Environment law update: Miscellaneous 1

United Kingdom

Environment Agency

12.1 The Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee has published a report on the progress the Environment Agency has made since it formally took up its duties on 1 April 1996. The conclusions reached in the report are based upon written and oral evidence received from witnesses representing nearly 90% organisations and upon the Committee’s own experiences. The overall perception is that progress in creating an effective, coherent and confident new body has not been as rapid in the three and a half years since the Agency’s formation as it ought to have been. The report claims that little effort went into the development of a coherent vision for the Agency at an early stage and therefore strongly recommends that a new Environmental Strategy be produced, giving a clear vision of the Agency’s role. The report also claims that the Agency is failing to crack down on illegal fly-tipping and is moving too slowly to protect wetlands and rivers from excessive water abstraction. The consistently low level of court fines for environmental offences is also criticised in the report. The Agency, the report concludes, should be at the forefront of the move towards sustainable development and the extreme importance of the role which the Agency has to play in the protection of the environment, is stressed. (SO, 20 May 2000)

Licence charges

12.2 The Environment Agency has published its charging scheme for environmental permits and abstraction licences for the 2000/01 financial year. Increases in consent charges for IPC, waste management and radioactive substances authorisations and discharge consents range from 3.7% to 4.8%. The Agency claims that the increases are required to fund new regulatory duties and price inflation. The waste management licensing charges have the largest increase due to the effects of preparing for the EC Directive on landfill (99/31/EC). A large part of the discharge consents increase is due to preparation for the EC Water Framework Directive.(EA, April 2000)

12.3 The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has announced significant increases in discharge consent and waste management licence fees. Holders of discharge consents will pay around 30% more than in 1999/2000, with the increase for waste licences being 15%. IPC and LAPC increases are only around 1%. SEPA claims that these large increases should be the last as these should bring all major schemes close to full cost recovery, so future increases should be limited to inflation, subject to periodic review. (SEPA, April 2000)

Licence applications

12.4 The Environment Agency has published a summary report of the responses it received to its consultation paper launched in July 1999 on proposals to extend the public consultation process for some environmental licence applications. Under the new proposals, the Agency will consult widely with the local public and relevant representative groups including public bodies, non-statutory organisations and interest groups to obtain the widest range of opinions and information. It is proposed to use this expanded procedure in instances where applications give rise to significant public concern, for example, where there is a possibility of significant environmental effects occurring. The Agency would expect to receive between 50 and 200 such licence applications each year. Responses to the proposals were received from 131 businesses, trade and professional associations, interest groups, academics, local authorities and members of the public. The responses will now be reviewed, with the aim of publishing a final “Procedures for Selected Licence Applications” later this year. The majority of responses were supportive of the proposed expanded procedure, although concern was expressed that lengthier procedures could result in applicants incurring delays and extra costs.(EA, April 2000)

Sustainable construction

12.5 The DETR has published a strategy for more sustainable development in the construction industry. The strategy is criticised however for failing to set any tangible targets and relying instead on the need for voluntary action by industry. The paper sets out ten areas for action, including waste minimisation, energy efficiency and pollution prevention. It is intended that the strategy be a catalyst for change in the way buildings and infrastructure are designed, procured, constructed, maintained and used. The strategy was launched as part of National Construction Week. (DETR, April 2000)

Sustainable development

12.6 The UK Round Table on Sustainable Development has published a report, “Not Too Difficult”, which looks at using economic instruments to promote sustainable development. The recommendations set in the report include: integrating the Sustainable Development Strategy more closely with the Budget and spending processes; working to overcome objections to economic instruments through improved public information; assessing economic instruments to determine their effectiveness in delivering sustainable development objectives; and establishing an independent advisory body on economic instruments to report to the Treasury.(DETR News Release, 12 April 2000)

Road traffic

12.7 Orders have finally been introduced to bring into force the Road Traffic Reduction Act 1997. Under the Act, local authorities are under a duty to determine targets for reducing traffic volumes or traffic growth rate, or to explain why they do not intend to set such targets. There is some concern however that the targets will have an adverse effect on local authorities’ annual bids for transport funding.(SO, April 2000)

State of the environment

12.8 The Environment Agency has published its 2000 version of the State of the Environment of England and Wales. This year, four separate reports have been issued: “The Land”, “Coasts”, “The Atmosphere” and “Fresh Water”. The reports contain a detailed assessment of resources, biodiversity, urban and landscape quality and trends of stresses on the land. Priorities for action for more sustainable land use are proposed, including addressing climate change, better use of land-based resources, flood risk and reversing the loss of biodiversity.(EA, April 2000)

Agriculture - Scotland

12.9 “A Forward Strategy for Scottish Agriculture”, a discussion paper, has been launched by the Minister for Rural Affairs, the comments from which will lead to a strategy document to be published towards the end of the year. It has been widely recognised that farming policy should be formulated to help achieve a successful future for all those involved in the industry. (Scottish Executive News Release, 6 April 2000)

National parks - Scotland

12.10 The National Parks Bill has been published by the Scottish Executive, aimed at developing National Parks and proposing the establishment of National Park Authorities. These bodies will prepare individual national park plans with the full involvement of people living and working in the area. By allowing such tailor-made policies, the National Park Authorities will be able to ensure that each park reflects the needs of its own area. The publication of the Bill follows a consultation exercise launched in January 2000, to which 343 responses were received. The Scottish Executive is hoping to establish the first National Park in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs by summer 2001.(Scottish Executive News Release, 28 March 2000)

Areas of outstanding natural beauty

12.11 A Government amendment to the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill will strengthen the conservation and management of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A management plan must be adopted for each AONB and whereas at present AONBs are managed through a variety of local arrangements, the amendment would make provision for the creation of AONB Conservation Boards where this would be beneficial. The Bill covers a number of matters, including access to the countryside, improvements to rights of way legislation, greater protection for Sites of Special Scientific Interest and more stringent penalties for wildlife offences.(DETR News Release, 13 June 2000)

Rural white paper

12.12 The Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee has published the results of its inquiry into the 1995 Rural White Paper “Rural England” and the 1999 discussion document “Rural England”, examining the policies which affect rural England and highlighting issues to be considered for the production of a Rural White Paper in the year 2000. The Committee recommends that the Rural White Paper be a short, strategic paper, describing a few key principles and indicating how those principles might be implemented. The Paper should aim to bring coherence to rural policy, overcoming the current fragmented approach. The Committee supports the Government’s decision to publish the Urban and Rural White Papers at the same time, supporting the view that both areas must be tackled together due to the strong links that exist between the two. The Committee also highlights the need to reinvent market towns as service hubs for their rural hinterlands, to promote tourism in rural areas as sustainable tourism, to forge a new contract between farmers and society for sustainable agriculture and to value the countryside as a national asset for urban dwellers as well as rural people and businesses. The report concludes by recommending that the Cabinet Committee on Rural Affairs be given the task of ensuring implementation of the policies contained in the Rural White Paper. (SO, 17 May 2000)

Corporate commitment

12.13 The Government has relaunched its “Making a Corporate Commitment” programme which encourages companies to make specific public commitments to improve environmental performance. The scope of the programme has been broadened from energy efficiency to focus on resource efficiency and companies taking part must set quantifiable improvement targets in one or more of three areas: greenhouse gas emissions, waste production and water use. Improvements in other areas, including biodiversity, raw material use, other gas emissions and green travel plans, will also be encouraged.(DETR News Release, 6 June 2000)

European Union

Eco-management and audit scheme

12.14 The Council of Minister’s Common Position on the proposed Regulation allowing voluntary participation by organisations in a Community Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) has been published in the Official Journal. The proposed Regulation will, if implemented, repeal Regulation 1836/93 from the date of entry into force. National accreditation systems and competent bodies set up pursuant to the 1993 Regulation shall modify the procedures followed by accreditation systems and competent bodies under the corresponding provisions of the new Regulation. The Regulation is proposed in the light of experience gathered from the implementation of the 1993 Regulation and is hoped to enhance the ability of the Community Eco-management and Audit Scheme to bring about improvements in the overall environmental performance of organisations. (OJ C128, 8 May 2000)

Biosafety

12.15 A Decision that will enable the EU to sign the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety has been adopted by the Council of Ministers. The Protocol, which sets out a framework for the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology, was signed in May at a meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.(Council of Ministers News Release, 23 May 2000)

Sustainable development

12.16 The European Commission has published a Communication on “Promoting Sustainable Development in the EU Non-Energy Extractive Industry”. The objective of the Communication is to set the broad policy lines for promoting sustainable development in the non-energy extractive industry by reconciling the need for more secure and less polluting extractive activities, whilst maintaining the competitiveness of the industry. The Communication looks at existing legislation in the context of sustainable development and at current proposals for future legislation and sets out priority issues for sustainable development of the industry. The Communication has also identified a number of complex issues that need to be addressed through balanced consideration of economic, environment and social aspects to ensure the sustainable development of the industry and suggests that a new and coherent Community policy is necessary to address these issues.(COM(2000)265, 3 May 2000)

Environmental inspections

12.17 The Council of Ministers has reached a Common Position on the proposed Recommendation on providing for minimum criteria for environmental inspections in Member States, published in the Official Journal in May. The proposals aim to establish guidelines on the minimum requirements for environmental inspections of industrial installations and other enterprises or facilities whose activities are subject to authorisation, permit or licence requirements under EU environmental legislation. As a Recommendation, the proposals will not be legally binding but Member States will be “invited” to inform the European Commission of the implementation of the Recommendation within twelve months of its publication in the Official Journal.(OJ C137, 16 May 2000)

Defective products

12.18 The Economic and Social Committee has published its Opinion on the Green Paper “Liability for Defective Products”. The Green Paper was issued in July 1999 with a view to possible amendment of the Directive on defective products (85/374/EEC). The potential revision of the 1985 Directive raises a number of concerns which the Economic and Social Committee publish in the Opinion. The Committee recommends that the Commission set up a body to monitor the issue with a view to presenting a detailed report within a maximum of five years. (OJ C117, 26 April 2000)