National Parks Conservation Association v. US Department of the Navy

Opinion

WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, Plaintiff, C19-645 TSZ v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, Defendant.

The following Minute Order is made by direction of the Court, the Honorable Thomas S. Zilly, United States District Judge: (1) Having reviewed the parties’ Joint Status Report, docket no. 20, and the Declarations of Tom Buchele, docket no. 21, and Commander Erin Quay, docket no. 22, the Court ORDERS as follows. (a) On or before May 8, 2020, defendant shall (i) release to plaintiff any and all materials not previously produced that are responsive to plaintiff’s requests under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) and not exempt from disclosure, and (ii) provide plaintiff with a “Vaughn index” listing each withheld document and explaining why it was not disclosed. See Vaughn v. Rosen, 484 F.2d 820 (D.C. Cir. 1973). (b) Dispositive motions shall be filed by May 28, 2020, and noted for the fourth Friday thereafter, i.e., June 19, 2020, and any responses to, and any replies in support of, such motions shall be due in accordance with Local Civil Rule 7(d)(3). Plaintiff made its initial FOIA request in June 2016, almost four years ago, and defendant may not use the current COVID-19 crisis as an excuse for being unprepared to compile a Vaughn index until the end of August 2020. Because the parties have been unable to reach agreement on a briefing schedule, the Court has set a dispositive motion filing deadline that is reasonable given all of the circumstances, including the deadline for serving a Vaughn index and the anticipated issuance of defendant’s Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. (2) The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Minute Order to all counsel of record. Dated this 8th day of April, 2020. William M. McCool Clerk s/Karen Dews Deputy Clerk