DEQ FOIA Information

Agency: Environmental Quality

The Michigan Freedom of Information Act, Public Act 442 of 1976, as amended (FOIA) regulates and sets requirements for the disclosure of public records by all public bodies. 

Link for the Attorney General's FOIA and Open Meetings Act Website: http://www.michigan.gov/ag/0,4534,7-164-20988_18160---,00.html
 
Note regarding Air Quality Division information:

Please note that FOIA requests for Southeast Michigan (SEMI) District Wayne County sources/sites, Air Quality Division files are located in the DEQ Detroit Office located at Cadillac Place, 3058 W. Grand Boulevard, Suite 2-300, Detroit, Michigan. If a file review is requested/required for Wayne County sources/sites, a separate trip to the Detroit Office may be needed to complete your review. The FOIA liaison for the Air Quality Division, SEMI District, splits her time between both the Warren and Detroit Offices and appointments are available when she is in the office. Please keep this in mind when you are planning your timeline for your project deadline.

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:

 

 

AQD	RRD	WRD
Air Permits  MAERS reporting	Michigan Environmental Mapper Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites  Part 201 Site Search	NMS Web Inquiry System Coastal & Indland Waters Permit Information System (CIWPIS) CSO and SSO Discharge Information
OWMRP	ODWMA	OOGM
Waste Data System	Wellogic System Wells and pump records 2000 and newer: (www.deq.state.mi.us/wellogic) Wells 1999 and Older: http://www.deq.state.mi.us/well-logs/ Septage Haulers Directory	GeoWebFace oil & gas maps and data Michigan Online Oil & Gas Information System

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do I submit a FOIA?
To request information from the DEQ under the FOIA, please mail or e-mail your written request to the DEQ FOIA Coordinator at the address below.  We have provided this attachment. To use the FOIA 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 

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 the facility;or property. Include your name, mailing, address, fax number, e-mail address, and daytime telephone number.

Effective July 29, 2013: The FOIA form has been revised and now requires the following fields:

 

First Name, Last Name and Daytime Phone Number
Address and Fax Number
City, State, Zip Code and Email

 

You will also notice the location for the Date field was moved and is a required field. 

The Site 1 information is now a required field.

The County for each site is now a drop-down list.

You will also notice the font has been increased on the form.

 

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.

 

 

Waiver of Fee:
The FOIA Coordinator will issue a fee waiver for the first $20.00 of the fee for each request to an individual who submits an affidavit stating that the individual is receiving public assistance or stating facts showing inability to pay the cost because of indigency.

Aboveground and Underground Storage Tank (AST/UST) Regulatory Programs

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.

 

 

To improve our FOIA process, we welcome you to take our short customer service survey.

 

Related Documents
> Guide to DEQ Divisions & Offices - 46834 bytes