14 Nov 2017

The European Commission has published a Roadmap for the upcoming Fitness Check of the Water Framework Directive and its daughter directives as well as the Floods Directive. The fitness Check will look at the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value of the Directives. This will include an assessment of the potential for regulatory simplification and […]

20 Feb 2017

The government’s Brexit White Paper (full title, ‘The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union White Paper’) is short on detail and largely devoid of mentions of the environment, water or climate change. The government is also keeping its options open regarding the UK’s continued participation in the European internal energy […]

20 Feb 2017

The European Commission says the UK needs to take greater action on air quality. The Commission has sent final warnings to Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK for failing to address repeated breaches of air pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). NO2 pollution is a serious health risk, with most emissions resulting from road […]

29 Sep 2016

British Water members have raised concerns about funding for infrastructure, investment in research, and environmental regulation in the aftermath of the vote for the UK to leave the European Union. The trade association, which represents the UK water industry supply chain, says the results of a survey of members shows a great many unanswered questions […]

26 Sep 2016

MMO: A streamlined approach to regulating development in the River Thames has been agreed by the MMO and Port of London Authority. The ‘Thames Concordat’ is a new set of principles both organisations will follow in cases where both the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Port of London Authority (PLA) have a regulatory remit. It […]

23 Jun 2015

DECC ‘Some newspapers have been misreporting the regulation of the potential shale reserves that could play a key role in securing Britain’s future energy supplies. We want local communities to play an important role in helping to safely develop the shale industry. The government also remains committed to ensuring communities have their say on fracking […]

17 Feb 2015

Precautionary or proportionate?   NB: This image is a conceptual illustration of the relationship between ‘precaution’ and ‘proportion’ – it does not represent any numerical analysis of the relationship between the two. Explanation: Much of the discussion around ‘better’ or ‘smarter regulation’ is entrenched in a perceived conflict between those calling for a ‘proportionate’ or […]

13 Jan 2015

This book by Martin Griffiths, Chris Chubb and Simon Spooner titled “Regulation for Water Quality – How to Safeguard the Water Environment” http://www.fwr.org/WQreg/index.htm has been written to make environmental water quality regulatory principles and best practice available to all – policy makers, regulators, water industry practitioners and environmental NGOs. It provides a reasonably comprehensive, innovative […]