Access to Environmental Information
Access to Environmental Information
A short public service video by Rosie Oliver on how to access environmental information.
The law defines environmental information as information relating to the state of the environment, including elements of the environment such as air, water, soil and landscape. This also includes information on anything released into the environment (noise, energy or waste as well as substances), information on legislation, policies and plans relating to the environment and analysis of their likely effects, and information on human health and safety, including food safety where it is affected by the environment.
Environmental information can be published in any material form including written, visual, aural and electronic.
For the full definition see, for example, regulation 2(1) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, which incorporates word for word Article 2(1) of EU Directive 2003/4/EC, the most recent European law on public access to environmental information, which itself implements part of the 1998 Aarhus Convention.
Scotland has its own regulations containing the same definition.
Legislation
International
European Union
Directive 2003/4/EC on Public Access to Environmental Information
National
