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Environmental Information Regulations

The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) give you the right to ask us for information we hold that is about the environment 

This information is in 6 main areas (summarised):

  • The state of the elements of the environment such as:
    • Air 
    • Atmosphere
    • Water
    • Soil
    • Land
    • Landscape 
    • Natural sites
  • Factors such as:
    • Substances
    • Noise
    • Energy
    • Radiation
    • Waste including emissions
    • Discharges
    • Releases into the environment 
  • Measures and activities such as:
    • Policies
    • Plans
    • Legislation
    • Environmental agreements, affecting or protecting the environment
  • Reports on how we implement environmental legislation
  • Cost-benefit and economic analysis and assumptions used in decisions on the environment
  • The state of human health and safety, including:
    • The food chain
    • Conditions of human life
    • Cultural sites
    • Built structures

We routinely publish environmental information on our website, at some offices and in some registers that are available for inspection at certain offices.

We are not obliged to provide this directly to you if it is already publicly available but if you can’t find the information you want, you will need to ask for it.

Exceptions

We are required to supply you with the environmental information you have requested unless there are reasons not to – called exceptions. There are a few exceptions that apply to us and some examples are:
  • The information requested is incomplete or may be inaccurate at the time of your request for example, a draft report or part of a consultation that is on-going
  • Disclosing the information would breach confidentiality or the commercial interests of the person who supplied the information to us
  • Disclosure would harm the environment, or would put our investigations, or health and safety at risk
If an exception applies, we may not be able to supply the information or may only be able to supply some of it.
We are required to complete a public interest test and it may not be in the public interest to disclose information at that time.
You will be told about any exceptions or the outcome of a public interest test in our response to you.
More information about the exceptions can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.

Charges for the provision of information relating to the CON29R and CON29O

The fees for providing information, specifically requested under the Environmental Information Regulations, relating to the CON29 forms is £3.82 for the submission (including the first question) and then £0.80 per question or part thereof.

Staff time spent providing the information has been calculated by each of the departments involved and actual salary costs have been used. The fees are inclusive of disbursements.

Other legislation

You can ask for copies of your personal information that we hold under the Data Protections Act. 

Requests for all other information will generally be dealt with under the Freedom of Information Act.