Environmental Protection
Environmental Liability
The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 (the ‘regulations’) impose obligations on operators of economic activities requiring them to prevent, limit or remediate environmental damage caused by their operations. The regulations apply only to the more serious damage as defined in the Defra guidance. These obligations are in addition to those that already exist under other environmental legislation.
The regulations implement Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage.
Liability to Remediate:
Where damage has been caused, and there are reasonable grounds for believing that it is, or may be, environmental damage the enforcing authority must establish whether or not it is environmental damage. If the enforcing authority decides that the damage is environmental damage it must notify the operator of any activity or activities that caused the damage.
Regulation 19 gives an operator a right of appeal against a notice, served by the enforcing authority, outlining the operator’s liability to remediate.
Remediation Notices:
Following an operator’s submission of proposals to remediate the environmental damage, or if a proposal is not received within a specified time limit, the enforcing authority must serve a remediation notice on the operator. This notice must specify the damage, the measures necessary for remediation, together with reasons, the period within which those measures must be undertaken and any additional monitoring or investigative measures that the responsible operator must carry out during remediation.
An appeal may only be brought against those parts of the remediation notice that are different from the proposals made by the responsible operator.
Legislation
Environmental Liability Directive 2004/35/EC
Procedural Guidance
Defra Quick Guide to the Environmental Damage Regulations
Defra Environmental Liability Guidance
Download the Environmental Liability Appeal Form in PDF 
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Download the Environmental Liability Appeal Form in Word
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