Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. EPA

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit in the federal district court for the District of Columbia to compel the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to respond to requests for records related to actions EPA took after the agency cancelled presentations by two EPA scientists and a consultant at a conference on climate change at Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island in October 2017. In response to an inquiry from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about the reason for the cancellations, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt indicated that procedures had been put in place to prevent such occurrences in the future and to provide assurances that Office of Research and Development (ORD) senior leadership would make decisions about future event participation. Pruitt also said ORD would “continue to conduct research outlined in our Strategic Research Action Plans reflecting Congressional appropriations” and that he was committed to upholding EPA’s Scientific Integrity Policy. PEER’s FOIA request sought documents, records, and communications regarding the representations in Pruitt’s letter.