Description: Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking EPA disclosure of directives to EPA employees since beginning of Trump administration concerning public communications about EPA work and review of EPA work by political appointees.
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Ecological Rights Foundation v. EPA
Case Documents:
Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary 07/26/2021 Judgment Download Plaintiffs' claims dismissed with prejudice and jurisdiction retained to resolve plaintiffs' request for attorneys' fees and costs. 07/23/2021 Stipulation Download Stipulation for entry of judgment filed. 07/15/2021 Stipulation Download Stipulation and [proposed] order filed regarding withholdings and dismissal of claims. 08/06/2018 Complaint Download Amended complaint filed. 01/18/2018 Complaint Download Complaint filed. Environmental Organization Filed FOIA Lawsuit Seeking EPA Directives to Employees on Public Communications About and Political Review of Work. An environmental advocacy organization filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in the federal district court for the Northern District of California seeking to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to produce instructions issued to EPA employees since President Trump’s inauguration about speaking publicly about their work or about review of EPA work by political appointees. The organization submitted its FOIA request on February 1, 2017 and alleged that EPA had failed to issue a final determination on the request. The complaint alleged that the documents sought were “crucial” because, among other reasons, they would “reveal the impact of partisan politics on the agency’s priorities, operations, and implementation, all of which have consequences for imperiled wildlife, catastrophic climate change, and public health in communities across the country.”