Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v. Envtl. Prot. Agency

288 F. Supp. 3d 15
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedDecember 11, 2017
DocketCivil Action No.: 14–2056 (RC)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 288 F. Supp. 3d 15 (Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v. Envtl. Prot. Agency) 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
Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v. Envtl. Prot. Agency, 288 F. Supp. 3d 15 (D.C. Cir. 2017).

Opinion

RUDOLPH CONTRERAS, United States District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ("PEER") brings this Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") suit seeking records from the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") concerning EPA's involvement with "suspected or actual toxic contamination at schools in the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District" ("SMMUSD"). Compl. ¶ 5, ECF No. 2. In a prior Memorandum Opinion, this Court determined that EPA had appropriately withheld a small number of documents.1 Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility v. EPA , 213 F.Supp.3d 1, 22-24 (D.D.C. 2016). Finding, however, that EPA had not sufficiently explained its refusal to release most of the challenged records, the Court directed the agency to revise its submissions to permit judicial consideration of whether the documents are protected by the claimed FOIA exemptions. See id. at 16. Since the Court issued its first opinion, the dispute has narrowed to nineteen documents, EPA has submitted supplemental Vaughn indices and additional declarations, and the Court has inspected all nineteen disputed documents in camera . Now before the Court are the parties' renewed cross-motions for summary judgment. For the reasons set out below, the Court grants the agency's motion for summary judgment except as to PRD 260, 1095, 1108 and 1617, which EPA must disclose in full, and PRD 940 and 1449, which EPA must disclose in part.

II. BACKGROUND

In August 2014, PEER submitted a request for records to EPA Region 9, pursuant to FOIA, 5 U.S.C. § 552. See Def.'s Statement of Material Facts ("EPA Statement") ¶ 1, ECF No. 18-1; Pl.'s Statement of Material Facts ("PEER Statement") ¶ 1, ECF No. 20. Specifically, PEER requested:

[E]mails and other written communications and notes of all communications from October 1, 2013 to the present concerning or referencing suspected or actual toxic contamination with [polychlorinated biphenyls ("PCBs") ] between named EPA employees and any other EPA employees and (1) Senator Barbara Boxer, any member of her staff, or the staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee which she chairs; (2) named members of the SMMUSD School Board; (3) named members of the Malibu City Council or the City Council as a group.

EPA Statement ¶ 1; PEER Statement ¶ 1. PEER also sought a fee waiver, which EPA granted. See Decl. of Steven Armann ("Armann Decl.") ¶ 16, ECF No. 18-3; PEER Statement ¶ 2. Months later, PEER brought this suit, alleging that EPA had failed to provide any records, as required by FOIA. See Compl. ¶¶ 1, 7.

*21Soon after the Complaint was filed, EPA responded to PEER's request by releasing a group of responsive documents, but withholding others pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 6 of FOIA. See Armann Decl. ¶ 17; EPA Statement ¶ 4; PEER Statement ¶ 4. Subsequent discussions between PEER and EPA led to the release of additional documents-some produced in full, and others partially redacted. See Armann Decl. ¶¶ 19-21; EPA Statement ¶¶ 5-7; PEER Statement ¶ 5. Thereafter, the parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

On September 30, 2016, this Court denied PEER's motion for summary judgment and granted in part and denied in part the EPA's cross-motion. See Pub. Emps. for Envtl. Responsibility , 213 F.Supp.3d at 26. In their motions, the parties had addressed three categories of documents: (1) documents withheld pursuant to Exemption 5 as being subject to the deliberative process privilege, (2) documents withheld pursuant to Exemption 5 as being subject to the attorney-client privilege, and (3) a document withheld pursuant to Exemption 6 as a record implicating the privacy interests of an EPA employee. See id. at 10-11, 19, 25.

The Court found that EPA had met its burden of showing that the document withheld under Exemption 6 was proper and that four records were properly withheld as privileged attorney-client communications. See id. at 22-26. The Court held, however, that EPA's Vaughn index2 was inadequate in certain respects and did not permit the Court to assess whether documents were properly withheld under the deliberative process privilege or whether certain other records were properly withheld under Exemption 5 for attorney-client privilege. Id. at 16. Because of deficiencies in the Vaughn index, the Court also could not assess whether EPA had met its burden of showing that it had released all reasonably segregable, nonexempt factual material. See id. at 24.

The Court, in its discretion, allowed EPA an opportunity to supplement its Vaughn index. See id. at 16-17. Specifically, it directed that EPA's supplemental submissions "must show, at the least: '(1) the nature of the specific deliberative process involved, (2) the function and significance of the document in that process, and (3) the nature of the decisionmaking authority vested in the document's author and recipient.' " Id. at 18-19 (quoting Nat'l Sec. Counselors v. CIA , 960 F.Supp.2d 101, 189 (D.D.C. 2013) ).

EPA has now supplemented its Vaughn

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Bluebook (online)
288 F. Supp. 3d 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pub-emps-for-envtl-responsibility-v-envtl-prot-agency-cadc-2017.