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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2019 Public records advocate calls for transparency Cites fees as barrier By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — Oregon’s departing public records advocate said high fees often create a barrier for request- ers seeking public informa- tion, and called for more clarity and less discretion for public bodies assessing fees to fi ll those requests. In her 11-page fi nal report on Wednesday, Gin- ger McCall said fees were “perhaps the single most pressing issue related to public records requests.” She also said there should be a way for those denied records by elected offi cials to appeal without the costly step of going to court. She also wrote that more resources, such as a tracking tool, should be dedicated to handling requests for gov- ernment records. And she endorsed changes to state law to make the advocate more independent from political infl uence, saying an independent advocate would be more effective. Gov. Kate Brown Ginger McCall has issued her fi nal report as the state’s public records advocate. appointed McCall last year to be the state’s fi rst pub- lic records advocate, a posi- tion created by legislation in 2017. McCall resigned in early September, pointing to what she said were back-channel attempts to get her to qui- etly promote the governor’s agenda on a state council considering changes to the state’s public records law. Oregon public bodies have wide latitude on how they charge fees, allowing for “vastly different fees” to be assessed, McCall wrote in her report, and that dis- cretion is the “root cause of much of the confusion and animosity around fees.” According to a survey conducted by the state Pub- lic Records Advisory Coun- cil, there were “vast dis- crepancies in fee collection across public bodies.” Some collected thousands in fees, while others collected little. Some agencies also charge requestors for the costs of having a government attor- ney review the documents. McCall said there should be more recourse for those whose requests for informa- tion are denied by elected offi cials. Under state law, Oregonians can only appeal elected offi cials’ decisions on public records to a court. “Most requesters lack the resources to vindicate their rights in court,” McCall wrote. “This creates a lack of accountability around the decisions of elected offi cials as any disputes about the disclosure of public records in their possession can only be settled in court, which is an often prohibitively costly and time-consuming under- taking for most requestors.” She suggested an “inter- mediate appeal option” per- taining to records of elected offi cials. “While indepen- dence in state government is a challenge this advo- cate is familiar with, it is not impossible to imag- ine that some kind of sepa- rate, independent or simply walled-off offi ce can exist which can provide a reliable review of elected offi cials’ public records decisions,” McCall wrote. McCall also stressed that the offi ce of the advocate should be independent. “The independence of this offi ce is important in order to be able to propose ambitious reforms, engage in mean- ingful and trusted facilitated dispute resolution, and even offer credible training on public records,” she wrote. In late September, the Public Records Advisory Council voted to propose legislation in 2020 that would ensure the advocate is a direct hire of the coun- cil, and can only be removed for cause by the council. McCall said in her report that the proposed change “minimizes the potential for political interference by any one elected offi cial, since the advocate will be report- ing to the entire council.” Rachel Alexander, vice president of the Oregon Ter- ritory chapter of the Soci- ety of Professional Journal- ists, applauded the report. “I think Ginger hit the nail on the head with this report,” Alexander said. “The four reforms she outlined square almost perfectly with what we hear from our mem- bers and from media outlets across the state.” She added that McCall demonstrated well how “issues like high fees pose a barrier to requesters both in the media and members of the general public.” Scott Winkels, a lobby- ist for the League of Ore- gon Cities and a member of the Public Records Advisory Council, was more cautious. He said he hadn’t read the full report, but had read the section on fees. “The law requires that we can get the cost, recoup the cost of providing the record,” Winkels said. “Nobody should be turning a profi t on it. As long as peo- ple are charging for the cost of the record, I think that’s an acceptable practice.” He said he would be open to having a conversa- tion about setting up a fee structure intended to dis- courage vague and overly broad requests, but reiter- ated Wednesday was the fi rst he’d seen of McCall’s report. “I haven’t fully digested any of it, but if the (council) wants to take up this con- versation, then we should do that,” Winkels said. The Oregon Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group, Pamplin Media Group and Salem Reporter. Offi cials pause review of methanol plant Project planned for Kalama By MOLLY SOLOMON and ROB MANNING Oregon Public Broadcasting The decision to approve a proposed methanol plant in Kalama is on hold, as the Washington Department of Ecology pushes for more information. Ecology offi cials called the application “incomplete” and said they needed more specifi cs about the project’s greenhouse gas emissions. “Our review of the coun- ty’s permit decision found signifi cant information missing from the project’s supplemental environmental impact statement and inad- equate analysis of the proj- ect’s potential effects on Washington’s environment,” the Washington Department of Ecology said in a news release Wednesday. “We want a lot more details about what they’re proposing to do,” said Department of Ecology communications manager Jeff Zenk. Northwest Innovation Works, or NWIW, wants to build in Kalama on the banks of the Columbia River. The $1.8 billion plant would convert natural gas to methanol. From there, NWIW said it’d be shipped overseas to markets in Asia for plastics production. The company has touted its technology and use of nat- ural gas piped in from Can- ada as a “cleaner” energy alternative. A fi nal environ- mental study released in August found that the pro- posed facility would help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by displacing coal-based methanol pro- duction in Asia. But environmental groups have pushed back on this assumption and called the company’s green- house gas emissions analy- sis misleading. In a letter to Cowlitz County’s director of com- Northwest Innovation Works The proposed site at the Port of Kalama where Northwest Innovation Works is proposing a 90-acre methanol plant. munity services, Elaine Pac- ido, Ecology offi cials listed seven specifi c sets of infor- mation the agency wants regarding the company’s proposed reduction in green- house gas emissions. Those range from a list of emis- sions that would be included in the in-state mitigation plan to “an explanation of how NWIW proposes to select appropriate out-of-state car- bon markets as mitigation for in-state emissions.” The letter also pressed county offi cials about the company’s claim it would have “no signifi - cant unavoidable adverse impacts.” Ecology wants more information to explain its analysis of greenhouse gas reduction. “We would have liked to have seen the questions in our comment letter fully addressed in more detail,” said Neil Caudill, with the Department of Ecology’s air quality program, referencing comments Ecology made on the project’s draft sup- plementary environmental review last December. Please ADOPT A PET! EMORY Domestic Medium Hair Adult A model of Well-being and Deeply, darkly, Beautifully soft. 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Kent Caputo, NWIW general counsel, said the company has looked at the request to Cowlitz County and said they “foresee being involved with responses as needed.” Caputo acknowledged the diffi culty of the process, calling it “an unclear and evolving regulatory envi- ronment,” but said the com- pany is “proud to be on the leading edge of driving very benefi cial outcomes.” Washington Gov. Jay Ins- lee, who has no fi nal say on the project, initially sup- ported the methanol plant. But in May, Inslee reversed his position and said he could no longer stand behind it. Environmental groups that oppose the project are encouraged by the Ecol- ogy department asking more questions. “Ecology is holding NWIW accountable,” said Dan Serres, conservation director with Columbia Riv- erkeeper, a lead opponent of efforts to expand fossil fuel processing in Washington state and Oregon. “NWIW has proposed the world’s largest fracked gas-to-methanol refi nery on the Columbia River, tell- ing Washington regulators it will mysteriously help our climate,” Serres said in a statement. “Ecology is fol- lowing the law and seeking complete and accurate infor- mation before deciding on a permit of such importance.” The Department of Ecol- ogy has set a deadline of Nov. 7 for Cowlitz County, the Port of Kalama and NWIW to provide more information to the state. Ecology will then have 30 days to determine if an addi- tional environmental review is needed, or it will issue a fi nal decision on the shore- lines permit. 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