Center for Biological Diversity v. Haaland

Center for Biological Diversity and the U.S. Department of the Interior stipulated to the dismissal of CBD’s lawsuit seeking to compel a response to its Freedom of Information Act request for records related to its 2022 “Petition to Reduce the Rate of Oil and Gas Production on Public Lands and Waters to Near Zero by 2035.” The lawsuit was dismissed pursuant to a settlement agreement that the parties did not file with the court. The parties had reported to the court in December that the Department had completed its response to the records request in September 2024 and that the only remaining issue was attorneys’ fees and costs.

Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a lawsuit in federal district court in the District of Columbia alleging that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) was violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by failing to respond to the organization’s request for records regarding DOI’s receipt, distribution, circulation, and consideration of, and response to, CBD’s January 2022 “Petition to Reduce the Rate of Oil and Gas Production on Public Lands and Waters to Near Zero by 2035.” CBD alleged that it submitted the FOIA request in July 2023 and had received no records in response to the request.