FOIA Request Form

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices in the bureaus/offices of the Department of the Interior are continuing to process FOIA requests to the best of their ability during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

To keep employees healthy and safe, the Department is maximizing telework flexibility and employing social distancing protocols.  As a result of these precautions, most employees are working remotely and unable to collect hard copy records located in government facilities at this time.  If your request is for hard copy records, the response to your request will very likely be delayed.    

In addition, employees may not receive FOIA requests that are sent by U.S. mail, overnight mail services, or facsimile in a timely manner.  We recommend, therefore, that requesters submit requests through the government-wide portal at https://www.foia.gov.

 

This form does not allow attachments to be included in submitted FOIA requests. Please use FOIA.gov if you wish to include attachments. 

Please note that the complexity of your request will affect the order in which your request is processed.  For more information on multitrack processing and how it affects your request, please see section 2.15 of our regulations.

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required.

This form and FOIA.gov are the only acceptable ways to electronically submit a FOIA request to the Department.

Your Contact Information:

Note: This section corresponds with 43 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart B.

Address Type
Are you filing the request on behalf of another party?

Your Request:

Note: This section corresponds with 43 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart B.

Please select which bureau or office you would like to receive your request. The bureau or office you select will determine from which bureau or office records will be sought (see 43 C.F.R. § 2.4).

Please describe the information you are seeking so that an employee familiar with the subject area of the request may locate existing record(s) with a reasonable amount of effort. Include descriptive information, time frame to be searched, etc. Please do not submit sensitive personally identifiable information such as a date of birth or social security number. In order for a record to be considered subject to your FOIA request, it must be in the bureau's or office's possession and control at the time the bureau or office begins its search for responsive records.

Please indicate your communication preferences
Please indicate your document disclosure preferences
Expedited Processing:

Note: This section corresponds with 43 C.F.R. § 2.10 and § 2.20.

A request for expedited processing must set forth the reasons why the request should be expedited. You must certify that the reasons given for seeking expedited processing of this request are true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief. The action Bureau/Office will notify you of its decision whether to grant expedited processing within ten days after receiving the certified request. If the Bureau/Office denies the request for expedited processing, you will be advised of your right to submit an administrative appeal, which will be handled expeditiously. A reporting or court deadline is not a sufficient justification.

There are ONLY TWO reasons for which DOI grants expedited processing If one of these two reasons applies to your request, select the appropriate one below. If one of these two reasons does not apply to your request, you cannot obtain expedited processing.

Select the applicable reason why you are requesting expedited processing

You MUST provide a justification statement that explains in detail 1) how your request meets one or both of the criteria above (see 43 C.F.R. 2.20(a)) and 2) certifies that your explanation is true and correct to the best of your knowledge and belief if you have requested expedited processing.
Fees and Waivers:

Note: This section corresponds with 43 C.F.R. Part 2, Subpart G.

Please be advised that by making a FOIA request, it shall be considered an agreement by you to pay all fees unless you have been granted a fee waiver or specify your willingness to pay fees up to a particular amount. We will confirm this agreement in our acknowledgement letter.

If the bureau processing your request finds that the actual cost will exceed the amount you specified above, the bureau will stop processing the request and consult with you (see 43 C.F.R. 2.49(d)).

If You are Making This Request in Affiliation with a News Media/Educational or Noncommercial Scientific Institution Please List That Affiliation.

If you are seeking a fee waiver, it is your responsibility to provide detailed information to support your request by addressing all the criteria outlined in 43 C.F.R. 2.48. If you do not submit sufficient justification, your fee waiver request will be denied (see 43 C.F.R. 2.45).

You will receive an e-mail shortly after this form has been submitted. This e-mail confirms that your request was submitted successfully and that the selected FOIA office can begin review of your request. If you do not receive a confirmation e-mail and would like to confirm your submission, please contact the bureau FOIA office through the information located on our Contact page.