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Public register and advertising applications: how the Environment Agency uses the information in your application

Updated 4 February 2025

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

This guidance sets out the duty on the Environment Agency to advertise applications and maintain a public register of applications for abstraction and impounding licences.

1. Introduction

Information on abstraction and impoundments are available on a public register of water resources licences and applications under section 189 of the Water Resources Act 1991.

Public notices under section 37 of the Water Resources Act 1991 are published in a local newspaper and on GOV.UK. See Abstracting or impounding water: notices of applications made.

Public notices include information on the application and how to comment on an application. See Water abstraction or impoundment: comment on applications.

The public can make requests for disclosure of information under section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Regulation 5 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2005 (SI 2004/3391). The Environment Agency has a statutory duty to provide advice and respond to such requests.

This page covers the requirements for the water resources public register and times when the Environment Agency excludes information from it.

2. Public registers

The Environment Agency must maintain a public register. This register contains brief particulars of abstraction and impounding applications made and particulars of its decisions on applications and licences that are granted.

2.1 Form and content of the water resources public register

The Environment Agency holds the public register electronically. It contains the information set out in regulation 34 of the Water Resources (Abstraction and Impounding) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/641), which includes:

• applications made, including applications to transfer, vest, apportion or revoke a licence
• decisions on applications made
• particulars of licences granted
• appeals made
• decisions on appeals made

3. Make a request for public register information

The water resources public register is held electronically on internal systems. The Environment Agency does not have an online public register that is accessible.

You may make a request for information included on the public register and the Environment Agency will provide any relevant information that is contained on the register. They will remove any information that is excluded from the public register for reasons of national security or commercial confidentiality.

To request information included on of the public register, contact either:

• 03708 506 506 – see call charges
• enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

There’s more guidance on how to make a freedom of information request.

4. Exclusions from the public register

Certain information is excluded from the public register for reasons of commercial confidentiality and national security.

4.1 National security

The public register does not include information for abstraction and impounding licences and applications if, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, its inclusion would be contrary to the interests of national security (section 191A(1) Water Resources Act 1991).

Anyone applying for a water resources licence may notify the Secretary of State that in their opinion, inclusion of information on the public register would be contrary to the interests of national security. At the same time as notifying the Secretary of State, the applicant must tell the Environment Agency. The applicant must not exclude any information from their application.

After being notified, the Secretary of State must determine whether placing the information on the public register would be contrary to the interests of national security.

The Secretary of State may then direct the Environment Agency to exclude specified information from the public register.

The Environment Agency must keep the information off the public register unless the Secretary of State determines that the information should be included.

Any public notice made under section 37 of the Water Resources Act 1991 must not include any information that is not on the public register. Where a claim for exclusion has been made in the interests of national security, the public notice will be published within 28 days of the Environment Agency receiving notice of the Secretary of State’s decision.

4.2 Commercial confidentiality

Information must be withheld from the public register and any public notice where the Environment Agency determines that the information is commercially confidential as defined in section 191B(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

‘Confidential information’ is defined as being information in relation to an individual or person that would, if contained on the public register or in a public notice, prejudice to an unreasonable degree the commercial interests of that individual or person.

The Environment Agency must determine whether information must be excluded from the public register on the grounds of commercial confidentiality as part of a licence application where either:

• an applicant applies for commercial confidentiality as part of the licence application
• the Environment Agency has notified another person that they have acquired information relating to them that may be commercially confidential, and that person has asked the Environment Agency treats the information as commercially confidential

Anyone can request for information to be treated as confidential. They must do this when they send information to the Environment Agency, whether as part of an application, monitoring or any other purpose. The request must identify what information is commercially confidential and provide clear justification for each item of information. It will not be enough to just assert commercial prejudice. The test is whether disclosure of the information would prejudice to an unreasonable degree the commercial interests of an individual or person.

The amount of information that someone requests is confidential must be kept to the minimum necessary to safeguard any commercial interests.

The Environment Agency may only determine requests based on the information provided to them. If the information provided does not clearly demonstrate that information should be withheld from the public register, then they must determine that it is not commercially confidential. In reaching their decision, they apply the legal criteria and take account of any reasons provided.

Where the Environment Agency determines that information is not confidential, they will delay including the information on the public register for another 21 days. This is the period in which an appeal can be made against the decision to the Secretary of State. If no appeal is made within that time, the information will be included on the public register.

Where an appeal is made and the Secretary of State decides that the information is not commercially confidential, the Environment Agency will include the information on the public register 7 days after the decision. Should the Secretary of State determine that the information is commercially confidential, the information will be withheld from the public register.

Any public notice made under section 37 of the Water Resources Act 1991 must not include information that is withheld from the public register for reasons of commercial confidentiality. The public notice of the application will be published within 28 days of one of the following:

• the date the Environment Agency determines the information should be excluded from the public register for reasons of commercial confidentiality
• the end of the appeal period where no appeal is made after the Environment Agency decided the information should not be excluded
• the determination (or withdrawal) of an appeal made after the Environment Agency decided the information should not be excluded

A determination of commercial confidentiality will only last for 4 years. An individual may reapply for a determination if they consider the information will still be commercially confidential after this time. If this happens, the Environment Agency will re-determine the request based on the new information provided. If the individual does not reapply, the Environment Agency will include the previously commercially confidential information on the public register.

5. Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations

The public may use section 1 of the Freedom of Information Act and regulation 5 of the Environmental Information Regulations to request disclosure of any information the Environment Agency holds. This can include public register information that has been withheld for reasons of national security or commercial confidentiality, although there are exemptions and exceptions that apply, subject to the public interest test.