The Information Commissioner has ruled that water companies such as South East Water are not public authorities subject to the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004. The reasons for this are set out in a letter from the Information Commissioner dated 12 March 2010.

Letter from the Information Commissioner, 12 March 2010

We recognise that the environmental information we hold may be of interest to a wide range of people. South East Water will consider reasonable requests for information on environmental matters – however, you may in many cases be able to find this information on our website by clicking on “About us” and then on “Publications”.
The decision of the Information Commissioner does not affect South East Water's obligations under other legislation or the way it is regulated.