Government Regulation -- active



Sunoco Pipeline L.P. v. U.S. Dep't of Trans., et al.   (D.D.C.)

FOIA protections

The NAM filed an amicus brief seeking to enjoin the federal government from publicly disclosing sensitive risk assessment and hazard modeling documents associated with Sunoco's pipeline operations. Sunoco initiated this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for D.C. after the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration—which had historically protected this type of information from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) given its sensitive nature—reversed course and sought to disclose the information publicly within a matter of days. Our amicus brief argues that risk assessment and hazard modeling documents provided to the federal government to help protect against a major physical or cyber-attack are critical to maintaining pipeline operations and should be protected from disclosure under FOIA for both security and commercial reasons. Manufacturers in the oil & gas industry and beyond customarily protect the type of information at issue in this case from public disclosure due to significant threats to disruption of operations and public safety from bad actors seeking to exploit potential vulnerabilities. The government's decision to disregard the applicable FOIA exemptions presents grave concerns regarding the treatment of similar information that manufacturers routinely provide to regulators.


Related Documents:
NAM brief  (October 22, 2021)