Dept. of Environmental Protection

DEP challenges records ruling

The state's new Office of Open Records has been open four months and already it has received 278 requests for help in resolving disputes over what constitutes a government record. So far, the office has issued decisions in 75 of those disputes involving such entities as fire companies, school districts, parking authorities and two dozen state agencies. Three of those decisions were appealed to county courts. One recent decision could become one of the first court tests of the revised Right to Know Law and could be of interest to anyone who doesn't want to travel far to review government records. Read More...

Pa.'s public-records czar faults Rendell on openness

HARRISBURG — The Rendell administration appears to be going out of its way to block public access to government documents. At least that is the impression left on the state's new open-records czar. Read More...

Opinion: If requested, state should mail documents

The intent of Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law is clear: Public information should be available to the public in a timely fashion. But already we have a legal challenge on what exactly "available" means. Read More...

Pennsylvania has first test over access to records

In one of the first tests of a new Pennsylvania law intended to make state records more readily available to the public, the State Department of Environmental Protection was ordered on Tuesday to copy and mail out documents to people who request them, rather than force people to come to its offices in Harrisburg. Read More...