MARAD FOIA Request #3: MLAA Seeks Records of the USMMA Advisory Board

May 12, 2021

By: MLAA

Today MLAA filed MARAD FOIA Request #3 seeking records of the USMMA Advisory Board. According to the Department of Transportation, “the USMMA Advisory Board serves as an independent body whose primary purpose is to examine the course of instruction and management of the Academy to further the accomplishment of its mission, execute its strategic plan, and help advance the midshipmen’s professional knowledge and skills.”

By statute, Advisory Board members “must be distinguished in education, industry and other fields related to the Academy’s mission.” According to the Department of Transportation, the Advisory Board is also tasked with advising the Maritime Administrator and the Academy’s Superintendent on “the Department of Transportation’s overarching goals of safety…and accountability.”

On August 29, 2019, Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao appointed seven new members of the Academy’s Advisory Board. The seven USMMA Advisory Board members are appointed for terms of up to three years, are eligible for reappointment, and must include one individual who recently graduated from USMMA.

The seven members are:

1. Dr. Henry S. Marcus, Chair (Professor Emeritus, MIT, 3 years)

2. Dr. Martha R. Grabowski, KP ’79 (Professor, RPI and Le Moyne College, 3 years)

3. Mr. John D. Noonan, KP ’78 (President and CEO, Binnacle Maritime LLC, 3 years)

4. Mr. Brian D. Starer, Esq. KP ’67 (Senior Partner, Squire, Patton Boggs, 2 years)

5. Mr. Benjamin Inouye KP ’10 (Manager, MAN Diesel and Turbo NA, 2 years)

6. Ms. Allison M. Cedeno, KP ’08 (Founder and CEO, Women Offshore LLC, 1 year)

7. Mr. Raymond F. Fitzgerald (President and CEO, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Solutions, 1 year)

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MARAD FOIA Request #3

T. Mitchell Hudson, Jr.

FOIA.MARAD@dot.gov

Cc: Mitch.Hudson@dot.gov

May 12, 2021

Re: MARAD Freedom of Information Act Request #3 (USMMA Advisory Board)

Mr./Ms./Mx. Hudson:

This letter constitutes a request under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and is submitted to the U.S. Maritime Administration (“MARAD”) by Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy, Ltd. (“MLAA”).  MLAA is a non-profit legal advocacy organization working to end shipboard sexual misconduct in the U.S. maritime industry, including shipboard sexual misconduct directed at USMMA cadet-midshipmen participating in the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s “Sea Year” program.

Consistent with our organization’s mission, and pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552, MLAA respectfully requests the following information from MARAD:

1. All U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Advisory Board (UAB) Meeting Minutes (draft and approved, whether or not published online) for meetings occurring between January 1, 2016 and April 13, 2021.

2. All UAB meeting agendas for the period January 1, 2016 through April 13, 2021.

3. All business records of the UAB for the period January 1, 2016 through April 13, 2021.

4. All records, documents, and communications transmitted by and between the Designated Federal Officer (or any other MARAD or U.S. Department of Transportation employee) to any member of the UAB between January 1, 2016 and April 13, 2021.

5. All records, documents, and communications concerning allegations or incidents of Sexual Assault or Sexual Harassment involving U.S. Merchant Marine Academy cadet-midshipmen, including but not limited to incidents that occurred on or off campus, during “Sea Year,” on team movements, etc. that were transmitted to, from, or between the Designated Federal Officer (or any other MARAD or U.S. Department of Transportation employee) and any UAB member between January 1, 2016 and April 13, 2021.  “All Documents” includes, but is not limited to, reports, correspondence, agreements, minutes, memoranda, e-mails, databases, and notes.  This request includes all documents that have ever been within MARAD’s custody or control, whether they exist in “working,” investigative, retired, electronic mail, or other files currently or at any other time.

Request for “News Media” Fee Status and Fee Waiver

MLAA is a “representative of the news media” for fee waiver purposes.  Based on our status as a “news media” requester, we are entitled to receive the requested records with only duplication fees assessed.  Further, because disclosure of this information will “contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of government,” any duplication fees should be waived.  Under FOIA, “Representative of the News Media” is defined as “[a]ny person or entity that gathers information of potential interest to a segment of the public, uses its editorial skills to turn the raw materials into a distinct work, and distributes that work to an audience.” 

Please visit our website at www.maritimelegalaid.com for dozens of examples of news articles we have created by taking raw materials from various public documents and converting those raw materials into completely distinct works that we distributed to our audience and to the broader public.

You may also visit the following hyperlink for a specific example of a news article which required our news organization to take raw materials from a Government Accountability Office report, which we then used to create a completely distinct work that we distributed to a niche audience of people in the U.S. maritime industry, resulting in more than 15,000 unique readers to date:

https://www.maritimelegalaid.com/blog/an-epic-sexual-assault-scandal-30-years-in-the-making-is-coming-for-the-us-coast-guard-and-this-foia-request-is-only-the-beginning

The FOIA’s fee waiver amendments were enacted to allow further disclosure to nonprofit, public interest organizations, since the FOIA as a whole is to be construed broadly in favor of disclosure (See, e.g., Dep't of Air Force v. Rose, 425 U.S. 352, 366 (1976).  

Further, the disclosure of this information is of no commercial interest to MLAA.  Under the FOIA, a commercial interest is one that furthers a commercial, trade, or profit interest, as those terms are commonly understood (See, e.g., The Freedom of Information Reform Act of 1986; Uniform Freedom of Information Act Fee Schedule and Guidelines, 52 Fed. Reg. 10012, 10017–18 (Mar. 27, 1987). None of those interests are present in this request, as MLAA works to achieve its goals through the dissemination of our distinct and labor-intensive works of investigative journalism, media outreach, and public education.

Conclusion

Thank you for your consideration of this request.  For questions regarding this request I can be contacted via email at maritimelegalaid@gmail.com.

Respectfully Submitted,

J. Ryan Melogy

MLAA Chief Legal Officer

Coordinator, Open Government Project