Supreme Court of the United States
United States Fish and Wildlife Serv. v. Sierra Club, Inc.
March 4, 2021592 U.S. 261
Summary
The Supreme Court held that the draft biological opinions prepared by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service are protected by the FOIA deliberative‑process privilege because they are predecisional and deliberative, even though they reflected the agencies' last view on the EPA's 2013 proposed rule. The Court reversed the Ninth Circuit and remanded for further proceedings. It also clarified the test for determining when an agency document is "final" for FOIA purposes.