What is the Superfund Divisions FOIA Process?
In 1991, the Waste Management Division, now known as the Superfund Division (SFD), established the first centralized Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Section in the nation. The Freedom of Information Act Section (FMS) was designed to eliminate the large backlog and to provide quality responses to the high volume of public inquiries received by the division annually. In 1996, the section was renamed the Documents Management Section (DMS). With this, the additional responsibility of records management was added to the section. The overall SFD FOIA process is illustrated in the division’s DMS FOIA Flowchart as described below. The FOIA process begins when the FOIA Office receives the FOIA request. Once an inquiry is received from a requestor (e.g., law firms, insurance companies, engineering firms, environmental firms, or the general public) the FOIA Officer, issues a Request Identification Number (RIN). The requestor is sent a letter acknowledging receipt of the request. All FOIA inquir
