Om March 14, the Appellate Division issued an opinion, O’Boyle v. Boro of Longport, upholding the confidentiality of information concerning properties that have made FEMA claims for flood damage. This type of information is often sought under OPRA, in view of issues concerning, for example, damage from Hurricane Sandy and other storms, but the Appellate Division has never before resolved whether OPRA requires disclosure of FEMA-claim records held by state and local agencies.

The request in this case asked for the addresses, amounts of losses and dates of losses for properties in Longport that had made certain claims under FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. The court determined that disclosure of this information by public bodies is prohibited by federal regulations governing FEMA records. The court therefore held that the records are confidential under OPRA’s exemption for records exempted by federal law.

The appellate court also agreed with the trial court’s conclusion that the requested information is protected as well by an individual’s expectation of privacy.

This is a very significant opinion. As noted, although requests for this type of FEMA information often come up, there have been no court cases addressing whether these records are disclosable under OPRA. It’s helpful to have an Appellate Division opinion that deals with this issue. Hopefully, the Appellate Division will eventually recognize the importance of the O’Boyle opinion and reissue it as a published opinion, rendering it precedential for future cases.