Environment Act 2021
What is the Environment Act 2021?
The Environment Act 2021 is a landmark piece of UK law that functions as a post-Brexit legal framework for environmental governance after moving away from the EU regulations.
More than any other goal, the Act establishes a system of legally binding targets to protect the natural environment separate from the European Union, making it the most ambitious environmental programme in modern history.
Why Was the Environment Act 2021 Enacted?
Initially, the Environment Bill was created to ensure that environmental standards didn’t slip after leaving the EU. The main aims included efforts to tackle climate change and halt the decline of protected species abundance by the year 2030.
After the Bill achieved royal assent in November 2021, it became the Environment Act and offered a fundamental turning point that placed the natural world at the heart of the development process.
What Effect has the Environment Act 2021 Had?
Even within the first few years, it transformed environmental legislation by making the importance of environmental improvement into a statutory duty for planners and developers to comply with.
Based on the requirements of the Act, the UK government was pushed to set long-term targets for air and water quality, biodiversity and waste reduction.
As for planning projects, biodiversity net gain (BNG) was introduced, enforcing that applicable new developments leave the natural quality of a location in a better state than they found it.
Key Components of the Environment Act
Instead of just being a set of environmental principles, the Environment Act 2021 is a functional shift in UK law that dictates how planning permission is granted and how land must be managed across decades.
To check that your planning project is viable and compliant, it helps to understand the specific mechanisms that now underpin the planning system.
In the section below, we’ve highlighted certain sections from the Act, giving you clarity to help with satisfying local planning authorities and securing planning consent:
Section 82: Environment Act 2021
By insisting that water companies provide information and reduce sewage discharges, Section 82 calls for greater transparency around the monitoring of water quality.
For large-scale projects, drainage strategies will face tighter scrutiny from the Environment Agency (EA) to ensure that the additional pressure on the network doesn’t lead to increased discharges.
Section 98-101: Environment Act 2021
The creation of local nature recovery strategies (LNRSs) across England is backed up by Sections 98-101, with the nature recovery network helping local authorities and local communities select high-priority areas for habitat restoration.
From the perspective of a developer or a planner, getting your project to align with an LNRS can simplify the planning process by proving that the BNG targets contribute to wider regional goals.
Section 98-114: Environment Act 2021
Featuring biodiversity net gain (BNG), Sections 98-114 explain how nearly all planning projects are required to increase biodiversity value by at least 10% compared to the pre-development calculation, or higher if the local authority asks for it.
The official biodiversity net gain metric is provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and used during a BNG assessment to evaluate the actual reading before the development and the predicted reading after the development.
Any habitat created to meet the clear statutory targets must then be legally secured and maintained for a minimum of 30 years, helped by the guidance of a habitat management and monitoring plan (HMMP).
With the introduction of BNG, the Environment Act amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to include a new general condition on planning permissions.
Section 102: Environment Act 2021
Allowing for species conservation strategies to be created at a landscape scale, Section 102 gives the Forestry Commission and Natural England new powers to protect wildlife across border areas.
Nature and biodiversity can then be managed strategically all over the country rather than just on a site-by-site basis, giving the new responsibilities to developers and planners when it comes to their effect on the wider ecosystem.
Section 117–139: Environment Act 2021
Private, voluntary and legally binding agreements between a landowner and a responsible body, conservation covenants are covered across Sections 117-139.
Serving specific conservation purposes, a covenant can be created for protecting the natural environment, natural resources or heritage features like archaeological sites.
After being executed as a deed, a conservation covenant becomes a local land charge that runs with the land, binding all future owners to the same environmental protection duties. It then creates a mechanism for selling off-site BNG units to developers who can’t achieve the mandate on-site, guaranteeing that the habitat will be managed correctly over future decades.
Who Ensures Compliance with the Environment Act?
In order to ensure that it is followed to the letter, the Environment Act introduces a powerful new environmental watchdog known as the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP).
The OEP is an independent body established to hold government and public bodies to account when it comes to following through on their environmental obligations.
Using significant enforcement powers, the OEP can investigate complaints and take legal action if relevant public authorities fail to comply with environmental law.
By making policy recommendations and monitoring progress against targets, the OEP guarantees that environmental protection remains a top priority at every level of governance.
Environment Act Penalties
Whenever someone fails to meet their obligations, the Act gives the relevant national authorities the ability to issue penalty notices and stop notices.
Instead of only being limited to planning breaches, the government can also even go as far as triggering an environmental recall for specified products that fail to meet environmental standards, like certain vehicles or machinery.
The restrictions affect various areas. Within the waste sector, for example, the Act requires businesses to provide clear waste and resource efficiency information.
If businesses refuse to comply with the transparency rules, they can be met with heavy fines, especially if it involves sending hazardous waste to developing countries, contributing to illegal deforestation or playing a role in plastic pollution.
Environment Act Targets Within Development Projects
Under the current climate, the success of a modern planning project depends on how well it integrates new measures for sustainability into the early design phase.
All planners and developers need to treat the mandates as fundamental design parameters to ensure that their plans are approved and resilient, avoiding any issues with planning applications.
With an effective design, developments will consider the re-use of materials over single-use items, reduce waste at the source of the supply chain, and account for the producer responsibility obligations of waste management, such as recycling services for food waste.
In terms of on-site solutions, measures could include integrating air quality enforcement to improve air standards, fitting suitable storm overflows, preventing any risk of fly tipping, or considering using a deposit return scheme for drinks containers to increase recycling output.
Whatever the method, any efforts should collectively attempt to weave environmental protection into the fabric of development projects and safeguard human health.
What is the Purpose of Ecology Surveys in the Environment Act 2021?
With the right ecology surveys, developers and planners can take an essential first step in satisfying the legal framework of the Environment Act 2021.
Depending on the ecological constraints of the development site and the conditions set by the local planning authority, an ecological survey could calculate BNG, identify protected species of animals or plants, or provide you with a general overview of natural features throughout the area.
Once a survey has been carried out, an ecology report will be created to detail further information from the site. Based on the data, public bodies can be satisfied that all of the right moves have been made and suitable solutions have been found.
Picking the Right Survey to Satisfy All Constraints
Much of the Environment Act 2021 applies to England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but with certain key differences from country to country.
Whatever the location, planning projects now need to focus far more on the effects on the natural environment, allowing development to continue but only under the right conditions.
Between primary and secondary legislation, developers and planners need to consider a lot of planning policies and other measures. If you know what you need to move forward – or even if you don’t – speak to Arbtech, and our team can help.
From offering general planning support to conducting ecology surveys, we can get you what you need to satisfy the local planning authority and obtain planning permission.
Our team will be closely involved with yours to guarantee that every possible consideration has been addressed. For a free quote of the ecological surveys you need or help with knowing what to do next, call us, email us or complete a quote form on our website.
