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Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has vowed the new Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) - launched on 1 July - will forge an effective partnership with business in delivering a strong and safe environment.
As he formally launched the Agency, which replaces the Environment and Heritage Service, the Minister announced a range of new measures to modernise and strengthen environmental regulation.
He also said NIEA would be better equipped to tackle pollution, protect natural and built heritage and provide clear guidance to companies.
The environment and the economy do not need to be competitors although unfortunately there are some who see it that way. They can be partners helping us to build a stronger and better Northern Ireland. Common sense tells us to protect our environment and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency will help make that common practice. It’s not just a new name but a new way of working to make sure we keep the quality of our natural and built heritage and enable companies and communities to thrive.
“Through its ‘Better Regulation for a Better Environment’ programme, the NIEA will support businesses by providing clearer guidance, better information and a simpler permitting process. These are significant changes to take away the mountains of paperwork and replace them with sensible, streamlined measures such as on-line application and payments."
The Minister announced:
The Minister said NIEA would be a better regulator because it would provide more information, more education and more direct support for business and their environmental management systems.
The appointment of independent board members and holding of board meetings in public will herald the start of a new era of openness and accountability.
The cost of changing the name from EHS to NIEA is estimated at £30,000. This mainly comprises minor changes to signage, uniforms, vehicle livery and the website.
However, the new arrangements have not met with approval in all quarters. The UK Environmental Law Association has said that the regulations fall sort of the best model for effective environmental protection. The organisation is, though, committed to working with the new agency to ensure that the best outcomes are delivered.
As the Department of Environment’s Environment and Heritage Service is relaunched as the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, UKELA has expressed disappointment that an independent Environment Agency will not be set up. The test is now whether the regulatory system in Northern Ireland can deliver vitally needed improvements in environmental protection and regulation and UKELA will be offering to help with that process.
The new arrangements keep environmental regulation as part of the Department of Environment, answerable to Ministers. In England and Scotland there are free standing environmental regulators, which can act as independent environmental champions.
UKELA had supported the recommendations of the panel appointed to review environmental governance in Northern Ireland, which was chaired by Tom Burke, also a UKELA Patron. He said today: “This is a damaging setback. Northern Ireland will remain the only part of the United Kingdom not to have an independent environment agency”.
UKELA will be seeking discussions with the new regulators and says the key test is whether they can deliver better environmental protection, which will need adequate resourcing and getting the right skills in place.
Further criticism for the new arrangement has come from campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth, which described the move as 'cynical and cosmetic'. FOE continues to campaign for an independent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Lisa Fagan of Friends of the Earth said:
This re-badging is a cynical and expensive exercise. The NI Environment Agency will be part of DOE, answerable to the Minister and subject to political interference. But its name may lead the unsuspecting to believe that it is an independent agency, like those elsewhere in the UK and Ireland."
She explained that Mrs Foster's stated ambition of creating 'clear blue water' between the policy maker and regulator cannot be achieved under the arrangements which come into effect today:
The separation of policy-making from environmental regulation is the hallmark of good governance. But Planning and Environmental Policy Group and the NI Environment Agency are both within DOE and are directed by the same Minister. This re-branding exercise is intended to create the illusion of clear blue water where there is none."
Among the shortcomings Friends of the Earth attribute to the NIEA are:
Ms Fagan concluded that the case for independence remains as strong as ever:
Of course, we will work with the NIEA as we did with EHS. But the lack of independence means that the re-badged organisation faces the same barriers to effective environmental protection as did its predecessor. Mrs Foster promised a review of the organisation's performance in 2011 but we would encourage the Executive to bring forward the review so it runs in parallel with reform of Government Departments and Local Authorities."
The debate is sure to continue.
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