Further information

What is Environmental Information?

 Environmental Information includes written, electronic, visual or audio information on:

• The state of the elements of the environment (e.g. air, atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms).
• Factors affecting the environment (e.g. substances, energy, noise, radiation or waste - including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges and other releases).
• Measures (including administrative measures) and activities affecting or designed to protect the environment (e.g. policies, legislation, plans, programmes, environmental agreements).
• Cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used within the framework of environmental measures and activities.
• Reports on the implementation of environmental legislation.
• The state of human health and safety, including the contamination of the food chain, conditions of human life, cultural sites and built structures in as much as they are affected by the state of the environment, or factors, measures or activities affecting the environment.

How can I request information?

Requests for information you think we hold can be made by email to Right2Know@s-norfolk.gov.uk or in writing to:
The Information Rights Officer
South Norfolk Council
Swan Lane
Long Stratton
Norfolk NR15 2XE

The request does not have to be made in writing, but it would help to make sure that we understand your request if you could put it in writing. Verbal requests can be made to the Right2Know Officer on 01508 533928, and the officer you speak to will record it for you.

How are Environmental Information Requests different from Freedom of Information?

• Environmental Information Requests do not need to be in writing, Freedom of Information requests do. That said, when making requests for environmental information it would be a good idea to put in writing what you are asking for.
• Under Freedom of Information, we not considered to have information if we are holdingit solely on behalf of someone else. However, under EIR, we are hold any environmental information that is in our possession, even if we are holding that information on someone else's behalf.
• Under EIR, the time limit for dealing with a request, like Freedom of Information, is 20 working days. However, unlike Freedom of Information, this can be extended to 40 working days where the request is complex or there is a lot of work involved in getting the information ready.
• Under EIR fees may be charged for dealing with a request – see the charges below

EIR exceptions

We may refuse to provide information where an ‘exception’ applies, and the public interest in not releasing the information outweighs the public interest in releasing it.

These are the exceptions where we may refuse to release information:

1. Information is not held by us when the request is received;
2. The request is unreasonable;
3. The request is too general;
4. The information requested is due to published anyway;
5. Meeting the request would involve releasing any internal communications;
6. Releasing the information would affect the course of justice;
7. Intellectual property rights;
8. Confidentiality of proceedings;
9. Commercial or industrial confidentiality;
10. The interests of third parties volunteering information;
11. Environmental protection;
12. Personal data.

Please note

Exceptions 8, 9, 10 and 11 do not apply when the requested information applies to emissions.

Charges for Environmental Information Requests

We have almost the same charging policy for Environmental Information Requests as we do for Freedom of Information requests. Basically, we will only charge where costs for preparing the information are involved (e.g. printing, photocopying, postage or providing information in other formats).

See our page on Freedom of Information Charges for full details, but please note the £450 limit referred to on the charges page does not apply to Environmental Information requests.

Unreasonable requests

 We can to refuse to deal with requests which are ‘manifestly unreasonable’. We will treat as manifestly unreasonable any request (which may be the latest in a series of requests) which:

• clearly does not have any serious purpose or value;
• is designed to cause disruption or annoyance;
• has the effect of harassing us (South Norfolk Council);
• can otherwise fairly be characterised as obsessive or manifestly unreasonable.

Related pages on this website

• Freedom of Information FAQs