FEMA charges $200,000 for public records
FEMA is demanding The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., shell out more than $200,000 for compiling and copying more than 2 million documents. After dragging its feet on the request, which was first submitted September 2006, the federal agency told the paper it couldn't provide the information electronically, which would make everything a little easier. This is a huge problem at the state level as well - agencies choosing the format of the record in order to prevent access. Every state should have a law requiring an agency to provide the record in the format requested if it is available in that format.