Plans to modernise funding model for Scotland’s environmental protection

Options for modernising the funding of environmental protection and improvement in Scotland were outlined in a new consultation launched on 11 October 2012.

  • The key reason presented for changing the way SEPA is funded is to help maximise the benefits of the better environmental regulation approach.
  • The consultation from SEPA and the Scottish Government looks at the options for how Scotland’s environment watchdog could be funded in the future.
  • The proposals are part of the wider programme to transform SEPA, Scotland’s principal environmental regulator, and make sure it is best placed to tackle the environmental issues facing the country.
  • The consultation examines how businesses posing a risk to Scotland’s environment, or drawing upon its natural resources, should pay their fair share for the cost of protecting it from harm.
  • The proposal brings together the 14 separate and complex charging regimes that are currently in place, and creates one simpler, integrated framework.
  • Future charges will be based on a combination of environmental risk and operator performance.
  • The consultation also proposes ways to support business sectors in improving their environmental performance.

The consultation is available online and is open until 4 January 2013.

ECOS Environmental Consultants Limited