Understanding the Environmental Information Regulations

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (‘EIRs’) cover a wide range of information requests, many of which can wrongly be assumed to fall under the Freedom of Information Act.

While the scope of the EIRs does include information about the most directly “green” environmental functions of the public sector, it is not restricted to them, and embraces information about a much wider range of their activities. The EIRs cover land use planning, transport, waste, energy, and agriculture; but they also extend to (for example) information about housing development, buildings maintenance, the care of cultural sites, and aspects of public health and food safety.

This course explains the meaning and scope of the EIRs. It examines in detail the boundary with FOI, based on guidance and decisions. It also looks at the main differences in handling requests under the EIRs and the FOI Act, and why these matter. It explains which organisations are subject to the EIRs, how to manage issues such as requests falling under both regimes, and specific issues such as:

• the significance (or otherwise) of the EIRs’ express presumption in favour of disclosure
• the way in which the EIRs override other legislation, and whether this is absolute
• the ‘aggregation’ of public interest factors in favour of non-disclosure (differing from the FOI Act)
• the duty to disseminate environmental information; and
• the scope of the power to charge.

The course looks in detail at the exemptions (known as “exceptions”) in the EIRs, which differ markedly from those in the FOIA, and how they apply. Particular issues include:

• the need in many cases to show harm from disclosure, and the handling of the level of likelihood expected; and
• the meaning of information on ‘emissions’, to which some EIR exceptions do not apply
• whether requests under the EIR should necessarily be expected to lead to greater levels of disclosure than under FOI

EIR requests involving personal data are handled briefly on this course, since the topic is covered in detail in the course on FOI and Data Protection – How They Work Together. This part of the course takes account of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.

This course deals with the whole of the environmental information access regime in one day. It equips practitioners to recognise – and be able to handle with confidence – the many practical issues which can arise under the EIR. Public authorities and their advisors (and those in the private sector to whom the EIR apply, such as some former public utilities) need to understand the Regulations in order to handle their information requests correctly.

A thorough knowledge of the EIRs is vital to fully understanding their relationship with the FOI Act.