Environmental Defense Fund v. EPA

On March 3, 2025, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the federal district court for the District of Columbia to compel disclosure of correspondence and other records related to the 2009 Endangerment Finding regarding greenhouse gases. In a January 20, 2025 executive order, President Trump directed the EPA Administrator to assess the “legality and continuing applicability” of the Endangerment Finding. EDF alleged that it submitted a FOIA request on January 29, 2025 seeking “all correspondence and records of all members of the EPA transition team and political appointees relating to the Endangerment Finding” and that EPA had not made the required determination on the request by the February 27 deadline but had instead placed the request on the “complex” processing track with an estimated completion date of May 30, 2025. EDF’s complaint cited reports from late February indicating that the Administrator had recommended reversal of the Endangerment Finding. EDF alleged that “[a]ny action to destabilize the Finding and constrain EPA’s ability to reduce climate pollution would have significant, harmful consequences for communities across the country, who are already experiencing the devastating effects of climate change.”