UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20460
March 5, 1976
OFFICE OF THE
ADMINISTRATOR
MEMORANDUM
TO: EPA Staff
FROM: Division of Visitors and Information Exchange
Office of International Activities
SUBJECT: Attached Report on Great Britain
Attached is a report on Great Britain, fourth in a series of
background country papers for EPA staff involved in international
activities. Earlier reports covered national environmental pro-
grams in Japan, Luxemburg and Belgium. Other reports will be
available soon include:
ASIA
Australia
EUROPE
Austria Italy
Denmark Netherlands
France Spain
Germany (Federal Republic) Sweden
Ireland Switzerland
NORTH AMERICA
Canada
The country profiles, together with our monthly bulletin --
"Summaries of Foreign Government Environmental Reports", are
to inform EPA staff about national environmental efforts
abroad. Suggestions on improving the format or contents of
the reports are welcome. Please call Dolores Gregory
(202-755-0560).
Attachment
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FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Office of International Activities
Environmental Protection Agency
March, 1976
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PREFACE
This is a brief report on the organization and management
of environmental activities on the national level in Great Britain.
Earlier reports on Japan, Luxemburg and Belgium were distributed
and similar reports on other countries are being prepared. These
reports, which are background papers for EPA staff involved in
international activities, are not for distribution outside the
Agency.
Emphasis is on policy and regulatory functions of national
environmental agencies. Research and development, often under
the auspices of other departments, for example, Ministry of
Science and Technology, are not covered in these reports.
Source documents for the reports, received under the
International Documents Exchange, are available in the EPA
Headquarters Library. English summaries of the foreign docu-
ments are published in the monthly bulletin "Summaries of
Foreign Government Environmental Reports."
Office of International Activities
March, 1976
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
I. National Organization for Environmental Control 1
II. Environmental Laws 7
III. Standards 16
IV. Enforcement Procedures 20
V. Interrelationships Between Government and Industry 27
VI. Bibliography 32
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CONTROL N GREAT R A N
I. National Organization for Environmental Control
government structure
Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy, with the power of the Crown
having been progressively reduced in the course of history to the point that the
Queen acts now only on the advice of her ministers, advice that she may not con-
stitutionally overlook. A unitary state placing strong emphasis on local govern-
ment and democratic processes, Great Britain has an evolved and flexible consti-
tution based on statutes, common lav, and uncodified precepts and practices. The
traditional divisions of government are easily distinguishable despite their
overlapping functions. The bicameral legislature, known formally as the Queen in
Parliament, is the supreme authority. It is made up of the House of Lords, which
exercises little real power, and the House of Commons, a popularly elected chamber
that wields the significant power in the country. The executive authority rests
with (1) the Prime Minister and his Cabinet and other ministers of the Crown;
(2) the government departments generally operating under one of the ministries
and staffed with civil servants; (3) the local authorities, particularly impor-
tant in environmental control; and (4) the statutory boards. The Judiciary, func-
tioning independently of the legislative and executive branches, determines common
1*
law and interprets statutes.
national environmental organization
In November 1970 Great Britain became the first country in the world to
2
establish on the cabinet level a Department of the Environment (DOE) . At its
head is a Secretary of State who, unlike the ministers for specialized functions
*All reference notes will be found beginning on Page 30.
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who assist him, participates in cabinet sessions as a member of the government.
He possesses the necessary executive powers and statutory authority to ensure
that his policies are implemented. He has the final responsibility for all DOE
3*
activities, including those of the subsumed ministries.
structure and functions
The new department absorbed the former Central Cabinet Unit on
Environment Pollution and three previously Independent ministries — Housing and
Local Governaent, Transport, and Public Buildings and Works, although these for-
mer ministries, under somewhat altered designations, have retained their areas
of responsibility and their ministerial heads. The Secretary of State for the
DOE Is primarily responsible for the formulation of departmental policy and pri-
orities and the coordination of the work of the three absorbed ministries.
The scope of DOE activities is evident in any cursory examination of
the wide-ranging functions of the ministries that the new department took over,
functions that relate directly or indirectly to the environment.
The Minister for Housing and Construction is responsible for housing
programs and their financing; building codes; new towns; coordination with the
construction and civil engineering industries; and, through the Property Services
Agency, for government residences and supplies; construction of government facili-
ties, and the maintenance of Crown property.
The Minister for Transport is responsible in England for the general
structure of the nationalized transport industries (including railroads, ports,
watercourses, and buses), the general supervision of their operations and financ-
ing; the overall allocation of national resources in the transportation sector.
*This report deals primarily with environmental control in England, although
there exist corresponding controls in the other "nations." The administration
of these controls in Scotland and Wales differs slightly and the names of the
administering organizations are not identical with those operating in England.
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Day-to-day management resides, however, with the pertinent boards of these
industries.
The Minister for Local Government and Planning is responsible for
local government; regional land use and transport planning; the countryside
and its preservation; roads and highways; and water, sewerage and refuse dis-
A
posal.
In addition to these sectoral functions, the Department of the Envi-
ronment has executive responsibility for the prevention of environmental pollu-
tion with special responsibility for clean air and noise abatement, solid waste
management, research into highways, construction, hydraulics, water pollution,
fire prevention, and the uses of timber. In these endeavors the Secretary of
State for the DOE is assisted by Parliamentary Undersecretaries of State and
an extensive civil service staff including a coordinating team of scientists
and administrators who form the Central Unit on Environmental Pollution.
The Department of the Environment enters into collaborative arrange-
ments for research in inland transportation with the Department of Industry.
It also makes grants to the Centre for Environmental Studies, an Independent
research body that looks into the problems of urban and regional planning.
The Centre focuses attention on the socio-economic aspects of environmental
subjects.
The Central Unit on Environmental Pollution, administered by an under-
secretary, is one of the five directorates making up the Deputy Secretariat for
Environmental Protection, the core element of the Department of the Environment
in terms of environmental programs. The other four offices are the Undersecre-
tariats for Water; Noise, Clean Air, and Wastes; Road Safety; and Vehicle
Engineering and Inspection. The Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate, which figures
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prominently in the struggle against air pollution and which until recently
operated under the same Second Permanent Secretary as the Central Unit on Envi-
ronmental Pollution, is now under the jurisdiction of the newly created Health and
Safety Executive.
staffing
In view of its wide range of functions, exceeding those generally
associated with pollution control in its narrower sense, it is not surprising
to find that the DOE staff is quite large. The Central Statistical Office re-
ported that as of April 1, 1973 DOE employed more than 74,000 civil servants,
excluding casual and seasonal employees.
other agencies with environmental responsibilities
In addition to the Department of Environment, there are numerous other
governmental and official and advisory bodies performing a role in environmental
protection. Among them are other ministries, commissions, councils, and boards.
The founding of the department and the consolidation of many environ-
mental responsibilities did not strip other ministries of their particularized
duties in pollution control. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
is still responsible for farming and fishing and for the control of pesticides
used on land, the disposal of farm wastes, and for the monitoring of contami-
nants in food products. The Department of Trade retains its interest in pollu-
tion at sea and in noise and other nuisances near airports. The Departments of
Employment and of Health and Social Security maintain their obvious sectoral func-
tions in matters of the work environment and hygiene. Nonetheless, the Secretary
of State for the DOE is responsible for coordinating all the anti-pollution efforts
7
regardless of where the departmental responsibility lies.
In 1970 a standing Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution was
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UNITED KINGDOM DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
ORGANIZATION ON SEPTEMBER 1974
PERMANENT SECRETARY
SECOND PERMANENT SECRETARY
Deputy Secretary and Chief Planner
Under Secretary, Planning Development Plans System
Under Secretary, Planning Land Use Policy
Under Secretary, Planning Urban Project Appraisal
Under Secretary, Urban Affairs & Commercial Property
Under Secretary, Leisure Experiments
Under Secretary, Planning Urban & Passenger Transport
Under Secretary, Ancient Monuments & Historic Buildings
Under Secretary, Archaeology
Under Secretary, New Towns
Deputy Chief Planner, Planning Intelligence
Deputy Secretary (Planning and Local Government)
Under Secretary, Planning Regional Plans
Under Secretary, Planning Regional and Minerals
Under Secretary, Planning Sport & Countryside
Under Secretary, Local Government
Deputy Secretary (South East England)
Under Secretary, London
Under Secretary, South East & East Anglia
Deputy Chief Planner, South Eastern (Professional)
Under Secretary, Channel Tunnel
Deputy Secretary (Environmental Protection)
Under Secretary, Water
Under Secretary, Noise, Clean Air & Wastes
Under Secretary, Central Unit on Environmental Pollution
Director, Water Engineering 1
Director, Water Engineering 2
Director, Water Engineering 3
Director, Central Water Planning Unit
Under Secretary, Road Safety
Chief Mechanical Engineer, Vehicle Engineering & Inspection
SECOND PERMANENT SECRETARY
Deputy Secretary (Transport Industries)
Under Secretary, Ports
Under Secretary, Railways
Under Secretary, International Transport & Nationalized (General)
Under Secretary, Freight
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Director General Highways
Chief Highway Engineer
Deputy Chief Highway Engineer (1)
Deputy Chief Highway Engineer (2)
Deputy Director General, Highways
Under Secretary, Construction Units
Under Secretary, Highways Planning & Management
Under Secretary, Highways Programming, Contracts & Lands
Deputy Secretary (Housing & Construction Industries)
Under Secretary, Housing A
Under Secretary, Housing B
Under Secretary, Housing C
Director, Housing Development
Under Secretary, Construction Industry (Home & Overseas)
Director General Research
Director, Research Requirements
Director, Building Research Establishment
Director, Hydraulics Research Station
Director, Transport & Road Research Laboratory
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, PROPERTY SERVICES AGENCY
Deputy Chief Executive I
Director, Home Estate Management
Director, Estate Management Overseas
Director, Estate Surveying Services
Deputy Chief Executive II
Director of Scottish Services, Property Services Agency
Director Home Regional Services
Directors of PSA Regions (Home)
Director Property Services Agency, Wales
Principal Establishment Officer, Property Services Agency
Principal Finance Officer, Property Services Agency
Deputy Chief Executive III
Director, Defense Services I
Directors of PSA Regions (Overseas)
Director, Defense Services II
Director, Post Office Services
Director, Social & Research Services
Deputy Chief Executive IV
Director, Building Development
Director, Civil Engineering Development
Director, Engineering Services Development
Director, Quantity Surveying Development
Controller, Supplies
Director, Planning Inspectorate
Chief Inspector of Audit
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Solicitor
Principal Assistant Solicitor
Principal Assistant Solicitor
Director General Economics & Resources
Director, Economics (Housing, Urban & Environment)
Director, Economics (Transport)
Director, Statistics
Principal Finance Officer (Local Government & Development)
Principal Finance Officer (Housing, Transport Industries &
Central Services)
(Principal Finance Officers report to Permanent Secretaries on
functional responsibilities, and to DGER on PESC)
Director General Organization & Establishments
Under Secretary, Senior Staff Management
Under Secretary, Personnel, Manpower & Training
Under Secretary, Management Services
Director, Information
Under Secretary, Driver & Vehicle Licensing
REGIONAL DIRECTOR & CHAIRMAN REGIONAL ECONOMIC PLANNING BOARD
West Midlands
Yorkshire & Humberside
North West
Northern
South West
East Midlands
COUNTRYSIDE COMMISSION DIRECTOR
DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION SECRETARY
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established to act as an Independent body to advise government on the whole
field of pollution control. More specifically, the Commission has been charged
with responsibility for advising the government on national and international
matters concerning the pollution of the environment, the adequacy of environmen-
tal research, and on future hazards to the biosphere. The Commission conducts
investigations and occasionally publishes reports. It also studies specific
0
problems at the request of other government departments.
Other government bodies have particularized interests or functions.
Among them is the National Water Council, established by the 1973 Water Act. The
Council, consisting of the chairmen of the 10 recently created Water Authorities,
is the central body that serves as the main source of advice to the government
on a national water policy. The Clean Air Council, set up under the 1956 Clean
Air Act, reviews the progress made under the various legislative enactments for
the abatement of air pollution and obtains the opinions of experts on problems
of air pollution. The Noise Advisory Council and the Waste Management Council
also give advice in their respective fields.
national-local relations
Although Great Britain is not a federal state, it has a long tradition
of delegating responsibility and power from the central government to the local
authorities. The latter (county and district councils) are statutory bodies,
deriving all their power for the provision of services from the acts of Parlia-
ment. In April 1974, under the provisions of an act reorganizing local govern-
ment in Great Britain, the number of local authorities was reduced in an effort
to strengthen local democracy and ensure that more decisions are taken at the
level of those most affected by them. The local authorities exercise a signifi-
cant role in environmental planning and in the implementation and enforcement
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of environmental policy. Although the national government sets national environ-
mental strategies and targets, the local authorities, responsible as they are to
local opinion, normally execute policy based on local needs. In light of the
absorption of the former Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Department
of the Environment has become the main link between local authorities and the
9
central government in England.
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II. Environmental Lavs
legislative system
Parliament as the central law-making organ of the country is a cor-
porate body and generally may not legislate without the approval of all its
parts — the Queen, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. Proposed
legislation may be introduced in either house unless its chief purpose is
financial, in which case it must originate in the Lower House. Great Britain
makes use of a system of delegated legislation to ease pressure on the law-
makers. Under this system ministers and other authorities are empowered to
regulate administrative detail after a bill has become law. Government depart-
ments, the Department of the Environment among them, are the main instruments
for giving substance to government policy after Parliament has passed the neces-
sary legislation. These departments often work through local authorities, statu-
tory boards, and government-sponsored organizations operating under varying
degrees of government control. This is particularly true in the case of the
Department of the Environment. Its efficacy in environmental matters is largely
dependent on cooperation and coordination with county and district councils and
various statutory authorities.
highlights of environmental laws
That pollution control has a long history in Great Britain is due to
an early awareness of the consequences of industrial concentration, urbanization,
and population density. In addition to being the first country to experience
the Industrial Revolution, England is one of the most densely populated countries
in the world. Early abatement efforts, however, were scattered and largely
ineffectual. It was not until this century that serious and concerted efforts
were undertaken to reduce pollution levels in the nation's rivers and in the
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skies above its cities. In November 1970, however, an important step toward
an encompassing approach to environmental protection was taken with the crea-
tion of the Department of the Environment, and this approach was extended to
legislation with the passing of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, a sweeping
piece of legislation which covers nearly all sectors of pollution control:
waste disposal and collection, water pollution, noise abatement and air pollu-
tion. Generally speaking, the Act, which does not necessarily supersede already
existing legislation in the areas it covers, increases the powers of local author-
ities and Regional Water Authorities in pollution control. It increases the
penalties for pollution offenses across the board. A major Innovation in the
law is the requirement that polluting sources be publicly disclosed. This is
in sharp contrast to earlier legislation requiring confidentiality in such
matters.
The Control of Pollution Act was signed into law in mid-1974. How-
ever, concern with the difficult economic situation in Great Britain has caused
the Government to delay its implementation. As of late 1975, only a few miscel-
laneous provisions had entered into force, and the Government had announced that, only
provisions which introduce discretionary powers or which do not involve signifi-
cant public expenditure would be brought into force in the near future. Thus,
although most provisions regarding noise control and air pollution are expected
to become effective on January 1, 1976, important sections dealing with water pollu-
tion and waste disposal will be considerably delayed in their implementation.
water pollution
Until such time as repealed or amended through the implementation of the
appropriate water pollution provisions of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which
extends existing methods of water protection to virtually all inland and coastal
waters, the chief laws designed to prevent the pollution of inland waters are:
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the 1923 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act, the 1945 Water Act, the 1951 and
1961 Rivers (Prevention of Pollution) Acts, the 1960 Clean Rivers (Estuaries and
Tidal Waters) Act, the 1963 Water Resources Act, and the 1973 Water Act.
The 1923 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act makes it an offense to
put into a water body containing fish any liquid or solid matter that may be
poisonous to aquatic fauna or detrimental to the spawning ground or food supply
of the fish.
The 1945 Water Act gives statutory water undertakers (those licensed
to supply water) the authority to make bylaws for the prevention of the pollution
of the waters on which they draw. The Secretary of State for the DOE now may by
notice require a statutory water undertaker to make bylaws or, if necessary, he
may himself make such regulations.
The 1951 and 1961 Rivers Acts make it an offense to cause or knowingly
permit poisonous, noxious, or polluting matter to enter a stream. Further, they
prevent new or altered discharges of effluent from trade premises and farms or
of sewage effluent into non-tidal rivers without the consent of the appropriate
River Authority. Local authorities are required to obtain permission and comply
with the consent conditions for the discharge into a river of effluent from their
sewage disposal works in the same manner as any other discharger. This act also
empowers the River Authorities to make bylaws, subject to confirmation by the
Secretary of State for the DOE and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food to prevent litter and refuse from being placed Ln the rivers.
The 1960 Clean Rivers Act extended provisions of the 1951 Rivers Act,
dealing with effluent discharges from trade premises and farms, to include dis-
charges into all estuaries and tidal rivers.
The 1963 Water Resources Act established a Water Resources Board and
granted to the River Authorities the right to acquire land either by agreement
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or compulsorily for the purpose of protection against water pollution in any
reservoir owned or operated by them or in any underground strata from which the
authorities are licensed to withdraw water. Provisions were also made under
this act for the prevention of underground pollution by new discharges into any
well, pipe, or borehole.
The 1973 Water Act established a new system for the administration of
matters dealing with water conservation, water supply, sewerage and sewage dis-
posal, prevention of river pollution, fisheries, land drainage and recreation.
Most significant was the establishment of 10 new regional bodies known as Water
Authorities. The authorities (nine in England and one in Wales) are responsible
for the water and sewage functions previously carried out by more than 1,500
bodies including the 29 River Authorities. These new regional Water Authorities
are subject to guidance from the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and
from the Secretary of State for the DOE. The act transfers to the Water Authori-
ties most of the functions previously exercised by local authorities and the
River Authorities. These functions include matters relating to sewerage, drainage,
fisheries, flood control, water supply, and the prevention of water pollution.
The act confers upon the new Water Authorities the sewage disposal functions that
previously were the responsibility of local authorities. The act also set up the
National Water Council with broad advisory functions over the entire area of
water policy and the Water Space Amenity Commission with advisory functions in
the specific field of recreation and amenity.
Protection against the pollution of the sea by oil, as it pertains to
British ships and British territorial waters, stems from a 1954 international
agreement. This protection is embodied in the 1955 and 1963 Oil in Navigable
Waters Acts, since consolidated, along with the 1971 Oil in Navigable Waters
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Act and the 1964 Continental Shelf Act, in the 1971 Prevention of Oil Pollution
Act. This legislation imposes fines upon British-registered ships for discharg-
ing oil into the open sea or into the territorial waters of the United Kingdom.
Certain exceptions may be authorized.
air pollution
Control of air pollution from fixed sources such as chimneys, fires,
and industrial plants is governed by two sets of legislative provisions, those
of the 1906 Alkali Etc. Works Regulation Act (as amended) and by the 1956 and
1968 Clean Air Acts. The two sets of provisions are administered and enforced
separately.
The Alkali Act deals with emissions from specified industrial processes,
including alkali works (from which the act derives its name) and a wide range of
difficult processes, particularly in the chemical, metal manufacturing, ceramic
and allied industries. (The Secretary of State for the DOE may add to or sub-
tract from the list of scheduled processes.) Essentially, the act requires that
scheduled processes must be registered annually and that, as a prior condition
in the case of a first registration, the scheduled process must be equipped, to
the satisfaction of the Chief Alkali Inspector, with the "best practicable means"
for preventing the escape of noxious or offensive gases into the atmosphere and
for rendering these gases harmless and inoffensive. The act requires that the
device or method constituting the "best practicable means" must then be kept in
good working order and must operate continuously. For certain processes, maxi-
mum concentration limits of total acidity in effluent gases are specified. The
act, which consolidated earlier legislation covering industrial air pollution,
also contains provisions dealing with the functions of the Alkali Inspectorate
(since renamed the Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate and now part of the Health
and Safetv Executive).
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The Clean Air Acts supplement the Alkali Act with the view of regulat-
ing industries and domestic premises not covered by the latter legislation. The
1965 Clean Air Act controls the amount of smoke, dust, and grit that may be emit-
ted from chimneys servicing the furnace of any boiler or industrial plant. It
bans dark smoke from chimneys, requires newly installed industrial or other non-
residential furnaces to be virtually smokeless when operated continuously with
the proper fuels, and specifies that new furnaces shall be so fitted as to arrest
grit and dust and that this particulate matter shall be measured. The act permits
local authorities to set up smoke control areas, in which owners of private dwell-
ings are required to adapt their furnaces to burn smokeless fuel, and provides
for the partial reimbursement of the owners' costs. It also established the
Clean Air Council.
The 1968 Clean Air Act, designed to strengthen earlier air pollution
control legislation, extends the prohibition on dark-smoke emission to every
industrial or trade premise and authorizes the Secretary of State for the DOE
to prescribe limits on the rate of emission of grit and dust from chimneys ser-
vicing a furnace that burns solid, liquid, or gaseous fuels. Certain furnaces
designed to burn at a specified heat are required to have an arrestment device
for minimizing grit and dust emissions. This act makes mandatory approval by
the local authority (county or district council) of the height of certain chim-
neys on industrial and commercial premises. The Secretary of State for the DOE
is theoretically empowered to take the initiative in declaring smoke-control areas
in cases where local authorities have failed to do so for any reason, but this
power has never been used.
Air pollution from motor vehicles is governed by the 1969 and 1972
Motor Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations and by the 1960 Road Traffic
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Act. The construction and use regulations require that every motor vehicl^e be
so constructed that no avoidable smoke or visible vapor is emitted.. There is the
further requirement that cold starting devices be so fitted that they cannot
be operated when the vehicle is in motion. The 1972 regulations call for most
commercial vehicles to be equipped by the manufacturer with plates indicating
weight data and other information. These same regulations also require that,
starting April 1, 1973, a compression-ignition engine shall be so constructed
that it complies with the British Standards on Diesel Engines, limiting the
opacity of smoke emitted at all loads. Amendment 5 to the 1972 Motor Vehicle
(Construction and Use) Regulations requires that gasoline-powered, spark-igni-
tion vehicles first used on or after November 10, 1973, but not manufactured be-
fore September 20, 1973, shall adhere to the limits for the emission of carbon
monoxide and hydrocarbons as laid down by Regulation No. 15 of the Economic
Commission of Europe. Since January 1, 1972 all new cars are required to be
fitted with a device for recycling crankcase emissions.
A strengthened legislative base for air pollution control is provided
for in Part IV of the Pollution Control Act 1974, which supplements and amends
but does not supersede the legislation considered above. With regard to pollu-
tion from mobile sources, the Act stipulates that the Secretary of State for the
Environment may make regulations imposing requirements on the composition and
contents of any motor vehicle fuels as well as regulations preventing or restrict-
ing the production, treatment, distribution, import, sale or use in the United
Kingdom of any fuels which fail to comply with these requirements. Provisions
dealing with stationary sources empower the Secretary of State for the Environ-
ment to make regulations imposing limits on the sulfur content of oil fuel used
in furnaces or engines. In addition, local authorities are empowered to demand
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Information on emissions from industrial installations in their areas; regulations
issued by the Department of the Environment may require that this information be
maintained in a register that is open to examination by members of the public.
Although minor provisions, including those dealing with air pollution from cable
burning, are to enter into force on January 1, 1976, most of these provisions
are not expected to be implemented until some later date.
other water and air legislation
The 1936 Public Health Act (as amended) contains a number of provisions
dealing with water and air pollution. The act imposes penalties for the contami-
nation of drains and public sewers with chemicals or liquids prejudicial to
health. It also makes it a statutory nuisance to pollute or obstruct ponds,
ditches, or non-navigable watercourses so as to create a danger to public health.
Another part of the same legislation provides a means for local authorities to
take action against smoke and those offensive odors that are not covered by the
Alkali and Clean Air Acts, branding as a statutory nuisance any dust or effluvia
occasioned by a trade, business, or manufacturing process.
other environmental program areas
Controls dealing with the registration, use, and sale of pesticides
and other poisonous substances are laid down in the 1933 Pharmacy and Poisons
Act, the 1952 Agricultural (Poisonous Substances) Act, the 1967 Town and Garden
Chemicals Act, the 1972 Poisons Act, and in regulations and orders issued in
pursuance of these enactments. Safety precautions designed to protect farmers,
workers, and the public at large from the dangers associated with pesticides are
provided by the Pesticides Safety Precautions Scheme, a voluntary system operated
by government departments and the pesticides industry to screen new products
before they are marketed.
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Part III of the Control of Pollution Act 1974 contains provisions for
the control of noise problems on construction sites, in streets and from industrial
establishments or machinery. The act details the responsibilities of local
authorities in noise control, empowering them, among other things, to issue orders
confirmed by the Secretary of State for the Environment designating noise abate-
ment zones. These provisions, scheduled to be implemented in early 1976, replace
the I960 Koise Abatement Act in its entirety. Other anti-noise legislation is
contained in the 1949, 1968 and 1971 Civil Aviation Acts and the 1960 Road Traffic
Act.
Protection against the dangers of radiation is afforded by the 1948
and 1958 Radioactive Substances Act, the 1970 Radiological Protection Act, and
by numerous regulations issued pursuant to these acts.
A legislative basis for comprehensive control of waste disposal is
contained in Part I of the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which requires waste
disposal authorities to develop waste disposal plans, provides for the licensing
of the disposal of controlled wastes, and also contains provisions covering: the
collection and disposal of controlled waste; waste reclamation; and street clean-
ing and litter. However, with the exception of those sections extending the
powers of local authorities to reclaim waste and to produce heat and electricity,
scheduled to come into force on January 1, 1976, and those dealing with licensing
of waste disposal sites, implementation of which is expected in April 1976, this
part of the Act is not expected to enter into force within the near future. In
the meantime, waste disposal provisions contained in the 1936 Public Health Act,
the 1967 Civic Amenities Act and the 1972 Deposit of Poisonous Wastes Act remain
in effect.
promulgation
Enactments of Parliament appear first as single copies and then appear
10
in Public General Acts and Measures.
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III. Standards
status of standards
In Great Britain the trend has been not to delineate uniform statutory
nationwide standards governing the discharge of pollutants into the country's
watercourses and into the atmosphere, although a limited number of applicable
standards exist, particularly for air pollutants. Rather, the British approach
to pollution abatement is characterized by the application of the "best practicable
means" method, i.e. by setting of standards according to the needs of individual
local environments, technological feasibility and economic circumstances, thus
leaving a margin of flexibility in the handling of individual problems.
the setting of standards
The regional Water Authorities (previously known as the River Author-
ities) set conditions for discharges on a case-by-case basis through their "con-
sent procedures." An application for a consent to discharge has to be made to
the appropriate Water Authority for each effluent. The application must specify
the nature and composition of the discharge, its maximum temperature, daily
quantity to be released, and the rate of discharge. In granting consent, the
Water Authority may impose conditions, i.e. standards, regarding the permissible
composition, temperature, quality and rate. While there are no generally uniform
standards, in keeping with the concept of tailoring them to local circumstances,
a given Water Authority usually develops certain internal but widely-known guide-
lines for most consent conditions; and these levels — everything else being
equal — will be imposed on discharges. The most common conditions on which a
consent to discharge is granted include a temperature no higher than 30°C, a toxic
heavy-metal concentration of no more than 1 part per million, a biochemical
oxygen demand of no more than 20 mg/1, and a suspended solid concentration no
11
greater than 30 mg/1.
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If the Water Authority fails to reply to an application for discharge
of effluents within three months of its submission, unconditional consent is
construed to have been granted. If the authority refuses to give its consent or
attaches conditions that the applicant regards as unreasonable, the latter has
three months within which to register his objection with the Secretary of State
for the DOE. The Secretary may then hold an inquiry, alter the consent conditions,
grant consent unconditionally, or uphold the conditions imposed by the Water
Authority. The consent conditions may be reviewed by the Water Authorities
every two years or more and changes in the conditions may be made. Conditions of
consent are contained in registers maintained by the Water Authorities. Under
earlier legislation such registers were only conditionally open to inspection by
interested parties; however, upon the implementation of the pertinent provisions
of the Control of Pollution Act, these registers are to be freely available for
public inspection.
Standards applicable to the discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere
from stationary sources and certain mobile sources (trains and ships) are governed
either by the Alkali Act or the Clean Air Acts and established partly by regula-
tory statutes but mainly by presumptive prescription of the Chief Alkali and Clean
Air Inspectorate. For example, in 1972 the limits imposed by the Alkali Act (as
amended by the Clean Air Acts) covered emissions from only four processes of the
approximately 3,000 processes covered by the act. For standards pertinent to the
vast majority of processes the Chief Alkali Inspectorate lays down individual
emission limitations as occasion or necessity dictates.
As previously noted, the Alkali Act requires the annual registration
of enterprises using industrial processes that may give rise to air pollution
problems. As a preliminary condition to first registration, the operator of a
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process covered by the act must provide to the satisfaction of the Chief Alkali
Inspector the "best practicable means" for preventing the discharge of noxious
or offensive gases into the atmosphere. The "best practicable means" is inter-
preted as the possession, installation, efficient maintenance, and proper use of
devices for preventing such discharge within the environmental constraints speci-
fied and in the context of the latest technological and economic information.
The "best practicable means" standard takes into account the effect of such meas-
ures on the operation of the process and on the costs of doing business. The
obligation to use "best practicable means" is continuing and may involve changes
in the plant operations as new techniques become available. In applying this
requirement, the Chief Inspector defines presumptive limits for emissions that
may not be exceeded at any stage. The definition of these limits or standards
results from close discussion with interested parties and full consideration of
all aspects such as environmental consequences and the technical and economic
12
feasibility of control measures.
The 1956 and 1968 Clean Air Acts and their implementing regulations
prescribe certain procedures for defining and assessing dark and black smoke,
set design standards for new plants, establish limitations on smoke emissions,
and empower local authorities to set up smoke-control areas in which only certain
fuel which is smokeless when combusted may be burned. These acts themselves or
the regulations issued pursuant to them set either standards or guidelines on
chimney heights; grit, dust, and fume emissions; and on arrestment installations
for new furnaces. The emphasis is seldom on uniform, nationwide standards. For
example, the 1968 Clean Air Act, while granting the Secretary of State for the
DOE the right to prescribe levels and rates of emission of grit and dust from
furnace chimneys, authorizes him to set different limits for different cases an<
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according to varying local circumstances. This flexibility is an essential facet
of the British approach to environmental control.
formulation of standards
To assist lawmakers and local authorities in the setting of technical
and quantitative objectives for environmental quality, the British government has
over the years established numerous councils, committees and commissions. For
example, the Beaver Commission, appointed following the catastrophic 1952 London
smog, nade the recommendations that culminated in the 1956 Clean Air Act. The
Clean Air Council provides a continuing advisory function in matters relating to
air pollution and its abatement. The Standing Advisory Committee on Water Quality
assists the government and the National Water Council advises water authorities
in the planning and development of water and sewage facilities.
promulgation
Acts, regulations and orders passed by Parliament are usually published
annually in the Index to Government Orders. Bylaws of statutory boards and author-
ities frequently appear in the Londpn Gazette; some go unpublished.
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IV. Enforcement Procedures
court system
In administering that characteristically Anglo-Saxon legal system
that draws upon both statute law (mainly Parliamentary acts) and common law
(customs and precedents), the British judicial system generally makes a distinc-
tion between civil and criminal cases. In fact, there are two somewhat parallel
hierarchies of courts for each of these two types of cases. At the apex of both
hierarchies stands the House of Lords, which, when sitting as a judicial body,
is the highest court of appeal. On the civil side, there are at the lowest level
the County Courts; they handle cases involving damages of less than 750 pounds.
Appeals from these courts go directly to the Court of Appeal, the first appeal
body before resort to the House of Lords. More important civil cases originate
in the High Court of Justice, with appeals moving up to the Court of Appeal and
then, if that court and the Lords consent, to the House of Lords. On the criminal
side of the court hierarchy, minor cases and summary offenses are dispatched by
justices of the peace and magistrates. Appeals from their decisions are taken
to the Crown Courts. These courts are also tribunals of first instance for more
serious cases. The Crown Court system is three-tiered, and the level at which a
case may be heard Is generally dependent on the gravity of the criminal offense.
Appeals from the Crown Courts go to the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal.
From there appeals may be taken to the House of Lords, the body of last resort
where the two court hierarchies finally meet in a common body.
common law and statute law
The law relating to pollution derives from two main sources: common
law, developed by the courts through judicial precedent, and statute law, with
regulations made under statutory power. Civil actions under common law have
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been more numerous than criminal proceedings, for the only criminal offense, in
the absence of the violation of a statutory regulation, that is committed in
the polluting of the environment may be that of a public nuisance (i.e. imperil-
ing the life, property, or convenience of the public or obstructing the latter
in its enjoyment of rights common to all). For there to be a civil case, the
plaintiff must demonstrate that he has been deprived of a right common to all.
In a successful case, the plaintiff may be granted damages or the defendant may
be enjoined from continuing his nuisance-creating activities. Although common
law remedies continue to be available to private citizens injured or inconven-
ienced by pollution, the practical effect of common law suits on the control of
pollution has been negligible. The inefficacy of common law in curbing pollu-
tion lies in the fact that there must be a plaintiff whose legal rights have
been abused, that his settlement with the defendant may not necessarily be in
the interest of those not a party to the suit, and that, in the case of air
pollution in particular, the courts in deciding cases must take into the account
the general character of the locale.
Statute law to prevent or minimize pollution, on the other hand,
creates offenses with penalties in the form of fines or prison terms. In this
way, statutes support and reinforce common law, especially where common law has
not provided a sufficiently adequate deterrent against environmental despoilment.
enforcement mechanisms
In enforcement procedures the British demonstrate a predilection for
persuasion, while holding ready the punitive remedies provided by statute should
cooperation prove futile. Perhaps nowhere is this approach better expressed than
in the annual reports of the Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate to the Department
of Environment. In the Inspectorate's 1970 report, great emphasis is placed on
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the virtues of cooperation between the government and the scheduled industries.
In a report issued the following year, the inspectors declared: "Cooperation
between all parties is an indispensable part of any successful anti-pollution
policy. The Alkali Inspectorate has evolved such a policy over more than 100
years and a good deal of time is now spent in educating industrialists to be
good neighbors." The report admonished, however, that the Inspectorate does not
shirk from taking corrective legal action when the cooperative approach fails
18
to bring the correct response. At this point it is appropriate to examine
briefly the enforcement mechanisms available in the areas of water and air pollu-
tion.
The Water Authorities have executive authority as regards the pollution
of inland waters, and the key to their system of control lies in their consent
procedures. The power of these authorities is perhaps best illustrated negativel"-
"they can give consent to a polluting discharge, whereupon no offense is commit-
in
ted." Discharges into underground strata, which — for example — would other-
wise be illegal, may be lawfully carried out as soon as the consent of a Water
Authority has been given. If a discharger fails to adhere to the conditions im-
posed by a Water Authority, the authority may have a magistrate's court revoke the
consent order. The penalty for failing to apply for consent or for not complying
with the consent conditions may be a substantial fine and/or a prison term.
In the case of a person causing or knowingly permitting poisonous, nox-
ious, or polluting matter to enter a watercourse, the Water Authority, under the
provisions of the 1951 Rivers Act (as amended), may apply to a County Court to
bring action against the offender. A person convicted on indictment of pollut-
ing watercourses is subject to a fine not to exceed 200 pounds; a person found
guilty on summary conviction is liable to a fine not to exceed 100 pounds. A
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person found guilty of sustained violations is subject to much stiffer penalties.
When penal provisions contained in Section 31 of the 1974 Control of Pollution
Act become effective, penalties for these offenses will be more stringent. Sum-
mary convictions, for example, will result in imprisonment for a term not exceed-
ing three months or a fine not exceeding 400 pounds or both, while convictions on
indictment will carry prison terms of up to two years or a fine or both.
Despite the overriding control of the Water Authorities in matters in-
volving the pollution of inland watercourses, these authorities have not been
quick to prosecute. In 1968 there were only 33 prosecutions in England and Wales,
20
resulting in fines in 23 cases.
Enforcement provisions of the 1971 Prevention of Oil Pollution Act
include the mandatory maintenance of oil record books aboard ships and the
establishment of a system of inspectors to ascertain compliance. Subject to
certain exceptions that may be made at the ministerial level, the owner of a
ship registered in the United Kingdom is liable to a fine of up to 50,000 pounds
if any oil or oil mixture is discharged into the sea from his ship.
In coping with the problems of air pollution from scheduled processes
(those industrial operations requiring registration under the Alkali Act), the
enforcement mechanisms rest with the Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate (generally
called simply the Alkali Inspectorate). It is to the inspectors of this body
that the owners or operators of industrial processes must apply for permission
to operate, and that permission is contingent on the use of the best practicable
means of reducing polluting emissions. The inspectors, all of whom have formal
training in scientific and technical disciplines and wide practical experience in
the chemical and allied industries, are responsible for the routine inspection
of registered processes to secure compliance with the Alkali Act. They conduct
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tests during routine inspections of industrial plants, but the tests required by
the inspectors may be carried out in some cases by the industries themselves,
the appropriate industrial laboratory, the government chemist, or by a. pertinent
government department. The owners of industrial plants are obliged to grant
access to the inspectors and facilities for the conduct of the tests.
When an industry does not use the "best practicable means" to limit
polluting emissions, proceedings may be brought by an alkali inspector, but
only with the sanction of the Secretary of State for the DOE. Criminal pro-
ceedings are very rare, with the inspectors preferring education and persuasion
to ensure compliance with standards. In the event that the owner or operator
of a plant covered by the Alkali Act does not use the "best practicable means,"
he may on summary conviction be fined up to 100 pounds and for a repetition or
continuation of the offense he is liable to a fine of up to 20 pounds per day.
(When amendments to these provisions as contained in the 1974 Control of Pollu-
tion Act come into force, these fines are to be increased to 500 pounds and 50
pounds respectively.) Although the Alkali Act is centrally administered, i.e.
by field inspectors responsible to the Secretary of State for the DOE, local
authorities may request the inspectors to conduct advisory inspections of installa-
tions which come under the jurisdiction of the Clean Air Acts and are thus the
responsibility of the local authorities. Local authorities may also apply to
the Secretary of State for the DOE to transfer his jurisdiction over emissions
of smoke, grit, and dust from the whole or any specified part of a factory from
the Alkali Inspectorate to their own local jurisdiction for the purpose of prose-
cution under the Clean Air Acts. While the jurisdictions under the Alkali Act
and the Clean Air Acts are mutually exclusive, there is full cooperation between
the administering authorities.
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The administration and implementation of the Clean Air Acts and the
smoke control orders which' these acts permit local authorities to issue (when
approved by the Secretary of State for the DOE) are the responsibility of those
authorities, i.e. county or district councils. These councils have to approve
the design of new furnaces, chimney heights, operating procedures and also the
type of dust arrestment equipment required for furnaces above a certain fuel-
burning rate. They also have the authority to require measurements of dust and
grit emissions. Under the Clean Air Acts it is an offense, punishable by a
fine up to 20 pounds, for the occupant of a private dwelling to permit dark smoke
to emanate from his chimney. In the case of dark smoke from any other chimney,
the person permitting such an emission is liable to a fine of up to 100 pounds.
(These fines are to be increased to 100 pounds and 400 pounds, respectively,
when amendments contained in the 1974 Control of Pollution Act come into force.)
in 1968 there were 112 prosecutions under the Clean Air Acts; there were con-
21
victions in 103 of these cases and fines in 92 instances.
Under the 1936 Public Health Act, a local authority is obliged to see
to it that its district is inspected from time to time for violations of the act.
Under this legislation dark smoke issuing forth from the chimney of a private
residence or industrial plant is a statutory nuisance. In addition to these
inspections, citizens, believing themselves aggrieved by such nuisances, may
report them to the local authority or take a civil case to the courts. To sup-
press such nuisances, the local authority first serves an abatement notice on
the offending party. If the latter does not comply with the notice to desist,
he may be summoned to appear before a magistrate and be fined under the provisions
of the Clean Air Acts. Maximum fines are 50 pounds and five pounds per day for
continuing offenses, to be increased to 400 pounds and 50 pounds respectively,
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when amendments in the 1974 Control of Pollution Act become effective.
To enforce the 1969 Construction and Use Regulations proscribing the
emission of smoke and visible vapor from motor vehicles, an authorized examiner
may road test a suspicious vehicle to ascertain whether these exhaust regulations
are being complied with. A vehicle is not required to stop for a teat, however,
unless requested to do so by a uniformed constable. Charged with seeing to it
that these regulations governing exhausts are observed are the local police, "who
experience no difficulty in enforcing this very limited degree of control." In
7 7
1970 there were 742 prosecutions for exhaust violations, with 700 convictions.
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V. Interrelationships Between Government and Industry
overall relationship
The relationship between government and industry has been both good
and close, particularly in environmental matters, at times to the consternation
of environmental pressure groups and the press. The government has a number of
ways of influencing and regulating industry: monetary and fiscal policy, public
expenditure, the letting of contracts, policy control over nationalized industries,
inducement, and persuasion. The close association between the authorities and
the industrialists is due in large measure to excellent channels of communica-
tion in such bodies as the National Economic Development Council, the chief forum
for consultation between the government, management, and the trade unions, and
the Economic Development Committees, which cover the particular industrial sectors,
and numerous trade associations. Special mention must be made of the Departments
of Trade and Industry, which handle all policies affecting trade and production
and assume responsibility for the government's relations with individual indus-
21
tries. Attached to the Department of Industry in the Government Chemist, to
whom the Alkali Inspectorate often turns for analysis of samples taken during
monitoring at industrial plants.
The relationship between government and industry in the environmental
sector is best illustrated by that existing between the alkali inspectors and
the managers of industries registered under the Alkali Act. When the inspectors
meet representatives of large industrial organizations, trade associations, and
nationalized enterprises at conferences organized by such groups as the Confedera-
tion of British Industries or the Chemical Industry Association, the inspectors
declare in their 1970 report, they usually find themselves preaching environmental
control to industrialists already convinced of their own responsibility in
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limiting the emission of pollutants. In fact, upon the urging of the alkali
inspectors, many industries have appointed their own environmental control offi-
24
cers. These company officers have the duty of ensuring that regulations are
being met and of acting as a public information conduit. The British Steel Cor-
poration and the National Coal Board have established environmental control organi-
25
raticras as have several of the larger public companies.
polluter-pays principle
While there is no official enactment fixing the polluter-pays principle
as the law of the land, that principle is unconditionally accepted and applied by
government. No grants are given to industry for pollution control. Common law
liability exists for the escape of dangerous things, trespass, and public and
private nuisance. The first Secretary of State for the DOE, Peter Walker, asserted
at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 that Great Britain
is pursuing "a policy of seeing that he who causes pollution pays the cost of
26
meeting the standards the community demands-"
major industries
Great Britain, the first country bo become industrialized and still one
of the world's most Important workshops,, is a leader in trade and manufacturing.
Metals and metal-using industries account for half of the country's exports.
Activities that are major contributors to pollution include the chemical, metal,
and fuel industries and the ceramics, cement, and metal-recovery works. Many of
the processes involved in these activities are registered and inspected under
the provisions of the Alkali Act.
industrial monitoring
The Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate is responsible for monitoring
pollutant discharges from registered industries., although actual monitoring may
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be conducted by the industries themselves, in which case the Alkali Inspectorate
checks to ensure that its limits are being complied with. Some large industries
have a pollution control officer whose duty it is to continuously monitor all
,-
emissions from the site. The Clean Air Acts contain provisions for the measuring
and recording of grit and dust levels and the furnishing of that information to
the local authorities. These authorities can require that the costs of this
oonitoring be borne by the firms involved. In addition, local authorities are
empowered to monitor atmospheric pollutants in their areas and regularly contri-
bute to a national survey of smoke and sulfur dioxide concentrations.
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Reference Notes
Numbers in brackets following entries are the identification numbers assigned
to documents which have been abstracted for the Foreign Exchange Documents
Program of the E.P.A. Office of International Activities. Copies of documents
are filed under these numbers at the E.P.A Headquarters Library in Washington,
D.C.
1. Great Britain, Central Office of Information, Britain 1973: An Official
Handbook. (London: HMSO, 1973), pp 23-38.
2. Great Britain, Department of the Environment, The Human Environment; The
British View. Prepared on the occasion of the United Nations Conference
on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972, (London: HMSO, 1972), p 14.
[ID I01511A]
3. ibid. , p 17.
4. Britain 1973; An Official Handbook, pp 51-52.
5. The Human Environment: The British View, p 17.
6. Great Britain, Central Statistical Office, Annual Abstract of Statistics
1973. no. 110, (London: HMSO, 1973), p 141.
7. The Human Environment, p 14.
8. Britain 1973. p 258.
9. ibid., p 68.
10. John E. Pemberton, British Official Publications, (New York: Permagon Press,
1971), pp 124-128.
11. Great Britain, Department of the Environment, Pollution: Nuisance or
Nemesis? A Report on the Control of Pollution. (London: HMSO, 1972),
pp 58-61. [ID 000957A1
12. "Pollution-Control Legislation in the United Kingdom," Iron and Steel,
v. 44, no. 6, December 1971, pp 467-468.
13. John E. Pemberton, pp 125-128.
14. Alex N. Dragnich and Jorgen Rasmussen, Major European Governments, (Homewood,
111.: Dorsey Press, 1974), pp 143-144.
15. James McLoughlin, The Law Relating to Pollution: An Introduction, (Manchester
University of Manchester, 1972), pp 8-9. [ID 002210A1
16. James W. Sanders, "Environmental Protection in the United Kingdom," Th e
Business Lawyer. April 1972, p 845.
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17. Great Britain, The Department of the Environment, 107th Annual Report on
Alkali, &c Works 1970, (London: HMSO, 1971), p 4. [ID //01814A]
18. Great Britain, The Department of the Environment, 108th Annual Report on
Alkali, &c Works 1971. (London: HMSO, 1972), pp 13-14. [ TD //01877A] ""
19. James McLoughlin, p 19.
20. ibid., p 124.
21. ibid., p 124.
22. ibid., p 129.
23. Britain 1973. p 258.
24. 107th Annual Report on Alkali, &c Works 1970. p 4.
25. ibid., p 5.
26. Stanley P. Johnson, The Politics of Environment; The British Experience,
(London: Tom Stacey, 1973), p 218. [ID 002211A]
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VI. Bibliography
Publications that proved helpful In the research for this study and
are recommended for those- undertaking similar research include:
Great Britain. British Information Services. Survey of Current Affairs
(monthly publication).
. Central Office of Information. Britain 1973; An Official
Handbook. London: HMSO, 1973.
. Department of the Environment. 107th Annual Report on
Alkali, &c~Works 1970. London: HMSO, 1971.
. 108th Annual Report on
Alkali, &c Works 1971. London: HMSO, 1972.
Pollution: Nuisance or
Nemesis? A Report on the Control of Pollution. London: HMSO, 1972.
Prevention of Water Pol-
lution in England and Wales. London: Sect. W&S1 (b). Water and Sewerage
Division, Department of the Environment, February 1, 1972. (typescript
memorandum)
The Human Environment:
The British View. Prepared on the occasion of the United Nations Con-
ference on the Human Environment Stockholm 1972. London: HMSO, 1972.
. National Society for Clean Air. Clean Air Year Book 1973.
Brighton, England: 1973.
McLoughlin, James. The Law Relating to Pollution: An Introduction. Man-
chester: University of Manchester, 1972.
The texts of laws and regulations may be found in:
Great Britain. Public General Acts and Measures.
Index to Government Orders.
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