On 6 April 2015, the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2015/324 came into force and conferred upon the Environment Agency the power to accept enforcement undertakings in respect of certain offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010/675 (“EPR”). This development, which had been long anticipated, means that an offender … Continue Reading
As we reported in June 2015, the use of civil sanctions have applied to a range of environmental offences since June 2011, with the notable omission of environmental permitting offences under the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR), which account for a relatively large amount of prosecution activity by the Environment Agency (EA). … Continue Reading
Traditionally, environmental offences in the UK have been dealt with by way of criminal sanctions, like cautions and prosecutions, with ensuing fines and even imprisonment in certain cases. With the introduction of the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008, a new range of civil sanctions were opened up for use by regulators choosing to adopt … Continue Reading