Federal agencies aren't required to hand over draft
documents related to the harm an EPA rule would pose to endangered
plants and animals, the Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Serv. v. Sierra Club , U.S., No. 19-547.
In a 7-2 decision, and the first majority ruling led by
Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court said that the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) does not require the release of a draft
document that would offer the public more detail about what
prompted federal regulators to change their conclusions in an
Endangered Species Act consultation done in support of an EPA
rule. "The deliberative process privilege protects the
draft biological opinions from disclosure because they are both
predecisional and deliberative," Barrett wrote.
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