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Don’t Let Farm Bill Limit Access to Information
On Wednesday the Sunlight Foundation joined with more than 40 other organizations to urge members of the conference committee on the Farm Bill to maintain public access to vital information about agricultural and livestock operations.
Language included in the House passed version of the Farm Bill, which is serving as the basis for conference negotiations, would undermine the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and prevent the public from accessing information that might have a direct effect on their quality of life. Similar language was previously removed from the Senate version of the bill.
The language, which is very broad and very vague, requires the government to withhold basic information about the location of livestock and agricultural operations. The language was intended to protect the privacy of small family farms, but it is so broad that it can be applied to large corporate operations. Furthermore, there are already strong exemptions in the FOIA for personal, private information that provide small farmers with protection.
You can view the full text of the letter here, or by clicking below.
November 6, 2013
Dear Conferee:On behalf of the undersigned groups, we urge you to oppose including provisions in the conferenced
version of the Farm Bill that unnecessarily cut off public access to a broad swath of information about
agricultural and livestock operations. This language would undermine the Freedom of Information Act’s
(FOIA) goal of transparency and it eviscerates the Act’s balanced approach to weigh the public interest
in the release of information.Members of the public have a right to know about agricultural and livestock operations that affect them,
including where such operations are located. This information is especially critical for people who live
near or share waterways with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Yet the language
included in the House-passed version of the Farm Bill (HR 2642) requires the government to withhold
even basic information about the location of livestock operations.FOIA (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(6) ) includes strong protections of personal, private information that proponents
seek through the provision. Agencies routinely rely on exemption 6 to withhold email addresses, phone
numbers, and other similar information of non-government individuals. Indeed, after determining that it
improperly released personal information related to CAFOs earlier this year, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) asked requesters who had received the information to return it to the agency.
The requesters complied.Beyond being unnecessary to protect the information of individuals and small family farms, the language
included in the House-passed bill is exceedingly broad and vague. The provision does not define
“owners” or “operators,” and thus permits the information of large corporate operations to be kept
from public view alongside the information of individuals and small family operations. As the Supreme
Court reaffirmed in FCC v. AT&T, Inc., Congress never intended to extend the FOIA’s protections for
personal privacy to corporations and Congress must not do so now.We urge you to oppose any effort to require the government to deny the public access to information
about livestock and agricultural operations. Including this language in the conferenced version of the
Farm Bill is bad for transparency and accountability, and is unnecessary. If you have any questions or
would like to discuss this issue further, please contact Patrice McDermott, Director of
OpenTheGovernment.org ([email protected] or 202-332-6736).Sincerely,
American Association of Law Libraries
American Library Association
ARTICLE 19
Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
Californians Aware
Center for Effective Government
Center for Media and DemocracyCenter for Science and Democracy at the Union
of Concerned Scientists
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in
Washington – CREW
Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition
Colorado Press Association
Community Research
The Constitution Project
Defending Dissent Foundation
Essential Information
First Amendment Coalition
Freedom of Information Center at the Missouri
School of Journalism
Government Accountability Project – GAP
Iowa Freedom of Information Council
Knowledge Ecology International
Michigan Coalition for Open Government
Minnesota Coalition On Government
Information
Montana Freedom of Information Hotline
MuckRock
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Freedom of Information Coalition
National Security Archive
New England First Amendment Coalition
Northern California Association of Law Libraries
Ohio Newspaper Association
OpenTheGovernment.org
Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition
Progressive Librarians Guild
Project On Government Oversight – POGO
Public Citizen
Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility – PEER
Public Record Media
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Sage Information Services
Society of American Archivists
Society for Professional Journalists
South Dakota Newspaper Association
Student Press Law Center
Sunlight Foundation
Tully Center for Free Speech at Syracuse
University
Washington Coalition for Open Government
Wisconsin Freedom of Information Councilcc: Chairman Darrel Issa, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
Photo via Flickr user Photos By Danny B
Source: http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/11/08/dont-let-farm-bill-limit-access-to-information/
