A round-up of the latest environmental enforcement, including civil penalties issued to two farmers for unauthorized river engineering works in Scotland, and the prosecution of a man for operating an illegal waste site in Lincolnshire.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 (RESA 2008) enables regulators to be given powers to deal with offences using civil sanctions, including environmental enforcement undertakings, instead of commencing a criminal prosecution. The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have the power to impose enforcement undertakings in relation to a number of offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154. An enforcement undertaking is a written undertaking to take actions within a specified period: • to ensure that the offence does not continue or recur • to restore the position so far as possible to what it would have been had the offences not been committed • to benefit a third party (including, where appropriate, a money payment), or • to secure equivalent benefit or improvement to the environment, where it is not possible to restore the harm caused Those who breach environmental regulation can, where an enforcement undertaking is available for the particular offence,

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 enables regulators to be given powers to deal with offences using civil sanctions, including environmental enforcement undertakings, instead of commencing a criminal prosecution. The Environment Agency (EA), Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and Natural England (NE) have the power to impose enforcement undertakings in relation to a number of  offences under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (PRO(PW)R 2007), SI 2007/871. Note that on 1 January 2026, PRO(PW)R 2007, SI 2007/871 will be revoked and replaced by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1332. An enforcement undertaking is a written undertaking to take actions within a specified period: • to secure the offence does not continue or recur • to restore the position so far as possible to what it would have been had the offences not been committed • to benefit a third party (including, where appropriate, a money payment), or • to secure equivalent benefit or improvement to the environment, where

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 enables regulators to be given powers to deal with offences using civil sanctions, including environmental enforcement undertakings, instead of commencing a criminal prosecution. The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have the power to impose enforcement undertakings in relation to a number of environmental offences under Water Resources Act 1991 (WRA 1991) and Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (SFFA 1975). An enforcement undertaking is a written undertaking to take actions within a specified period: • to secure the offence does not continue or recur • to restore the position so far as possible to what it would have been had the offences not been committed • to benefit a third party (including, where appropriate, a money payment), or • to secure equivalent benefit or improvement to the environment, where it is not possible to restore the harm caused Those who breach environmental regulation can, where an enforcement undertaking is available for the particular offence,

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 enables regulators to be given powers to deal with offences using civil sanctions, including environmental enforcement undertakings, instead of commencing a criminal prosecution. Natural England (NE) have the power to impose enforcement undertakings in relation to a number of environmental offences under the Environmental Impact Assessment (Agriculture) (England) (No 2) Regulations, SI 2006/2522 and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA 1981). An enforcement undertaking is a written undertaking to take actions within a specified period: • to secure the offence does not continue or recur • to restore the position so far as possible to what it would have been had the offences not been committed • to benefit a third party (including, where appropriate, a money payment), or • to secure equivalent benefit or improvement to the environment, where it is not possible to restore the harm caused Those who breach environmental regulation can, where an enforcement undertaking is available for the particular offence,

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including the Environment Agency (EA)’s acceptance of an enforcement undertaking from a water company following an unauthorised sewage discharge and two environmental permit breaches at sites in Lincolnshire.

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including the prosecution of two individuals for offences relating to waste dumped in Norfolk.

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including a housing developer fined after sewage was discharged into a watercourse during construction work in the North East of England.

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including the conviction of a repeat offender for illegal gold panning on Natural Resources Wales (NRW)-managed land and the prosecution of an illegal waste site operator in Norfolk for depositing, storing and burning waste without environmental permits.

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including a former company director sentenced for repeated environmental permit breaches at a waste transfer site in Wales, such as continuing to operate during a suspension notice and obstructing officers during a search warrant.

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including Southern Water’s guilty plea to environmental permit breaches after pollution from its Fullerton wastewater treatment works entered the River Test, Southern Water fined £7.1 million for illegal sewage discharges into coastal waters, the Environment Agency’s shutdown of an illegal waste site in County Durham, and its securing of £517,000 from United Utilities after sewage discharge breaches into the River Tame.

A weekly round-up of the latest environmental enforcement developments, including a Birmingham waste company fined after failing to comply with environmental permit requirements and statutory notices concerning its waste operations, a man given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order after being convicted of criminal damage to the Berwyn Site of Special Scientific Interest and Southern Water fined £2.4 million for sewage and diesel pollution that killed fish and eels and led to beach warnings.