Along with a host of other new laws, changes to Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act went into effect July 1. While most of the law remained unchanged, some governmental bodies can use new exemptions in response to certain requests for information.
Hospitals and nursing homes regulated by the Virginia Department of Health may now withhold documents relating to disaster recovery and evacuations plans, although records showing the effectiveness of those plans following a catastrophic event must be released.
Another new exemption relates to trade secrets given to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, so long as the party submitting the trade secrets follows specified steps. Licensed public-use airports also receive protection in the revised law for documents relating to funding from the Virginia Department of Aviation and the Virginia Aviation Board, as well as certain records regarding aircraft operation (e.g., certain flight plans). Airports may use the funding exemption to withhold documents from requesters only if releasing them would adversely affect the airport financially.
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In addition to the new exemptions, the General Assembly also revised the language covering disclosure of criminal records by law enforcement, added a “personal matter” option for individuals in any public body to participate electronically and adjusted the “working papers” exemption to cover legislative aides acting on behalf of their state lawmaker. The General Assembly also added a section regulating electronic meetings of state advisory public bodies that will allow them to convene without a quorum present in one location. This provision is set to expire July 1, 2014.
All of this year’s revisions are italicized within the full text of Virginia’s 2013-2014 FOIA, found online at www.opengovva.org/current-law.
