Environmental Information Regulations
The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations came into force on 1 January 2005.
Every Scottish public authority now has a duty to make available environmental information on request.
Access to Environmental Information
Environmental information has been accessible in the UK for over 12 years. The Environmental Information Regulations 1992, which were amended in 1998, gave the public the right to ask for information which ‘relates to the environment’ and which was held by a ‘relevant person’.
In 1998, the UK signed the Aarhus Convention from which an EU Directive was derived. The new Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (‘the EIRs’) ensure that Scotland complies with the Convention and the Directive. There are separate regulations for the rest of the UK.
View the full text of the Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) (EIRs).
The Scottish Executive's Section 62 Code of Practice on dealing with requests for environmental information can also be viewed here:
Section 62 Code of Practice (environmental information)
Dealing with Requests for Environmental Information - A Process Flowchart
The Commissioner has prepared a flowchart to assist Scotland's public authorities when responding to requests which involve environmental information. The flowchart sets out the process that authorities should follow when they receive a request for environmental information, and provides guidance on how the relationship between the EIRs and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 should be managed when such requests are received.
The Commissioner's flowchart can be downloaded below:
EIR Flowchart (PDF - 209kb)