On 15 October, the Government introduced the Environment Bill to
help “ensure that we maintain and improve our environmental
protections as we leave the EU”.
The EFRA Committee conducted pre-legislative scrutiny
of the Draft Environment (Principles and
Governance) Bill in April 2019. The Government
response is published today.
The full Environment Bill covers environmental principles and
governance alongside other key areas, including: waste and
resource efficiency; air quality and environmental recall; water;
nature and biodiversity; and conservation covenants.
Chair of the Committee said:
“The Environment Bill represents an extremely rare
opportunity to rethink how we protect the environment. It is
vital the standards we currently adhere to do not slip. It
remains imperative to future generations that the Government does
not squander its chance to get this right – it is unlikely they
will get another any time soon.
“Despite the Government attempting to establish a robust
framework for environmental governance, it appears to have fallen
short in its own ambitions.
“Although we were pleased that the Government incorporated
some of our recommendations for strengthening the new Office for
Environmental Protection (OEP), the Committee is disappointed
that it does not include safeguards that similar bodies have,
which allow Parliament to ensure appointments to it are truly
independent.
“The OEP must be able to fulfil its essential function of
holding the government to account.
“After discussing this and a number of other concerns, the
Committee will look at these questions again in detail and make
sure this vital Bill receives the robust scrutiny it
deserves.”
Terms of reference
The Committee seeks written submissions on the following
questions, and particularly encourages proposals for specific
amendments to the Environment Bill:
- Does
the Environment Bill meet the Government’s commitment to
non-regression from EU environmental standards?
- Does
the Bill ensure that the Government and public bodies will act in
accordance with environmental principles and law and be held to
account if they don’t?
- Will
the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) have the powers,
resources and independence from Government to effectively fulfil
its role?
- Are
there concerns about the powers and provisions (including on
setting targets) relating to air quality, biodiversity, water
resource management and waste management and whether they will be
effective? Has the Government provided enough detail on the
secondary legislation, or other non-legislative policy measures,
that would be required?
- Does
the Bill allow for common frameworks for governance and
principles to ensure there is coherent implementation of
environmental policy across the UK? What steps do the UK
Government and Devolved Administrations need to take to make that
a reality?
- Has
sufficient consideration been given to the resource implications
of the Bill for national and local government and other public
bodies?
Deadline for submissions
Written evidence should be submitted through
the Committee’s web portal by 3 November
2019. We recommend submittersfamiliarise themselves with
the Guidance on giving
evidence to a Select Committee of the House of
Commons which outlines particulars of word count,
format, document size, and content restrictions.
