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What is FOIA
Freedom of Information Act - "the Act" or "FOIA" (pronounced FOI-YA) is a law enacted in 1966 that established a citizen's legal right to access government records and information upon request. The basic purpose of FOIA is to ensure that people are informed about the doings and acts of its government - to check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed. The law is found at 5 U.S.C. § 552. EPA regulations to implement FOIA are found at 40 C.F.R. Chapter 1, Part 2.
Amendments to the Act were signed into law by President Clinton on October 2, 1996, and titled the Electronic Freedom of Information Act of 1996 (E-FOIA) and became effective March 31, 1997. E-FOIA amendments include electronic records, electronic reading room requirements, multi-tracking system and revisions in time limits. EPA is currently revising their FOIA regulations to implement the E-FOIA requirements.
FOIA reports and information are freely available (within set guidelines) but they are not free to obtain; usually, you must pay for the costs of finding, processsing and copying the requested material. For a large pile of printed matter, the sum could be costly. The requests must be in writing and sent to the FOIA Officer.