Environment Act that will clamp down on sewage discharge becomes law
The UK’s Environment Act has now become law.
The government says the legislation will improve air and water quality, tackle waste, increase recycling, halt the decline of species, and improve our natural environment.
The Act will also crack down on water companies that discharge sewage into rivers, waterways and coastlines. It will see a duty enshrined in law to ensure water companies secure a progressive reduction in the adverse impacts of discharges from storm overflows.
The government also says the new laws will halt the decline in species by 2030, require new developments to improve or create habitats for nature, and tackle deforestation overseas, and will help the UK transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries.
These changes will be driven by new legally binding environmental targets, and enforced by a new, independent Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) which will hold government and public bodies to account on their environmental obligations.
The UK will be able to go further to clamp down on illegal deforestation and protect rainforests, through a package of measures will ensure that greater resilience, traceability and sustainability are built into the UK’s supply chains.
New duties will also require the government to publish a plan to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows by September 2022 and report to Parliament on the progress towards implementing the plan.
Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “The Environment Act will deliver the most ambitious environmental programme of any country on earth.
“It will halt the decline of species by 2030, clean up our air and protect the health of our rivers, reform the way in which we deal with waste and tackle deforestation overseas.
“We are setting an example for the rest of the world to follow.”
The Environment Act also includes a new legally binding target on species abundance for 2030, which will help to reverse declines of iconic British species like the hedgehog, red squirrel and water vole.
