State Agencies like DEM Claim Public Records Reform a Burden
By Colleen Cronin / ecoRI News staff
For several years, a Rhode Island public records reform bill has been introduced to the
General Assembly, and each time it gets a hearing, several public bodies write
to oppose the bill or express their concerns.
When the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA)
ran the town, loopholes in the state open
records law were used to cover up shady deals
The Department of Environmental Management is regularly one
of those bodies, writing in a May letter that the reforms would create
additional burdens for the agency.
“DEM is one of the top recipients of [Access to Public
Records Act] requests among state agencies,” director Terry Gray wrote in the
letter outlining his concerns. “While we welcome the opportunity to provide
more transparency in our work, it is an extremely resource-intensive process to
comply even under existing law.”
DEM and nine other state agencies cited increased workload
in their letters of concern or opposition to the bill, which would have
expanded the definition of public records and tried to tamp down on some of the
fees agencies charge, among other reforms.
ecoRI News requested and reviewed information from those departments on their public records requests from the last calendar year and found the volume of requests they receive varies greatly, with DEM coming out on or near the top for requests.
In 2024, DEM received 1,508 requests, most of which involved
septic system and site remediation records, according to a list kept by the
agency. Those types of documents are frequently requested during property
transactions and transfers.
Of the agencies that responded to ecoRI News, either through
an APRA or informal request, the Department of Health had the next highest
number at 476 requests.
The Department of Public Safety, which wrote to the General
Assembly with concerns about the proposed reforms, didn’t respond to ecoRI News
requests by press time, but did estimate in its letter that it receives about
2,000 requests annually.
The governor’s office received at least 40 requests last year, but this figure may not include all their requests. “Following a recent computer system upgrade, our legal administrative team has not been utilizing that case management system, and as a result, the Office does not have a log for any requests following October 10, 2024,” counsel for the governor wrote in an APRA response to ecoRI News.
“While DEM clearly does have a very large number of APRA
requests to deal with, their objections to the bill — like those of so many
other state agencies — either misrepresent what the bill requires or exaggerate
its impact,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Rhode Island.
Among top concerns from agencies, including DEM, was the
language in the bill about privilege logs that the departments say would add to
their already heavy APRA burden.
“Our concern with this proposal is that we don’t have the
staff resources available to maintain such a log for the many APRA requests we
receive,” Gray wrote in the agency’s opposition letter.
Brown noted the log isn’t a requirement for agencies, it’s
an option.
“The bill does not require agencies to maintain a privilege log. They instead have the simpler option — which some agencies already follow — of identifying what exemption they are relying on directly on the redacted document itself,” Brown wrote in an email to ecoRI News.
“The goal of this
amendment is simple, to thwart agencies from citing a handful of exemptions in
their cover letter to explain all their redactions, leaving it impossible for
the requester to know the basis for any particular redaction. Citing the
exemption they are relying on as they redact is more efficient and allowable
under the bill.”
“It’s work you already do,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Lou
DiPalma, D-Middletown, told ecoRI News of the redaction annotations.
He also noted the large number of septic records included in
DEM’s APRA list from 2024 are requested as part of the legal processes already
in place around wastewater regulations.
“That’s part of their job,” DiPalma said.
Common Cause Rhode Island executive director John
Marion marveled at DEM’s volume, but also noted the total number of requests
isn’t always the best measure of workload or burden.
Some requests could be more time-intensive than others, he
said, explaining that retrieving a file that a department already knows the
location of is potentially a lot easier and quicker than searching through
every department email for a particular keyword.
“Many APRA requests can require a substantial investment of
staff time, which takes them away from their important programmatic
responsibilities,” DEM spokesperson Evan LaCross wrote in an email to ecoRI
News. “DEM’s concerns with the bill are largely related to resource constraints
and the additional workload that the bill would place on staff.”
Part of the problem is that many of the top requested
documents are physical files. DEM is currently working on digitizing the
information, but that takes time and money.
“Ideally, I would like to deliver all that online, and then
that makes our business processes easier,” Gray said in a Blab Lab podcast
last year about those records. “And it makes the access easier for people.”
Several DEM divisions are in the process of making
applications digital and digitizing the records they already have, according to
LaCross. The Office of Air Resources, for example, could have records online as
early as next year, he said.
Marion understands that resources are a legitimate
challenge, but when it comes to getting the funding or staffing for database
projects, he said he believes there would be support.
“I think the open government community would love to help do
that,” Marion said. “We just want to get the information out.”
The General Assembly wrapped up the 2025 session last week,
and the bill never made it out of the Senate Finance Committee.
DiPalma said he would submit the legislation again next year
and that he is open to suggestions from those who come to the table to talk.
“People trust government when it’s open and transparent,” he
said. “At some point, it’s going to get done, it could be this governor or the
next.”
