The Federal Emergency Management Agency just released its plan from 2014 for how to respond to a hurricane in Puerto Rico, after having denied ProPublica’s request for the same document in October.

Over the past few years, many Freedom of Information Act offices have worked hard to better engage requesters and help guide requests down the right path. A recent DAPL-related rejection shows why that kind of dialog makes everyone’s life easier.

The Army Corps of Engineers’ response to basic requests for documents on the Dakota Access Pipeline has been reticent at best and often downright bizarre, but perhaps no response has been weirder than the agency’s rejection of a request for a simple environmental impact assessment - which the agency had already posted in full on its website.

The Army Corps of Engineers have rejected a FOIA request for the “assessment report on the potential impact of an oil spill of the Dakota Access pipeline,” arguing that the release of such information would people’s lives at risk.

For the first time since obtaining non-profit status, MuckRock has been designated by a federal agency as a commercial requester, this time by the Army Corps of Engineers, which has determined there to be no public interest in releasing material related to the #NoDAPL protests at Standing Rock.