Citizens for a Better Environment v. Department of Food & Agriculture

Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment denying them disclosure of records requested under the California Public Records Act. (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.) 1 The records sought are California Department of Food and Agriculture (hereafter Department) inspection and monitoring reports on county enforcement of pesticide use laws. Disclosure was denied on the ground that the reports are exempt from disclosure under section 6254, subdivision (a). We will reverse the judgment.

The Department failed to show that certain records were “not retained . . . in the ordinary course of business”; these records must be disclosed in their entirety. Regarding the remaining records, we hold that only the recommendations to the Department concerning the action to be taken are exempt but that the factual reports of the investigations and what was found must be disclosed.

Facts

The Department has the primary responsibility for enforcement of the federal pesticide use law pursuant to an agreement with the administrator of the environmental protection agency authorized by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) ( 7 U.S.C. §§ 136 -136y; § 136u (a)(1).) It shares this…

I respectfully dissent. I view the lengthy discussion in the majority opinion as a camouflage of the simple and straightforward answer to the problem presented. At trial, Jerome Campbell, a pesticide use specialist employed in the pesticide enforcement unit of the Department of Food and Agriculture, testified that he had examined the documents sought by the plaintiffs and found them to be notes, memoranda, preliminary drafts, and opinions of inspectors which would be utilized in preparing final reports; he further testified that those documents would be discarded by the department once the final draft had been published. Government Code section 6254, subdivision (a), provides, “Except as provided in Section 6254.7, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require disclosure of records that are any of the following: [¶] (a) Preliminary drafts, notes, or interagency or intraagency memoranda which are not retained by the public agency in the ordinary course of business, provided that the public interest in withholding those records clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.” The language of the section is clear and unambiguous, not needing interpretation or…

Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment denying them disclosure of records requested under the California Public Records Act. (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.) [1] The records sought are California Department of Food and Agriculture (hereafter Department) inspection and monitoring reports on county enforcement of pesticide use laws. Disclosure was denied on the ground that the reports are exempt from disclosure under section 6254, subdivision (a). We will reverse the judgment.

The Department failed to show that certain records were "not retained ... in the ordinary course of business"; these records must be disclosed in their entirety. Regarding the remaining records, we hold that only the recommendations to the Department concerning the action to be taken are exempt but that the factual reports of the investigations and what was found must be disclosed.

The Department has the primary responsibility for enforcement of the federal pesticide use law pursuant to an agreement with the administrator of the environmental protection agency authorized by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) ( 7 U.S.C. §§ 136 -136y; § 136u (a)(1).) It shares this…