1. (1) Public inspection of records. Except as provided herein, any records, reports, rules, forms, or information obtained under the Act and the official records of the Department shall be available to the public for inspection. Requests for permission to inspect such records should be made to the Department of Environmental Management at its Montgomery, Alabama office, unless otherwise directed in published organizational, procedural, or regulatory statements pertaining to specific records or classes of records. Such requests should state the general subject matter of the records sought to be inspected to permit identification and location.
2. (2) Exceptions. Upon a showing satisfactory to the Director by any person that records, reports, or information, or particular parts thereof (other than emission, effluent, manifest, or compliance data) to which the Department has access, if made public, would divulge production of sales figures or methods, processes, or production unique to such person, or otherwise tend to affect adversely the competitive position of such person by revealing trade secrets, the Director shall consider such records, reports, or information, or particular portion thereof, confidential. Any showing of confidentiality must be based on statutory authority which empowers the Department to grant confidentiality for the particular program in question and must accompany the documents, records, reports, or information provided to the Department. If a claim covering the information is received after the information itself is received, efforts, as are administratively practicable can be made, will be made to associate the late claim with the copies of the previously submitted information in the file.
3. (3) Requests for records and information must be made to the Office of the Director at the Department's Montgomery address. Responses to such requests shall be made within 10 working days after receipt in the Office of the Director.
4. (4) Creation of record. Records will not be created by compiling selected items from other documents at the request of a member of the public, nor will records be created to provide the requester with data such as ratios, proportions, percentages, frequency distribution, trends, correlations, or comparisons except as necessary to administer the Act.
5. (5) Denial of requests for, or non-existence of, information. If it is determined pursuant to this Part that requested information will not be provided or that, to the best knowledge of the Director, requested information does not exist, the Director shall notify in writing the party requesting the information that the request is denied and shall state the reasons for denial and shall maintain a file of such denials.

6. (6) Copies of documents. If it is determined that information requested may be disclosed, the requesting party shall be afforded the opportunity to obtain copies of the documents containing such information. However, records shall not be released for copying by non-Division personnel except by permission of the Director or his designee. When a determination not to disclose a portion of information requested has been made, records shall be prepared for copying on nonexcepted portions of the information. Cost of providing copies will be the responsibility of the person requesting the copies. Charges are as follows:

   1. (a) 30 cents per black and white page 8.5 x 11, 8.5 x 14 or 11 x 17 inches in size.
   2. (b) $1.50 per color page 8.5 x 11, 8.5 x 14 or 11 x 17 inches in size. $4.00 per page for black and white and $7.00 per page for color, wide-format documents such as maps and blue prints. Compact discs are $15.00 each for files retrievable from electronic data bases.
   3. (c) 50 cents per page for certified documents.
   4. (d) 10 cents per page rounded to the nearest dollar for paper copies of each Division of the regulations. Compact discs of a Division of the regulations are $15.00.
   5. (e) The Department will not invoice unless the charges exceed $10.00.
7. (7) Requests which do not reasonably describe records sought. The Department may communicate with the requester to clarify records sought and with a view toward reducing the administrative burden of processing a broad request and minimizing the fees payable by the requester.
8. (8) Public distribution. Any written request for records prepared by the Department for routine public distribution, e.g. pamphlets, copies of speeches, press releases, and education materials, shall be honored.
9. (9) Disclosure of information to other agencies. Nothing in these rules and regulations shall be construed to prevent disclosure of any report, record, or information obtained under the Act, or any of the official records of the Commission to federal, or state, agencies, or when relevant in any proceedings under the Act.

Author: Marilyn Elliott, Russell A. Kelly

Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, §§22-22A-5, 22-22A-6, 22-22A-8, 41-22-4, 41-22-5.

History: Effective Filed June 17, 1988. Amended: Filed December 24, 2003; effective January 28, 2004. Amended: Filed June 6, 2006; effective July 11, 2006.