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Ohio’s public records law should not be confused with the Federal Freedom of Information Act, which applies to records held by federal agencies. Ohio EPA does not have a central repository for all its records. Each division within Ohio EPA and each of the five district offices houses its own files.
Therefore, more than one office may need to be contacted to obtain all applicable files on a particular issue or site. The Procedures for Public Records Requests and File Reviews fact sheet explains Ohio EPA’s file review process in more detail.
For more information about Ohio’s public records law, you may review Ohio Revised Code 149.43.
In order to better identify, locate and track the file(s) being requested, Ohio EPA suggests all requests for public records or file reviews be submitted in writing. When making a request, it is suggested that you fill out and submit the file review request checklist. The Procedures for Public Records Requests and File Reviews fact sheet explains Ohio EPA’s file review process in more detail.
Once your request is received, it is routed to the appropriate program offices to secure files. Once the files are located, you will be contacted to have copies made or to set up a convenient time for you to review the files.
The charge for copies is five cents per page. As a courtesy, Ohio EPA may waive the charges if fewer than 250 copies are made. Ohio EPA reserves the right to deny this courtesy if a requester asks for fewer than 250 pages of a single document that exceeds 250 pages or where a requester repeatedly requests copies under the 250-page limit in an effort to avoid copying charges. The charge for copying more than 250 pages is five cents a page, which includes pages 1 through 250. A two-sided copy counts as two pages.
Each district office has specific copying procedures. Click on the appropriate district below to see these procedures.
The best initial contact for your file review request is the district office where the facility or site is located. To locate the appropriate office, please see the map below. If you wish to review Agency files on a matter involving more than one division or district office, or are uncertain as to where the facility is located, please send your request to Rich Bouder, Ohio EPA’s public records manager, by email or phone at (614) 644-2782.
Ohio EPA - Central Office Attn: Rich Bouder P.O. Box 1049 Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049 (614) 644-2782 (614) 644-3184 FAX Email Rich Bouder Central Office Copy Procedures
Ohio EPA Central District Office Attn: Lisa Oltman 50 W. Town Street, Suite 700 Columbus, Ohio 43215 (614) 728-0793 (614) 728-3898 FAX Email Lisa Oltman Central District Office Copy Procedures
Ohio EPA Northeast District Office Attn: Nicole Patella 2110 E Aurora Road Twinsburg, Ohio 44087 (330) 963-1200 (330) 487-0769 FAX Email Nicole Patella Northeast District Office Copy Procedures Northeast District Checklist
Ohio EPA Southeast District Office Attn: Angie Hardesty 2195 Front Street Logan, Ohio 43138 (740) 385-8501 (740) 385-6490 FAX Email Angie Hardesty Southeast District Office Copy Procedures
Ohio EPA Northwest District Office Attn: Cheryl Gulley 347 North Dunbridge Road Bowling Green, Ohio 43402 (419) 373-3086 (419) 352-8468 FAX Email Meghan Bingaman Northwest District Office Copy Procedures
Ohio EPA Southwest District Office Attn: Penny Prather 401 East Fifth Street Dayton, Ohio 45402-2911 (937) 285-6025 (937) 285-6249 FAX Email Penny Prather Southwest District Office Copy Procedures
If you can't find a document that should be part of the eDoc System, please contact Ohio EPA's public records manager.
To review any other kind of document, please contact the district office where the facility or site is located. If you aren't sure of the facility location, please contact Ohio EPA's public records manager.
Documents may be scanned into the system and appear as soon as 48 hours after they are issued by the agency or received at the agency, but sometimes it may take a little longer. If you don't see a recently issued document right away, please check back in a couple of days. If you need it sooner, please use the contact information listed below.
Ohio EPA Public Records 1-614-644-2782 email: edoc.support@epa.ohio.gov
Ohio EPA suggests you enter as many keyword values as possible to help narrow down the number of documents that are returned for your search.
You may search the database by document type, date range, facility name, county, program, secondary ID, or any word or phrase that appears in the document. For many document types, you will also be able to search by document sub-type.
This could be due to several factors:
If you still can't find it, please contact Ohio EPA for assistance.
Enter as many keyword values as possible to help narrow the number of documents that are returned for your search. This will enable you to find the document or facility that you are searching for from a smaller list of results. Once you locate a document, you can then find all of the documents available in the system for that facility by clicking on the related documents folder icon instead of having to conduct additional searches.
For the best results when performing a Full Text Search, search for an exact phrase by putting double quotes around the phrase rather than searching by an individual word(s). For instance, entering the term Surface Water will return every instance or combination of results with the words Surface Water. It also will return results with just surface or water in the search results. Often times if you perform too broad of a word search without using double quotes (e.g., “Surface Water”), the system will attempt to find each of the word(s) within all of the documents in the system and you will receive a time-out error.
Each record that is returned will include a hyperlink to connect to the actual documents, all documents related to the same facility, and the document’s keyword values. Printing or searching within the document is accomplished by using the controls in your browser window. The text within the PDF document is fully searchable.
To download the documents you are interested in, you can select the documents you want out of the search results by clicking the leftmost box in the search results and then clicking on “download zip.” A dialog box will pop up and ask you to name the zip file. Once named, you click on “begin merge” and the documents are downloaded to your computer.
If you still can't find something, please be sure to contact Ohio EPA by phone or email for further assistance.
Contact Ohio EPA by using the phone number or email address listed below. We will assist you in obtaining the document. Also, please report unreadable documents or any other technical problem so it can be fixed in the system.
Ohio EPA will be adding documents over the next several years. Each time a new document type is made available online, the eDocument Search page will be updated to inform users regarding what is available online. Any public records that cannot be found using the eDocument Search can be requested through the Agency's public records request process. Please visit Ohio EPA's website to assist you in making a public records request.
Ohio EPA's spill hotline should be used to report release of any material that impacts public health or the environment, including chemicals and petroleum products.
For non-emergency calls, including complaints, questions or concerns about environmental issues, please use the toll-free numbers listed for the nearest district office or contact the public involvement coordinator for your region. The regulated community should use the main division number for routine business.
When reporting a spill, release or environmental crime through the spill hotline, be prepared with as much of the following information as possible:
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Director's Office Phone: (614) 644-2782 ~ Fax: (614) 644-3184 ~ Contact Us
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, OH 43216-1049 Street Address: 50 West Town Street, Suite 700, Columbus, OH 43215 Report a Spill, Release or Environmental Crime (800) 282-9378 or (614) 224-0946
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