Friends of Coast Fork v. United States Department of the Interior

Appellants Friends of the Coast Fork (“Friends”) and Oregon Natural Resources Council (“ONRC”) requested, pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. § 552 , copies of certain documents in the possession of Appellee U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“USFWS”). The question presented by this appeal is whether Appellants are entitled to a waiver of fees for duplication of those documents. Because we find that Friends and ONRC made a prima facie showing of entitlement, which the government did not satisfactorily rebut, we reverse and remand with instructions to grant Appellants a full fee waiver.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

Appellants are public interest environmental organizations headquartered in Eugene, Oregon. Pursuant to FOIA, they separately and independently requested the administrative record of USFWS’s decision not to list the western pond turtle (Clemmys marmora-ta) as an endangered or threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544 . Initially and on administrative appeal, USFWS denied their requests for a waiver of fees which would be incurred in connection with the duplication of the requested documents. The only reason the…