Environment Information Regulations (EIR) 2004

What are the Environmental Information Regulations?

The Environmental Information Regulations are about the public right of access to environmental information.

Environmental Information is defined as:

• state of the elements of the environment, such as air, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, flora and fauna and interaction between these elements
• state of human health and safety, conditions of human life, the food chain, cultural sites and built structures in as much as they are or may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment
• substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste affecting or likely to affect the state of the environment
• policies, strategies and plans relating to the state of the elements and the interaction between them
• emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment
• cost benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used within the framework of environmental measures and activities

Access to Environmental Information

The public has been able to access environmental information for over a decade, the regulations were revised in January 2005 to come into line with the Freedom Of Information Act.

• Environmental information can be found on this website and Council publications about environmental issues can be found through the publication scheme.
• Inspection of registers and documents by an applicant on council premises is free of charge.
• To request access to environmental information you cannot find on the website, follow the link on this page to Freedom of Information and complete the application form.

Requests for Environmental Information

Requests for environmental information can be made in various ways including: in a letter, email, on-line form or over the telephone. If you are unsure if your request falls under the Environmental Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act, apply for the information you want by your preferred method and when we acknowledge your request we will advise you which legislation we are using to process it.

Timescale
The Council has 20 working days to respond to an applicant. This timescale can be extended to 40 days if a public interest test is required or if the request is complex or extremely large.

Charges
Shropshire Council can charge a reasonable amount for supplying information. We will inform you, in writing, what fee is payable. If the fee is not paid within 60 days, we will assume that you no longer want the information.

Exceptions
Environmental information regulations contain a presumption in favour of disclosure of environmental information. The Council will disclose the relevant information unless there is a strong case under public interest to withhold access to that information. Exceptions include:

• not holding the information
• the request is too large
• the request is too general
• the information required is still in draft
• the information required is confidential internal correspondence
• other exceptions relating to international relations, defence, national security, public safety, judicial or legislative capacity, intellectual property rights, confidentiality

Personal Information
If environmental information contains personal data relating to other people, the personal information will be removed before the information is sent to you.
If the information requested includes your personal data, the request is a Subject Access Request (SAR) under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Re-use of Council Information
The supply of information does not give the public an automatic right to re-use that information. Most environmental information held by the council will be covered by copyright under the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

Complaints
Shropshire Council will provide you with the information unless there is a good reason for not doing so. If we decline your request, we will let you know why we made this decision. If you do not agree, you can ask us to reconsider our decision and if the request is still declined you can ask the Information Commissioner's office to review the decision.

Enforcement
The Information Commissioner is responsible for overseeing the Regulations, but sometimes the European Court of Justice could be involved.

Contact details: Information Commissioner
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545700 or 08456 306060
A link to their website is included on this page.

If you have any concerns about how the Council processes Environmental Information Regulation (EIR) requests contact us with the details on this page.

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