Center for Biological Diversity v. Federal Energy Management Agency

Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia asking the court to require the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to respond to requests for records regarding FEMA funding of fossil fuel-related and renewable energy or energy efficiency projects as part of FEMA’s spending on disaster recovery and mitigation projects. CBD alleged that this funding often supported “status quo, fossil fuel-related infrastructure” such as diesel generators and rebuilding of power generation and transmission systems, “thereby exacerbating, rather than alleviating,” the environmental and public health harms faced by communities. CBD submitted its FOIA request to FEMA in December 2021 seeking records addressing a transition to renewable energy sources in FEMA assistance programs as well as information about FEMA funding of fossil fuel infrastructure, renewable energy resources, utilities, energy efficiency, and utility bill assistance for fiscal years 2018 to 2021. CBD alleged that FEMA had not produced any records or provided a timetable for doing so.