Environmental Information Regulations

The definition of environmental information is very broad. Regulation 2(1) of the legislation states:

2. - (1) In these Regulations

 “environmental information” has the same meaning as in Article 2(1) of the Directive, namely 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 (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 (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 (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 (a) or, through those elements, by any of the matters referred to in (b) and (c);

Here are links to some of the environmental information we publish:

Requests for environmental information may be made by contacting us and we will respond to the request for environmental information in accordance with the 2004 regulations.

It would assist us in responding if you could be as specific as possible in outlining the nature of the information you require.  In the event that a request is too general, we may ask you to provide more details.

Requests for environmental information may be submitted either by email at eir@yorkshirewater.co.uk or by letter to the following address:

Data Protection Office    
Yorkshire Water Services Ltd    
Halifax Road 
Bradford
BD6 2SZ

We assess our compliance with the statutory timeframe for responding to Environmental Information Requests (EIR). This includes a standard response time of 20 working days. 

The EIR permit an extension to the time for compliance for Regulations 5(2), 6(2)(a) and 14(2), from 20 to 40 working days, if we believe that the request’s complexity and volume would make it impractical to comply or reach a decision about whether to refuse the request, within 20 working days. If an extension is necessary, we will inform you within the initial 20-day period.

In some cases, there may be a reasonable charge for providing environmental information, however, no charge will be made for the provision of information and publications already made available by Yorkshire Water (or Kelda); advising on the availability of information, for inspecting public registers or examining information on Yorkshire Water premises.

Please see our charging policy.

Applicants who believe their request has not been handled in accordance with the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 have the right to request an internal review.  

This should be submitted no later than 40 working days after the date on which the applicant believes that the public authority has failed to comply with the requirement. Please state the reasons for your complaint either by email to eir@yorkshirewater.co.uk.

Or in writing to:

Data Protection Officer
Yorkshire Water
Western House
Western Way, Halifax Road
Bradford
BD6 2LZ

Your complaint will then be investigated and a response issued back to you within a maximum of 40 working days after we receive your complaint, sooner whenever possible.

Our overall compliance for the calendar year 2024 was 96%.

Our current compliance for the calendar year 2025 can be seen below by month:

Please be informed that any discrepancies in the EIR figures can be attributed to permitted extensions, internal reviews, or the date of response falling after the month(s) it was received.

Access our EIR disclosure log