Civil Sanctions for the Environment Agency

Here are a few words from Alison about the new powers for the Environment Agency.

The use of civil sanctions by the Environment Agency came into force in September 2010. This adds to the EA's 'toolbox' of powers to fine for and remediate environmental damage. Some would say this is a good thing. It may help to reduce lengthy and costly court battles in some cases where a civil sanction and fine is more appropriate. The key powers include:

- Fixed monetary penalties: up to £300 for a minor non compliance causing little or no environmental harm. An example of this may be paperwork related to waste legislation. It will not result in a criminal record.

- Variable monetary penalty - this is the biggest change. It provides for the EA to fine up to £250,000 and will be set by the EA dependent on each case. Fines will be awarded for more significant damage to the environment but which do not necessarily need to lead to prosecution. An example may be a packaging waste or a water pollution offence.

This may lead to more enforcement and penalties and could have a commercial impact on all organizations that fall under the scrutiny of the EA. Let's hope everyone views it as an even better reason for the prevention of pollution through good procedures and risk management systems.

If you have any queries regarding environmental legislation at your organisation, do not hesitate to contact our consultants.

Our new admin person

We've got a fab new administrator; willing, good with computers, helpful and generally nice to have around. The brooding photo was provided by Catherine and as he hasn't made another available, that's what we'll have to go with. I'll let him introduce himself.

I’m Chris, ECUS’ brand new Administration Assistant. My job basically entails sorting, coding and filing (both physically and electronically) financial things such as invoices and purchase orders, printing off and binding reports and other bits and pieces for the other members of staff, and producing stunning cups of tea and coffee for any clients who might visit the office. I also spend my time doing little jobs for the rest of the ECUS staff- anything from clearing dusty old files out of the attic to tweaking Powerpoint presentations so that they’re all in the right format. Basically, I do anything that the rest of the staff feel is beneath them!

As well as all that, I’m responsible for dealing with the majority of telephone queries, so I’m usually the first person you’ll speak to when you call the ECUS office to ask about the bats nesting in your barn- or anything else!

Outside of work, I lead a healthy and fulfilling life as a ‘creative type’ (musician, writer, occasional artist) and spend a lot of my time either writing music, playing videogames or on stage with Northern Oak, Sheffield’s premier purveyors of folk music and nature-inspired progressive heavy metal. (Coincidentally, my arrival at ECUS means that two members of the band now work here- that’s almost an official endorsement!) I also have a particularly voracious interest in history, as evidenced by a BA in History from the University of Sheffield (hopefully soon to be followed by an MA in Medieval History, also from Sheffield Uni) which manifests itself in a tendency to get annoyed at the glaring historical inaccuracies in most of the films that I watch.