Scottish 2nd Consultation

Background

The Scottish Government's 2nd consultation on the Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) was published on 16 May 2008.  The deadline for responses is 8 August 2008.  Final transposition is intended to take place in December 2008.

In the Scottish Government’s first consultation on the ELD 54 general responses were received from public authorities, NGOs, industry and individuals.  In addition there were also 194 individual responses in relation to issues surrounding GMOs.

The 2nd consultation seeks comments on the draft Environmental Liability (Prevention and Remediation)(Scotland) Regulations 2008 (the draft Regulations) , the draft guidance, a quick guide on the Regulations and the draft Regulatory Impact Assessment.  It consists of only 6 very general questions and one additional general question/comment. Details of the draft regulations and details on how to take part in the consultation can obtained from the Scottish Executive


Key issues:

  • GeneWatch is concerned that the Scottish Executive has not taken this opportunity to  develop comprehensive laws that would implement the 'polluter pays' principle.  Instead they have followed England and Wales by, in the main, drafting legislation for fault based liability.  This means if environmental damage is caused it will be necessary to identify an operator that has done something wrong before any compensation claims can be made against them.

    Further, GeneWatch is concerned that the Scottish Executive, unlike England and Wales will not be extending the European Directive to cover nationally protected wildlife e.g. BAP species and habitats or SSSIs. 

    However, GeneWatch welcomes the Scottish Executive decision to disallow the permit and state of the art defences in the case of GMOs and therefore implementing a strict liability if damage is caused by these organisms.  GeneWatch also welcomes the extension of liability from 30 years (for all other activities) to 75 years for GMOs. These two measures take inot account the fact that the long term consequences of releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment.


For more details download the GeneWatch briefing note



Recent Articles

↑ Top