Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992

Access to information on the environment.

110.—(1) The Minister shall, following consultation with any other Minister of the Government who in the opinion of the Minister is concerned, make regulations for the making available by such public authorities as may be specified of specified information relating to the environment to any person upon request and, in particular, for the purpose of giving full effect to Council Directive 90/313/EEC1 .

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), regulations may provide for all or any of the following—

(a) the type, format or subject matter of specified information or specified classes of information to be made available,

(b) the public authorities by whom information, or particular kinds of information, is to be made available,

(c) procedures, conditions and restrictions relating to the provision of information generally or of specified information,

(d) classes of circumstances in which requests for information, or specified kinds of information, may be refused,

(e) procedures for the review of a decision to refuse to provide, whether in whole or in part, information requested and the giving of directions to public authorities following such reviews, or

(f) the making of charges for the provision of information by public authorities.

(3) In this section, “information relating to the environment” means any available information in written, visual, aural or data base form on the state of water, atmosphere, soil, fauna, flora, land and natural sites, and on actions (including those which give rise to nuisances such as noise) or measures adversely affecting, or likely to so affect, these and on actions or measures designed to protect these, including administrative measures and environmental management programmes.

O.J. No. L158/56 of 23 June, 1990.