Colman Herman v. Department of Environmental Protection - Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup (SPR 20160009)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Shawn A. Williams Supervisor of& cords January 11, 2016 SPR16/009 Mr. Joe F erson Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection One Winter Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Mr. Ferson: I have received the petition of Colman Herman appealing the nomesponse of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Department) to his request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § 10(b); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). Specifically, Mr. Herman requested all communications between the Department and the Newton Country Day School regarding the school's boathouse and dock. Having received no response, Mr. Herman petitioned this office. Under the Public Records Law and the Access Regulations (Regulations) all requests for public records must be met with a response within ten (10) days of the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b); 950 C.M.R. 32.05. The response may be an offer to provide records, a fee estimate for provision of the records, or a denial. The Department is advised that all records custodians must comply with both the Public Records Law and the Regulations with respect to the timeliness of response. Subsequent to the intervention by a member of my staff, the Department provided a response, dated January 10,2016, which included records responsive to Mr. Herman's request. Whereas this matter was opened based upon the Department's failure to provide a written response, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Herman may appeal the substantive nature of the Department's response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(2). To assist the Department in responding to requests for public records I have enclosed a copy of our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is also available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Attorneys on my staff are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, members of my staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. OneAshburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 · (617) 727-2832 ·Fax (617) 727-5914 www.sec.state.ma.us/pre

Mr. Joe F erson SPR16/009 Page 2 January 11, 2016 Please contact my office directly at the telephone number provid d in this determination for further information. Enclosure cc: Mr. Colman Herman