As of the start of this year, the Environment Agency has changed its enforcement and sanctions policy to reflect the introduction of new civil sanction. Specifically, their website states:

“Our Enforcement and sanctions policy has now changed and these documents have been replaced. On 4 January 2011 we introduced new Civil Sanction powers.”

So what does this mean for UK businesses?

The overall aim of the Environment Agency is to safeguard the environment, which includes encouraging businesses to make environmental protection an integral part of business practices.

By following this route, they aim to avoid harm to the environment from ever occurring, which is far preferable to seeking ways of putting right damage that has already been done.

Ideally they want to bring this about by persuasion in the form of information and advice on how businesses can help the environment and, at the same time, often realise tangible benefits themselves from changing their operations.

Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, means that persuasion is often not enough and the Environment Agency has to adopt more hard line forms of enforcement, which might include:

• Enforcement Notices, Works Notices or Prohibition Notices, which carry legal penalties for any organisation that fails to comply with their requirements.
• Suspending, revoking or changing the conditions of Environmental Licences
• Where actual harm to the environment has occurred, the Agency may undertake remedial work and then recover the costs from those who are responsible for causing the damage.

When an incident amounts to an actual criminal offence, the Agency has the option of prosecuting the perpetrator through the courts, although this can involve the Environment Agency in legal battles that can be costly in terms of time as well as financially.

From last year, the Environment Agency has a range of additional sanctions that can be pursued through the civil courts rather than the criminal courts. They don’t see this route as being appropriate for the most serious offences but rather as a lighter touch for those organisations that are trying to comply with environmental legislation.

What do the new civil sanctions include?

• Additional Notices that can require a business to bring their operations into Compliance with the law within a defined time limit or Restore damage that has been done – again within a specified time limit.
• A range of monetary penalties imposed by the Agency ranging from fixed amounts associated with minor offences to variable amounts that are based on the nature of the offences where they are considered to be more serious in nature.
• Enforcement undertakings or Stop Notices that can require an organisation to make amends for damage they have done or to stop their operations completely if they are damaging the environment.

As of the 4th January 2011, the Environment Agency replaced their previous “Enforcement and Prosecution Policy and Functional Guidelines” with a number of new Enforcement Documents:

• Enforcement and Sanctions Statement, which presents a high-level overview of how the Agency intends to enforce environmental regulations.
• Enforcement and Sanctions Guidance, which deals with how the Agency uses civil and criminal sanctions to enforce environmental legislation. This includes information about how variable monetary penalties will be applied.
• Enforcement and Sanctions Offence Response Options, which is a very detailed document that lists all the offences that are regulated by the Agency and the responses that might be applied.

(Note some of these documents are substantial and may take a while to download)

Environmental compliance need not be a costly affair. In fact, with the right guidance, businesses can usually achieve significant benefits for themselves and their employees.

Why not request a visit from one of our Consultants who can explain what you need to do to become compliant as well as the most cost effective way to do so.