EPA May Have to Disclose Ex-Lobbyist’s Rulemaking Chatter

The Environmental Protection Agency may have to turn over some records about one of its chemical safety administrators to an environmental group trying to understand her influence on agency policy, after a ruling by the Southern District of New York.

Records containing intra-agency discussion about how to broadcast agency policy decisions and talking points, as well as communications about how the EPA should respond to congressional requests, may not be covered by the Freedom of Information Act’s deliberative process exemption, Judge Jesse Furman said for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The Natural Resources Defense ...