High Court Deems Agencies’ Draft Opinions Deliberative, Exempt From FOIA Requests

Mealey's (March 4, 2021, 1:44 PM EST) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Draft biological opinions prepared by two government agencies in response to proposed rulemaking by the Environmental Protection Agency constituted predecisional and deliberative documents and, as such, were exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a U.S. Supreme Court majority held March 4, reversing a ruling by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals....