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Dear Consultee
Please find enclosed a copy of our discussion paper on Strengthening and Streamlining: The Way Forward for the Enforcement of Environmental Law in Scotland. The publication of this discussion paper reflects the Scottish Executive's strong commitment to reduce environmental crime.
This wide-ranging discussion paper looks at how we can improve our environment not by introducing new laws but by enforcing existing laws better and considers a large number of routes to securing better compliance, from education and advice for business to prosecution in the courts. It examines ways in which the system can be more effective including greater promotion of environmental management systems, the possible introduction of administrative penalties by regulators (such as SEPA) for those breaches which are unlikely to lead to court prosecutions and whether environmental cases would be pursued more effectively if there was an environmental courts system established in Scotland.
The paper also covers the question of how we ensure the best enforcement while minimising the burdens on business and targeting the most likely offenders.
Your thoughts and views on the issues raised in the paper and on the options discussed are invited. These should be submitted by 22 February 2007 ( see Annex A of the paper for details).
Yours faithfully
BRIAN McGARRY
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