Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests

The records of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) can be had on written request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 ILCS 140. The agency sets out how its records are asked for, inspected and copied in its own rule, Access to Public Records of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, 2 Ill. Adm. Code 1828. Confidential and trade secret information is not released.

In a Phase I ESA

A listing says a record exists. The reports and letters are in the file, and Illinois EPA offers two routes to them: its Document Explorer and a FOIA request. Three details shape a request.

• Be specific. Illinois EPA's FOIA page says its records are kept mostly by location, site or facility name, or project, then split by program or type of document, on paper, microfilm, digital image and computer. A request sent by fax, mail or carrier should say it is made under FOIA, describe what is wanted, and give the facility name, address, any other description of the location, and every ID number known, such as an incident, permit, Agency ID or Bureau ID number; the web form prompts for what it needs. The page says the agency receives more than 4,000 requests a year.
• Know the clock. The page says a noncommercial request is generally handled in the order received and answered within five working days, which may be extended five days on written notice. A commercial purpose request is answered within 21 working days, and noncommercial requests get priority.
• Know what counts as commercial. The page gives the statute's definition: use of a public record, or of information drawn from one, for sale, resale, or soliciting or advertising sales or services. It says the agency may, depending on the circumstances, treat as commercial a request for records meant to be supplied to others for a fee, database information included. Check how that definition fits your request before you plan on the five-day answer.

Where to look a site up

• The IEPA Document Explorer. The FOIA page says it covers more than 26,000 sites and facilities, searchable by site name, address or Bureau ID, or on a map, and counts 475,000 documents and over 13.5 million pages. The documents it names are air permits, water discharge (NPDES) permits, and the technical documents of the LUST, Site Remediation and State Response Action programs.
• For a site's Bureau ID, the page points to the agency's facility inventory search, which it calls the Agency Facility Inventory and Information Search System (AFISS). This handbook did not open it.

Getting the file

Requests go through the online FOIA Request Web Form, which the page says gives the quickest answer and needs an account, or by fax, U.S. mail or special carrier, which need none. Anonymous requests are taken by those routes. The FOIA page says the public may see records that public agencies hold by asking in writing. A request must give a way to send the records, such as an email address. Mailed and faxed requests, and questions on a request, go to Illinois EPA FOIA #16, Division of Records Mgmt., 2520 W Iles Ave, P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, IL 62794-9276, voice (217) 558-5101, fax (217) 782-9290.

Files of 400 pages or less are copied and mailed. For a larger file the requester is told the options: a review of the records at headquarters in Springfield, a copy service the requester hires, or copying by the agency once payment of the estimated fee is guaranteed, with nothing sent before payment. The requester may also narrow the request below 400 pages. A denial can be appealed under 2 Ill. Adm. Code 1828.505.

Fees

The page says files of 400 pages or less cost nothing. Beyond 400 pages it gives a charge of $0.15 a page for black and white letter or legal size copies; color and other sizes are charged at what they cost to make, and other media such as microfilm may carry other fees. The page says fees may be waived or reduced in certain circumstances, generally when that is found to be in the public interest. Records are not released until the fee is paid in full.

Sources

Illinois Environmental Protection Agency pages, read October 13, 2026:

• Freedom of Information Act, last modified May 2, 2024.