Hall & Assocs. LLC v. EPA, No. 15-1055, 2018 WL 2336105 (D.D.C. May 22, 2018) (Jackson, J.)

Hall & Assocs. LLC v. EPA, No. 15-1055, 2018 WL 2336105 (D.D.C. May 22, 2018) (Jackson, J.)

Re:  Request for records concerning water treatment practice known as "'blending'"

Disposition:  Granting in part and denying in part plaintiff's motion for summary judgment; granting in part and denying in part plaintiff's motion for summary judgment

• Exemption 5, Deliberative Process Privilege:  "[The] Court concludes that the EPA made a nonacquiescence decision with respect to the Eighth Circuit's Iowa League of Cities opinion as of November 19, 2013."  "On that date, the EPA issued a Desk Statement, which explained that, although the Iowa League of Cities opinion was 'legally binding within the Eighth Circuit[,] [o]utside of the Eighth Circuit, [the] EPA will continue to work with States and communities with the goal of finding solutions that protect public health and the environment' in a manner that is 'consistent with the Agency's existing interpretation of the regulations.'"  "Yet, because that decision post-dated the creation of the vast majority of the nine documents that remain in dispute in this case, and also because most of the redactions in these documents shield the authors’ subjective opinions, this Court concludes that the EPA’s withholdings are largely justified, with a few exceptions."  "In reaching this conclusion, the Court also rejects the argument that these documents constituted the working law of the agency, or were officially acknowledged by the EPA; again, with one minor exception [where certain information "exactly match[ed] information that the EPA previously released in response to another of [plaintiff's] FOIA requests"]."
   
• Litigation Considerations, Discovery:  "The Court has . . . concluded that the EPA has not acted in bad faith in this litigation or in its handling of [plaintiff's] FOIA request, and thus, [plaintiff's] motion to strike, motion for discovery, and request for sanctions have been denied."