Environmental Information Regulations establish an access regime which allows people to request environmental information from public authorities and those bodies carrying out a public function.

Presently:

Environmental information is available under the Environmental Information Regulations 1992 (SI 3240), for which The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) are responsible. 

New Environmental Information Regulations are due to come in to force onthe 1^st January 2005 (the same date that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 comes fully in to force).  These new regulations are the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and will be the responsibility of the Information Commissioners Office (the Information Commissioners Office is already responsible for both the Freedom of information Act 2000 and the Data Protection Act 1998).

Changing Access Rights to Environmental Information

 FROM 1^ST JANUARY 2005:

Any request for information held by/on behalf of a public authority or a body carrying out a public function is technically an FOI request in the first instance.  Section 39 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) then exempts environmental information from being dealt with under the FOI Act and provides it should be dealt with under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

If it is determined that part/all of the information requested is personal information, where the applicant is the subject of the information, access to that information will be dealt with under the Data Protection Act 1998.

In effect the three pieces of legislation work together, the Environmental Information Regulations enabling access to environmental information, the Data Protection Act 1998 enabling access to personal information of which the applicant is the subject, and the Freedom of Information Act enabling access to all other information.

Please see the flowchart as to what information should be dealt with under which access regime.