The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) has published its plans for new charges for environmental charges for consultation.
The Charging Scheme and Compliance Assessment Scheme consultations will consult on changes to the way SEPA calculate charges imposed on permits to cover the costs of ITS regulatory work and to consult on the methods used to assess the level of compliance with permit conditions.
For the first time, it is proposed to link compliance directly to the calculation of charges and as a result non-compliant operators will experience an increase in fees which reflects the additional effort required to regulate these permits.
Calum MacDonald, SEPA Director of Operations, said: “Compliance with environmental responsibilities is not optional and the most successful businesses in the 21st century will embed the importance of compliance at the core of their operations and, ultimately, enjoy the profitability that comes with it.”
These consultations close on 3 November 2017, following which all responses will be thoroughly considered prior to the Compliance Assessment Scheme taking effect from the 1 January 2018, and the new Charging Scheme from 1 April 2018, subject to approval by Scottish Ministers.
For more information:
CAS – https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/regulatory-services/cas
Charging – https://consultation.sepa.org.uk/evidence-and-flooding/charging2018/
15 Aug 2017