Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has announced that the £250,000 limit for fines for environmental polluters will be lifted, making them unlimited after widespread public support
Environmental polluters now face fines in excess of a quarter of a million pounds, as the penalty becomes unlimited.
New powers under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 act will allow unlimited fines to be levied as a civil sanction for offences.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reported that the size of the penalties will take into account the extent of the pollution and degree of responsibility and harm- as well as the polluting company’s size and ability to pay.
Holding polluters to account with swifter and more severe processes
Minister for environmental quality Rebecca Pow added: “By lifting the cap on these sanctions, we are simultaneously toughening our enforcement tools and expanding where regulators can use them. This will deliver a proportionate punishment for operators that breach their permits and harm our rivers, seas and precious habitats.
“This was one of the measures set out in our Plan for Water earlier this year. I am proud to say this government has acted swiftly so that this will now be enshrined in law, further strengthening the power of regulators to hold polluters to account.”
Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell said: “We regularly prosecute companies and individuals through criminal proceedings, but these new powers will allow us to deliver penalties that are quicker and easier to enforce, even though the most serious cases will continue to go to court.
“That should be an important deterrent – boosting compliance across a range of sectors, driving down pollution and safeguarding the ecology and prosperity of our natural world.”
The proposed unlimited fines have been put to Parliament
Environment secretary Thérèse Coffey said: “Polluters must always pay. We are scrapping the cap on civil penalties and significantly broadening their scope to target a much wider range of offences – from breaches of storm overflow permits to the reckless disposal of hazardous waste.
“It builds on action being taken right across government to stand up for our environment – tackling pollution, protecting delicate ecosystems and enhancing nature.”
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