Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations

On this page:

What are the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations?
What is environmental information?
Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations and the University of Edinburgh
Advice and guidance

In other sections:

What are the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004?

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 came into force on the 1 January 2005. They place two principal requirements on "Scottish public authorities". (For the purposes of this legislation the University of Edinburgh is a "Scottish public authority".) The requirements are:

To make environmental information available on request
To actively disseminate certain types of environmental information

A briefing on the Scottish Environmental Information Regulations has been prepared by the Records Management Section.

The implementation of these regulations will align with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and it is envisioned that the two pieces of legislation will complement each other. Both are policed by the Scottish Information Commissioner, who has prepared a helpful comparison of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations and the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.

What is environmental information?

Environmental information has a broad definition. It is recorded information, in any form in any of the following areas:

The state of elements of the environment and their interaction (air, water, soil, land and landscape, natural sites, flora and fauna)
Discharges, emissions, noise, radiation, waste
Measures and activities affecting the environment (e.g. policies, legislation, plans, activities)
Reports on implementation of environmental legislation
Cost benefit and economic analyses
– Effects of the environment on conditions of human life (including food, buildings)

Environmental information and the University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh has combined the implementation of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act. As a result the framework and procedures in place for handling freedom of information requests will also be used for environmental information requests. Requests for environmental information should be answered in accordance with the request handling procedures established for freedom of information requests.

Environmental information is being published along with other types of information in the University publication scheme.

Advice and guidance

As the University has chosen to handle the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations together with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act it means that the advice and guidance for the Scottish Environmental Information Regulations is the same as the existing guidance that the Records Management Section has provided for freedom of information.

Guidance and advice on the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations has also been provided by the Scottish Executive in the form of the draft Section 62 Code of Practice, which provides advice on the discharge of our functions in relation to the environmental information regulations. The Scottish Executive has also produced a helpful document on access to environmental information.

Finally, there are further links to more information about the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations available on the useful links page of this website.

The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336