Red Tape Challenge: government focuses on environmental legislation | Practical Law

Red Tape Challenge: government focuses on environmental legislation | Practical Law

The Cabinet Office is inviting comments on environmental legislation, from 1 September 2011, as part of its Red Tape Challenge. (Free access.)

Red Tape Challenge: government focuses on environmental legislation

Practical Law UK Legal Update 3-508-0844 (Approx. 4 pages)

Red Tape Challenge: government focuses on environmental legislation

by PLC Environment
Published on 06 Sep 2011 • England, Wales
The Cabinet Office is inviting comments on environmental legislation, from 1 September 2011, as part of its Red Tape Challenge. (Free access.)
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From 1 to 21 September 2011, the government's Red Tape Challenge will focus on 287 items of environmental legislation that apply to business. The Cabinet Office launched the Red Tape Challenge in April 2011, under which it is carrying out a thematic review of over 21,000 statutory instruments.
Key items of legislation that are open for comment include:
  • Climate Change Act 2008.
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/925).
  • Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3391).
  • Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/675).
However, the legislation relating to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) has not been included. No doubt this will be part of the review of energy legislation, which the Department of Energy and Climate Change will lead, and which is due to start on 25 November 2011.
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From 1 to 21 September 2011, the government's Red Tape Challenge will focus on 287 items of environmental legislation that apply to business (see Defra press release, Environment regulations under the red tape spotlight, 1 September 2011). The Cabinet Office launched the Red Tape Challenge in April 2011, under which it is carrying out a thematic review of over 21,000 statutory instruments (see Legal update, Red tape challenge: government invites comments on environmental law regulations).
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has invited businesses to comment on whether items of environmental legislation:
  • Provide the environmental protection that they are intended to.
  • Are redundant.
  • Could be simplified or could be made more effective.
  • Could be replaced with a non-regulatory approach to better achieve an environmental aim.
Defra gives the following examples of areas that could be simplified or improved:
  • Voluntary labelling to help consumers compare products.
  • Combining several related items of legislation into one.
  • Ways of simplifying legislation.
  • Ways of improving the transparency of environmental data without the need for legislation.
Environmental legislation is also one of the "cross-cutting" themes of the Red Tape Challenge. This means it is open for comments throughout the challenge (see Cabinet Office: Red tape challenge: Environment).
Key items of legislation that are open for comment include:
  • Climate Change Act 2008.
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/925).
  • REACH Enforcement Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/2852).
  • Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3391).
  • Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/675).
  • Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/871).
However, the legislation relating to the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC) has not been included. No doubt this will be part of the review of energy legislation, which the Department of Energy and Climate Change will lead, and which is due to start on 25 November 2011. For more information on the CRC, see CRC Survival Kit.
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