December 2010 - New powers for Environment Agency
In our February newsletter we reported that the Environment Agency had been granted the power to issue new “civil sanctions” in England and Wales under the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act.
The Environment Agency has now announced they will start using these new powers from 4 January 2011.
The Environment Agency can use “civil sanctions” against a business committing certain environmental offences as an alternative to prosecution and criminal penalties of fines and imprisonment. The civil sanctions available to the Agency include:
- Compliance notice – written notice to take steps to ensure that an offence does not continue or reoccur;
- Restoration notice – written notice to restore harm caused by non-compliance;
- Enforcement undertaking – voluntary agreement by a business to take corrective action to make up for noncompliance;
- Fixed monetary penalty – a low level penalty for minor
offences fixed at £100 for an individual and £300 for a
company;
-
Variable monetary penalty – a monetary penalty for
more serious offences with a maximum of £250,000;
-
Stop notice – written notice to stop an activity which is
causing harm.
Initially, these sanctions will be used for offences relating
to harm to water resources, hazardous waste and packaging
waste. However, it is likely this will be expanded to other
areas in the future.
Please speak to your usual insurance contact if you would like details of the insurance solutions available to protect your business from some of the above risks.
