Herman, Colman v. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs - Department of Conservation and Recreation (SPR 20140062)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor ofR ecords March 17, 2014 SPR14/062 Mr. Colman M. Herman 1200 Adams Street Dorchester, MA 02124 Dear Mr. Herman: This office has received your petition appealing the response of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (Department) to your December 12, 2013 request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(6). Specifically, you requested copies of all records, including; complaints, letters, emails, and faxes, relating to claims brought against the Department pursuant to the Massachusetts Torts Claims Act. You have requested copies of responsive records for the period of January 1, 2010 to the date of your request. In a December 23, 2013 email, the Department provided you with a cost amount for providing copies of records responsive to your request. In a January 13, 2014 email, the Department provided additional details that identified the basis for its fee estimate calculation. The Department is advised that its initial response failed to provide the breakdown of its fee estimate calculation as required of a records custodian. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2). In a March 13, 2014 telephone conversation with an attorney on my staff, William Hickey, Acting Press Secretary, provided additional information with respect to the Department's fee estimate calculation. According to Mr. Hickey, the Department's legal staff identified 355 case files that may contain information responsive to your request. The Department has estimated that it would take .5 hours to review each file, which I find to be reasonable given the amount of infom1ation that may be contained within each file. The Department estimated the cost of reviewing these files at an hourly rate of $35.70, the rate of the paralegal employed within the Department's legal staff. Mr. Hickey also stated that this employee is the lowest paid person within the legal staff, and is the employee most knowledgeable of the responsive records. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma. us/ pre

Mr. Colman M. Herman SPR14/062 Page Two March 13, 2014 Upon further consideration, it is the finding of this office that the Department has provided you with a good faith estimate of its cost for complying with your public records request. See 950 C.M.R. 32.06(2). While I recognize that the amount of the Department's fee estimate is significant, the request is fairly broad, and given that the requested records relate to legal claims made against the Department, it is reasonable for the Department to use the hourly rate of the lowest paid legal staff employee. In your petition to this office, you requested that this office inform the Department of certain exemptions that it was not permitted to claim with respect to any information redacted from the requested records. I decline to advise the Department as to any exemption claims without permitting the Department an opportunity to review the records that it identifies as Shawn A Supervisor of Records cc: Mr. William Hickey