"A federal judge yesterday sided with environmentalists and said EPA cannot delay releasing more than 20,000 documents because of the government shutdown.
Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled over the holidays that EPA must hand over thousands of documents requested by the Sierra Club under the Freedom of Information Act. They include the calendars and emails of acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler and two dozen other EPA officials.
Laporte gave EPA 10 months to turn over the documents in stages, starting when the shutdown ended (Greenwire, Jan. 8).
But the Sierra Club moved for Laporte to revise her order in light of Wheeler's confirmation hearing this week.
The environmental group argued that, in spite of the shutdown, EPA staff were preparing Wheeler for his hearing and, consequently, their FOIA request should not be further delayed.
Laporte agreed, signing an order directing EPA and the Sierra Club to meet and hash out a schedule for the documents in the next three days."
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