FOAA in the Age of AI: Big Requests, Small Districts

Class Description:

Maine's Freedom of Access Act (FOAA) establishes important public transparency requirements, but responding to increasingly complex and lengthy records requests can present significant challenges for small water and wastewater utilities with limited staff and resources. With the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), requests may now include dozens of detailed questions, multiple subparts, and demands for information that goes beyond existing public records.

This course will review FOAA obligations for municipal and quasi-municipal water and wastewater utilities, including response deadlines, public records requirements, allowable fees, and the distinction between providing existing records and creating new information or answering questions. Participants will explore practical strategies for managing broad or burdensome requests, seeking clarification, establishing reasonable production schedules, identifying confidential or exempt information, and recovering allowable costs. Emphasis will be placed on developing a consistent, legally defensible response process that supports public transparency while recognizing the operational realities of small utilities.

Questions similar to the following will be addressed: At what point does a request become so broad or burdensome that a small district can reasonably seek clarification, establish a production schedule, or recover allowable costs?

The class may also help utilities to distinguish between a FOAA request for existing public records and a requester submitting 35 AI-generated questions expecting the district to research, analyze, and prepare answers to every one of them.

Class Fee: $50 Members | $65 Non-Members

State Agency Approval: (credits pending)
Maine BLWSO: 1.0 TCHs for Water Operators
Maine DEP: 1.0 TCHs for Wastewater Operators

Speakers:

Brenda Kielty – Assistant Attorney General

Ms. Kielty is an assistant attorney general in the Maine Office of the Attorney General. She has been the State’s Public Access Ombudsman since 2012. The ombudsman is an independent, impartial position that involves responding to inquiries from both the public and governmental agencies and officials about Maine’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA), informally resolving disputes and addressing concerns about access to public records and public meetings, providing information and training, and making recommendations for improvements to the law.

The term Ombudsman is an indigenous Swedish term and comes from the Norse umboðsmaðr, essentially meaning "representative".  It is a gender-neutral term, used throughout the world by women and men who hold the office. Some prefer the modern variations of ombud, ombuds, ombudsperson or ombudswoman—Ms. Kielty prefers the original ombudsman.