8th Circuit Rules EPA's CAFO Data Qualifies For FOIA Privacy Exemption

摘要

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has reversed a lower court's ruling that EPA's release of information about concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) does not constitute an invasion of privacy. The unanimous Sept. 9 ruling in American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), et al. v. EPA, et al. says EPA's disclosure of spreadsheets containing personal information about CAFO owners - such as name, location, address and amounts of manure and wastewater generated annually - "would invade a substantial privacy interest of the owners while furthering little in the way of public interest that is recognizable under FOIA."