Industry attacks “poor design” of environmental legislation

In a report published today the CBI said that “poor design” and “heavy-handed enforcement” of environmental regulations is adding unnecessarily to UK businesses' 4 billion annual expenditure on environmental compliance.

John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: “Too much environmental regulation is badly designed and poorly implemented. We are not anti-regulation or against rigorous enforcement but we make no apology for complaining about sloppy laws that are implemented poorly and enforced in an ill-considered fashion.”

The CBI report said that Defra has a track record of delaying important decisions and only seven out of 56 EU Directives adopted by the UK have met the required deadlines, creating distrust in the commercial sector.

The CBI expressed particular frustration with delays in the hazardous waste regulations being introduced this summer (see letsrecycle.com story), which mean businesses have had insufficient time to prepare for the new rules.

Uncertainty

The report said: “The resultant uncertainty has prevented industry from investing in the necessary waste management infrastructure required to fulfill key requirements of the Landfill Directive.”

It added: “It remains unclear to business what disposal/ treatment routes will be available in the near future and critically whether there will be adequate capacity to deal with waste, a significant proportion of which will be hazardous.”

The Environment Agency also received criticism from the CBI for its funding mechanisms. It said: “Responsible businesses are being asked to pay more towards the cost of enforcement: yet too often they are subjected to poorly-justified regulatory decisions which take little account of the competitive environment in which they operate and which fail to address the environmental damage caused by persistent offenders.”

The CBI is now calling on government to review all its environmental policies to remove conflicting rules and duplications.

Mr Cridland said: “DEFRA's review of its sustainable development strategy gives us a great opportunity to take stock and find ways of using regulation more sensibly. We want to work constructively with the Environment Agency and the government but they have got to start delivering on business concerns.”