Freedom of Information Act Program

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives you the right to access any Department of the Interior (DOI) records unless the information in those records is protected by one or more of the nine exemptions (reasons an agency may withhold records from a requester) and there is a sound legal basis to withhold them.

Our responsibility is to provide you with copies of the documents you are entitled to receive under the law.  We want to work with you to achieve that goal.  If you are seeking general information about DOI or one of its bureaus or offices, you may wish to visit DOI's home page or contact the Office of Communications/Public Affairs for the appropriate bureau. The information you are seeking may be available already in one of DOI's reading rooms or via the Internet. If it is not, you will need to submit a written FOIA request to DOI.

If the information you are seeking is not available online, you will need to submit a written FOIA request to the FOIA Contact at the bureau/office where you believe the records are maintained (see http://www.doi.gov/foia/contacts.html). You may also ask the FOIA Contacts what information you can obtain without submitting a FOIA request or where such information may be located.

You may also contact the FOIA Requester Center and the FOIA Liaison for information regarding the status of your request.

Please help us improve our FOIA Program and website by sending your questions, comments, or suggestions to doifoia@ios.doi.gov

As an alternative to sending us an e-mail, you can write us at:
FOIA Office (OCIO)
MS-7438 MIB
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20240

Before sending your comments,  please note the following:

• Comments submitted in writing or via e-mail are not a valid FOIA request.  Information on how to make a FOIA request can be found at http://www.doi.gov/foia/foitabl.htm.
• If your comments are not related to the operation of this website or the mission of the DOI FOIA Office, we may not respond.

Due to the volume of comments, we cannot guarantee that all comments sent to us will receive a response.  If your comment is related to our website or the mission of the DOI FOIA Office and we are unable to respond to you directly, we may either read your comment and file it for future reference or refer your comment to another DOI Bureau or Office for consideration.

Disclaimer: To the extent that anything included on this home page may be or could be construed as inconsistent with the law or DOI's regulations, the law and regulations will control DOI's responsibilities under the FOIA.