Public Records Request

The records held by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are open to everyone, DNR says, and it releases a record to the public unless the record is specifically exempt. Email is its preferred way to receive a request, at DNRRecordsResponse@wisconsin.gov, but it accepts requests in any form. Its Open Records Request Form 9500-096 is there to help and is not required. DNR says a request received after 5 p.m. starts being processed the next business day. DNR's page cites Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 to 19.39 among its records resources.

In a Phase I ESA

A listing says a record exists. The reports and letters are in the file. The pages on each Wisconsin program send you here for the file. DNR's public records page has a section on environmental records, and it names the Phase I ESA in its heading.

How DNR asks you to frame a request

• Name the kinds of records. DNR says it files records by program, not by facility, so it calls a request for every environmental record at a facility very inefficient. It needs to know what types of records you want so it can search every program that holds them. Its own example request lists leaking aboveground and underground storage tanks, hazardous waste, storm water, wells, asbestos and closure reports for one facility over a stated span of months.
• Be specific. DNR says broad requests for all records on a topic take a long time and can cost more, and that a narrower request may cut the fee or remove it.
• Give dates. DNR asks for a date or a date range wherever possible.
• Give identifiers. DNR's examples include a permit number, a citation number, a facility ID number and a BRRTS activity number.
• Questions are not requests. DNR says the public records law does not cover questions, and that questions go better to the relevant staff, found through its staff directory.

How long it takes

DNR's public records page gives no deadline. Its internal policy, Manual Code 9521.1, dated March 9, 2017 and marked for review in 2021, tells staff to fill small, straightforward requests within 10 business days of receiving them where they can. It counts as complex, among others, and routes to an open records coordinator, a request for records held by several divisions, programs or regions, one that may need legal review, and one that will cost $50 or more to locate or $10 or more to reproduce, and says that label is not meant to slow the answer, which must come as soon as practicable and without delay. A request sent to DNRRecordsResponse@wisconsin.gov is acknowledged by the next business day, the policy says, under Executive Order 189.

Cost

DNR says it can bill in advance under Wis. Stat. § 19.35(3)(f), and that any fee must be paid before the request is filled. The fees below are those DNR's page listed when read on October 13, 2026; the page gives no date for them.

• Copying and printing: $0.0113 a page in black and white and $0.0512 a page in color, with a two-sided sheet counted as two pages.
• Scanning: no charge.
• Locating records: $25.00 an hour where the cost reaches $50 or more, or the hourly salary and benefits of the lowest-paid employee able to find the records, if that is less.
• Discs, drives, photographic work, transcription and postage: actual and direct cost.

DNR says it does not charge for reviewing records for redaction, and does not charge by the page for electronic copies of records that already existed in electronic form. DNR also releases records to authorized photocopy firms, which copy them and bill you directly at their standard rates; for all but very small jobs, DNR calls that the most efficient and cost-effective route.

Before you ask

DNR's page lists its online databases for environmental records about Wisconsin properties, among them the Bureau for Remediation and Redevelopment Tracking System (BRRTS), the RR Sites Map, hazardous substance spills, waste management, drinking water and groundwater data, GEMS, air permits and storm water permit data. DNR's map page says BRRTS on the Web holds the related documents that are available for each cleanup activity, so check there first.

Where to look a site up

DNR's Public Records Request page links its records policies, its fee notice and the request form, and those online databases. DNR's public records coordinator answers questions on the records process at 608-266-2177 or DNRRecordsResponse@wisconsin.gov.

Getting the file

Send the request by email to DNRRecordsResponse@wisconsin.gov, or in any other form DNR can receive. DNR says it will review the request and contact you if a fee will be needed to locate the records.

Sources

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources pages, read October 13, 2026, no modified date shown:

• Public Records Request
• RR Sites Map

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources document, read October 13, 2026:

• Manual Code 9521.1, Open Records Policy and Procedures, dated March 9, 2017, with a next review date of 2021