DEFRA Abolishes Cap on Civil Penalties for Environmental Offences
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that the current limit of £250,000 on variable monetary penalties that the Environment Agency and Natural England can impose directly on operators will be lifted, following a government consultation on strengthening environmental civil sanctions.
This will offer regulators a quicker method of enforcement than lengthy and costly criminal prosecutions – although the most serious cases will continue to be taken through criminal proceedings.
New powers will also enable these higher penalties to be levied as a civil sanction for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, the regime under which the majority of Environment Agency investigations take place.
This will ensure regulators have the right tools to drive compliance across a range of sectors, strengthening enforcement and holding all who hold environmental permits – from energy and water companies to waste operators and incinerators – to greater account.
As set out in the government’s Plan for Water, future environmental fines and penalties from water companies will be reinvested into the government’s new Water Restoration Fund. This fund will deliver on-the-ground improvements to water quality, and support local groups and community-led schemes which help to protect our waterways.
