DEQ FOIA Information

Agency: Environmental Quality

Important Organizational Change

Effective December 2, 2012, the Aboveground and Underground Storage Tank (AST/UST) regulatory programs were transferred from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (DLARA). The Leaking Underground Storage Tank program remains in the DEQ.

All FOIA requests related to the AST/UST regulatory programs, should be submitted directly to DLARA at the link below:

Jim Lucas, AST/UST FOIA Coordinator

Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs

Bureau of Fire Services

P.O. Box 30700

Lansing, Michigan 48909

Email: lucasj@michigan.gov

Phone: 517-335-7279

Fax: 517-335-2245

Effective March 1, 2013, the DEQ will issue a "Records Don't Exist" letter for AST and UST FOIA requests.  The requester must forward these requests to DLARA.

Do I need to submit a FOIA?

Maybe not.  The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) provides online access to several databases that may contain the information you need. The following is broken down by Divison category:

How do I submit a FOIA?
To request information from the DEQ under the FOIA, please mail, e-mail or fax your written request to the DEQ FOIA Coordinator at the address, e-mail or fax number below.  Please note:  At this time, the DEQ's online form is under construction.  However we have provided this attachment as an alternative to be used.  To use the form provided, open and fill out the form, click on file-save and send-send using e-mail-send as attachment and type in deqfoia@michigan.gov in the to: field.

Mail Address:

FOIA Coordinator
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
P.O. Box 30457
Lansing, MI 48909-7957

Phone: 800-662-9278 

Fax:  517-241-0858
E-mail: deqfoia@michigan.gov

Please provide as much detail as possible about the information you are seeking, including the street address, city and county of a facility or property. Include your name, mailing address, fax number, e-mail address, and daytime telephone number.  

Will I be charged for information requested under FOIA?
A public body may charge a fee for the necessary copying of a public record for inspection or providing a copy of a public record to a requester.  A public body may also charge for search, examination, and review and the separation of exempt from nonexempt information in those instances where failure to charge a fee would result in unreasonably high costs to the public body.  If you need an estimate of the cost of fulfilling your request BEFORE we take action to fill it, please indicate that in your request.

How long will it take to receive information requested under FOIA?
After receiving a request for a public record, a public body has five (5) business days to respond.  The public body may also extend the time by 10 business days by notifying the requestor in writing thereby making the due date 15 business days from the date of receipt of the request.