Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Access to Environmental Information held at the University

The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs) provides rights of access to any recorded environmental information held by the University, in a similar way to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Both pieces of legislation are regulated by the Scottish Information Commissioner.


"Environmental information" covers a broad range of topics under the regulations, such as;

  • the elements of the environment itself such as air, water, soil, land, natural sites, animals and plants.
  • things that affect the environment, such as emissions, radiation, noise, waste and pollution
  • strategies,policies and laws which affect the environment

The Scottish Information Commissioner has produced a helpful guide to explain in more detail, what environmental information is covered by the regulation, which is available here.

There are some differences between the two pieces of legislation and these are explained by the Commissioner here.


It is not always easy to know which legislation to apply to information requests. The FOI team also handles environmental regulation requests and will apply the appropriate legislation to the information requested.

Please email requests to foi@abdn.ac.uk

Write to

Freedom of Information Officer
Library, Special Collections & Museums
The Sir Duncan Rice Library
The University of Aberdeen
Bedford Road
Aberdeen
AB24 3AA

or telephone

+44 (0)1224 272596 or +44 (0)1224 273175

The 20 day time period for responding to requests can be extended to 40 days where the request is complex and voluminous and would involve a considerable amount of work.