Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Protection v. Cole

52 A.3d 541, 2012 WL 3966524, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 268
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 12, 2012
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 52 A.3d 541 (Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Protection v. Cole) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth, Department of Environmental Protection v. Cole, 52 A.3d 541, 2012 WL 3966524, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 268 (Pa. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Judge LEAVITT.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection (Department) petitions for review of a final determination of the Office of Open Records (Open Records) granting Vera Cole’s appeal from the Department’s denial of her Right-to-Know Law1 request. The Department denied Cole’s request for the stated reasons that it did not have the records requested in the format requested. Nevertheless, the Department did provide Cole with most of the information “outside the context of the [Right-to-Know Law].” In granting Cole’s appeal, Open Records ordered the Department to provide Cole with all of the information she requested.2 Discerning no error, we affirm.

Cole, the vice-president of the Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association (Association), sought Department records about the Pennsylvania Sunshine Program, which provides rebates to homeowners and small businesses for solar electric projects they install on their property.3 Seeking to research the impact of solar installations, the Association sought to contact individuals who had received rebates under the Sunshine Program. To this end, Cole had been in contact with Thomas Bell, who oversees the Sunshine Program for the Department.

On June 13, 2011, Cole sent an e-mail to Bell, requesting

... information provided in the on-line Sunshine rebate application process:
Recipient’s Name
Address of the Installation
Size of the installation (in kW)
Roof or ground mount
Azimuth
Tilt
Module model and manufacturer
Inverter model and manufacturer
Utility company
Rebate approval date
Total Cost
Rebate Amount
Installer Name
Installer Address
Installer Email address
... for all PV Sunshine Rebate recipients to date (residential and small business) [and noting that she would] ask for a final list when [the] program closes.

Reproduced Record at 41a-42a (emphasis added) (R.R.-). Cole’s e-mail further stated that:

[i]t is our understanding that data of this nature is within the terms of Penn[544]*544sylvania’s Right to Know Law. We respect that Section 708(b)(6)(i)(A) provides exceptions for personal data that cannot be released. We are not asking for any details protected by this section (such as phone numbers, personal email addresses or personal financial information).

R.R. 41a (emphasis added). In closing, Cole’s e-mail noted that “[i]t would be easiest for us, and hopefully you too, to receive this data in an electronic format.” R.R. 42a.

Bell forwarded Cole’s request to the Department’s Open Records Officer, Dawn Schaef. Schaef issued an interim response on July 25, 2011, invoking Section 902 of the Right-to-Know Law and stating that the Department needed an additional 30 days to respond. 65 P.S. § 67.902.4 Specifically, the Department needed time to determine whether the requested record was a public record and, if so, to redact information not subject to disclosure.

On August 16, 2011, the Department issued a final response denying Cole’s request. The Department explained that it had no obligation to create a record that did not exist in its files or organize its files to suit a request. Specifically, it wrote as follows:

[The Department] does not have the records that you request in its possession, under its custody or its control in the format you requested. Pursuant to the Office of Open Records Final Decision in Jenkins v. Pennsylvania Department of State, OOR Dkt. AP 2009-065, it should be noted that: “It is not a denial of access when an agency does not possess records and [there is no] legal obligation to obtain them (see, e.g. section 67.506(d)(1)).” Further, an agency is not required “to create which does not currently exist or to compile, maintain, format or organize a record in a manner in which the agency does not currently compile, maintain, format or organize the record.” 65 P.S. § 67.705.

R.R. 45a. Nevertheless, the Department agreed to provide “most of the information” to accommodate Cole but not because it was required by the Right-to-Know Law. It stated that

outside of the [Right-to-Know Law] and in the discretion of the agency, the Department is providing you with a spreadsheet that contains most of the information you requested. No fee has been charged, in accordance with agency policy, since the materials currently exist in [545]*545an electronic format and no duplication costs were incurred to convert the documents to this medium. However, the information does not include ... the address of installation, the Department routinely does not provide addresses in requests for information. We also did not provide data as to Azimuth, Tilt or Utility Company as we do not track this information.

R.R. 45a.

Cole appealed to Open Records on August 29, 2011, asserting that: (1) the missing information relating to “azimuth,” “tilt,” and “utility company” was data collected by the Department in its online rebate application; and (2) that the addresses of the properties where the solar projects were installed were not exempt from disclosure under the Right-to-Know Law. R.R. 15a-16a.

On September 6, 2011, the Department requested bifurcation of the appeal. The Department argued that Open Records did not have jurisdiction over Cole’s appeal because the Department’s response was provided “outside of the [Right-to-Know Law].” Open Records issued a decision on September 7, 2011, denying the Department’s bifurcation request.

On September 19, 2011, the Department issued a second “response” to Cole’s Right-to-Know request. In relevant part, the Department stated that

[a]s your request pertains to rooftop mounts, azimuth, tilt, utility companies and array information, your request is granted....
However, the Department denies your request as follows. The Department will withhold information which is exempt from disclosure by law, as it pertains to the documentation you seek, as well as to your general request for documentation pertaining to the home address of applicants if the Department’s response is redefined by [Open Records] as a request within the [Right-to-Know Law]. If this occurs, the Department would assert that this response, post reclassification, would be the first response within the [Right-to-Know Law] and appropriate for the raising of exemptions.
The Department will not provide personal home addresses, cellular or personal telephone numbers or personal email addresses for any individual. This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 708(b)(6)(i) and Section 708(b)(l)(ii) of the [Right-to-Know Law], 65 P.S. § 67.708(b)(6).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 A.3d 541, 2012 WL 3966524, 2012 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-department-of-environmental-protection-v-cole-pacommwct-2012.