DEM File Reviews

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) sets out how to review its files on its DEM File Reviews page, under the heading Public Record (APRA Request) Process. DEM says file review coordination is conducted within its Office of Customer & Technical Assistance (OCTA), as part of a customer service program it calls Regulatory Coordination and Public Information.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name a state's records request procedure among its standard record sources. This is DEM's route to the reports and letters behind the DEM listings in this section. DEM says file reviews are coordinated for several different areas of the Department "such as" these:

A property can have files in more than one of these areas, so ask for each that applies. Three more details shape the request.

• The law. DEM says all file reviews are subject to RIGL 38-2, which is described in the Attorney General's guide, The Attorney General's Guide to Open Government. DEM says that information is also available for free by calling the Attorney General's office at (401) 274-4400.
• The timing. DEM says file reviews are scheduled within 10 business days after the initial file review request has been received.
• The place and days. DEM says file reviews are conducted in OCTA on Tuesdays and Thursdays. OCTA is at 235 Promenade Street, Suite 260, Providence, RI 02908.

What the law sets

Chapter 38-2 of the Rhode Island General Laws, Access to Public Records, sets who may ask and how long a public body has.

• Who may ask. Under section 38-2-3(a), every person or entity may inspect or copy a public body's records, apart from those section 38-2-2(4) excludes, at a reasonable time the custodian sets. Section 38-2-3(j) bars withholding records because of why they are wanted, and bars making a requester give a reason or personally identifiable information as a condition of filling the request.
• Ten business days. Section 38-2-3(e) gives a public body ten business days from receiving a request to permit the inspection or copying. If it does not, it must at once explain in writing, for that request in particular, why it needs more time. It may then take up to twenty more business days if it can show that the size of the request, the number of requests pending, or the difficulty of finding, retrieving or copying the records makes the extra time necessary to avoid an undue burden.
• Denials. Under section 38-2-7, a denial of all or part of a request is made in writing within ten business days of the request, with the specific reasons and how to appeal. A request not met within the ten business days counts as denied, unless the time is extended for good cause under section 38-2-3(e). A public body that produces records late waives its copying, search and retrieval fees, though production is not late while it waits for payment of costs properly charged under section 38-2-4. A body that does not have the records asked for must say so.
• Records in use or in storage. Under section 38-2-3(f), when a record is in active use or in storage, and so not available at the time of the request, the custodian says so and makes an appointment to see it as soon as it can be made available.

Where to look a site up

The File Reviews page also links Office of Air Resources permit searches, the Office of Compliance and Inspection's enforcement actions, Office of Water Resources permit searches, and DEM's Site Inventories, the list of available waste management site inventories. DEM's pages also link Enviro Site Search, which they describe as DEM's online database of environmental regulatory data.

Getting the file

• DEM asks that the Records Request Form be submitted using the form link on its DEM File Reviews page. The form is titled Request to Inspect and/or Copy Public Records, and the page also links Public Records Request Guidelines. This handbook did not open either file.
• To schedule a file review, DEM gives the mailbox Dem.filereview@dem.ri.gov and fax (401) 222-3810.
• The page also links the state's APRA Request - Executive Branch Agencies page and a separate records request page for DEM's Division of Law Enforcement.

Sources

Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management pages, read October 13, 2026:

• DEM File Reviews, last modified September 24, 2026.
• Office of Land Revitalization and Sustainable Materials Management Site Inventories, last modified June 5, 2026.
• Welcome, last modified October 8, 2026.

Rhode Island General Assembly pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown:

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-3, Right to inspect and copy records; its history lists P.L. 2016, ch. 512 as the latest amendment.
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-7, Denial of access; its history lists P.L. 2012, chs. 448 and 454 as the latest amendments.