Severn Trent Water Ltd

The complainant has requested information relating to a sewage treatment works. The above public authority provided some information, relied on regulation 12(5)(b) of the EIR (course of justice) to withhold some and refused to provide the remainder on the basis that it was not environmental information. The Commissioner’s decision is that the public authority has correctly relied on regulation 12(5)(b) of the EIR to withhold information within the scope of elements [3], [4] and [5] and the balance of the public interest favours maintaining the exception. In respect of element [6], the Commissioner considers that the information is environmental and therefore the public authority has failed to comply with its obligations under the EIR. The Commissioner requires the public authority to take the following steps to ensure compliance with the legislation: either provide the information it holds within the scope of element [6] of the request or issue a refusal notice that complies with regulation 14 of the EIR.