January 23, 2001

VIA FACSIMILE & U.S. MAIL
Mr. Michael A. Humphreys
Assistant United States Attorney
District of Columbia
555 Fourth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Re: Landmark Legal Foundation v. EPA
Case No. 00-2338

Dear Mr. Humphreys:

In light of the government's arguments to the Court and in furtherance of Judge Royce Lamberth’s January 19, 2000 order, Landmark Legal Foundation states the following:

1. In its opposition to Landmark's motion for preliminary injunction, the EPA represented to the Court that it did not recognize the November 21, 2000 agreement as binding, i.e., the EPA asserted that it "never signed any such agreement." Moreover, the EPA obviously failed to comply with the deadlines for producing responsive information set forth in the November 21, 2000 agreement, resulting in Landmark seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the EPA from removing or tampering with any potentially responsive information. Consequently, Landmark cannot now be bound by the agreement, either.

Therefore, Landmark's concession, at the request of the EPA, that Landmark's FOIA request be limited to eighty-eight (88) regulations (now apparently 11 regulations), is no longer binding. Landmark agreed to limit the search to eighty-eight (88) regulations in exchange for the EPA meeting the deadlines imposed by the November 21, 2000 agreement. By its own representations and actions, the EPA does not consider the November 21, 2000 agreement binding on the parties. Landmark expects that the EPA's search from responsive information will encompass all relevant rules and regulations. (See Landmark's September 7, 2000 FOIA request.)

2. The EPA represented to the Court that it "presently continues to process plaintiff's FOIA request as it relates to these 11 actions and expects to complete said processing no later than February 16, 2001." We anticipate that the EPA will honor its commitment to the Court and complete its search, and the provision of relevant and responsive information relating to the eleven (11) regulations, by February 16, 2001.

3. Landmark expects that the EPA will immediately and concurrently conduct a search for the remaining additional information (beyond the 11 regulations identified by the EPA) responsive to its FOIA request. Please provide Landmark with a proposed date for providing the responsive information.

4. Prior to the issuance of the January 19, 2001 preliminary injunction, the EPA removed information that may have been responsive to Landmark's FOIA request. Please provide a detailed accounting of the chain of custody and present location of this information, and the manner in which the EPA will search for and retrieve this information in order to comply with Landmark's FOIA request.

5. Please provide Landmark with a detailed explanation of the steps the EPA undertook to prevent departing employees, including former EPA Administrator Carol Browner, from removing or tampering with information potentially responsive to Landmark's FOIA request.

6. Please provide Landmark with a complete list of the names of all political appointees who served at the EPA any time between September 7, 2000 (the date of Landmark's FOIA request) through January 20, 2001.

7. Per our usual course of dealing, all responsive information is to be delivered to our Virginia office: 445-B Carlisle Drive, Herndon, VA 20170; and all communications with Landmark are to be with me during Landmark's usual business hours: 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. central time. In addition to serving Landmark by mail, I would appreciate a copy of any court filings being sent to me at the time of filing via facsimile at: 816-931-1115. Our facsimile machine is available at all times.