Freedom of Information Act

Information is Power

Freedom of Information – FOIA

The federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is integral to NWEA’s work protecting human health and the environment.  This is particularly true in recent years, when EPA and state regulatory agencies have erased most of the content of their websites.  FOIA allows citizens and organizations to request documents that were prepared or in the possession of federal agencies in order to extract factual information, obtain decision documents, and gain insight into agency policies.  FOIA, and similar state laws, are an essential part of a functioning democracy.

NWEA has used FOIA to obtain documents such as

•  a draft national review of whether cyanide water quality standards protect threatened and endangered species across the country (they don’t).

•  an email showing that EPA relied on an environmental group’s lawsuit to conclude that Oregon’s coastal pollution program was protecting against unsafe levels of pesticides (it doesn’t).

 Unfortunately, many agencies are very slow to respond to FOIA requests and often fail to conduct complete searches for the documents requested, fail to respond within the time frames allowed by law, and withhold and redact information beyond what is legally allowed.  This abuse of FOIA has led to many lawsuits across the country against agencies that resist being transparent to the citizens they serve.  NWEA has had to resort to FOIA litigation in multiple instances, to obtain, for example:

 •  Documents pertaining to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) denial of NWEA’s petition to update Washington water quality standards for toxics, in 2019.

•  Documents pertaining to EPA’s oversight and involvement in Puget Sound water quality, in 2019.

•  Documents pertaining to federal funding of beaver killing operations from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2018.

•  Documents pertaining to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s review of California water quality standards in 2017.

•  Documents pertaining to the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) funding of groups promoting water pollution trading, in 2017.

•  Documents pertaining to the EPA’s oversight of Oregon’s coastal nonpoint pollution control program, in 2015.

•  Documents pertaining to EPA’s Agency Operating Guidances, in 2013.

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