The Environment Agency has launched a consultation on changes to variable monetary penalties – financial penalties that can be imposed for certain environmental offences.
The consultation will run for eight weeks and will close on 8 October. The consultation seeks views on when penalties are used, how they are calculated and the appeals process. This follows the government announcing that it will lift the current limit of £250,000 that the Environment Agency can impose directly on operators, as well as expanding variable monetary penalties to cover more offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
