PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Andreia Candeias Mousinho, Diogo Duarte Campos, João Marques Mendes and Raquel Freitas, PLMJ
Without prejudice to these obligations, the compe- tent authority may, at any time, require the operator to provide information on an imminent or suspected threat of environmental damage, or on damage that has already occurred. All prevention and remediation costs are paid by the operator. Responsibility to Inform the Public Concerning information to the public, the competent authorities must inform health authorities about any imminent threats of environmental damage that could affect public health. Additionally, public entities must ensure immediate release of environmental information in case of an imminent threat to human health or the environment, caused by human actions or natural phenomena, ena- bling at-risk populations to take preventative action. Besides that, no general warnings to the public are required, unless a warning is considered to be a nec- essary prevention measure. Periodic Reporting Conversely, operators must regularly report on their environmental performance, including water discharge and abstraction quality and quantity, atmospheric emissions and waste production (see 16.3 Corporate Disclosure Requirement ). 16.2 Public Environmental Information The law provides that all people have the right to access environmental information by consulting, reproducing or being informed of the existence and content of such documents. Applicants do not have to provide a specific interest to exercise this right; how- ever, the request for access to environmental informa- tion may be subject to additional requirements, and it may be denied or reduced. In contrast, the law provides for a duty, applicable to public authorities and bodies, to actively disclose (electronically) certain parts of this information, in such a way that it is publicly accessible. Entities Obliged to Disclose Environmental Informa- tion
This legal framework applies to all public entities. It also applies to private associations or organisations in which public entities exercise powers of management control, or appoint, directly or indirectly, the majority of the members of the administrative, management or supervisory body. Furthermore, it applies to enti- ties responsible for managing public archives and entities actually performing an administrative role or exercising public powers. This includes entities hold- ing concessions or delegations of public services. In some cases, the law also covers documents held or produced by any entities with legal personality that have been created to satisfy, in a specific manner, needs of general interest. Moreover, this framework applies to any natural or legal person, of a public or private nature, that belongs to the indirect administration of the bodies or enti- ties referred to above and which has duties or roles, or which performs public administrative functions or provides public services, relating to the environment. This includes public corporate entities, owned or part- owned companies, and concessionary companies. It also includes any natural or legal person that holds or materially maintains environmental information on behalf, or on account, of any of the bodies or enti- ties referred to. Finally, this law also applies to entities that met the above requirements at an earlier time, for documents corresponding to that period. The public can also be informed of, and participate in, environmental issues during the public consulta- tion periods. 16.3 Corporate Disclosure Requirement Companies are obliged to disclose environmental information in three different ways, as follows: • to the general public, by making information avail- able on their websites or at their premises (Seveso legislation); • to public bodies, which will analyse it and provide conclusions to the company only; and • to public entities that are subsequently obliged to make the information available to the general public – for example, following requests to obtain an Environmental Licence (Decree-Law 127/2013) or those within the EIA procedure (Decree-Law
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