S Betteridge
Our ref:
CL191696
Your ref:
Sent by email:
Date:
14 December 2020
request-703115-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
Dear Sir/Madam
Request for information about the environmental permit application for the proposed
Kingmoor Energy from Waste Facility
Thank you for your request received on 2 November 2020 for information about the
application for an environmental permit for the proposed Kingmoor Energy from Waste
Facility.
I have attached the information you have requested to this email. Please click
here to refer to
t
he Open Government Licence which explains the permitted use of this information.
Any information submitted as part of the permit application is already publically available at
the following link so has not been sent to you separately -
https://consult.environment-
agency.gov.uk/psc/ca6-4se-fortum-carlisle-limited/
As part of the permit application, we hold modelling data for air quality, human health risk
assessment and noise. This can only be opened with specialist software and so has not
been included in this response. It is available on request.
We have redacted limited information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act
2018.
We have also redacted some limited information because it is both commercially confidential
and volunteered information.
As a public body we are required under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) to
give reasons for why we have redacted some information. We also need to show that we
have considered the public interest balance between redaction and disclosure. You can find
the details in the appendix at the end of this letter.
If you are not satisfied you can contact us within 2 calendar months to ask for our decision to
be reviewed. We shall review our response to your request and give you our decision in
writing within 40 working days.
If you are still not satisfied following this, you can raise a concern with the Information
Commissioner, who is the statutory regulator for Freedom of Information and the
Environmental Information Regulations. The contact details are:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Website: http://ico.org.uk
Yours sincerely
Laura Travers
Customer Engagement Specialist
Mob: 07917 580 679
UNCLASSIFIED
Appendix
Relevant exceptions under the EIR
The exceptions that apply to the withheld information are:
Personal data
• The Environment Agency is not able to disclose names and contact details of
individuals who are not our employees, as this is personal data under the Data
Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), and to disclose it would breach the First Data
Protection Principle of the DPA 2018.
The information requested is therefore exempt due to Regulation 13(1) of the EIR
which explains that:
“To the extent that the information requested includes personal data of which the
applicant is not the data subject, a public authority must not disclose the personal
data if—
(a) the first condition is satisfied…”
The ‘first condition’ referred to above is further explained in Regulation 13(2A):
“The first condition is that the disclosure of the information to a member of the public
otherwise than under these Regulations—
(a) would contravene any of the data protection principles…”
We consider that when individuals provide their personal information to us, they do so
in the expectation that it will only be used for the purposes for which it is provided.
We do not consider that they would reasonably expect us to make their personal
information available to the world at large in response to a request under freedom of
information legislation.
This exception is not subject to a separate public interest test under the EIR.
Commercial confidentiality
• EIR Regulation 12(5)(e) applies because disclosure would adversely affect the
confidentiality of commercial or industrial information where such confidentiality is
provided by law to protect a legitimate economic interest. The adverse effect would
be to release information that may be of use to the company’s competitors, the
economic interest that will be harmed is that the company may be placed at a
disadvantage to its competitors and the confidentiality is provided by the common
law.
Volunteered information
• EIR Regulation 12(5)(f) applies because disclosure would adversely affect the
interests of the person who provided the information where that person was not
under, and could not have been put under, any legal obligation to supply it to the
Environment Agency or any other public authority; they did not supply it in
circumstances such that that or any other public authority is entitled apart from these
regulations to disclose it; and they have not consented to its disclosure. The adverse
UNCLASSIFIED
effect would be caused by putting the company at a commercial disadvantage with its
competitors.
The Public Interest Test
We have weighed the public interest factors in favour of maintaining the exceptions and find
that they outweigh the public interest factors in disclosing the information. In carrying out the
public interest test we have considered:
1. Factors in favour of releasing the information:
General presumption of openness
The Environment Agency would only withhold information if it is sure that disclosure would
cause substantial harm. Here the harm would be to put the company at a commercial
disadvantage with its competitors.
General need to promote accountability and transparency
There is an inherent general public interest in disclosure so public authorities are transparent
and accountable. It is important that a public authority is accountable in spending public
money and that the public are able to assess how it is taking decisions that affect them and
that decision-making and the spending of public money is done in an open manner.
Contribution to public debate of issues.
There is clearly a high level of public interest over the application for the proposed Kingmoor
Energy from Waste Site. To meet this interest we have consulted widely on the application
and placed a significant amount of information in the public domain to allow the public to
engage in this matter.
2. Factors in favour of withholding the information:
‘Strength’ (and number) of grounds in the legislation
The personal data we have redacted is exempt information under Regulation 13 of the
Environmental Information Regulations.
The remainder of the information we have redacted is exempt from disclosure as it is either
commercially confidential (under Regulation12 (5) (e)), or it was volunteered to us in
confidence under Regulation 12(5)(f) of the Environmental Information Regulations,
In relation to the commercially confidential information, the adverse effect of disclosure would
be that the commercial interests of the body to which the information relates would be
prejudiced by making the information available to others operating in a commercial market.
There is a public interest in ensuring that companies can operate without the release of
UNCLASSIFIED
information to the general public that harms their competitiveness, and in protecting the
commercial interests of the private sector, which plays an important role in the general health
of the country’s economy.
In the case of information that was volunteered to us under an expectation of confidence, we
consider that disclosure would harm our working relationships with operators and customers.
Maintaining these relationships is necessary for efficient and effective regulation and
permitting. This exception can only apply in cases where we could not have placed the
operator under a legal obligation to provide information to us, so any information that they
choose to provide to us is done so in with the expectation that it will be treated in confidence.
We also consider that due to the nature of the information that was volunteered to us, its
disclosure could have an adverse effect on the commercial interests of the information
provider.
The information that has been redacted does not affect the public’s ability to fully take part in
the consultation process for the application. It is not information that we would take into
account as part of part our decision on whether or not to grant the environmental permit.
Conclusion
As indicated, upon assessing the factors in the public interest test, we have assessed that in
relation to the commercially confidential and volunteered information, we find that the factors
in favour of withholding information outweigh the public interest factors in disclosing the
information. We have reached this decision after applying the statutory presumption in favour
of disclosure contained in the EIR.
UNCLASSIFIED