Initially, the IRS indicated it would need until November to deliver the records and suggested that Waste Management narrow its request. Waste Management complied, yet the IRS postponed the delivery date, citing delays from a specific division. By January, the agency had agreed to a rolling release of documents, with a new target completion date of June 28.
On June 18, the IRS provided an interim response, releasing 172 pages of documents. Of these, 56 pages were fully withheld, and six pages were partially withheld.
Legal Implications and Next Steps
Under FOIA, the government must produce public records within 20 working days, or 30 days in unusual circumstances. Waste Management asserts that the requested materials are not exempt from public records law and that the IRS’s delays have exhausted the company’s administrative remedies, necessitating the lawsuit.
The complaint states that the IRS’s actions have caused “irreparable harm” by depriving Waste Management of its right to public records.
