Summary
Intervention taken following receipt of a complaint alleging that the Environment Agency was failing to fulfil its duties under the EPR (2016) to provide access to a Public Register.
Outcomes and additional information
Whilst this complaint was not prioritised for investigation, we acknowledged that the transparency and accessibility of environmental data is a foundational aspect of environmental law. The external scrutiny provided by the public register is an important driver to maintain compliance standards and provide the appropriate scrutiny to environmental permits. We wrote to the Environment Agency to request an action plan detailing the development of an online public register, including planned improvements and proposed dates. The Environment Agency complied with this request and we intend to monitor their progress in this regard.