October 23, 2009
Dear Secretary Swaim-Staley:
We submit this request under the Maryland Public Information Act (PIA), State Government Article § 10-611 to § 10-628, and under the United States Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The federal statute applies, we believe, because we are asking the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) to provide copies of information that it has generated, gathered, analyzed or shared with respect to the Intercounty Connector (ICC). As you know, the ICC is a federal-aid highway project, for which the federal government is providing roughly $1 billion in funding, and for which federal approvals and permits were sought and granted. In addition, MDOT sought and was granted the federally delegated authority to act as the Federal Highway Administration’s co-lead agency in developing the federally mandated environmental impact
statement required under the National Environmental Policy Act.