The UK's Environment Information Regulations have enabled researchers and campaigners to force water firms to publish data on river pollution, but they may be scrapped as part of the Brexit process
A legal right to access environmental information, which activists and researchers have used to uncover the unlawful release of raw sewage into UK rivers, could be lost as part of the UK’s legal disentangling from the European Union. Without these Environmental Information Regulations , it could be much harder to hold water firms and government bodies to account, campaigners have warned.
“The public have a right to understand what’s happening in their local environment and many of our representatives rely on EIRs for localised data on sewage discharges in their areas,” saysat Surfers Against Sewage, a group that monitors water quality at more than 400 river and coastal locations in the UK. “The scrapping of EIRs would be very problematic – we should be taking more steps towards transparency, not three steps back.
EIRs are similar to the UK’s freedom of information law, which allows anyone to request information held by public bodies. Crucially, the environmental version requires some private companies, such as water firms, to respond to requests as well. This was only clarified inwhen environmental group Fish Legal took water companies Yorkshire Water and United Utilities to the European Court of Justice after they refused to disclose data about their release of raw sewage into water bodies.
higher than the UK’s Environment Agency had previously estimated. “I couldn’t do any of the work that I’ve done without EIRs,” says Hammond.Get a dose of climate optimism delivered straight to your inbox every month.
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