Energy Dept. Ordered To Release Documents
7,500 Pages Involve Work of Cheney Panel
By Dana Milbank and Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 28, 2002; Page A01
A federal court ordered the Bush administration's Energy Department to turn over 7,500 pages of documents related to Vice President
Cheney's energy task force, a decision that would make public for the first time detailed information about the influence of industry
executives and others over the administration's energy policy.
The court order, from Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S. District Court in Washington, requires the Energy Department to turn over by March
25 documents indicating the contacts between outside groups and dozens of department staffers working on Cheney's interagency task
force.
The order made public yesterday is in response to a suit by the
Natural Resources Defense Council.
It is unrelated to the suit filed against Cheney this month by the
General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. That suit,
which is continuing, seeks information
related to contacts between outside groups and all administration
officials, including those in the White House, working on the task force.
The court order to the Energy Department will provide the first significant public disclosure of the activities and contacts of the energy task
force. The NRDC expects it will receive most of the information sought by the GAO, which could defuse the battle between Congress and the
administration.
The environmental group sued the Energy Department because it is not permitted under law to sue the White House. The Energy
Department has turned over some of the same information to the GAO, but the GAO has not released it.
The judge declared that "there can be little question that the Department of Energy has been woefully tardy" in responding to the NRDC's
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The NRDC filed the current suit in December after eight months of requests for the information
produced only 33 documents -- a release the order called "virtually meaningless."
"In addition to having no legal, or practical, justification for working at a glacial pace on plaintiff's FOIA request until suit was filed in
December, the material which plaintiff seeks is of extraordinary public interest," the judge wrote. "The subject of energy policy, especially
since the terrible events of September 11, 2001, is of enormous concern to consumers, to environmentalists, to the Congress, and to
industry."
The Senate begins to debate energy legislation this week. The House has passed its version, based in part on the recommendations of
Cheney's task force.
The Energy Department said it would comply with the order. "We've always said we would comply with it, and we are working diligently to do
so," spokeswoman Jill Schroeder said.
It remains unclear exactly how much the Energy Department will relinquish. In the case of the GAO, the department withheld certain
information, saying the GAO would have to ask the White House for the rest. The judge gave the Energy Department discretion to postpone
some releases until April 10 and make claims to withhold others by April 25.
The NRDC believes the documents will show that the Bush
administration met secretly with industry officials over a period of time.
If that is the case, NRDC Senior Attorney Jon Devine said,
the administration violated another law requiring that such meetings
be open to the public and detailed minutes be kept. The Federal
Advisory Committee Act also requires balanced membership. The public
did not have the same level of access to the task force that reports
have suggested big business did, Devine said.
"Justice is finally served," said Sharon Buccino, an NRDC lawyer. "This is going to expose the Bush energy plan for what it is -- payback to
polluters."
Eleven other groups have made similar FOIA requests of the Energy Department. Judicial Watch, a legal watchdog group that has also filed a
lawsuit against the administration, has a pair of hearings today in U.S. District Court in Washington on its case.
The 2,100 documents sought by NRDC, totaling 7,500 pages, include letters and memos sent from groups and companies to Energy
Department officials working on the task force. There are also some internal e-mails and memos, but nothing related to the task force's
deliberations. Kessler's court order is dated Feb. 21, but the NRDC said it received its copy of the order yesterday afternoon.
The documents may not indicate the full range of influence on the
energy task force. Before its collapse, Enron Corp. officials met SIX TIMES
with the task force, the administration has disclosed. But it is possible
that because of its high-level contacts with Cheney, the company
never approached Energy Department officials.
The Freedom of Information Act, passed in 1966 and amended several times, gives citizens the right to petition for information. There are
nine exemptions by which agencies can withhold information, including the protection of national security, trade secrets, deliberative
process and personal privacy.
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