# Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment The Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment ("E&E" / "DEE") and its **Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ)** — the state environmental regulator, successor to the former Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ). Its **Office of Air Quality** and **Office of Water Quality** issue the air-operating, NPDES, and construction-stormwater permits relevant to Arkansas data centers. Agency key in this corpus: **`deq`**. ## Role in this corpus - **FOIA custodian (responded 2026-06-08).** DEE/DEQ was the first of the four long-silent state-agency FOIAs (AEDC / APSC / DEE-DEQ / DFA) to respond. Its answer was a **self-service pointer** to two public databases — the **SEEK** system and the legacy **DEQ Permit Data System (PDS)** — rather than a file delivery, plus a pending item-6 correspondence supplemental. See [[2026-06 Arkansas Energy and Environment Produces Data-Center Permit Records]] and the [[deq/seek-pds-data-center-permits-2026-06-08/_overview|production overview]]. - **Permitting authority over the data-center sites.** DEQ issued the [[Project Pyramid Title V Air Permit (2507-AOP-R0)|Title V air permit]] for the Google/Project Pyramid site and the construction-stormwater coverages for both Project Pyramid and AVAIO/Project Leo. ## Public-access systems - **SEEK** (`seek.ee.arkansas.gov`) — the current NCORE/nSITE web application for facilities, environmental interests, and permit documents. - **PDS — Permit Data System** (`adeq.state.ar.us/home/pdssql/pds.aspx`) — the legacy facility/permit database; per its own disclaimer, records with status "In SEEK" are no longer updated there, but PDS still holds **older permits and permits not yet in SEEK** (e.g., the Project Pyramid Title V air permit). ## Staff named in the corpus - **Sara White** — Legal Support Specialist (FOIA respondent, 2026-06-08). - **Jorge Rodriguez Peña** — Engineer, Office of Water Quality (construction-stormwater permit reviewer). - **Shawn Hutchings** — reviewing engineer, Office of Air Quality (Project Pyramid air permit). - **Demetria Kimbrough** — Deputy Director, Office of Air Quality.