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The Act

Environmental Information regulations

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004come into effect from 1 January 2005 (at the same time as the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002).  The regulations establish an access regime which allows people to request environmental information from public authorities and those bodies carrying out a public function, and will be enforced by the Scottish Information Commissioner.

Access to environmental information is not new, and there are already existing regulations in place that came into force in 1992and were amended in 1998. The new 2004 regulations update the existing access regime to ensure that Scotland complies with the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental matters, signed by the UK at Aarhus in Denmark in 1998 ("the Aarhus Convention").  

What is "environmental information"?

The definition of environmental information is very broad and includes information in written, visual, audio taped or database form on:

• the state of elements of the environment – such air, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, flora and fauna, including cattle, crops, genetically modified organisms, wildlife and biological diversity – and it includes any interaction between them.

• the state of human health and safety, conditions of human life, the food chain, cultural sites and built structures, which are, or likely to be affected by the state of the elements of the environment and the interaction between them

• any factor such as substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste, including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases affecting or likely to affect the state of the elements of environment or any interaction between them

• measures and activities affecting or likely to affect, or intended to protect the state of the elements of the environment and the interaction between them. This includes administrative measures, policies, legislation, plans, programmes and environmental agreements

• emissions, discharges and other releases into the environment

• cost benefit and other economic analysis used in environmental decision making.

There is a very broad range of information which could fall within the classification of environmental.  The types of information which are caught may include:

Information on the state the environment and factors effecting the environment, for example, instances of flooding, habitat loss, species extinction, greenhouse gases, radioactive waste, noise, building developments etc.

Information on measures such as policies, legislation (including reports on the implementation of environmental legislation), environmental agreements etc and also economic analysis/cost benefit of such measures.

Information on the state of human health and safety, the food chain, cultural/built structures and the conditions of human life, where they are effected by environmental factors such as acid rain, air pollution etc.