Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004
The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) came into effect on 1 January 2005.
Following the Upper Tribunal’s judgment in the matter of Fish Legal & Emily Shirley v Information Commissioner & Others [2015] UKUT 0052 (AAC), handed down on 20 February 2015, we are now subject to the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004.
What is environmental information?
We have provided an explanation of what environmental information is covered by the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) (PDF 431 KB opens in new window); however, this does not necessarily mean that we hold all of the information within this factsheet.
What information is already available?
We already have a large amount of information on our website which may provide answers to some of your questions. We will continue to add material we feel would be of interest:
- environmental policy (PDF 143 KB opens in a new window)- our long-standing policy that underpins our environmental activities;
- water resource plan - managing resources, reducing leakage and the quality of the drinking water we supply;
- information on water quality in your local postcode area;
- water efficiency - encouraging our customers to conserve water around the home and at work;
- information on bathing waters and our work to improve bathing water quality in the North West;
- protecting and enhancing the water environment through managing the surrounding land;
- our strategic approach to climate change including reducing our own carbon emissions;
- opportunities for recreation at sites such as reservoirs;
- information on our performance against a range of key performance indicators including those covering our environmental impact.
I have a particular environment information request
The Publication Scheme is currently under development.
If there is some environmental information that you would like from us, please let us know the following:
- what information you would like us to provide, giving us as much detail as possible so we can assist you promptly;
- the format you would like the information presented to you (for example letter, email, telephone call); and
- your contact details.
You can email your request to us.
Alternatively please write to: United Utilities, EIR Requests, Legal Services, Grasmere House, Lingley Mere Business Park, Warrington, WA5 3LP.
Please note that depending on the nature of the information requested, we will confirm whether we have the information and whether a fee is payable. We aim to respond as quickly as possible: depending on how much information you request, a response may take up to 20 working days. In particularly detailed requests, we may extend that response up to 40 working days. However, we will inform you if that need arises.
I'm not happy with how United Utilities dealt with my request
If we responded to a request but you do not feel that we have dealt with it appropriately you have the right to register a complaint by using our complaints procedure.
Further information
For further information about environmental information, you can visit the following website:
Similar legislation
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 - United Utilities, as a water and waste water service provider/utility does not fall within the remit of the FOIA.
Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR. Please follow the link to our Privacy Notice for more information.
Do I have to pay for the information?
In some instances a request can take us more than 18 hours to look for, retrieve and collate the information. In those circumstances we may at our discretion ask for a reasonable charge for the environmental information you have requested.
Where we consider a charge is appropriate, we will give you the option to pay before we go ahead and collect the information. We will however require payment once we have informed you that a charge will apply. We will not be able to process your request until payment has been received.
Our charges are £25 per hour spent in locating, retrieving, extracting and collating the information we need to provide to you. Plus we will charge you 10 pence per page for any photocopied material we send in hard copy.
We won’t charge you a fee if the information is reasonably accessible from any existing publications on our website, or for providing you to a web link to any external material.
