shoreham File:Long Island Lighting Company icon.png
Issue date:	12/24/1987
From:	Belair R KIRKPATRICK & LOCKHART, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY
To:	Federal Emergency Management Agency
References
FOIA-88-54 LBP-87-32, NUDOCS 8802160057
Download: ML20196C321 (6)

Text

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raux uen.n oc u iacdh Truccm => mem Frrrsetscw. rA ismsm (4th isMW aan nsus December 24, 1987 NDOM OF WFOMM AC Headquarters FOIA Officer Fcr.I REQUESIkss Federa1 Emergency Management Agency Federal Center Plaza b #d[-8,f((

500 C Street, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20472 Re: Freedom of Information Act Request Gentlemen:

l On behalf of our client, Suffolk County, Long Island, New '

York, we request, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 5 552 ("FOIA"), and the rules of the Federal Emergency Management Agency {"FEMA") issued thereunder, 44 C.F.R.

Part 5, copies of all agency records, including any notes, minutes, comments, and/or transcripts in the possession or control of the FEMA relating to:

1. any meetings of the Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Committee ("PRPCC") held during the period September 1, 1986 to the present, including the special meeting of the FRPCC held on December 11, 1987;

2. any meetings of the FEMA /NRC Steering Committee held in the period September 1', 1986 to the present, including a meeting held on. December 8, 1987;

3. FEMA's emergency plan reviews or FEMA's conduct of emergency plan exercises under the revised NRC emergency planning rule set forth in 52 Fed Reg., 42078 (1987);

4. a December 7, 1987 NRC Licensing Board decision in the Shoreham case (LBP-87-32);

S. a December 18, 1987 request by the Long Island Lighting Company that PEMA conduct a new exercise of LILCO's off-site emergency plan; and 8802160057 871224 PDR FOIA BELAIR88-54 PDR

K RKPATRICK & LOCKHART Headquarters FOIA Officer Federal Emergency Management Agency December 24, 1987 Page 2

6. the December 15, 1987 FEMA "Fact Sheet to Accompany NRC-FEMA Guiding Document: Criteria For Utility Offsite Planning and Preparedness (Nureg-06S4/PEMA-Rep-1, Rev. 1, Supplement 1 ) .

In the event that access is denied to any of the records responsive to this request, please supply the following information:

a. Identify the record or withheld portion of the record and specify the statutory basis for the denial, as well as your reason for believing that an exemption applies, as required by 44 C.F.R. 5 5.54(b).

b. Segregate the nonexempt from the allegedly exempt portion of any withheld records and release the former, as requircd by 44 C.F.R. 5 5.71

c. Supp2.y a detailed statement of the content of the withheld document or portion thereof, along with the date on which that document or portion thereof was written; its section heading or title; and an identification of any persons or entities who have received copies of such records or portions thereof, as required by applicable case law. Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820, 826-827 (D.C. Cir. 1973).

d. Separately state your reasons for not invoking your discretionary power to release the allegedly exempt records or portions thereof.

The undersigned will pay charges for search time and copying fees, as provided by FEMA regulations, 44 C.F.R. 5 5.46. If search and copying fees to be incurred by the undersigned will exceed .5300.00, please notify Lorraine Gibson at local telephone number 778-9118 before this sum is exceeded. Any question or comments concerning this request may also be directed to Ms.

Gibson.

We expect to receive your response to this FOIA request within ten (10) working days of your receipt of this request, as required by the FOIA, and as udt forth at 4 C.F.R. S 5 52.

Sincerply, /

fr-h O'Os w /

Robert R. ir

o .

0 v ! c .-n Robert R. Belair, Esq.

Kirkpatrick and tockhart South Lobby - 9th Floor 1800 M Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036-5891

Dear Mr. Belair:

This is in response to your letter of December 24, 1987, in which you request, under the Freedom of Information Act (FCIA), copies of all agency records, including any notes, minutes, comments, and/or transcripts in the possession or control of FD4A relating to:

1. Any meetings of the Federal Radiological Preparedness Coordinating Cocumittee (FRPCC) held during the period of September 1,1986 to the present, including the special meeting of the FRPI held on December 11, 1987;

2. Any meetings of the FEMA /NRC Steering Consnittee held in the period of September 1,1986, to the present, incitating a meeting held on December 8,1987; l

3. FEMA's emergency plan reviews or FD4A's conduct of emergency plan I

exercises under the revised NRC emergency planning rule set forth in 52 I Federal Register 42078 (1987);

4. A December 7,1987, NRC Licensing Board decision in the Shoreham Case (LBp-87-32);  !

5. A December 18, 1987, request by the Long Island Lighting Company that i

FD4A conduct a new exercise of LILCO's off-site emergency plan; and 1 j

6. The December 15, 1987, FEMA "Fact Sheet to Accompany NRC-FB4A Guiding i Document: Criteria For Utility Offsite Planning and Preparedness  !

(NUREG-0654-REP-1, Rev. 1, Supplement 1). l N s

)

.. . I Enclosed are copies of all documents relevant to your request which are available under the FOIA. You may note that some of the enclosed documents ,

reflect that attachments or enclosures are included with the document but nonc .

are provided. The reason is that some of the attachments or enclosures are I also not included in our files. The enclosed documents are exact l reproductions of the records maintained in our files and FEMA has not withheld any information f rom these documents. J A total of five doemeents are being withheld in their entirety. The description of each document, appropriate exemption (s), and reason (s) for exemption are as follows:

i

1. Talking points for meeting of October 15, 1987, with Nuclear Regulatory  !

Commission regarding workload events affecting FEMA Region I. (2 pages) l This document was preparec by a participant for an upcoring meeting as a self-reminder of workload / time requiremente and required personnel resources. This document is a predecisional working draft which projects expected time requirements ard needed personnel resources which are the i opinions and personc1 analyses of the author and are protected from disclorare uncec 5 U.S.C< 552(b)(5). In addition, this document is also exempt f rom disclosure under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(2) as it concerns interrnal I st.affing ar.d work assignment distribution for which there is no legitimate public in'.orest.

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2. 9 raft memorandum prepared on November 30, 1987, for the President, f rom the Docestic Policy Council,

Subject:

National System for Emergency Coordination. (4 pages)

This document was distributed to attendses at one of the FRPCC meetings.

It does not relate directly to nuclear offsite planning and preparedness which we assume to be your main interest. Rather, it relates to a proposed national system for ensuring that Federal action is organised and coordinated in the event of an extreme catastrophic domestic disaster.

Although we do not believe that this draf t is directly responsive to your request, we did consult with the Domestic Policy Council to determine if it could be released under the FOIA. The Domestic Policy Council informed our Agency that the draf t document is considered part of the Presidential policy process and, therefore, subject to Executive Privilege under exemption (b)(5) of the EVIA. Consegunntly, this document is withheld in its entirety.

3. Buckslip to George Woloshyn, Dave McLoughlin, and Bill Tidball f rom Sean Foohey dated December 4,1987,

Subject:

Concept Paper on the National System for Emergency Coordination, attaching a letter to Dr., Ralph C. Bledsoe, Executive Secretary Domestic Policy Counsel, from George Woloshyn, FEMA Associate Director, National Preparedness Directorate, dated November 17, 1987. (2 pages)

\

l The bucks 11p and att'achment were :reated by our Agency and relate to  ;

FEMA *3 recommendations and commer.ts regarding a National System for J Emergency Coordination. Since the President has not made any decision. '

they are also considered to be pa:t of the Presidential policy process and protected by exemption (b)(5) under the Executive Privilege as well as the deliberative process privilege.

]

4. Draf t Concept paper for Federal Emergency Coordination System (at a latet time, title changed to National System for Emergency Coordination),

date stamped August 5, 1987. (4 pages) j This document is an earlier draf t version of the document described under l No. 2 above 'and is withheld for the same reason under exemption (b)(5). j i

5. Draft regarding issues raised by LPB-87-32 decision and discussion (5 pages).

This draf t was prepared by one of the Office of General Counsel attorneys responsible for providing legal advice on any issues raised by the NRC Licensing Board decision. This document is protected under the attorney work product privilege of exemption (b)(5).

1 According to the Department of Justice guidance dated June 6,1979, the purpose of exemption (b)(5) is to assure

. . . presidents, agency heads, and other decisionmakers that they can safely welcome a full spectrum of candid expressions f rom their staffs and/or peers, because they will be free to accept or reject  ;

all such input on its apparent intrinsic merit, not on whether a particular staff memorandum may make the official's action look j better or worse, especially if the action is controversial or l later proves unsuccessful . . . ."

The exemption is designed to encourage f ree and f rank discussions of innovative or controversial ideas and to protect the advisory and deliberative process of government agencies, therdar assuring an effective decisionmaking process.

In searching our files, we located a number of documents prepared by other Federal agencies. They have been referred to the appropriate agency for review, determination of disclosure, and direct response to you. See enclosed letters to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Navy, Department of Transportation, and Environmental Protection Agency for a description of the specific documents referred to their respective agency.

The processing cf your request required 32.5 hours5.787037e-5 days <br />0.00139 hours <br />8.267196e-6 weeks <br />1.9025e-6 months <br /> of search time at the employee's hourly salary rate of $10.41, for a total search fee of $338.32. l The enclosed doc. aments comprise 1,142 pages at 5.15 per page, for a total photocopying fee of $171.30. In reference to the telephone conversation of January 13, 1988, between Lorraine Gibson of your office and Martin DiGregory I of my staff, your firm agreed to pay the additional costs cvar $300. l Therefote, we are forwarding the documents. Please subnit a check in the amount of $509.62, payable to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to the attention of Lirda M. Keener, FOIA/ Privacy Specialist, Room 840, Washington, D.C. 20472.

Insofar as you aay consider this decisien to constitute a partial denial of your appeal, you my appeal such denial to the Headquarters FOIA Appeals  ;

Officer, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street, S.W. , Washington,  !

D.C. 20472, with:n 30 days of the receipt of this letter. Your letter should j include why you believe such documents should be released to you. Both the i letter and envelope should be marked, "Freedom of Information Act Appeal". I 1

Sincerely,

/s h AUX W Grant C. Peterson

~ F .

Associate Director l State and Local Programs and Support l

Enclosures 1

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