Case Detail

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Oregon has ruled that the Natural Resources Conservation Service failed to show that timber was a crop covered by the Exemption 3 provision in § 1619 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, which allows the Agriculture Department to withhold geospatial data provided by an agricultural producer. The court started its analysis by noting that to qualify for the exemption, the court needed to determine "whether the forest land owners in this case are 'agricultural producers' [which] depends on whether wood or timber is a crop." Because "crop" was not defined in the statute, the court looked to its ordinary meaning. The court observed that "'crop' ordinarily means 'the top, head, or highest part [originally] of an herb, flower, or tree.' Given that the definition of 'crop' includes only the top or highest part of a tree, as opposed to the entire tree, I find that the land owners are not agricultural producers. The first element may still be met if the forest land owners are 'owners of agricultural land.' "'Agricultural' means the 'harvesting of crops'. . .Because I have found that the ordinary definition of 'crop' does not include wood or timber, the forest owners are not agricultural producers." The court also found that timber did not qualify as an agricultural commodity. The Audubon Society of Portland argued that the statute distinguished between "farmers" and "forest owners," while the agency brought in contextual references from other statutes to show that timber could be considered an agricultural commodity. But the court noted that "because the FCEA makes a distinction between 'agriculture' and terms related to forests, I find that wood, timber, and forest products are not agricultural commodities under the FCEA." Although the court agreed that the redacted information was geospatial data, because the timber owners did not qualify as agricultural producers the exemption did not apply.
Issues: Exemption 3 - Statutory prohibition of disclosure

FOIA Project Annotation: A federal court in Oregon has awarded the Audubon Society of Portland $64,000 in attorney's fees for successfully challenging the Natural Resources Conservation Service's interpretation of the withholding provision in the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act. The court found the Society's requested amount of $111,000 was unreasonable in light of the amount of time it should have taken two experienced attorneys to litigate the scope of the definition of "agricultural commodities" in the FCEA. Even though the issue had never been litigated before, the court noted that "the primary issue was one of statutory interpretationâ€"whether 'agricultural commodities,' as used in the FCEA, included wood, timber, and forest products. . . The facts of the case were not complicated and the rules for statutory interpretation are well established." The court dissected the Society's fee claim, frequently finding that the number of hours claimed for certain activities was excessive. At one point, the court observed that, in limiting the amount of research time claimed, "the ordinary, dictionary meaning of the word dictated the analysis. . .[I]n this day of electronic research, one can pull up search results for a particular term within an act in a matter of minutes. I recognize that reviewing the search results would take additional time. But Plaintiff's analysis of different parts of the FCEA involved quoting verbatim how relevant terms were used in the statute or comparing the descriptive name of titles within the FCEAâ€"arguments that were neither complex, nor required much effort to explain."
Issues: Litigation - Attorney's fees - Prevailing party, Litigation - Attorney's fees - Entitlement - Calculation of award

Date Filed	Doc #	Docket Text
2010-09-30	1	Complaint. Filing Fee in amount of $350.00 collected. Receipt No. 600005823. Summons issued as to Defendant. Filed by Audubon Society of Portland against United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Attachments: # 1 Civil Cover Sheet, # 2 Summons) (cp) (Entered: 09/30/2010)
2010-09-30	2	Motion for Leave to Appear Pro Hac Vice for Paul Kampmeier . Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Bahr, David) (Entered: 09/30/2010)
2010-09-30	3	Motion TO WAIVE SPECIAL ADMISSION FEE . Filed by All Plaintiffs. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Declaration in Support of Motion to Waive Pro Hac Vice Fee) (Bahr, David) (Entered: 09/30/2010)
2010-10-04	4	Return of Service Executed. as to United States Natural Resources Conservation Service served on 10/1/2010 Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Bahr, David) (Entered: 10/04/2010)
2010-10-05	5	ORDER: Granting Plaintiff's Motion to Waive Special Admission Fee 3 . Ordered by Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. (lae) (Entered: 10/05/2010)
2010-10-05	6	Discovery and Pretrial Scheduling Order and Notice of Case Assignment to Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. Discovery is to be completed by 2/2/2011. Joint Alternate Dispute Resolution Report is due by 3/4/2011. Pretrial Order is due by 3/4/2011. Ordered by Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. (cp) (Entered: 10/05/2010)
2010-10-05	7	Order Granting Application for Special Admission Pro Hac Vice of Paul August Kampmeier for Audubon Society of Portland. Signed on October 5, 2010 by Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. (cp) (Entered: 10/13/2010)
2010-11-02	8	Answer to 1 Complaint. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 11/02/2010)
2010-11-04	9	Corporate Disclosure Statement. Filed by All Plaintiffs. (Bahr, David) (Entered: 11/04/2010)
2011-02-01	10	Joint Motion for Extension of Time Joiont Motion to Modify Scheduling Order . Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 02/01/2011)
2011-02-01	11	ORDER: Granting Joint Motion for Extension of Time 10 .Defendants motion for summary judgment is due April 15, 2011. Plaintiffs response to Defendants motion for summary judgment and Plaintiffs cross-motion for summary judgment are due May 16, 2011. Defendants combined response to Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment and its reply brief are due June 16, 2011. Plaintiffs reply brief is due July 15, 2011. Ordered by Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. (lg) (Entered: 02/02/2011)
2011-04-15	12	Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/15/2011)
2011-04-15	13	ORDER: Granting Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time 12 . Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment to be filed by 4/18/2011. Ordered by Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. (lg) (Entered: 04/15/2011)
2011-04-18	14	Motion for Summary Judgment. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/18/2011)
2011-04-18	15	Memorandum in Support. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/18/2011)
2011-04-18	16	Concise Statement of Material Fact. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/18/2011)
2011-04-18	17	Declaration of Lesley A. Kelly. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit D) (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/18/2011)
2011-04-18	18	Declaration of Brigette J. Beaton. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1) (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/18/2011)
2011-04-18	19	Declaration of Ronald Alvarado. Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 04/18/2011)
2011-05-03	20	Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time for Summary Judgment Briefing Schedule . Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Attachments: # 1 Proposed Order Proposed Order) (Bahr, David) (Entered: 05/03/2011)
2011-05-03	21	ORDER: Granting Motion for Extension of Time 20 . Responses to Dispositive Motions are due by 5/23/2011. Replies to Dispositive Motions are due by 6/23/2011. Plaintiff's reply brief is due by 7/22/2011. Ordered by Chief Judge Ann L. Aiken. (lg) (Entered: 05/03/2011)
2011-05-09	22	Notice of Case Reassignment: This case has been reassigned from Judge Ann L. Aiken to Judge Marco A. Hernandez. (eo) (Entered: 05/09/2011)
2011-05-23	23	Cross Motion for Summary Judgment by Plaintiffs . Oral Argument requested. Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Bahr, David) (Entered: 05/23/2011)
2011-05-23	24	Plaintiff's Memorandum in Support Motion for Summary Judgment and Opposing Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment . Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 23 , Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Bahr, David) (Entered: 05/23/2011)
2011-05-23	25	Declaration of Paul Kampmeier In Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment . Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Related document(s): Motion for Summary Judgment 23 , Motion for Summary Judgment 14 .) (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit Exhibit C, # 4 Exhibit Exhibit D, # 5 Exhibit Exhibit E, # 6 Exhibit Exhibit F, # 7 Exhibit Exhibit G, # 8 Exhibit Exhibit H, # 9 Exhibit Exhibit I, # 10 Exhibit Exhibit J, # 11 Exhibit Exhibit K) (Bahr, David) (Entered: 05/23/2011)
2011-06-23	26	Motion for Extension of Time Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time . Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 06/23/2011)
2011-06-23	27	ORDER: Granting Defendant's Unopposed Motion for Extension of Time 26 . Response/Reply to motion for summary judgment is due by 6/24/2011. Ordered by Judge Marco A. Hernandez. (mr) (Entered: 06/23/2011)
2011-06-24	28	Response in Opposition "Defendant's Combined Response and Reply Regarding Summary Judgment" to Cross Motion for Summary Judgment by Plaintiffs 23 , Motion for Summary Judgment 14 . Filed by All Defendants. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 06/24/2011)
2011-07-22	29	Reply to Cross Motion for Summary Judgment by Plaintiffs 23 , Motion for Summary Judgment 14 Oral Argument requested. Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Bahr, David) (Entered: 07/22/2011)
2011-08-15	30	Scheduling Order regarding Motion for Summary Judgment 14 and Cross Motion for Summary Judgment 23 . Oral Argument is SET for 10/7/2011 at 10:00AM in Courtroom 14B before Judge Marco A. Hernandez. (mr) (Entered: 08/15/2011)
2011-10-07	31	MINUTES of Proceedings: Motion Hearing Held regarding Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment 14 and Plaintiff's Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment 23 . Judge Marco A. Hernandez presiding. ORDER: Parties are requested to submit additional briefing on how 7 U.S.C. § 8792(a)(1), the definition of "agricultural commodity", affects the issue of whether the documents are exempt from disclosure. Defendant's brief is due by 10/28/2011. Plaintiff's brief is due by 11/4/2011. Motion will be taken under advisement as of 11/7/2011. David Bahr and Paul Kampmeier present as counsel for plaintiff(s). Kevin Danielson present as counsel for defendant(s). Court Reporter: Nancy Walker. (mr) (Entered: 10/07/2011)
2011-10-28	32	Brief Defendant's Supplemental Brief . Filed by United States Natural Resources Conservation Service. (Danielson, Kevin) (Entered: 10/28/2011)
2011-11-04	33	Sur-Reply In Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment and to Defendant's Supplemental Brief 32 . Filed by Audubon Society of Portland. (Bahr, David) Modified document linkage on 11/7/2011 (cib). (Entered: 11/04/2011)
2012-01-11	34	OPINION & ORDER: Defendant NRCS's motion for partial summary judgment 14 is denied with respect to claim one (violation of FOIA). Plaintiff Audubon's cross motion for summary judgment 23 is granted with respect to claims one (violation of FOIA) and two (violation of FOIA deadline). Claim three (violation of APA) is dismissed as moot because it had been pled in the alternative to claim two. See 12-page opinion & order attached. Ordered by Judge Marco A. Hernandez. (mr) (Entered: 01/11/2012)
2012-01-11	35	JUDGMENT: It is ordered and adjudged that Defendant's motion for partialsummary judgment 14 is denied, Plaintiff's cross motion for summary judgment 23 is granted, claim three is dismissed as moot, and this case is dismissed. Signed on 1/11/2012 by Judge Marco A. Hernandez. (mr) (Entered: 01/11/2012)
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