WIREDGOV

The Environment Agency is the first enforcement body to use new civil sanctions - against an organisation that broke environmental regulations - as an alternative to criminal prosecution.

The Environment Agency has accepted an offer of £21,000 from Invensys PLC - an engineering and information technology company headquartered in London - for packaging waste offences. This funding will be given to specified organisations to drive environmental improvements in local communities.

In addition to implementing a string of improvements to comply with Packaging Waste Regulations, the company has offered to fund “environment improvements and community benefits” equivalent to the cost of the offences committed - including a local authority led community recycling initiative. In addition, the cost of the Environment Agency investigation and future monitoring are covered.

By using civil sanctions in this way the Environment Agency is using its enforcement powers to ensure compliance and drive environmental improvements from regulatory breaches.

Environment Agency Director of Environment and Business, Ed Mitchell said: “Civil sanctions are an alternative to criminal prosecution for less serious environment offences - such as breaking packaging waste regulations.

“They allow us to secure regulatory compliance from organisations, eliminate any financial gain from non-compliance and get them to react responsibly to the offending.

“Organisations can make reparations that focus on environmental improvements and providing benefits for the local people affected by the offences.

“Adding civil sanctions to our enforcement toolkit saves the Environment Agency time and money - freeing up our legal resources to prosecute more serious environmental offenders.”

They are available for some, but not all, of the offences the Environment Agency enforce and started being used on 4 January 2011.

Thirty offers have been made by a range of organisations that have broken environmental regulations and propose innovative ways of responding responsibly to the offending, including setting up a local community recycling awareness scheme, donations to a range of environmental charities and provision of funding for a local school environmental project.

All offers contain measures aimed to secure compliance now and in the future, to eliminate any financial gain or benefit from non-compliance, and to deter future non-compliance.

Invensys PLC self-reported their packaging waste offences (which occurred between 1998- 2010).  The group and some of its subsidiaries had not been properly registered under Packaging Waste Regulations as they had considered obligations as separate companies (meaning they fell below the threshold for company size) not as part of a group. 
 
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Note to editors
1. More information on civil sanctions can be found at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/regulation/116844.aspx

2. The Environment Agency is the first enforcement body to use civil sanctions since the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act was introduced in England and Wales in 2008.

3. Offers/Enforcement Undertakings
Those who breach environmental regulation can, where an Enforcement Undertaking is available for that breach, set out how they propose to put the matter right. If we accept their proposals, the Enforcement Undertaking becomes a legally binding voluntary agreement.

The Enforcement Undertaking must identify the steps the business will take to put right any harm caused and it can also include providing compensation for the local community. It must also identify what the business will do to return to compliance, in both the immediate term and long term.

4. Civil Sanctions are only available to regulators who have been assessed as better regulators. As a ‘better regulator’, our approach is one based on the relative risks posed by different activities: this ensures society and the environment are protected in an efficient way, and one which also minimises the burden of regulation on businesses. We focus our resources on the highest environmental risks and the poorest-performing businesses to make sure we are achieving the environment outcomes in our corporate strategy.

We work in partnership with people and businesses we regulate to develop and put in place new approaches to regulation and recognise and reward good environmental performance.