DEFRA is asking for ways to further erode environmental regulation as the Government’s “red tape challenge” turns its attention to the sector, with the Department citing contaminated land guidance and environmental permits as examples of regulations “already being simplified or scrapped”.
The first three weeks in September sees the much-criticised challenge move to the environment, with DEFRA asking for suggestions for regulations that could be simplified or scrapped.
It says complex, burdensome regulation may not be the best way to encourage people to act in certain ways and removing burdens would benefit the economy.
“The red tape challenge is a chance to tell us how we can protect the environment in a more effective and simpler way that puts fewer burdens on businesses,” said agriculture minister Jim Paice.
“There are also other ways of providing environmental protection that don’t require regulation, which is why we want to hear ideas for doing things differently without affecting our responsibilities to the natural world.”
DEFRA’s announcement says it is already making progress in simplifying and reducing the number of regulations but there is scope for more.
It cites reporting of grey squirrel sightings, environmental permits and contaminated land guidance as “examples of environmental regulations that are already being simplified and scrapped”.
“The [contaminated land] guidance is overly complicated which means businesses and developers face expensive clean-ups that create a burden for the housing industry, put extra costs on home buyers and fail to achieve the intended environmental benefit,” says the statement.
“We plan to simplify the guidance to clarify when remediation is needed and how to ensure land is decontaminated to a high standard.”
It suggests new areas for attack such as voluntary labelling, air quality regulations and standards, packaging audit and transparency of environmental data.
