The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ), in a June 26, 2019 letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler, objected to the EPA's June 26 Final Rulemaking entitled "Freedom of Information Act Regulations Update [2]."

The letter states that the rule "enables the agency to limit public access to EPA records that are legally public information" and "the highly irregular procedure of issuing a final rule without proposal or public comments is unjustified and unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)."

• Text of SEJ's June 26, 2019, letter [3] to U.S. EPA Administrator Wheeler.
• June 27, 2019, EPA release [4] in response to SEJ's letter.
• June 28, 2019, Politico "Morning Energy" newsletter [5] citing EPA's response to SEJ's letter ("Around the Agencies" section).
• Text of SEJ's July 9, 2019, letter [6] to EPA's Elise Packard, Deputy General Counsel for Operations, and Timothy Epp, Acting Director, National FOIA Office, responding to EPA's June 27 release.
• July 9, 2019, RCFP/News Media Coalition letter [7], which SEJ signed on to along with 37 other news media organizations, to Christopher T. Creech, Office of General Counsel, U.S. EPA.
• July 12, 2019, RCFP release [8]. 

Coverage:

• "Press, green groups urge delay for FOIA regs [9]," Greenwire, July 10, 2019, by (subscription required).
• "Pressure mounts against EPA's new FOIA rule [10]," The Hill, July 10, 2019, by Miranda Green.
• "The environment for reporters covering EPA just got a lot more toxic [11]," The Washington Post, July 12, 2019, by Paul Farhi.