UK Environmental Law and Management Economic activities in most jurisdictions must comply with the provision on environmental protection and pollution control, violation of which may be subject to legal risks, such as criminal sanctions for perpetrators or revocation of environmental permits, or other potential risks, such as credit risk and reputation risk. On the basis of this, industries need to better understand and master the management of the environmental risks in a sustainable manner. The Environmental Law Committee will discuss in this session and will highlight the following subjects: Identification of main principles on the environmental assessment and liability and their adoption in different jurisdictions (from developed and developing countries), including different approaches on the matter; Due diligence to identify environmental liabilities in various strategic sectors, such as services, transportation, industrial, residential and creative economic products and mechanisms to deal with environmental damages in those respective sectors.

1. UK ENVIRONMENTAL
LAW & MANAGEMENT
-THOUGHTS & CONVERSATIONS
Helen Tung
Barrister, One Temple Avenue Chambers

2. QUESTIONS
1. What are the main principles on the
environmental assessment in the UK? EU?
2. What due diligence is utilised to identify
environmental liabilities ?
(i) transportation;
(ii) industry;
(iii) residential;
(iv) creative industry;
3. What are the legal risks and implications for
companies operating in the UK? EU?

3. INTRODUCTION
 Environmental protection and pollution control
 EIA -100 countries worldwide (Donnelly, 1998)
 ‘EIA works best when..there is a specific legal
requirement for its application, where an environmental
impact statement is prepared, and where authorities are
accountable for taking its results into consideration in
decision-making’ (Kennedy, 1988)
 An important step in development countries as in
developed countries (Ahmad and Sammy, 1985; Bisset,
1992; OECD, 1992; Jones, 1999)

4. INTRODUCTION
 Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment
in Trans-boundary Context
 Espoo Convention, obligations of parties to
assessment environmental impact
 Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration
 Agenda 21

5. INTRODUCTION
 UN Convention on climate change on Biological Diversity (1992) cited
EIA =implementing mechanism of these conventions ( Art. 4, 14);
 Doha Ministerial Declaration encourages countries to share experience
and experience (Nov. 2001);
 UNECE (Aarhus) Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental
Matters (1998)
 United Nations Conference on the Environment in Stockholm 1982
 Multilateral and bilateral financial institutions environmental safeguards
 E.g African Development Bank (AfDB);
 Asian Development Bank (ADB);
 World Bank (WB);
 Environmental safeguards to ensure that financing of project is not only
based on the precautionary principle, preventive action rather than
curative treatment but sustainable development (WBCSD, 2005)

6. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK? KEY
WORDS
 International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA, 1999) =
 Participative: opportunities, inform, involve, interested, affected,
public, input, decision making.
 Transparency: Assessment process, outcomes, decisions, open,
accessible.
 Certainty: process, timing, assessment, agreement
 Accountability: The decision makers &project proponents=
responsible to all parties, action, decisions.
 Credibility: Assessment, professionalism, objectivity.
 Cost - effectiveness: process, outcomes, least cost to society.

7. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK? KEY
WORDS
 Practical: practical outputs, relevant process,
development planning, decision making.
 Focused: process, significant environmental
effects, key issues, making decisions.
 Interdisciplinary: process, techniques, experts.
 Integrated: process, interrelationships of social,
economic and biophysical aspects.

8. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK? EIA
PROCESS
a. Initial Environmental Examination (IEE):
 Adverse environmental effects - significant or mitigation.
 Environmental specialists
b. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA):
 Examine environmental consequences or impacts, both beneficial
adverse= integral
 Environmental audit (EA)
 Screening: Determine proposal
 Initial Environmental Examination on Evaluation
 Scoping: ID key issues of concern at an early stage of planning process
(Ahmed & Sammy, 1987)
 Ensure a relevant EIA , analysis, methods, interests, time, money
 Establish terms of reference (TOR) for EIA study (A. Ogola, 2007)

9. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK?
PROCESS
 Checklists: project type
 Matrices: identify interactions & actions
 Networks: flow diagrams & relationships
 Consultations: decision – makers & interest groups
 Baseline data: trends and status
 Impact analysis and prediction
 Evaluate impact and EIA process( Morris & Therivel, 1995)
 Extent of Impact: to what extent? Influence of impact? Local?
Regional? Trans-boundary impact? International?
 Duration of Impact: 3 to 9 yrs short term
 10 to 20 yrs Medium term?
 20 yrs + Long term (A. Ogola, 2007)

10. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK?
PROCESS
 Significance of Impact: legal aspects
 Mitigation: alternatives, environmental & social benefits
 Avoid, minimise or remedy adverse impacts
 Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
 Baseline Monitoring: survey basic parameters
 Impact Monitoring: biophysical & social-economical factors e.g air,
dust, noise, water pollution (European Commission, 1999)
 ISO 14001:2004 Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
 Public Consultation and Disclosure
 Other: Social Impact Assessment (SIA ( Vanclay, 1999)
 Health Impact Assessment (HIA) – ‘complete physical, mental and
social well-being and not merely absence of disease or infirmity’
(WHO, 1946)

11. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK? /SEA
3 Levels of assessment: Scoping, Simple and
Detailed
 Potential project
 Satisfy legal obligation
 SEA = important -development and plans, including
implementation of project
 SEA may have bearing on scope of design and
assessment activities

12. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE UK? /SEA
 SEA - in international agreements relating to
biodiversity:
 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1998,
2000, 2002 and 2003;
 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands (the Ramsar
Convention) 2002 & 2004;
 Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), 2002

13. 1. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRINCIPLES ON THE
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN THE EU?
 4 Community Action Programmes implemented
between 1972 and 1992 (Glasson, Therivel, Chadwick)
 5th Programme ‘Towards Sustainbility’ (1993- 2000)
 6th Programme ‘Our Future, our choice (2001-2012)
 1. Climate change
 2. Protect nature and biodiversity
 3. Reducing human health impacts from environmental
pollution
 4. Sustainable development of natural resources and waste

14. 2. WHAT DUE DILIGENCE IS UTILISED TO IDENTIFY
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES ?
(i) Transportation:
 Defra -Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
Rural Development Programme in England
 UK Law:
 England and Wales (by Section 105 of Highways Act
1980, as amended by Highways (Assessment of
Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988
 Highways (Assessment of Environmental Effects)
Regulations 1994, 1999, 2007
 Changed wording to EIA

15. 2. WHAT DUE DILIGENCE IS UTILISED TO IDENTIFY
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES ?
(ii) Industry:
 1. Biodiversity& Nature Conservation
 2. Population including demographics, socio-economics
 3. Health
 4. Land Use, Geology & Soils
 5. Water & Flood Risk
 6. Air Quality
 7. Climate Change
 8. Waste & Resource Use
 9. Cultural Heritage including architectural and
archaeological heritage
 10. Landscape

16. 2. WHAT DUE DILIGENCE IS UTILISED TO IDENTIFY
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES ?
(ii) Industry:
 The Town & County planning (Environmental Impact
Assessment ) Regulations 2011 (Statutory Instrument 2011
No. 1824)
 County Council responsible for minerals development
(quarries, tile work), waste management (e.g landlfill sites,
recycling centres)
 ISO 14001 Waste Management EMS
 Offshore windfarms: European Commission (EC) guidelines
(May 1999)
 RenewableUK and NERC ‘Cumulative Impact Assessment
(CIA) EIA & EC Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC

17. 2. WHAT DUE DILIGENCE IS UTILISED TO IDENTIFY
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES ?
(iii) Residential:
 BREEAM
 Section 19 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase
Act 2004
 Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes
Regulations 2004
 Neighbourhood plans or supplementary planning
documents
 UNEP-SBCI, annual meeting and symposium the
Future of the Built Environment: Sustainability, Carbon
Neutrality and Beyond, 12 to 13 May 2014 in Quebec
City
 Supported by UNFCCC & COP - 21

18. 2. WHAT DUE DILIGENCE IS UTILISED TO IDENTIFY
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES ?
(iv) Creative industry
 CSR
 Branding
 Social Media

19. 3. WHAT ARE THE LEGAL RISKS AND IMPLICATIONS
FOR COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE UK? EU?
• Directive 90/313 on Freedom of Access to
Information on the Environment
 Art. 2(2)(c) covers ‘any other natural or legal persons
having public responsibilities or functions, or providing
public services, in relation to the environment, under the
control of a [governmental or administrative] body or
person.’
 Art. 2(a) ‘environmental information’
 Case of Mecklenburg v Kreiss Pinneberg der Landrat
(Case C-321/96, [1998] ECR I -3809)

20. 3. WHAT ARE THE LEGAL RISKS AND IMPLICATIONS
FOR COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE UK? EU?
 Developer is required to provide an environmental
statement made available to the public : Berkeley v
Secretary of State for the Environment
 House of Lords, quashed planning permission to
rebuild part of a football stadium in London
 Guerra v Italy(1998) 26 EHRR 357, (ECHR) to
issue of access to environmental information.
Applicant’s lived approx..1 km from a ‘high risk’
chemicals factory which produced fertilisers’ chemicals.

21. CONCLUSION
 Delivery
 Cost effective approach
 Incorporate
 Making changes
 Decision-making
 Success
 Business decisions

22. Thank you
 http://helentung.blogspot.co.uk/
 onetempleavenue.co.uk/barristers/helent.html