25 June 2009

Environmental damage regulation - If you pollute, you pay...

The "polluter pays" principle is being implemented through the recently enforced Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations (the Environmental Liability Directive) in England and Wales to ensure that potentially polluting organisations prevent environmental damage occurring and repair any damage that they does occur.

If your organisation carries out an activity that causes environmental damage then the Environmental Damage legislation means that you must pay the costs to remedy the damage. A major develoment from previous legislation is that the organisation no longer must have been prosecuted first before this applies, if there is a risk of damage from your business activities, you are legally required to prevent such damage occurring.

"Environmental Damage" in this instance means; polluting surface or underground water, contamination of land causing a significant risk to human health, and damage to natural habitats, species and protected sites. It should be noted that these regulations are only likely to apply to the most serious cases of environmental damage.

If your organisation's activities have already or could potentially cause environmental damage then you are legally obliged to take steps to prevent damage or further damage occurring and inform the Environment Agency who are the Governmental body responsible for this regulation. The Environment Agency will instruct on the preventative measures and/or remediation of any damage whilst the organisation responsible for the damage will have to submit the proposals and pay the costs claimed by the authority.

The Environment Agency, Natural England and local councils are responsible for administering and enforcing these regulations and may collaborate with other bodies depending on the type of damage involved.

Failure to comply with these regulation may result in prosecution leading to fines and/or imprisonment for those deemed responsible.