Environment Agency use of civil sanctions sees charities net £184k in East alone

The Environment Agency has revealed that it has accepted 14 offers to make donations to environmental charities in the East of England alone in the first year it has been able to use civil sanctions.

The offers – made under Enforcement Undertakings – all stemmed from breaches of packaging regulations. These cases would typically result in prosecutions or formal cautions.

Under the civil sanctions regime, the Environment Agency can also use civil enforcement tools such as:

• compliance notices;
• restoration notices;
• enforcement undertakings;
• fixed monetary penalties; and
• stop notices.

The Agency said more than £184,000 had been promised to environmental charities, of which £124,626 had already been paid. The beneficiaries include wildlife trusts, tree charities and the WWF.

The organisation has also received payments worth £23,000 towards its costs.

The Environment Agency was the first enforcement body to use civil sanctions when it accepted a £21,000 offer from Invensys in August last year for packaging waste offences.