Mo. Coal. for the Env't v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs

369 F. Supp. 3d 151
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedMarch 28, 2019
DocketCivil Action No. 18-663 (TJK)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 369 F. Supp. 3d 151 (Mo. Coal. for the Env't v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mo. Coal. for the Env't v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs, 369 F. Supp. 3d 151 (D.C. Cir. 2019).

Opinion

2. FOIA Request 2

In August 2014, MCE submitted a request to the Little Rock District seeking documents relating to a pending permit application. Pl.'s Facts Stmt. ¶ 45; Pl.'s Ex. B at 1-3. Less than two weeks later, MCE received an email from a paralegal with the Little Rock District, stating that the requested information could not be released because it was "pre-decisional and a work product." Pl.'s Ex. B at 8. MCE sent a letter to the Little Rock District disputing that decision, arguing that at least some of the documents must have been generated by entities other than the agency, including those submitted by the permit applicant itself, and that those documents could not be withheld under Exemption 5. See id. at 11-14. In October 2014, MCE received a response from a Corps supervisor informing it that the documents that the Little Rock District would not release were being withheld under Exemption 5 because they were "intra- and inter-agency documents" and "contain[ed] information that [was] part of the internal process" of the Corps. Id. at 15-17. MCE administratively appealed that decision in November of that year. See id. at 18-19. About five months later, after receiving no response from the Corps, MCE sued. See id. at 20-25. The parties again reached a settlement in *156which the Corps agreed to release the requested documents, and the case was dismissed in July 2015. Def.'s Facts Stmt. ¶ 17; Pl.'s Ex. B at 26-28.

3. FOIA Request 3

In December 2015, MCE submitted another request to the Little Rock District seeking records related to a pending permit application. See Pl.'s Ex. C at 1-3. About three months later, MCE received an email from a second paralegal with the Little Rock District, providing some records but withholding several others under Exemption 5. See id. at 5. MCE replied to the email and asked whether the withheld documents were created by the applicant rather than the Corps, in which case, MCE argued, they would not be subject to Exemption 5. See id. at 4. Although she acknowledged receiving the email, the paralegal never followed up to clarify. See id. In April 2016, MCE filed an administrative appeal disputing the withholding of those documents under Exemption 5. See id. at 6-8. Two years later, and after MCE brought this case, the Corps released the withheld documents to MCE. See id. at 10-11.

4. FOIA Request 4

In March 2017, MCE sent a request to the St. Louis District seeking documents relating to a pending permit application. See Pl.'s Ex. E at 1-3. Less than two weeks later, MCE received a response from William Levins, District Counsel for the St. Louis District, releasing a "cover letter from the Corps to the applicant, attaching the public notice, a list of parties to whom the notice was being sent, and the public notice itself." Pl.'s Facts Stmt. ¶ 63; see Pl.'s Ex. E at 4-5. Levins stated that the Corps was withholding the rest of the documents in the application file "pursuant to Exemption 5 ..., [d]eliberative process, [p]re-decisional." Pl.'s Ex. E at 4. MCE did not file an administrative appeal. See Pl.'s Facts Stmt. ¶ 23.

5. FOIA Request 5

In October 2017, MCE sent a request to the St. Louis District seeking documents relating to a different pending permit application. See Pl.'s Ex. F at 1-3. Less than a month later, MCE received a "no records response" letter from Levins. See id. at 4-5. MCE emailed a third paralegal with the St. Louis District, who had forwarded the letter from Levins, asking her to clarify whether Levins's letter meant that the Corps found no responsive documents or that it was withholding responsive documents under one of FOIA's exemptions. See id. at 6. In December of that year, MCE received another letter from Levins clarifying that the Corps was withholding records under Exemption 5. See id. at 10-11. He explained that the Corps "cannot release records within an active file because those records are still deliberative in nature." Id. at 10. MCE did not appeal. See Pl.'s Facts Stmt. ¶ 26.

6. FOIA Request 6

On March 10, 2018, MCE submitted a request to the Little Rock District seeking records pertaining to an approved permit. See Pl.'s Ex. D at 1-3. On March 26, 2018, days after MCE filed its complaint in this action, MCE amended that request to also seek records pertaining to a pending permit application recently presented for public comment. See

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369 F. Supp. 3d 151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mo-coal-for-the-envt-v-us-army-corps-of-engrs-cadc-2019.