Top: The DayLight publishes environmental news, mainly investigations

By The DayLight Editorial Board

MONROVIA – The Independent Information Commission has made an administrative decision in favor of The DayLight in a case against the Environmental Protection Agency. The decision ends a yearlong battle over access to information in the extractive sector.

The newspaper filed a complaint with the Commission in April after the EPA refused to provide environmental reports, audits, and permits regarding certain companies beginning September last year.

“The Environmental Protection Agency is hereby ordered to provide The DayLight Inc. with the records responsive to the request forming the subject of the complaint…,” said Joash T. Hodges, Information Commissioner, in his ruling last Thursday.

“The constitutional and statutory right of access to information cannot be effectively exercised where lawful requests to public institutions are met with prolonged silence, unexplained delay, or administrative inaction,” added Hodges.

The EPA had argued in an August hearing that some of the documents The DayLight requested were proprietary information or state secrets. The agency blamed its failure to provide the documents on challenges with implementing its own regulation.

It even expressed doubt over the newspaper’s ability to handle “technical” and “sensitive” information despite having fined companies based on the newspaper’s investigations in the past.

But the Commission rejected the EPA’s “blanket withholding of requested records.” It said the EPA had not demonstrated that the documents The DayLight requested fell within a statutory exemption.

“The Commission recognizes the specialized regulatory responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Agency and the legitimate need to protect information that falls under a statutory exemption,” read the decision.

“However, regulatory complexity does not displace statutory obligations, and administrative inconvenience does not constitute an exemption from disclosure.”

The Commission ordered the EPA to provide the documents and report on its compliance with the order in 15 working days. It ordered the agency to pay a fine of L$9,000 (US$53) to the government revenue by Tuesday.

Furthermore, the EPA must review its information regulation—published in March—and remove provisions inconsistent with the Freedom of Information Act.

“This is not just a victory for The DayLight, but also for the media, and public access to information,” said James Harding Giahyue, The DayLight’s Director/Managing Editor. “We hope the EPA respects the decision of a constitutional authority and closes this chapter.”

The EPA did not immediately respond to queries for comment, but it can appeal the decision in a civil court in Montserrado County.