Environmental Compliance and Enforcement: Access to Information

1
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Access
to Information

• Asia Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
  Forum
• Beijing, Peoples Republic of China
• December 14, 2007

2
Benefits of Access to Information

• Raises public awareness of environmental risks
  and non-risks
• Creates incentives for compliance and increases
  accountability for non-compliance
• Creates political will for making difficult
  decisions
• Leads to environmental actions and improved
  performance

3
Principles for Access to Information

• Open access promotes open government (e.g.
  establish public trust)
• Maximize disclosure and limit exceptions (e.g.
  propriety information)
• Minimize impediments to access (e.g. cost, venue,
  and timing)

4
Principles for Access to Information

• Need to know means need to understand (e.g. make
  information easy for public to understand)
• Need to know applies to regulators (e.g. provide
  training on rules and procedures)

5
Forms of Access to Information

• Public Disclosure Programs
• Right to Know Legislation
• Self Monitoring, Reporting Record Keeping
• Power of the Media

6
Regional Models of Access to Information

• PROPER Program (Indonesia)
• Government Information Disclosure Regulations
  (China)
• Quantitative Risk Assessment (Singapore)
• Right to Information Act (India)

7
India Right to Information Act

• Covers any public authority national and state
  governments, or institutions established or
  financed by government
• Applies to almost all information, including
  contracts, receipts, and samples of materials
• Includes right to inspect any work carried out by
  a public authority
• Imposes penalty for failure to meet specified
  timelines

8
Access to Information Maxim

• The new source of power is not money in the
  hands of the few, but information in the hands of
  many.
• W.W. Rostow