| Thursday, 08 February 2007 | |
|
MP's concern that new environmental protection standards do not go far enough Dartford MP, Dr Howard Stoate, has told Government Ministers that new environmental protection proposals aimed at safeguarding the UK’s key wildlife habitats and countryside from pollution do not go far enough.The UK is in the process of implementing a new EU directive, the ‘Environmental Liability Directive’ (ELD), which is designed to make businesses financially and legally accountable for any environmental damage that they cause. The ELD covers environmental harm that may arise from certain hazardous activities such as waste disposal and the discharge of pollutants to air and water. The version of the Environmental Liability Directive that the UK is proposing to introduce however is the weakest option permissible by the EU. Around 3,000 ‘Sites of Special Scientific Interest’ (SSSIs) are excluded from the ELD, including Dartford’s 5 SSSIs. “The intention behind the ELD is that if you make businesses financially responsible for any damage or pollution that they cause, they will then have an extra incentive to act in an environmentally responsible and cautious way. To be effective however it is vital that the new legislation is made to apply to all of our protected wildlife habitats and areas of countryside. I’m disappointed therefore that Dartford’s SSSIs haven’t been given protection under the ELD,” said Dr Stoate. The MP has signed a parliamentary motion tabled by Labour MP David Drew calling on the Government to amend its proposals for the implementation of the ELD to ensure that all of England’s 4,113 SSSIs are covered by it. Notes The ELD was agreed in April 2004 and has to be implemented in the UK by April 2007. The Government’s consultation on its plans for the implementation of the ELD into UK law is due to end on 16 February. The ELD says that EU member states must include all habitats and species with European protection under the Habitats and Birds Directive. Member states can also include nationally protected biodiversity sites within the scope of the directive, but the UK Government has elected not to do so. The 5 SSSIs in the Dartford Constituency are: Bakers Hole in Swanscombe Darenth Wood Swanscombe Skull Site Wansunt Pit in west Dartford (part in Bexley) Farningham Wood (part in Sevenoaks) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Related Items
- EDM 188 - Packaging waste
- EDM 132 - Illegal Logging
- EDM 158 - Snares
- EDM 180 - Wood and the 2012 Olympics
- EDM 306 - Blueprint for Water campaign
- EDM 693 - Environmental Liability Directive and English Wildlife
- MP launches 'Green Manifesto for Dartford'
- Useful Links
- Stoate becomes first MP to hold debate on Concentrated Solar Power
© 2008 Dr Howard Stoate - Member of Parliament for Dartford
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License. JoomSEF SEO by Artio (http://www.artio.net) - databases, information system and web applications