ELR Citation: 44 ELR 20234
No(s). 14-C-985 (W. Va. Cnty. Cir. Ct. Oct 20, 2014)

A West Virginia court held that the state's environmental agency violated FOIA when it denied an environmental group's request for all coal mining related discharge monitoring reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2013. The group requested the data in spreadsheet format, but the agency instead referred the group to the agency's website to access the requested reports. Despite the agency's argument to the contrary, searching an electronic database of public records does not result in the creation of a new record, regardless of whether that result is formatted as an Excel file or some other electronic file. The group's FOIA request does not require the agency to create or compile records. The request merely requires the agency to extract already existing records from an existing database. The court therefore ordered the agency to provide the group the requested data in an Excel spreadsheet or other usable electronic file within five business days of the order.