The 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 FOIAonline, a secure, web-based tracking and case-management system, at https://www.foiaonline.gov or the government-wide portal at https://www.foia.gov.
All Department of the Interior Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices, with the exception of the Office of the Inspector General, have transitioned to FOIAonline, a secure, web-based tracking and case-management system run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. FOIAonline has multiple features that increase efficiency in FOIA processing and permits requesters to:
Electronic FOIA requests can be submitted through FOIAonline at https://www.foiaonline.gov.
You may file a request with the Office of Inspector General at https://www.doioig.gov/complaints/FOIA/how-to-submit-a-foia-request or through the government-wide portal at https://www.foia.gov.
Requests can also be submitted via physical mail or facsimile to the bureau/office FOIA Contacts at https://www.doi.gov/foia/contacts.
Additional information about the FOIA, and the Department's FOIA responses, can be found at https://www.foia.gov.