ML20235T707

Responds to FOIA Request for Records Re Plant from 660101-860331.Request Fails to Meet Threshold Requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(3)

ML20235T707
Person / Time
Site:	Diablo Canyon
Issue date:	05/19/1987
From:	Grimsley D NRC OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATION & RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (ARM)
To:	Hamlin J SHAW, PITTMAN, POTTS & TROWBRIDGE
References
FOIA-87-174 NUDOCS 8710130186
Download: ML20235T707 (4)

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James B. Hamlin, Esquire Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge 230D N Street, NW. IN RESPONSE REFER Washington, DC 20037 TO F01A-87-174

Dear Mr. Hamlin:

This is in response to your letter dated March 27, 1987, in which you requested,-pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), " copies of all records relating in any way to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant.

-Units 1 and/or 2, that were created at any time from January 1,1966 )

I through March 31, 1986." You expressed an interest in a search of all Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) files that may contain responsive records, excluding records already.

publiclyavailableattheNRC'sPublicDocumentRoom(PDR).

After careful consideration, we have determined that your request does not " reasonably describe" the records sought, but rather is a broad,

. sweeping, indiscriminate request for production, lacking reasonable specificity. As such, the re requirements of 5 U.S.C.a)(3). 552(quest fails to meet the threshold The NRC headquarters offices are not consolidated in a single location; )

staff members are presently housed in rented spaces in seven separate J buildings in various locations. In addition, the NRC maintains regional a offices and onsite Resident Inspector offices. There is no " master j file" containing all records that the NRC has directly pertaining to a 4 particular power plant. In each of the various offices, records may be j filed by a' number of subjects, instead of or in addition to plant names, according to activities and functions of particular offices, such as reviews of generic issues, evaluations related to construction of plants <

and licensing activities, inr,pections, and investigations. l It is reasonable to assume the files located throughout various Offices and Divisions of the NRC contain records that might fall within the scope of your request for records " relating in any way to Diablo Canyon.... ,

We could not, however, short of examining every file possessed by the NRC, state with any degree of confidence that all records that directly pertain to Diablo Canyon have been located and could not, even after examining every file, be confident that we could identify every record which you might construe as " relating in any way to Diablo Canyon...."

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-4 Mr. James B. Hamlin The House Report on the 1974 amendments to the FOIA provides that: i "A i description' of a requested document would be sufficient if it enabled a professional employee of the agency who was familiar with the subject area of the request to locate the record with a reasonable amount of effort." (H. Rpt.93-876 at 5-6.)

As indicatec above, much more than a reasonable amount of effort would be required to attempt to comply with your request.

Likewise, the Senate Regort indicates .that the 1974 amendments to the FOIA were not intended to authorize broad categorical requests where it is impossible for the agency reasonably to determine what is sought.-

(See Irons v. Schuyler, 465 F.2d 608 (DC Cir. _1972))...." (S. Rpt.93-834 at 10.)

In view of the scope and nature of your request, the documentar material being sought, and the considerations expressed above, we y conclude that your request does not meet the requirements of 5 U.S.C.

552(a)(3). Accordingly, no further action will be taken with respect to your present request.

1 If you consider this response to be , denial of your request, you may 1 appeal this. determination within 30 days to the Executive Director for j Operations. As provided in 10 CFR 9.11, any such appeal must be in- J writing, addressed to the Executive Director for Operations, U.S. -

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555, and should clearly state on the envelope and in the letter that it is an " Appeal from an J Initial F0IA Decision."

We are providing the following inforination concerning persons and l offices specified in your letter in an effort to assist you in redefining a new request so that the NRC may, with a reasonable amount of effort, locate records on the specific subject (s) ..in which you are interested.

We are enclosing a list of F0!A requests pertaining to the Diablo Canyon plant which were not included in your letter. Our msponses to these requests are maintained in the PDR. With regard to these previous related FOIA requests, please note that NRC project managers transfer their files to new project managers. Therefore, existing project manager files on the Diablo Canyon plant are subject to previous requests F0!A-86-151 and FOIA-86-197. Also, Mr. Yin's existing records were incorporated with additional records on the Diablo Canyon plant into ,

files which are subject to pending request FOIA-84-21. Mr. Bishop is no longer working for the NRC; his existing files were incorporated into  !

regional files. Such files, as noted above, are generally organized by l subjects.

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Mr. James B. Hamlin  !

I have been informed by the staff that the NRC does not maintain files q of former AEC Commissioners but that some then-existing files of AEC l Consissioners may have been transferred from AEC to the Department of Energy (DOE), a successor organization of the AEC. You may wish to submit an FOIA request to the DOE official whose name and address are i provided below.

John H. Carter Department of Energy Chief FOI/PA Division of Reference & Infor1mation i 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,

Washington, DC 20585 I

With regard to foriser NRC Commissioners' files. I have been informed that the NRC maintains only incomplete files, only. chronological files rather than subject files, for only a few foriner Commissioners. There are approximately 30 boxes of such records, which are indexed by date and subject.

If you have any questions regarding this response to your FOIA request, you may telephone Ms. Linda Robinson at 492-8133.

Sincerely.

W Donnie H. Grimsley, Director l Division of Rules and Records )

Office of Administration and Resources Management )

Enclosure:

As stated

Re: F0lA-87-174 FOIA REQUESTS PERTAINING TO DIABLO CANYON F01A-81-15 FOIA-81-249 F01A-81-342 FOIA-81-431 FOIA-81-435 F01A-81-482 FOIA-81-517 FOIA-82-051 F0!A-82-159 F01A-82 503 F01A-84-21 FOIA-84-247 F0!A-84-643 FOIA-86-50 FOIA-86-123 I FOIA-86-151 F0!A-86-197 1

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