Common use of Access to environmental information Clause in Contracts

Access to environmental information. 1 — Each Party shall ensure that, subject to the fol- lowing paragraphs of this article, public authorities, in response to a request for environmental information, make such information available to the public, within the framework of national legislation, including, where requested and subject to subparagraph b) below, copies of the actual documentation containing or comprising such information: a) Without an interest having to be stated; b) In the form requested unless: i) It is reasonable for the public authority to make it available in another form, in which case reasons shall be given for mak- ing it available in that form; or ii) The information is already publicly avai- lable in another form. 2 — The environmental information referred to in paragraph 1 above shall be made available as soon as possible and at the latest within one month after the request has been submitted, unless the volume and the complexity of the information justify an extension of this period up to two months after the request. The applicant shall be informed of any extension and of the reasons justifying it. 3 — A request for environmental information may be refused if: a) The public authority to which the request is addressed does not hold the environmental information requested; b) The request is manifestly unreasonable or for- mulated in too general a manner; or c) The request concerns material in the course of completion or concerns internal communica- tions of public authorities where such an exemp- tion is provided for in national law or customary practice, taking into account the public interest served by disclosure. 4 — A request for environmental information may be refused if the disclosure would adversely affect: a) The confidentiality of the proceedings of public authorities, where such confidentiality is pro- vided for under national law; b) International relations, national defence or pub- lic security; c) The course of justice, the ability of a 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 and industrial information, where such confidentiality is pro- tected by law in order to protect a legitimate economic interest. Within this framework, infor- mation on emissions which is relevant for the protection of the environment shall be disclosed; 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 infor- mation to the public, where such confidentiality is provided for in national law; g) The interests of a third party which has supplied the information requested without that party being under or capable of being put under a legal obligation to do so, and where that party does not consent to the release of the material; or h) The environment to which the information relates, such as the breeding sites of rare species.