December 21, 2018

P.O. Box 1065

Charlottesville, VA Honorable Ralph Northam Sent Via Email
22902 Governor of Virginia
(434) 971-1553 c/o Chief of Staff Clark Mercer
www.wildvirginia.org

Dear Governor Northam:

Re: Questions and FOIA Requests Related to Voting Status of New Air Pollution Control
Board Members
Board of Directors: Dear Governor Northam:

Bette Dzamba I am writing to attempt to gain a clear understanding of the status of the newly-chosen members
of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board, in relation to their duties and powers as
Howard Evergreen independent Board members. I and others with keen interests in the workings of the Air Board
sincerely hope you will provide answers to the public to help us understand what our
Katie Keller
government is doing and why. I also include a request for records related to these questions, in
Brian Lux accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.

David Sellers News media accounts have quoted your staff to the effect that these members, Gail Bush and
Kajul Kapur, have been sworn in as Board members. It appears that, having taken the oath to
Deirdre Skogen
serve, these members would be empowered, as independent Board members, to make choices
Jamie Trost as to their participation in regulatory actions.

Ryan Wagener However, your spokesperson has also stated, after Wednesday’s decision by the Board to delay
a vote on the Buckingham compressor station permit, that “the timetable for the pending permit
Elizabeth Williams
action is still too tight for [Bush and Kapur] to participate” in the upcoming vote on the air
permit.

These statements prompt questions from many Virginians, including the following:

1. If these two people have been sworn in as members of the Board, what prevents them
from participating in the upcoming vote on the Dominion/ACP permit?
2. Have you ordered Ms. Bush and Ms. Kapur not to participate in the vote?
3. If the answer to 2. is yes, under what authority have you made that order.
4. If the answer to 2. is no, have Ms. Bush and Ms. Kapur communicated their intentions to
you not to participate in this case? If not, how can your office assure the public that these
two officials will not participate in the vote?

As stated above, in addition to respectfully asking that you answer these questions, I make a
request for records, in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Code
of Virginia § 2.2-3700 et. seq.
Protecting Your Favorite Wild Places
Printed on 100% Post Consumer Recycled Paper
 Honorable Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia
December 21, 2018

I request public records meeting the following description:

All records including or describing communications between Ms. Bush and/or Ms. Kapur and any
of the following: the Governor; the Governor's chief of staff, counsel, director of policy, the
Assistant to the Governor for Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Secretary of the
Commonwealth.

Such records should cover only the period between November 15, 2018 and the date of this letter.

In many cases, your office withholds records based on one or more exemptions provided by the
FOIA. One of those exemptions, available under Va. Code § 2.2-3705.7.2. for Governor’s “working
papers,” has been a basis for claimed exemptions. We would assert that any communications between
the Office of the Governor and either of these two individuals could not qualify as “working papers,”
because these appointees were chosen for and will serve as independent officials with separate
statutory responsibilities. While they serve at your pleasure, they do not work for the Governor nor
should they be in a position of providing confidential advice or information to the Governor or any
other administration official on issues within their areas of legal authority.

In relation to the records requested herein, we ask that the Office of the Governor waive any fees for
their production, because these records are sought to inform the public and serve general public
interests. If you determine that it is not practically possible to provide or make available all requested
records or determine whether they exist within five work-days from this request, please provide all
records that are available in that period and supply or make available the additional records as soon as
possible thereafter.

Thank you for your help. Please contact me by phone, at 434-964-7455 or david@wildvirginia.org, if I
can provide clarifications or further information regarding my question or the FOIA request.

Sincerely,
_______/s/________
David Sligh
Conservation Director

cc: Clark Mercer, Office of the Governor

Rita Davis, Office of the Governor
Jessica Killeen, Office of the Governor
Misty Boos, Wild Virginia
Deirdre Skogen, Wild Virginia