FOIAing the Trump Administration: What's going on at the EPA?

Frank Matt, MuckRock, Nov. 28, 2017

The Environmental Protection Agency last week pledged to clear out its backlog of FOIA requests from the Obama administration, but the agency is at the same time experiencing a glut of new requests. This week, we take a close look at the notable successes and frustrations of FOIAing Trump’s EPA.

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FOIAing Trump’s EPA

Scott Pruitt’s EPA released a statement last week pledging to make a dent in the agency’s significant backlog of requests. The EPA estimates it can return records for the majority of the approximately 600 remaining requests that were filed prior to 2017 by the end of the calendar year. The oldest outstanding request for EPA documents from a MuckRock user was filed in 2015.

While this is undoubtedly great news for requesters, the statement specified that the redoubled effort would focus on requests made prior to Trump taking office. Since Trump took office, the EPA has received a substantial increase in FOIA requests and lawsuits. Many requesters have expressed frustration with the EPA’s handling of this FOIA wave, reporting yearlong estimated waits for records and slow responses to status questions.

Read more here.