Trumbull, Nathaniel v. Steamship Authority (SPR 20260929)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 24, 2026 SPR26/0929 Sean F. Driscoll Communications Director and Records Access Officer Steamship Authority 509 Falmouth Road Mashpee, MA 02649 Dear Mr. Driscoll: I have received the petition of Nathaniel Trumbull appealing the response of the Steamship Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 29, 2026, Mr. Trumbull requested “all email and text correspondence involving SSA personnel, SSA Board members and Port Council members related to the OIG report for the period of January 7, 2026 – January 13, 2026 [including] all BCC designees.” The Authority initially responded on February 11, 2026, providing a fee estimate. Previous Appeal This request was the subject of a previous appeal. See SPR26/0507 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (February 26, 2026). In my February 26th determination, I found that in light of the similarity of the requests submitted by Mr. Trumbull and his colleagues within 24 hours of each other, the requests could be combined for purposes of providing a fee estimate. However, I ordered the Authority to revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $2,436.67 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The Authority responded on March 13, 2026. Unsatisfied with the Authority’s response, Mr. Trumbull petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0929, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates – Agencies An agency may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832 • Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Sean F. Driscoll SPR26/0929 Page 2 March 24, 2026 Agencies may not assess a fee for the first four (4) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Authority’s February 11th and March 13th Responses In its February 11, 2026 response, the Authority provided a combined fee estimate of $2,436.67 to produce records responsive to Mr. Trumbull’s request, as well as for three additional requestors who collectively sought the same records encompassing the period of December 18, 2025 through January 13, 2026. In support of its fee estimate, the Authority provided the following information: This matter was the subject of a prior request from [an identified individual], who filed the same request for the period of December 18, 2025, through December 31, 2025… I informed her that, while the records search was still in progress, preliminary results had identified 264 emails and 254 attachments that may potentially be responsive to the request, or the equivalent of 3,044 pages of potentially responsive materials. Assuming one (1) minute of review per printed page, and after waiving the first four (4) hours, I noted the fee estimate to date was $1,168.33. On January 28, 2026, [an identified individual] withdrew the request. Fourteen (14) days later, [three identified individuals] each filed nearly identical requests, all within twenty-four (24) hours of each other, for the same information, although each with different time periods for review. [Three identified individuals] have frequently identified themselves in public correspondence, co-signed by all four individuals, as representatives of the Steamship Authority Citizens’ Action Group and Southeast Massachusetts Regional Transportation Citizens Task Force… These nearly contemporaneous requests by four individuals who have been working in concert on various matters are clearly an effort to circumvent the Massachusetts Public Records Law’s provisions regarding the charging of fees to produce the records, putting additional stress on this agency and its resources to respond to this request. Given that, I am considering these requests as a single request and delivering this fee request in response. The prior fee request covered the period of December 18-31, 2025. Requestors now seek additional records from January 1-13, 2026, approximately double the initial timeframe. Therefore, my good faith estimate is that the number of

Sean F. Driscoll SPR26/0929 Page 3 March 24, 2026 potentially responsive documents will also double. Therefore, assuming 528 emails and 508 attachments representing the equivalent of 6,088 printed pages, and further assuming a review time of one (1) minute per page, I am estimating 101.5 hours of staff review time. After waiving the first four (4) hours of review time, the remaining fee for review is $2,436.67… # of files # of Pages Hours of Price @ Final Price (4 review (1 $25/hour hours free) min/page) Emails 528 1698 28.3 $707.50 Attachments 154 3244 54.1 $1,351.67 – PDF Attachments 22 814 13.6 $339.17 – Word Other files 332 332 5.5 $138.33 TOTALS 1036 6088 101.5 $2,536.67 $2,436.67 In its March 13, 2026 response, the Authority further clarified its fee estimate as follows: …the Authority is seeking this fee specifically for segregating and redacting the records. Fees for search time are not being assessed in this matter. The review time is necessary to review each individual document, to segregate the records requiring redaction, and then to redact those records in accordance with the Public Records Law… [T]he Authority has designated two (2) individuals at its Public Records Access Officers… [An identified individual’s] 2025 wages were $192,686.80, or an hourly rate equivalent of $92.64. [An identified individual’s] 2025 wages were $136,138.80, or an hourly rate equivalent of $65.45. These two individuals are the only employees at the Authority with the necessary skill to review these records and determine which, if any, require redaction under the Public Records Law. Current Appeal In his appeal petition, Mr. Trumbull argued, “…the Steamship Authority has not clarified in any of its correspondence concerning my public records request: ‘... if the redactions are required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any.’” Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records: the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public

Sean F. Driscoll SPR26/0929 Page 4 March 24, 2026 understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. Please be advised, although the Supervisor may encourage fees to be waived, the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request; rather, as described above, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee upon a showing of various factors. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the Authority states that it will take 101.5 hours produce responsive records, it remains unclear why the Authority requires this much time. In this case, the Authority stated that it is not assessing a fee for the first four (4) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the requested records, and has confirmed that an hourly rate of $25.00 is less than the hourly rate of the lowest paid individual with the skill necessary to perform those tasks. The Authority has additionally confirmed it possesses 6,088 pages of responsive records and is only assessing a fee for segregating, and redacting the records. However, where the Authority intends to redact the responsive records, it must clarify if the redactions are required by law, and state the applicable statutes, if any. Pursuant to the Public Records Law, a fee may not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Authority must clarify this matter. Accordingly, I find the Authority must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $2,436.67 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). This office encourages the parties to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. Mr. Trumbull and his colleagues may wish to narrow their request(s). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (an agency shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any revision to the request(s) would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the Authority is ordered to provide Mr. Trumbull with a response to the request(s), provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of the response to this office at

Sean F. Driscoll SPR26/0929 Page 5 March 24, 2026 pre@sec.state.ma.us. Mr. Trumbull may appeal the substantive nature of the Authority’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Nathaniel Trumbull