Posts Tagged ‘FOIA’
NRD Lawsuit over USDA GIS data Access
Central Platte NRD Sues USDA Over Information AccessBy Robert PorePublished: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 7:56 PM CDT…The NRD is trying to gain access to the USDA’s geographic information system, or GIS, data to help it provide guidance on irrigation practices, mapping of cropland and district decisions. … The district decided to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the information from the USDA in an effort to “bring the issue to a head,” Bishop said. “At one point, they indicated that we were going to get it, but then the new Farm Bill changed the language on the privacy deal, and now they say we can’t have it,” he said. …Bishop said the information could be used to determine such practices as fertilizer and water use on private farmland that receives government farm benefits. For example, when it comes to the Central Platte NRD water quality program, having access to information about those growers who use nitrogen fertilizer would be helpful and cost effective.” …
Another example in which access to that USDA information would be helpful to the NRD is when the district had to certify all the irrigated acres in the Central Platte NRD. There are nearly 1 million acres of irrigated farmland in the district. The district had to certify all irrigated acres when the state mandated in 2004 a moratorium on all new irrigated acres and irrigation wells in districts that were deemed fully or overappropriated in their groundwater use. …But because the NRD was denied those records from the USDA, Bishop said, the district spent nearly two years at a cost of about $350,000. ….For full text of article, visit: http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2009/09/22/news/local/10658719.txt
For related posting on USDA GIS data access issues, visit the following link: http://geodatapolicy.wordpress.com/2008/10/24/farm-bill-restricts-access-to-clu-gis-data-part-iii/
Farm Bill Restricts Access to CLU GIS Data – Part 3
In order to assess land cover in agricultural areas across the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) established the Common Land Unit (CLU) as a standardized GIS data layer (see also ArcUser Online, ESRI, April – June 2002).
Due to language in this year’s Farm Bill (Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008), however, CLU GIS data are no longer releasable to the general public or to most other government agencies (CLU Info Sheet, June 2008). See my prior blog posts for information on the court battle and subsequent language in the Farm Bill:
Section 1244 of the Farm Bill includes specific statutory language pertaining to the release of technical and financial assistance information. Technical and financial information includes all information given by cooperators to USDA for the purpose of providing technical or financial assistance to an owner, operator, or producer with respect to any natural resources conservation program administered by the NRCS or FSA. It also includes information that is proprietary to the agricultural operation or land that is part of an agricultural operation of the owner, operator, or producer. It does not include payment information, including payment amounts and the names of payment recipients. .. In general, NRCS technical and financial information is not releasable to the public, and It cannot be released to any person, Federal agency, local agency, or Indian tribe outside of USDA.
The CLU GIS data restirction is also a hot issue for the North Dakota Association of Counties’ GIS in Agland Valuation Forum. On October 2, 2008, someone on the forum posted a letter by the Tax Commissioner for the State of North Dakota addressed to county tax directors. The letter states:
“House Bill (HB) 1303, passed by the 2007 North Dakota Legislative Assembly, amended North Dakota Century Code § 57-02-27.2(8). This law now requires local assessors to consider soil type and soil classification data from detailed or general soil surveys, the schedule of modifiers to be used within the county, and actual use of the property for cropland or noncropland purposes, when forming the relative value of each assessment parcel under their responsibility.
In March of this year, to assist you and your local assessors in carrying out the duties specified in HB 1303, I asked our office to send a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request to the United States Department of Agriculture – Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA). The FOIA request sought releasable information County FSA offices may have in their possession pertaining to field delineations and use of agricultural lands in North Dakota.
Specifically, the request sought common land unit (CLU) data collected and maintained by USDA-FSA. The objective was to enable the CLU information, if made available, to be shared with your office for use by you and your assessors when making land valuation determinations required by HB 1303.
Our FOIA request was denied. The 2008 Farm Bill specifically barred new or updated CLU data from release to the public. Thus, any appeal of the denial would likely fail.”
Farm Bill Prevents Release of FSA GIS Data – Part 2
Farm Bill Update
As reported by the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in their weekly update, June 6, 2008:
On Thursday, the Senate by a vote of 77-15 approved the farm bill once again, enabling Congress to send it back to the White House for its re-veto, setting in motion the second veto override vote, likely next week, in the House and Senate. The bill is exactly the same but for the new bill number – H.R. 6124 replacing H.R. 2419. The Senate had expected to re-pass the bill earlier in the week, but Senators Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Jim DeMint (R-SC) put “holds” on the vote and threatened to bring up amendments. By week’s end they settled for 50 minutes of floor time, prior to the re-vote, to catalogue their views of the bill’s failings.
As we have previously reported, all of the farm bill except for the trade title is already the law of the land, but congressional leaders decided the best way to make sure the entire bill becomes law is to do the entire process over again.
Impact on Access to Common Land Unit GIS Data
As posted on this blog on May 17, the CLU (common land unit) farm field boundary GIS data were available for download from the NRCS Geospatial Gateway (http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/). However, the CLU data has since been removed from the website to conform to the recently passed 2008 Farm Bill.
The 2008 Farm Bill Sec 1619 prohibits disclosure of farm-related geospatial information. But, this section also contains provisions about authorized disclosure of this information to USDA cooperators.
or
(B) geospatial information otherwise maintained by the Secretary about agricultural land or operations for which information described in subparagraph (A) is provided.
(3) AUTHORIZED DISCLOSURES.-
(A) LIMITED RELEASE OF INFORMATION.-If the Secretary determines that the information described in paragraph (2) will not be subsequently disclosed except in accordance with paragraph (4), the Secretary may release or disclose the information to a person or Federal, State, local, or tribal agency working in cooperation with the Secretary in any Department program-
by law.
(4) EXCEPTIONS.-Nothing in this subsection affects-
(A) the disclosure of payment information (including payment information and the names and addresses of recipients of payments) under any Department program that is otherwise authorized by law;
(B) the disclosure of information described in paragraph (2) if the information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate form without naming any-
(i) individual owner, operator, or producer; or
(ii) specific data gathering site; or
(C) the disclosure of information described in paragraph (2) pursuant to the consent of the agricultural producer or owner of agricultural land.
(5) CONDITION OF OTHER PROGRAMS.-The participation of the agricultural producer or owner of agricultural land in, or receipt of any benefit under, any program administered by the Secretary may not be conditioned on the consent of the agricultural producer or owner of agricultural land under paragraph (4)(C).
(6) WAIVER OF PRIVILEGE OR PROTECTION.-The disclosure of information under paragraph (2) shall not constitute a waiver of any applicable privilege or protection under Federal law, including trade secret protection.
