The Environment Agency (EA), in partnership with Natural England, has secured £22.1bn in environmental commitments from water companies to improve the environment and invest in new infrastructure. This funding is part of the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP), which outlines 24,000 actions that water companies must implement to meet their environmental legal obligations over the next five years. These actions will lead to improvements in water infrastructure, habitats and biodiversity, and drinking water quality.

The Environment Agency (EA) has secured £526,215.04 in confiscation orders against Platinum Group Metals Recycling Ltd and its director, Edvars Stancik, for operating an illegal catalytic converter waste site in Long Sutton. At Lincoln Crown Court on 16 May 2025, the court found criminal benefit of over £4.3m each for the company and Stancik. The defendants were convicted in September 2024 of multiple violations of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 and Environmental Protection Act 1990. Edvar Stancik faces five years imprisonment if payment is not made within three months.

On 8 May 2025, Luton Crown Court ordered Liam Winters to pay £78,835. This followed a proceeds of crime investigation by the Environment Agency’s National Economic Crime Unit. Liam Winters was ordered to pay within three months or serve two years’ imprisonment in default. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £120. The order follows his October 2023 conviction for breaches of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. He was previously sentenced to seventeen months’ imprisonment for illegally depositing waste at multiple sites in Hertfordshire. The recovered proceeds will be shared between His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service and the Environment Agency.

The Environmental Agency (EA) has successfully applied for an injunction order against Himley Environmental, which operates two regulated facilities at Crooked House Lane, Himley, Dudley. The order requires that Himley Environmental complies with several enforcement notices to address environmental and health concerns. It is reported that landfill gas, which contains methane and carbon dioxide, is escaping freely into the air. This is a significant problem because it poses a significant risk of pollution and potential harm to human health. The order was made at the High Court of Justice, Kings Bench Division, Birmingham on 24 September 2024.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its programme of flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) schemes, including a three-year investment commitment of £4.2bn covering April 2026 to March 2029 to reduce flood risk and increase resilience to flooding and coastal erosion, as well as a list of schemes that will receive funding allocations between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its list of enforcement undertakings to include those accepted between 26 July 2024 and 12 February 2026. The EA publishes this information in accordance with the requirements set out in the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1154.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its list of enforcement undertakings to include those accepted between 26 July 2024 and 11 June 2026. The EA publishes this information in accordance with the requirements set out in the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010, SI 2010/1157 and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1154. The undertakings predominantly concern unauthorised water discharge activities and permit condition failures, with financial contributions to environmental charities ranging from £1,500 to £1,500,000. Major water undertakers including Thames Water Utilities Limited, Severn Trent Water Limited, Yorkshire Water Services Limited, Anglian Water Services Limited and United Utilities Water Limited feature among the respondents.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its greenhouse gas emissions charging scheme for the period from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, following its November 2024 consultation. Initially, the scheme will exclude charges for waste installations and the maritime sector. The EA plans to amend the scheme once these sectors are integrated into the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. The EA has also updated its statutory guidance on the scheme.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its guidance on assessing environmental permit compliance for flood risk activities.The guide applies to permit holders with permits regulated under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations, SI 2016/1154, carrying out flood risk activities.

The Environment Agency has updated four offence response options documents. For 'Extant water quality provisions offences', the updates include: section '3. Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015' and section '4. Water Industry Act 1991' to clarify the regulations and add 'compliance notice' as a civil sanction we can impose for section 120(9) and section 130(7) offences. For 'Land quality offences' section '3. The Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018' has been updated. For 'Waste offences' updates include adding: section 59ZB(6) and section 158, fixed penalty notice as an option for section 5(7)(a) and regulation 19 and 89(2)(a)(i). For 'Environmental damage offences' regulation 34(2) has been added.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its policy paper on offence response options. Sections 5 and 7.2 of the waste offences document have been amended to include changes to regulations 28(6) and 20(2)(c) of the Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2023, SI 2023/219.

The Environment Agency (EA) has updated its policy paper on offence response options, amending the ‘Waste offences’ offence response options document to reflect the commencement of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1332, which went live on 1 January 2026. The EA has added a new offence, listed as ‘regulation 115(1)(f), regulation 121 and table of civil sanctions schedule 13’, to the Waste offences document