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Center for Science in the Public Interest v. Department of Agriculture

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) requested from the USDA records concerning Aurora Dairy Corporation and its failure to comply with the Organic Foods Production Act and associated regulations. The USDA partially responded to several of CSPI’s eleven specific requests but did not respond to others. CSPI administratively appealed the agency’s failure to respond within the statutory timeframe. When the USDA failed to respond to the appeal within the statutory timeframe, CSPI filed suit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and Aurora Dairy intervened in the case. After the case was filed, USDA released some records and the parties agreed that certain other records could be withheld and dismissed the case.