Wild Virginia has prompted a significant improvement in public access to records from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

On May 12th, Water Quality Program Director, David Sligh recommended that DEQ create a database containing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests that have been made to the agency and to make available the documents that have been released in response to those requests. The aim of this proposal was to avoid duplication of efforts by parties filing FOIAs and agency personnel, making records quickly and easily available through searches of the database.

To the credit of DEQ Director Mike Rolband and his staff, on May 28th DEQ started making such records available through its online systems and credited Sligh with the idea.

In the past, multiple people sometimes submitted FOIA requests seeking the same or similar information, requiring agency staff to process each request separately and often resulting in unnecessary costs.

The new system allows users to search previously released records before filing a request of their own. It also allows broader searches by topic, helping the public learn more about DEQ operations and the issues addressed by its various programs.

You can search available records through DEQ’s NextRequest portal:
https://vadeq.nextrequest.com/documents

If you would like to submit a FOIA request, click the “Make Request” tab at the top of the page and follow the instructions provided.

For additional guidance on using Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, you can watch Wild Virginia’s 2022 webinar, Freedom of Information Acts (FOIAs) – Learn How You Can Exercise Your Rights. While DEQ’s NextRequest system had not yet been established when the webinar was recorded, the information about the FOIA process and your rights remains applicable.