Argus Leader Media v. U.S. Dep't of Agric.
| Citation | 224 F.Supp.3d 827 |
| Decision Date | 30 November 2016 |
| Docket Number | 4:11–CV–04121–KES |
| Parties | ARGUS LEADER MEDIA, d/b/a Argus Leader, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Dakota |
Jon E. Arneson, Sioux Falls, SD, for Plaintiff.
Stephanie C. Bengford, U.S. Attorney's Office, Sioux Falls, SD, Chu–Yuan Hwang, David K. Gaston, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC, for Defendant.
Plaintiff, Argus Leader Media, brings this Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit against defendant, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Argus seeks data on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program. The USDA opposes releasing the data based on FOIA Exemption 4, arguing that such disclosure would cause substantial competitive harm to grocery stores participating in SNAP. This court disagrees and holds that disclosure of the requested data will not cause substantial competitive harm to SNAP retailers. The data should be disclosed under FOIA.
The USDA administers SNAP through the Food and Nutrition Service, an agency within the USDA. The purpose of SNAP is to give children and needy families access to food and nutrition education. When SNAP households redeem their benefits, the transaction looks like a customer using a debit card. The SNAP household pays for its groceries by swiping a benefits card and entering a PIN number. A third-party processor verifies that the SNAP account has available benefits and then approves or denies the transaction. If the transaction is approved, the third-party processor then transfers money from the SNAP household's account to the retailer's bank and sends the redemption data to the Food and Nutrition Service.
Argus, in 2011, made a FOIA request to the Food and Nutrition Service. Argus sought a variety of SNAP data—including yearly spending totals at individual retail locations. About two weeks later, the Food and Nutrition Service provided some of the requested information and withheld the remainder citing FOIA Exemptions 3 and 4. Argus then filed an administrative appeal. Before the USDA formally denied the appeal, Argus filed this action.
The USDA, in 2012, filed its first motion for summary judgment. This court granted the USDA's motion and held that Exemption 3 of FOIA applied to the undisclosed data. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case. In 2015, the USDA filed its second motion for summary judgment, arguing FOIA Exemptions 4 and 6 applied to the requested data. This court denied the motion and scheduled the case for a bench trial. Before trial, the USDA withdrew its Exemption 6 argument, and the parties stipulated that the only issue remaining for the court to decide was whether Exemption 4 applied to yearly SNAP revenues for individual stores.
The bench trial began on May 24, 2016. A number of Food and Nutrition Service employees testified about the collection of SNAP data. Witnesses also testified about the potential harm in disclosing the requested data, including the USDA's witness Joey Hays. Hays is the President and Owner of Dyer Foods Incorporated, a supermarket chain that started in Dyer, Tennessee and has expanded to 13 locations. Hays has spent 35 years in the grocery business. Hays testified that individual store SNAP sales data is not public information and that release of the data would cause competitive harm to his business because competitors could use the information against him. On cross examination, however, Hays admitted that releasing the SNAP data would not give competitors a store's total profits. Hays also admitted that much of a store's business is already visible to the public such as product selection and price. Hays further testified that Wal–Mart has already saturated his market, even without the requested SNAP information.
Andrew Johnstone, Associate General Counsel for Sears Holdings Management Corporation, also testified for the USDA. Johnstone echoed Hays's comments that the grocery business is especially competitive because the profit margins are low. Johnstone testified that if the requested SNAP data was disclosed it would help competitors take away business from Kmart stores. Finally, Johnstone noted the potential stigma that might result from publishing SNAP data. Specifically, Johnstone was concerned that landlords would not renew their lease agreements if the data showed that KMart stores had high SNAP sales. On cross examination, Johnstone testified that store data is already publically available to market researchers. Such data includes a store's location, products, and pricing. Johnstone also testified that if the SNAP information was released, it would be released regarding all SNAP retailers.
Peter Larkin, President and CEO of the National Grocers Association, testified that profit margins in the grocery industry are roughly 1% before tax. He also testified that a 2014 study found profit margins to be $0.0091 on every dollar. Thus, grocery stores must have a high sales volume to make a profit. Larkin also testified that individual store SNAP data is not available currently to the public, and Larkin reasoned that injecting new sales information into the public domain could impact stores because competitors could target high dollar SNAP locations and build new stores in that area. On cross examination, Larkin admitted that a number of factors play a role in a customer's decision to shop at a grocery store such as better produce, convenient location, unique products, or better customer service. Larkin also testified that disclosing SNAP data would not be the same as disclosing a store's profits or net sales.
Gwen Forman, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Cumberland Farms, theorized that SNAP data is valuable because it confirms whether or not a store's practices are successful. Although the public sees a store's advertising and customer outreach, a competitor cannot confirm whether the store's strategy is effective.
Releasing SNAP data—Forman argues—allows competitors to gauge whether a store's marketing strategy is effective. On cross examination, Forman admitted that a number of other factors also determine whether a store is ultimately successful at a given location. SNAP data alone will not determine a store's future plans or business strategy.
Argus's first witness was Dr. Richard Volpe, an Assistant Professor in the Agribusiness Department at California Polytechnic State University. Dr. Volpe testified that a variety of store data is already public. For example, a store's prices, level of activity, layout, and assortment of products are visible to anyone visiting the store. This data is already being collected and is available to retailers. Dr. Volpe also addressed concerns about benchmarking, the practice of analyzing a store's sales over a period of years. Dr. Volpe explained a benchmarking analysis of SNAP data has limited value because a store's increased SNAP revenue may be attributable to a number of factors such as increased prices, change in customer demographics, or increased number of SNAP customers. Because additional data is necessary to determine the reason for increased SNAP sales, the release of individual store SNAP data would not cause competitive harm.
Argus's next witness was Dr. Ryan Sougstad, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Augustana University. Dr. Sougstad testified about how companies use data to come to decisions. Dr. Sougstad testified that individual retailer SNAP data would not likely play a significant role in helping businesses decide where to locate stores. On cross examination, Dr. Sougstad admitted that he was unable to determine to what degree stores would be less profitable if the requested SNAP data was released, but he believed any economic harm would be marginal.
The USDA's one rebuttal witness, Bruce Kondracki, Vice President of Market Insights and Consumer Research at Dakota Worldwide Corporation, testified about market analysis in the food industry. Kondracki explained that grocery stores use model forecasts to determine where to add locations and that releasing SNAP data could improve the accuracy of these models. Kondracki also testified that the addition of new stores does not necessarily mean customers quit frequenting their current store, but customers may spend less money at their current store.
" ‘Congress intended FOIA to permit access to official information long shielded unnecessarily from public view.’ " Hulstein v. Drug Enf't Admin. , 671 F.3d 690, 694 (8th Cir. 2012) (quoting Milner v. Dep't of Navy , 562 U.S. 562, 565, 131 S.Ct. 1259, 179 L.Ed.2d 268 (2011) ). "FOIA generally mandates broad disclosure of government records." Cent. Platte Nat. Res. Dist. v. U.S. Dep't of Agric. , 643 F.3d 1142, 1146 (8th Cir. 2011) (citations omitted). FOIA requires that an agency offer records upon request unless they are the sort of records protected by one of the nine exemptions under the Act. Milner , 562 U.S. at 565, 131 S.Ct. 1259. The exemptions "are to be narrowly construed to ensure that disclosure, rather than secrecy, remains the primary objective of the Act." Mo. Coal. for Env't Found. v. U.S. Army Corps of Eng'rs , 542 F.3d 1204, 1208 (8th Cir. 2008) (citations omitted). The district court engages in a de novo review of an agency's decision to deny a request for information under FOIA, and the burden is upon the agency to show that the specific exemption applies. 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(4)(B) ; In re Dep't of Justice , 999 F.2d 1302, 1305 (8th Cir. 1993). "The government bears the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that a withheld document falls within one of the exemptions." Enviro Tech Int'l, Inc. v. U.S. EPA , 371 F.3d 370, 374 (7th Cir. 2004) (citing § 552(a)(4)(B) ). This court has made all of its factual determinations by a...
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