Friday, March 5, 2021
On March 4, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in
United States Fish & Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, holding that the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) “deliberative process privilege” exemption, protects from public disclosure federal agencies’ draft biological opinions prepared pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) that are “predecisional and deliberative,” regardless of whether such drafts reflect the agency’s last views regarding a proposal. Though the case specifically addressed draft biological opinions prepared pursuant to the ESA, this case may be used to limit the public’s right to access a much broader range of documents where the documents are created prior to an agency’s final decision.