116 tal-2005 - Regolamenti tal-2005 dwar il-Libertà ta’ Aċċess għal Informazzjoni dwar l-Ambjent

L.N. 116 of 2005

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT

(CAP. 435)

Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment

Regulations, 2005

BY VIRTUE of the powers conferred by articles 3, 9, 19, 23 and

28 of the Environment Protection Act, 2001, the Minister for Rural

Affairs and the Environment has made the following regulations>-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Freedom of Access Citation, scope and

commencement.

to Information on the Environment Regulations, 2005.

(2)

The purpose of these regulations is>

(a) to guarantee the right of access to environmental

information held by or for public authorities and to set out the

basic terms and conditions of, and practical arrangements for, its

exercise<

(b) to ensure that, as a matter of course, environmental

information is progressively made available and disseminated to

the public in order to achieve the widest possible systematic

availability and dissemination to the public of environmental

information< and

(c) to transpose Directive 2003#4#EC of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access

to environmental information.

(3) These regulations shall come into force on such date as

the Minister responsible for the environment may by notice in the

Gazette appoint, and different dates may be so appointed for different

provisions and different purposes of these regulations.

For the purpose of these regulations and unless the context Definitions.

otherwise requires>

“applicant” means any natural or legal person requesting

environmental information<

“the competent authority” means the Malta Environment and

Planning Authority and such other body or person as the Minister

may by order in the Gazette appoint and different bodies or persons

may be designated as a competent authority for different provisions

and different purposes of these regulations<

“environmental information” means any information in

written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on>

(a) the state of the elements of the environment, such

as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural

sites including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological

diversity and its components, including genetically modified

organisms, and the interaction among these elements<

(b) factors, such as substances, energy, noise, radiation

or waste, including radioactive waste, emissions, discharges

and other releases into the environment, affecting or likely to

affect the elements of the environment referred to in paragraph

(a)<

(c) measures (including administrative measures), such

as policies, legislation, plans, programmes, environmental

agreements, and activities affecting or likely to affect the

elements and factors referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) as

well as measures or activities designed to protect those

elements<

(d) reports on the implementation of environmental

legislation<

(e) cost-benefit and other economic analyses and

assumptions used within the framework of the measures and

activities referred to in paragraph (c)< and

(f) the state of human health and safety, including the

contamination of the food chain, where relevant, conditions

of human life, cultural sites and built structures, inasmuch as

they are or may be affected by the state of the elements of the

environment referred to in paragraph (a) or, through those

elements, by any of the matters referred to in paragraphs (b)

and (c)<

“information held by a public authority” means environmental

information in possession of such public authority which has been

produced or received by that authority<

“information held for a public authority” means environmental

information which is physically held by a natural or legal person

on behalf of a public authority<

“the Minister” means the Minister responsible for the

environment<

“the public” means one or more natural or legal persons, and,

in accordance with national legislation or practice, their

associations, organisations or groups<

“public authority” means>

(a) government or other public administration,

including public advisory bodies, at national, regional or local

level<

(b) any natural or legal person performing public

administrative functions under national law, including specific

duties, activities or services in relation to the environment<

and

(c) any natural or legal person having public

responsibilities or functions, or providing public services,

relating to the environment under the control of a body or

person falling within paragraphs (a) or (b) hereof.

Provided that this definition shall not include bodies or

institutions when acting in a judicial or legislative capacity.

Any applicant may, without his having to state an interest, in Request for

environmental

writing or by electronic mail, request the competent authority, to provide information.

him with any environmental information held by or for the competent

authority or any other public authority.

(1) The competent authority shall, if it has in hand the Access to

requested environmental information, within thirty days from receipt environmental

information upon

of the request, provide such environmental information to the applicant. request.

(2) If the volume and the complexity of the information is

such that the period referred to above cannot be complied with, the

period shall be extended by a further thirty days, and the competent

authority shall notify the applicant of such an extension and the reason

thereof within the period set out in paragraph (1) hereof>

Provided that if the request is formulated in too general a

manner, the competent authority shall, as soon as possible and within

the period set out in paragraph (1) hereof, ask the applicant to specify

the request, and provide the applicant with assistance, if need be.

If the competent authority does not have in hand the requested

environmental information, it shall immediately forward such a request

to the public authorities holding such information, including information

held for such a public authority, and shall, in accordance with the

provisions of regulation 4 hereof, provide such environmental

information to the applicant.

(1) Where an applicant requests the competent authority to

make environmental information available in a specific form or format

(including in the form of copies), the competent authority shall make it

so available unless>

(a) it is already publicly available in another form or format,

in particular under regulation 9, which is easily accessible by

applicants< or

(b) it is reasonable for the public authority to make it

available in another form or format, in which case reasons shall

be given for making it available in that form or format.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, public authorities

shall make all reasonable efforts to maintain environmental information

held by or for them in forms or formats that are readily reproducible

and accessible by computer telecommunications or by other electronic

means.

(3) The reasons for a refusal to make information available,

in full or in part, in the form or format requested shall be provided to

the applicant within the time limit referred to in sub-regulation 4(1).

(1) The competent authority may, on its own behalf or on

behalf of another public authority, refuse to provide the requested

environmental information if>

(a)

the request is manifestly unreasonable<

(b) without prejudice to the provisions of sub-regulation 4(3)

the request is formulated in too general a manner<

(c) the request concerns material in the course of completion

or unfinished documents or data, provided that in this case, the

competent authority shall state the name of the authority preparing

the material and the estimated time needed for completion<

(d) the request concerns internal communications, taking

into account the public interest served by disclosure.

(2) The competent authority may furthermore, on its own

behalf or on behalf of another public authority, refuse to provide the

requested environmental information if disclosure of the information

would adversely affect>

(a) the confidentiality of the proceedings of public

authorities, where such confidentiality is provided for by law<

(b) international relations, public security or national

defence<

(c) the course of justice, the ability of any person to receive

a fair trial or the ability of a public authority to conduct an enquiry

of a criminal or disciplinary nature<

(d) the confidentiality of commercial or industrial

information where such confidentiality is provided for by national

or Community law to protect a legitimate economic interest,

including the public interest in maintaining statistical

confidentiality and tax secrecy<

(e)

intellectual property rights<

(f) the confidentiality of personal data and, or files relating

to a natural person where that person has not consented to the

disclosure of the information to the public, where such

confidentiality is provided for by national or Community law<

(g) the interests or protection of any person who supplied

the information requested on a voluntary basis without being under,

or capable of being put under, a legal obligation to do so, unless

that person has consented to the release of the information

concerned<

(h) the protection of the environment to which such

information relates, such as the location of rare species.

(3) The grounds for refusal mentioned in sub-regulations

(1) and (2) hereof shall be interpreted in a restrictive way, taking into

account for the particular case the public interest served by disclosure.

In every particular case, the public interest served by disclosure shall

be weighed against the interest served by the refusal. The competent

authority may not, by virtue of sub-regulation (2)(a), (d), (f), (g) and

(h), provide for a request to be refused where the request relates to

information on emissions into the environment.

(4) Environmental information held by or for public

authorities which has been requested by an applicant shall be made

available in part where it is possible to separate out any information

falling within the scope of sub-regulation (1)(c) and (d) or sub-regulation

(2) from the rest of the information requested.

(5) A refusal to make available all or part of the information

requested shall be notified to the applicant in writing or electronically,

if the request was in writing or if the applicant so requests, within the

time limits referred to in regulation 4. The notification shall state the

reasons for the refusal and include information on the review procedure.

(1) Access to any public registers or lists and examination

in situ of the information requested shall be free of charge.

(2) The competent authority may make a charge for

supplying any environmental information, but such charge shall not

exceed a reasonable amount.

(3) Where charges are made, the competent authority shall

publish and make available to applicants a schedule of such charges as

well as information on the circumstances in which a charge may be

levied or waived.

(1) The competent authority shall keep and maintain a public

register with a reference of all the environmental information held by

or for it or held by or for other public authorities.

(2) Any public authority shall immediately notify the

competent authority with all the environmental information held by or

for it, and such public authority shall, in accordance with instructions

given to it by the competent authority, deposit a copy of such

environmental information with the competent authority.

(1) The competent authority shall take the necessary

measures to ensure that environmental information is actively and

systematically disseminated to the public, in particular by means of

computer communication and, or electronic technology, where available.

(2) The information to be made available and disseminated

shall be updated as appropriate and shall include at least>

(a) texts of international treaties, conventions or agreements,

and of Community, national, regional or local legislation, on the

environment or relating to it<

(b) policies, plans and programmes relating to the

environment<

(c) progress reports on the implementation of the items

referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) when prepared or held in

electronic form by public authorities<

(d) the reports on the state of the environment<

(e) data or summaries of data derived from the monitoring

of activities affecting, or likely to affect, the environment<

(f) authorisations with a significant impact on the

environment and environmental agreements or a reference to the

place where such information can be requested or found in

accordance with the provisions of these regulations<

(g) environmental impact studies and risk assessments

concerning the state of the elements of the environment, such as

air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites

including wetlands, coastal and marine areas, biological diversity

and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and

the interaction among these elements or a reference to the place

where the information can be requested or found in accordance

with the provisions of these regulations.

(3) The competent authority shall take the necessary

measures to ensure that, in the event of an imminent threat to human

health or the environment, whether caused by human activities or due

to natural causes, all information held by or for public authorities which

could enable the public likely to be affected to take measures to prevent

or mitigate harm arising from the threat is disseminated, immediately

and without delay.

(4) The provisions of regulation 7 of these regulations shall

apply mutatis mutandis in relation to the duties imposed by this

regulation.

The competent authority may make regulations to provide

for any matter affecting the access to information on the environment

as provided for in these regulations in order to give fuller effect to the

provisions of these regulations, and in particular, but without prejudice

to the generality of the aforesaid, may by such regulations require any

other public authority to comply with>

(a)

data and public register delivery methodologies< and

(f) data formats, data structures, delivery times and any other

requirement or requirements incidental thereto.

The Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment

Repeals L.N. 217 of

2001. Regulations, 2001 are hereby repealed.

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press